7 best credit card processing companies

As a small business owner, you know that accepting credit cards comes with a cost. Expanding your customer base to cardholders can create massive profits, but it can also swamp you in expensive swipe fees or grind your sales to a halt if your processing system goes on the fritz. That’s why choosing the right credit card processor is one of the biggest decisions you can make for your business.

Below, CNBC Select rounded up some of the best credit card processing companies on the market. We looked at factors such as transparent pricing, business tools and integrations and more. (See our methodology below.)

Who’s this for? If you’re launching an online business, then you’re likely already familiar with Shopify. The platform’s tools help business owners launch and manage online storefronts, and it integrates with various apps to help you plan inventory, embed email pop-ups and more — including processing credit card payments.

Standout features: Once you set up your business on Shopify, you can easily turn on Shopify Payments to start accepting customer payments. The simple process cuts out the need for any third-party integrations when processing payments.

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Who’s this for? Business owners who put a premium on having rates customized to their business performance will find a lot to like with Helcim. The company provides custom rates for business owners, which can be ideal for those who want to make sure their pricing truly aligns with their business performance. Rates are determined based on factors like country of operation, industry, monthly sales volume and average transaction size. It also considers factors like how many customers pay using a certain card brand or a certain type of card (consumer, premium, or corporate).

Standout features: Helcim offers a free online tool to help you estimate your rate. We played around with the tool and found that the higher your monthly sales volume, the lower your rate may be.

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Who’s this for? Stripe offers a comprehensive array of payment and business management solutions. Businesses can accept payments in over 135 currencies, making it simple for businesses looking to reach a global audience.

Standout features: Stripe offers a developer-friendly platform to customize your business’s checkout process.

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Who’s this for? If you already work with the megabank (or want to start doing so), Chase Payment Solutions offers the convenience and comfort of a familiar name. This processor lets you accept customer payments for both online and in-person transactions, and you can take advantage of same-day deposits as long as payments are processed through a qualifying Chase product (i.e., Chase Payment Solutions℠ or Chase Integrated Payments product) and the deposits are going into a Chase business checking account.

Standout features: Chase Payment Solutions also offers customizable pricing.

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Who’s this for? Stax uses a subscription pricing model plus transaction fee but doesn’t charge a markup on payment processing. Competitors generally charge a markup percentage in addition to the transaction fee, which can make it more costly for some small business owners.

Standout features: Small businesses processing over $250,000 per year can qualify for a custom pricing plan.

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Who’s this for? Square integrates with Afterpay so your business can offer buy now, pay later options to customers. It’s available for both in-person and online transactions, but the processing fee will run you 6% + $0.30 per transaction.

Standout features: Square also offers other tools to help you manage your business, like payroll, invoicing, email marketing and text message marketing.

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Who’s this for? Finix offers custom pricing if your business processes $1,000,000 per year or more. You’ll need to contact the company to learn more about what custom price best suits your business.

Standout features: Finix lets business owners easily customize their checkout page options even if they don’t have coding experience.

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Shopify was founded in 2006 and supports millions of businesses as an all-encompassing commerce platform. Their payments platform is PCI compliant, meaning they follow a thorough set of standards to help protect consumer credit card data.

Monthly fee

Basic plan: $29/month

Shopify plan (for small teams): $79/month

Advanced plan: $299/month

Plus plan: $2,300/month

Payment processing fees

2.9% + $0.30 for online

2.6% + $0.10 for in-person

2% for 3rd party payment providers

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According to Helcim’s website, the company doesn’t charge any monthly fees, cancellation fees, PCI fees, deposit fees, user fees or setup fees.

Monthly fee

$0

Payment processing fees

Average of 1.93% + $0.08 for in-person

Average of 2.49% + $0.25 for online

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Stripe was founded in 2010 and serves businesses of just about any size. The platform also supports functions outside of payments, including billing, taxes, automatic revenue reporting and fraud and risk management.

Monthly fee

$0

Payment processing fees

Standard pricing of 2.9% + $0.30 (custom pricing is also available)

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Chase is a household name in the banking and financial services space, making it a comfortable option for those who prioritize brand recognition. Chase Payment Solutions also integrates with other software solutions to help you manage your business.

Monthly fee

$9.95/month

Payment processing fees

2.6% + $0.10 per in-person transaction

2.9% + $0.25 per online transaction

3.5% + $0.10 per keyed-in transaction

Custom pricing available

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Stax is a payments platform that services small- and medium-sized businesses and software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms. Launched in 2014, Stax has processed over 23 billion payments so far.

Monthly fee

$99/month

Payment processing fees

0% + $0.08 to 0% + $0.15 (depending on volume, card type and in-person vs. online transactions)

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Square was launched in 2009 and now offers a myriad of tools to provide business management support. Square offers Afterpay as an optional service, so small business owners can easily turn this feature off through their Square dashboard. Custom processing fee rates are also available for businesses processing more than $250,000 per year.

Monthly fee

Free version: $0/month + processing fees

Plus: $29/month + processing fees

Premium: Custom + processing fees

Payment processing fees

2.9% + $0.30 for online

2.6% + $0.10 for in-person

3.5% + $0.15 for keyed-in transactions

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Finix enables small businesses to accept a wide array of payments besides just credit cards. Finix also accepts ACH, EFT (electronic funds transfer) and alternative payments like ApplePay.

Monthly fee

$250/month

Payment processing fees

0% + $0.08 for in-person

0% + $0.15 for online

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Credit card processing is how a credit card payment is authorized and accepted in exchange for a good or service. As a customer, when you pay for an item in a store or even online, you might just swipe your card or enter your credit card information without thinking twice about it. But on the backend, a series of steps need to happen to for your payment to go through.

The first step is authorization. This is a near-instantaneous process that verifies the credit card being used is valid and has enough funds for the purchase.

Next is authentication. This happens so that the payment processor can verify that the person paying with the card is its authorized user. Cardholders can authenticate their payment through a variety of methods like entering a one-time passcode, biometric authentication (like a fingerprint to unlock payment) and even entering the zip code associated with the credit card.

The last step is settlement, which is where the funds are moved to the merchant’s account. This can take anywhere from 1–3 business days to complete, which is why you don’t always notice an immediate charge to your bank account right after making a purchase.

Credit card payment processing companies handle all of those steps so businesses — whether a small mom-and-pop or a massive conglomerate— don’t need to.

There are a few features to carefully consider when shopping around for a credit card payment processing company.

• Monthly fee: Most companies charge a monthly subscription fee to use the service and its tools. A lower fee means your business saves money but also consider that a higher fee can be worth it if it buys you business management tools that your company needs.
• Processing markups: Companies often charge a percentage-based markup plus a flat rate per transaction that gets passed onto the business owner. Custom pricing can help ensure that you aren’t bleeding money in processing fees. Usually, businesses need to hit a certain amount in revenue to qualify for custom pricing.
• Payment methods accepted: Accepting more payment methods means you provide your customers with more flexibility, and this can mean more sales. Double-check that the payment processor accepts major credit card companies and any other payment methods you think your customers use the most.

At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every article is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of small business products. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best credit card processing companies.

To determine the best credit card processing companies, CNBC Select analyzed several service providers across brick-and-mortar banks and fintech platforms. We also considered CNBC Select audience data when available, such as general demographics and engagement with our content and tools.

We compared each credit card processing company on a range of features, including:

• Pricing models, including subscription-based pricing, markups and transaction fees
• Online vs. in-person usability
• Access to payment terminals
• Customer support
• Business integrations and tools
• Customer reviews, when available

In some cases, credit card processing platforms offer custom pricing based on sales volume, types of credit cards used and whether transactions are being made in-person or online.

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