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<p>Selecting a credit card processing company presents a unique set of challenges when you own a construction business. Because of construction’s project-based nature, payments are often large and intermittent. Plus, you may want to accept card payments in various ways to make it convenient for clients to pay you. For example, in addition to <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-accept-credit-card-payments-over-the-phone/">accepting credit card payments over the phone</a> and in person, you may want to accept card payments online via invoices and in the field using a <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/mobile-pos/">mobile POS system</a> connected to your phone. </p>
<p>While much of the information here can apply to any business, we’ll look at special considerations for construction businesses when choosing a credit card processor, including what to look for in contracts, rates and fees.</p>
<p>Here are seven tips for choosing a credit card processor for your construction business.</p>
<h2 id="1-get-a-merchant-account">1. Get a merchant account.</h2>
<p>There are two main payment processor types. Most processors are ISO/MSPs that you can set up with your <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/merchant-account/">merchant account</a>. This type of processor is best for companies that process more than $3,000 per month and those with varying transaction amounts, so it’s likely the best fit for your construction business.</p>
<p>The other type of processor is a merchant aggregator or payment facilitator. These companies sponsor multiple businesses under their master merchant accounts. Businesses that process less than $3,000 per month may save money by working with this type of processor because it usually charges a flat rate with no monthly or annual fees. However, aggregators tend to be more risk-averse than ISO/MSPs, and irregular transaction amounts can trigger a fraud alert that causes the processor to freeze your account.</p>
<p><strong>Editor’s note: Looking for a credit card processor? We can help you choose the one that’s right for you. Use the questionnaire below to receive information from a variety of vendors for free:</strong></p>

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<h2 id="2-be-upfront-about-your-transaction-amounts-and-volume">2. Be upfront about your transaction amounts and volume. </h2>
<p>When you’re calling for a price quote, the credit card processing service’s sales rep will ask you what your average ticket (invoice) size is and the dollar amount you process – or anticipate processing – each month. </p>
<p>It’s important to be as accurate as possible with these numbers so the rep can give you accurate pricing. And, if you decide to proceed with the company, this information will help the rep set up your account correctly. If you have an irregularly large transaction coming up, or if your business is busier than average and you anticipate processing a higher volume of transactions, you can call the processor ahead of time to get approval.</p>
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<h2 id="3-choose-a-company-that-offers-month-to-month-service">3. Choose a company that offers month-to-month service.</h2>
<p>When it comes to a contract, you’re seeking the same quality other small businesses look for in a payment processor: no lengthy terms. This is important because if the processor’s services end up not being a good fit for your business, you can close your account without penalty.</p>
<p>Processing contracts typically have three-year terms and charge expensive early termination fees if you cancel the service before the term expires. It’s important to read the contract to verify the term length, cancellation procedure and applicable fees before signing with a company. </p>
<p>When you request the contract to review, the sales rep may send the application only; however, this is only one part of the contract, so you may need to specifically request the terms of service and program guide. The program guide is typically where the information regarding the cancellation policy resides.</p>
<h2 id="4-request-interchange-plus-pricing">4. Request interchange-plus pricing. </h2>
<p>Industry experts recommend the interchange-plus pricing model. However, many of the sales reps you call will quote you the starting rate for tiered pricing – also called the “qualified rate” that only applies to regular cards you accept in person – so you may have to specifically request an interchange-plus rate.</p>
<p>Some sales reps may discourage you from choosing an interchange-plus plan because the company makes less money with it than with a tiered pricing plan. Others may have specific prerequisites before you qualify for their interchange-plus plans. For example, they may require you to process a certain transaction volume each month or be a customer for a certain amount of time. However, the <a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-credit-card-processing/">best credit card processors</a> offer interchange-plus pricing to all their customers without these restrictions.</p>
<p>Another reason to opt for interchange-plus pricing is that it gives you a level ground for comparing quotes. This pricing model is based on interchange – a table of rates set by the card networks – and everyone pays the same amounts. The processors add a markup to these rates, and that’s the rate you’re quoted, so you can easily see which companies offer you the lowest rate.</p>
<p>Tiered pricing is difficult to compare because processors add markups to the interchange rates and then sort them into tiers. The number of tiers and the types of cards and transactions sorted into each one vary by processor. However, many have three tiers for credit and debit cards: qualified, mid-qualified and nonqualified.</p>

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<h2 id="5-find-out-about-fees">5. Find out about fees.</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.business.com/articles/credit-card-processing-fees/">Credit card processing fees</a> include monthly statement and gateway fees, plus an annual PCI compliance fee. Processors will also charge a monthly minimum. Additionally, there are standard incidental fees (batch, voice authorization, AVS, <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/how-to-avoid-chargebacks/">chargeback</a>, retrieval and NSF fees) and network fees (APF, FANF, NABU and data usage).</p>
<p>When you call for a price quote, request a fee schedule. Once you’ve narrowed down the companies you’re considering to your top three or four choices, ask them to send you a complete contract to review – including the application, terms of service and program guide. </p>
<p>Read the entire contract, highlight or list all the fees it mentions, and compare it to the fee schedule. If fees weren’t disclosed or sound odd, ask the sales rep about them and see if they’re willing to waive them. If they are waived, ensure you receive a waiver or an amended contract.</p>
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<h2 id="6-look-for-a-processor-that-offers-level-2-or-3-processing">6. Look for a processor that offers level 2 or 3 processing.</h2>
<p>When you accept a credit card from a consumer, it’s processed as a level 1 transaction, which requires minimal information to process. However, if your clients are often other businesses, and they pay you using corporate cards, you’ll pay higher processing rates unless you provide the processor with additional data about the transactions. </p>
<p>For level 2 processing, you’d need to provide your customer’s billing address, customer code (or purchase order number) and tax amount. For level 3 processing, you’d also need to include an invoice number and a description.</p>
<h2 id="7-use-a-processor-that-accepts-high-risk-businesses">7. Use a processor that accepts high-risk businesses.</h2>
<p>From a payment processor’s perspective, construction is a high risk because of the high invoice amounts, irregular payment spacing, number of industry regulations and the fact that customers may make card-not-present transactions. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.business.com/articles/credit-card-processing-high-risk-business/">Credit card processing in high-risk industries</a> isn’t appealing to many payment processors. Look for payment companies with experience doing contractor credit card processing, as these companies will be less likely to freeze your account when they see seemingly randomly spaced large sales. </p>
<h2 id="other-considerations">Other considerations</h2>
<p>When you’re talking with a sales rep, verify that the processor can set you up to accept payments in various ways: on the go, over the phone and online. You also want to see if the processor can support you with accepting ACH payments and other electronic payments, such as e-checks, which gives customers more flexibility.</p>
<p>Many payment processors integrate with the <a href="https://www.business.com/categories/accounting-software/">best accounting and invoicing software</a>, so be sure the processor you choose can work with the software you’re already using. You may even be able to add a payment button to your electronic invoices, helping your customers quickly pay online.</p>
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<h2 id="recommended-credit-card-processors-for-contractors-and-construction">Recommended credit card processors for contractors and construction</h2>
<p>Here’s a glance at credit card processors that work well for contractors and construction businesses. </p>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Company</strong></td>
<td><strong>Pricing</strong></td>
<td><strong>Monthly fee</strong></td>
<td><strong>Good because</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fattmerchant</td>
<td>Interchange-plus or flat monthly price subscription model</td>
<td>Monthly plans starting at $99</td>
<td>Low rates; online invoicing and recurrent billing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>ProMerchant</td>
<td>Interchange-plus with monthly fee or flat rate</td>
<td>Custom quote required</td>
<td>Accepts high-risk merchants; quick approval decision</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Payment Depot</td>
<td>Interchange-plus</td>
<td>Plans $49-$199 per month</td>
<td>Accepts high-risk merchants; good for high volume; mobile processing</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<h2 id="why-accept-credit-cards-for-construction-or-renovation-work">Why accept credit cards for construction or renovation work?</h2>
<p>The Federal Trade Commission advises Americans to pay contractors with a credit card rather than other forms of payment. Aside from this consideration, it’s important to understand <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/3-reasons-construction-should-accept-cards/">why your construction business should accept credit cards</a>. Here are a few reasons: </p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Customers prefer paying with plastic.</strong> If your construction business is old school and accepts only cash and checks, you may be unintentionally turning away business. Credit cards provide consumer protection, making customers feel more confident. Additionally, customers with rewards cards can get cash back or other perks when using their cards. Finally, using a credit card for construction is easier and faster than applying for a home improvement loan.</li>
<li><strong>It improves closing ratios.</strong> When you can accept deposits at the point of sale, you’ll move the sales process forward and eliminate customers who change their minds.</li>
<li><strong>It facilitates collection.</strong> With existing projects, when you send invoices by email, customers can pay with a credit card online, thus speeding up your collection time and <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/increase-cash-flow/">improving your cash flow</a>. Credit card transactions are approved or declined on the spot, so you’ll know whether the customer has paid before you begin work.</li>
<li><strong>Most people have at least one.</strong> Overall, 90% of U.S. adults have a credit card. While younger people are slightly less likely to have a credit card, most payment processors allow you to accept other payment forms used by millennials and Gen Z consumers – such as <a href="https://www.business.com/articles/google-pay-vs-apple-pay-vs-samsung-pay/">Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay</a> and sometimes ACH.</li>
</ol>
<p><i>Jennifer Dublino contributed to the writing and research in this article.</i></p>

Find a processing company that doesn't lock you into a contract or charge excessive fees.

7 Tips for Choosing a Credit Card Processor for Your Construction Company

Human Resources

HR Solutions

<p>Even though 401(k) plans are one of the most popular retirement vehicles that businesses offer, small businesses often shy away from them because they can be expensive and complex to administer. <a href="https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=415&aff_id=1000&source=best-employee-retirement-plans&aff_sub=bestpick%7C401k&aff_sub2=lineuprank%7C2&aff_sub3=deal%7Cno&aff_sub4=revenue%7CBZ-RFQ&aff_sub5=pos%7Ctext&url_id=1" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener external">Guideline</a> is our pick for the best 401(k) plan for small businesses because it’s not only one of the most affordable 401(k) options, but also one of the simplest, as it’s a fully managed – or fully bundled – plan designed for small businesses.</p>
<p>Guideline was founded in 2016, and despite being a fairly new company, it has impressive credentials. It’s raised $59 million in funding and was selected by <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2019/02/04/top-investing-fintech-companies/#5709b2495c9a" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener external">Forbes</a> as one of the 50 fintech companies to watch in 2019. It has more than 6,500 clients and more than $1 billion in assets under management. It partners with leading online payroll, HR and benefits provider <a href="/reviews/gusto-payroll-software/" rel="noopener external">Gusto</a> to provide retirement plans for its clients.</p>
<p><i>Visit our </i><a href="/categories/best-employee-retirement-plans/" rel="noopener external"><i>best picks page</i></a><i> to see all of our recommendations for employee retirement plan providers.</i></p>
<p><strong>Editor’s note: Looking for information on employee retirement plans? Use the questionnaire below, and our vendor partners will contact you with the information you need: </strong></p>

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<p></p>
<h2 id="pricing">Pricing</h2>
<p>Many small businesses cite expense as one of the reasons they haven’t sponsored a retirement plan, particularly the 401(k). Guideline has low, transparent pricing for both you and your employees; you can view its rates on its website. One of the best things about its pricing is all the fees that it doesn’t charge:</p>
<ul>
<li>No advisory fees</li>
<li>No AUM (assets under management) fees</li>
<li>No custodian fees</li>
<li>No third-party administration fees</li>
</ul>
<p>Here’s what you, the employer (and plan sponsor), can expect to pay for Guideline’s 401(k) plans: </p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Setup fee:</strong> $0</li>
<li><strong>Monthly base fee: $39 for Startup Plan; $99 for Prime Plan</strong></li>
<li><strong>Monthly participant fee:</strong> $8 per participating employee</li>
<li><strong>Plan termination fee: $250.</strong> Also called a service wind-down fee, it covers the costs of shutting down a plan and transferring assets. Every plan provider charges this fee, and this amount is lower than average for it. </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Incidental plan sponsor fees:</strong> You may be charged some fees for nonstandard services on a per-event basis. For example, an ACH chargeback or reversal costs $50. You can view a complete list of fees on the company’s website.</p>
<p><strong>Plan participant costs:</strong> Here’s what plan participants can expect to pay with a 401(k) plan from Guideline:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Mutual fund expense ratio: </strong>0.06% on average. This fee is deducted directly from participant portfolio assets.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Incidental participant costs:</strong> Fees that plan participants may be charged per event include the following. You can view the full list at the website linked above.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Loan application:</strong> $100</li>
<li><strong>Loan maintenance:</strong> $75 per year</li>
<li><strong>Distribution or refund, including hardship withdrawals:</strong> $50</li>
<li><strong>Required minimum distribution (RMD):</strong> $50</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="features">Features</h2>
<p>Guideline offers traditional, Roth and safe harbor 401(k) plans, and it’s a full-stack solution that does the heavy lifting on ERISA compliance for you. This is an important consideration for a 401(k) plan, because you don’t want to risk liability or incur fines for being out of compliance. You also don’t want to spend more time and money hiring and overseeing additional companies to handle plan administration, record-keeping and advisory services.</p>
<p>Here’s a sampling of what Guideline has to offer, including more details on the compliance services it includes with its plans.</p>
<p><strong>Fiduciary support:</strong> As mentioned above, Guideline serves as investment manager, plan administrator and record-keeper. It acts as your ERISA 3(16) and 3(38) fiduciary. It also takes care of compliance, reporting and nondiscrimination testing. </p>
<ul>
<li>With your account, you receive access to a sponsor dashboard that shows service fee invoices and information about your <a href="/articles/401k-enrollment/">plan’s participant enrollment</a> and investments, contribution activity, and distributions.</li>
<li>In addition to nondiscrimination testing to make sure your plan doesn’t favor highly compensated employees, Guideline conducts annual contribution and additions limit testing to verify that contributions are within legal limits and coverage testing to confirm that employee eligibility requirements aren’t too restrictive.</li>
<li>Guideline is bonded, which satisfies ERISA’s fidelity bonding requirement.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Account setup:</strong> The rep we spoke with told us that it takes just a few minutes to set up your account online, but after that, there’s a 30-day waiting period that allows eligible employees to opt out of the plan. Guideline provides a training webinar for your employees.</p>
<p><strong>Payroll integration:</strong> Guideline syncs with many payroll providers, including ADP, Gusto, Square Payroll, Paychex and QuickBooks Online. This allows the company to automatically process contributions and notifies it when you hire new employees so they can be added to your plan.</p>
<p><strong>Investment options:</strong> Plan participants can choose from Guideline’s six managed portfolios or build their own investment portfolio, with options from more than 40 index funds from low-cost providers like Vanguard.</p>
<p><strong>Fund research tools:</strong> Plan participants fill out risk-tolerance questionnaires to help them find the best option for their situation. The company’s website has a full, interactive menu of the mutual funds you can choose from if you prefer to build a custom portfolio.</p>
<p><strong>Advisory services:</strong> As the investment advisor for your plan, Guideline provides six managed portfolios that have a blended fund expense ratio of 0.06%. It doesn’t charge any fees for this service.</p>
<p><strong>Reporting requirements:</strong> The IRS requires you to submit a 5500 form for 401(k) plans, and Guideline files it for you at no additional cost. This is only for contributions you made to your Guideline plan. If you had a previous plan, you’ll need to work with its administrator for that portion of the filing.</p>
<p><strong>Loans: </strong>A plan participant can take out a loan against their 401(k), but it cannot exceed 50% of the vested account balance. The minimum amount is $1,000, and the maximum is $50,000. There are fees for this service.</p>
<p><strong>Rollovers:</strong> Plan participants can roll over their old retirement savings accounts into their new Guideline 401(k) account. Roth IRAs can’t roll over, but most other plans types can. These are some of the accepted account types:</p>
<ul>
<li>Traditional and Roth 401(k)s</li>
<li>Traditional and Roth 403(b)s</li>
<li>Traditional and Roth governmental 457(b)s</li>
<li>Traditional IRAs</li>
<li>SEP and SIMPLE IRAs</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Withdrawals:</strong> Plan participants with qualifying hardships may be eligible to make hardship withdrawals from their accounts.</p>
<h2 id="additional-considerations">Additional Considerations</h2>
<p>Guideline’s customer support is available by phone, email and chat from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. When we called the company, posing as a small business owner looking for a retirement plan, our call was picked up promptly. The rep we spoke with was friendly and forthcoming with information about costs and how the plan works. He followed up with us by emailing a quote and links to key information on the website almost immediately after the call.</p>
<p>The company’s website has a searchable knowledgebase with extensive information on 401(k)s, with sections for employers, employees and advisors. It also has a blog with articles and company information.</p>
<h2 id="drawbacks">Drawbacks</h2>
<p>Guideline lacks a mobile app, but the website is mobile-friendly, so plan participants can still check their dashboards from their phones or tablets.</p>
<p><strong>Editor’s note: Looking for the right employee retirement plan for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>

Guideline 401k Review and Pricing

<p><a href="https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=25&aff_id=1000&source=best-credit-card-processing&aff_sub=bestpick%7Conline-processor&aff_sub2=lineuprank%7C4&aff_sub3=deal%7CGetApp&aff_sub4=revenue%7CNetwork&aff_sub5=pos%7Ctext&url_id=1" target="_blank" rel="sponsored nofollow noopener external">Stripe</a> is an online payment processing company that works with businesses of all sizes, including small startups to multinational corporations. It’s designed to facilitate credit card payments for e-commerce, mobile commerce, subscription as a service, marketplace and platform businesses. </p>
<p>We chose Stripe as the best online credit card processor because of its versatility. It integrates with hundreds of e-commerce platforms, shopping carts, and other business software and services. It has prebuilt checkout forms that can easily embed into an existing website. Or, for businesses with development resources, Stripe offers APIs and developer tools that allow you to create customized checkout forms or entire payment flows for your website and mobile app. </p>
<p>Additionally, Stripe has competitive rates and provides its services on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you’re not locked into a lengthy contract. It’s also one of the few processors that refunds the chargeback fee if a dispute is resolved in your favor. </p>
<p><i>Visit our </i><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-credit-card-processing/"><i>best picks page</i></a><i> to see all of our recommendations for credit card processing companies.</i> </p>
<h2 id="pricing-and-terms">Pricing and Terms</h2>
<p>The best online credit card processing companies have clear, transparent pricing and terms of service. Stripe is a good example of this, as it posts detailed information about its rates and transaction fees, and you can read all of its service agreements on its website. </p>
<p>Stripe has simple flat-rate pricing and charges very few fees. There’s no additional cost to use Stripe’s integrations, prebuilt checkout form or developer tools. </p>
<p>Here’s what you’ll pay when you accept credit card payments online using Stripe Payments. </p>
<h3>Accepting Online Payments</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>2.9% + $0.30 for domestic credit and debit card payments</strong>, no matter what type or brand of card your customer uses, or if they use a digital wallet.</li>
<li><strong>0.8% with a $5 cap for ACH debit transfers</strong>. Stripe also allows you to accept ACH credit and wire transfers, and you can view pricing for these payment methods on the company’s website. </li>
</ul>
<h3><strong>Accepting In-Person Credit Card Payments Using Stripe Terminal</strong></h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>2.7% + $0.05</strong> per transaction, regardless of card type or brand. </li>
</ul>
<p>Stripe offers volume discounts for businesses that process more than $100,000 per month, and custom pricing is available for businesses that have microtransactions or abnormally large sales tickets. Nonprofits may qualify for special pricing. </p>
<p>Incidental fees you may encounter while using Stripe include the following: </p>
<ul>
<li>If you accept international cards, you add 1% to the transaction rate, and if currency conversion is necessary, it costs an additional 1%.</li>
<li>If a customer disputes a charge and requests a payment reversal, you pay a $15 chargeback fee. If the dispute is resolved in your favor, however, Stripe refunds this fee, which most processors don’t do.</li>
<li>If you issue a refund, there’s no fee, but it doesn’t return the original processing fee to you. </li>
</ul>
<p>Here’s a list of the fees you won’t pay when you use Stripe as your online payment processing company: </p>
<ul>
<li>No application or setup fee</li>
<li>No monthly fees for statements or customer service</li>
<li>No monthly minimum processing requirement</li>
<li>No payment gateway setup fee</li>
<li>No monthly payment gateway fee</li>
<li>No annual fee</li>
<li>No PCI compliance fee</li>
<li>No early termination or account closure fee </li>
</ul>
<h3>Optional Fees</h3>
<p>Stripe offers several other products, such as Stripe Billing, Stripe Connect, Radar for Fraud Teams, Stripe Sigma and Stripe Atlas. If you choose to use them, other fees apply. You can learn more about these products and what they cost on the company’s website. </p>
<h3>Payouts</h3>
<p>Once you begin accepting credit card payments using Stripe, you must wait seven to 10 days for the company to transfer the money from your transactions into your bank account. After this initial payout, your funds are transferred on a rolling schedule of either two or seven days. Most businesses are on the two-day schedule – which is an average amount of time – but if Stripe considers your business to be a higher risk, you’re on the seven-day schedule. If your cash flow is often tight and you need to receive your money faster, you might want to consider a different processor, as many offer next-day deposits and some, such as PayPal and Square, offer instant transfers for an additional fee. </p>
<h3>Terms of Service</h3>
<p>Stripe Payments offers its services on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you can close your account at any time without incurring expensive early termination fees. Instead of signing a multiyear contract, you accept a <a href="https://stripe.com/ssa" target="_blank" rel="noopener">service agreement</a> that you can read in full on the company’s website. As with all payment processing companies, you want to take the time to read this document before signing up with the company to make sure it’s a good fit for your business and you understand what you’re agreeing to. </p>
<p>Like many processors that offer flat-rate pricing with few fees, Stripe doesn’t provide you with your own merchant account, and, instead, sets you up as a submerchant under its master merchant account. This has some advantages, such as faster account setup that doesn’t require a credit check and simplified PCI compliance with no PCI-related fees. However, Stripe and other merchant aggregators receive a lot of complaints online about frozen funds and sudden account terminations. You can reduce your chances of experiencing these issues by reading the service agreement and complying with its terms. </p>
<p>You want to make sure that … </p>
<ul>
<li>Your business type and the products and services you sell aren’t on Stripe’s <a href="https://stripe.com/restricted-businesses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prohibited businesses</a>.</li>
<li>You use Stripe’s services as they’re intended to be used. For example, you can’t use Stripe Dashboard as a virtual terminal except in rare circumstances. Using it in this manner on a regular basis is specifically forbidden in the service agreement.</li>
<li>You comply with network rules and do your part to keep card data secure, in accordance with PCI standards. </li>
</ul>
<p>As Stripe explained in a letter to the Better Business Bureau, per its service agreement, Stripe reserves the right to hold your funds in a reserve account if it suspects there’s a risk of loss or fraud, or if you have a lot of chargebacks. It may close your account if it determines your business is a fraud or credit risk, if you offer products or services on its prohibited businesses list, use the service in an unauthorized way or violate terms of the agreement. </p>
<h2 id="features">Features</h2>
<p>Stripe says that it offers more than 100 features, and this wealth of capabilities allows many different business types and sizes to use Stripe as their online payment processing service. </p>
<p>You can choose from premade solutions that you connect to with just a few clicks or payment flows custom-built by your development team. </p>
<p>Stripe is regularly updated, and each month the company posts a changelog on its blog that shows new features or improvements to its existing capabilities. </p>
<p>Here are some of the products and features Stripe offers. </p>
<h3>Integrations</h3>
<p>The easiest way to use Stripe is to connect to it from one of the business applications you already use. Stripe offers hundreds of integrations across multiple categories so you can start accepting payments quickly, then automatically sync your sales data to the other programs you use. For example, if you use an <a href="https://www.business.com/categories/ecommerce-platforms/">e-commerce platform</a> for your online store, you can choose Stripe as your payment processor and connect to your account with just a few clicks. You can then connect your Stripe account to many of the other programs you already use, such as your <a href="https://www.business.com/categories/accounting-software/">accounting</a>, invoicing, inventory management, <a href="https://www.business.com/categories/crm-software/">CRM</a> and <a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-email-marketing-services/">marketing software</a>. Plugins for third-party services are also available. </p>
<h3>Checkout</h3>
<p>The second easiest way to use Stripe is to embed Checkout, a premade checkout form, into your existing website. To do this, you copy and paste a few lines of JavaScript. The form redirects the customer to a Stripe-hosted payment page that you can customize with your branding and product images. Checkout is PCI compliant and tokenizes your customer’s payment data so it’s never stored on your server. </p>
<h3>Stripe Elements</h3>
<p>If you have some coding skills, you can use Stripe’s prebuilt UI elements – input fields and buttons – to create a customized checkout form that complements the look and feel of your website. As with Checkout, Elements is PCI compliant, and Stripe takes care of the heavy back-end coding – all you’re doing is customizing the look and format of the checkout form. </p>
<h3>Stripe.js<strong> </strong></h3>
<p>This method for using Stipe to accept payments on your website requires more development know-how, as it allows you to use Stripe’s JavaScript library and APIs to build a checkout form of your own. </p>
<h3>Stripe Billing</h3>
<p>This API allows you to create a customized solution for recurring payments and subscription billing. You can decide how to charge customers, such as a flat recurring fee or a charge based on product usage or tiers. You can choose how frequently you bill your customers and offer discounts and trial periods. </p>
<h3>Stripe Connect</h3>
<p>Stripe can provide payment services for marketplaces and platforms, taking care of onboarding users, managing payments, handling compliance issues, tax reporting and more. </p>
<h3>Stripe Terminal</h3>
<p>You can now use Stripe to accept in-person. You can integrate Stripe Terminal into your existing checkout flow, or use its SDKs to create your own mobile or web-based app. The company offers two card readers to use with this payment method. Both are EMV-certified and support chip cards and contactless payments, including mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.</p>
<ul>
<li>The BBPOS Chipper 2X BT, which costs $59, is a mobile card reader that uses Bluetooth to connects to smartphones and tablets.</li>
<li>Verifone P400, which costs $299, is a countertop credit card terminal. </li>
</ul>
<h3>Mobile Payment Options</h3>
<p>If you have a mobile app, you can boost sales by adding in-app payments to it, letting your customers shop and complete purchases with it. Stripe payments are currently supported on iOS and Android devices. </p>
<h3>Digital Wallet Support</h3>
<p>Stripe allows you to accept payments made using digital wallets. In addition to Apple Pay and Google Pay, it supports Visa Checkout, Masterpass by Mastercard, Amex Express Checkout, Microsoft Pay, Alipay and WeChat Pay. </p>
<h3>International Currency Support</h3>
<p>For businesses with customers outside the U.S., Stripe is a good option because it allows your customers to pay with their local currency. Stripe then converts it, so you receive your funds in your currency. It supports more than 135 currencies. </p>
<h3>Dashboard App</h3>
<p>Available for both Android phones and iPhones, the Stripe Dashboard app allows you to track your sales when you’re away from the office. You can issue refunds, set alerts, and view daily summaries, reports and historical comparisons on the Android version. On the Apple version, you can also email customers, search transactions and create new customer subscriptions. </p>
<h3>Reporting</h3>
<p>You can view your sales data and account balance history in the dashboard. It has several built-in reports, and you can export your data to CSV files. If you integrate Stripe with other programs, such as your accounting software, it automatically syncs to that application. If you want advanced reporting capabilities, you can use Stripe Sigma for an extra cost. </p>
<h3> </h3>
<p><strong>July 2020: </strong>Stripe has added a <a href="https://stripe.com/blog/billing-customer-portal" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener external">customer portal feature to Stripe Billing</a>, its invoice and subscription billing service. With it, your customers can manage their billing details themselves – which can save you time, since your customers will be able to view their accounts to check their billing history, upgrade or downgrade their subscription, cancel their subscription, and update their payment method. This is a prebuilt solution, which means it’s easy to set up, and Stripe hosts it to keep it secure. You can, however, customize it to match your brand by adding your logo, brand color and accent color, and you can add links to helpful information on your website, such as your terms of service. <strong></strong></p>
<h2 id="additional-considerations">Additional Considerations</h2>
<p>Here’s some additional information about Stripe to keep in mind as you select a payment processing company for your business. </p>
<h3>Security</h3>
<p>Stripe takes data security seriously and has multiple security protocols in place to keep your customers’ payment data secure. It uses tokenization technology, so no actual payment data is stored on your servers, and includes Radar, its fraud-prevention tool, with every account.<strong> </strong></p>
<h3>PCI Compliance</h3>
<p>Stripe is a PCI Service Provider Level 1, the highest certification available, but you’re still required to comply with PCI data security standards and complete a self-assessment questionnaire each year. It doesn’t charge a PCI compliance fee.<strong> </strong></p>
<h3>Customer Support</h3>
<p> If you need help using Stripe, you can email the company or use its online resources, which include searchable documentation, reference guides, articles, tutorials and FAQs. </p>
<h2 id="limitations">Limitations</h2>
<p>Stripe is unique in that it’s designed for developers, and while this is one of the reasons it’s such a versatile product, it can be overwhelming for small business owners who aren’t developers. </p>
<p>Even figuring out how to use Stripe and where to find its easy-to-use products, such as its integrations and Stripe Checkout, is challenging, and you may need to hire a developer if you want any customizations. </p>
<p>Here are some additional points to consider before signing up with Stripe. </p>
<ul>
<li>Stripe doesn’t provide inbound phone support. If you run into a problem while using Stripe, you’ll have to email the company.</li>
<li>As discussed above, Stripe is like other merchant aggregators in that it’s wary of risk compared to full-service processors. It may hold your funds or close your account if you have a lot of chargebacks or if there’s something irregular about your transactions, such as an abnormally high sales ticket, that makes Stripe suspect fraudulent activity.</li>
</ul>


Stripe Payment Processing Review and Pricing

<p>For e-commerce businesses that open up pop-up shops and need a way to accept credit cards in person, we recommend Shopify Payments – the in-house credit card processing service offered by Shopify. This cloud-based e-commerce platform serves more than 800,000 merchants across 175 countries, including well-known brands like Nestle and Red Bull.</p>
<p>It’s our choice as the best mobile credit card processing service for online businesses because it makes it easy for you to accept payments across multiple channels: on your website or blog, on social media, and in person at various locations using your phone or tablet.</p>
<p>Shopify Payments has competitive flat rates, 24/7 phone support and no long-term contract. Its credit card payment app comes with point-of-sale features, and you can choose from two mobile card readers, both of which are EMV compliant.</p>
<p><i>Visit our </i><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-mobile-credit-card-processing/"><i>best picks page</i></a><i> to see all of our recommendations for mobile credit card processing companies.</i></p>
<h2 id="pricing-and-terms">Pricing and Terms</h2>
<p>Shopify Payments is very transparent with its pricing and terms. On its website, you can find its rates, fees, and credit card processing hardware costs as well as its acceptable use policy and terms of service for both its payment processing service and e-commerce platform. This information makes it easier to determine whether Shopify Payments meets the specific needs of your business and fits your budget before spending time on the phone speaking with a sales rep. Shopify Payments uses the flat-rate pricing model and offers competitive transaction fees, especially on its higher-tier plans.</p>
<h3>Rates</h3>
<p>Here’s what it costs to accept credit and debit card transactions using Shopify Payments on each of Shopify’s main pricing plans. Custom processing fees are available for large, high-volume businesses through the Shopify Plus plan.</p>
<p><strong>Shopify Lite and Basic Shopify plans:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Cards you accept in person using a card reader: <strong>2.</strong><strong>7%</strong></li>
<li>Cards you accept online or manually key in: <strong>2.</strong><strong>9% + $0.30</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Shopify plan:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Cards you accept in person using a card reader: <strong>2.</strong><strong>5%</strong></li>
<li>Cards you accept online or manually key in: <strong>2.</strong><strong>6% + $0.30</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Advanced Shopify plan:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Cards you accept in person using a card reader: <strong>2.</strong><strong>4%</strong></li>
<li>Cards you accept online or manually key in: <strong>2.</strong><strong>4% + $0.30</strong></li>
</ul>
<h3>Fees</h3>
<p>Unlike most mobile payment facilitators, Shopify charges a monthly fee to use its services. Although this fee is technically for Shopify’s POS and e-commerce software, you can’t use Shopify Payments without it. However, it gives you high-quality POS tools with your account and enables you to sell your goods and services online and in person. Each plan – except the Lite plan – comes with a Shopify online store, which includes an e-commerce website and blog.</p>
<h3>Monthly Fee</h3>
<p>The monthly fee varies, depending on which plan you choose. If you pay upfront rather than month to month, you receive a 10% discount on an annual plan or a 20% discount on a two-year plan.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Shopify Lite: $9.</strong> You can accept payments in person, on social media and on an existing website or blog.</li>
<li><strong>Basic Shopify: $29.</strong> In addition to the sales channels included with the Lite plan, you can accept payments on your Shopify online store. This plan supports two staff accounts.</li>
<li><strong>Shopify: $79.</strong> This includes all Basic plan features and supports five staff accounts.</li>
<li><strong>Advanced Shopify: $299.</strong> This includes all Shopify plan features and supports 15 staff accounts.</li>
<li><strong>Shopify Plus:</strong> Custom pricing is available for high-volume merchants.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Optional Fees</h3>
<p>Some of Shopify’s optional services carry extra costs. Here are some examples.</p>
<ul>
<li>Custom domain names start at $11 per year. If you don’t already have a domain name for your website and prefer not to use the free MyShopify.com domain name that comes with your Shopify subscription, you can purchase one from the company.</li>
<li>Some integrations, available through the Shopify App Store, carry monthly fees.</li>
<li>If you choose to use an external payment provider or payment gateway instead of Shopify Payments, you will be charged a fee of 0.5% to 2%, depending on your plan.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Payout</h3>
<p>It usually takes one or two business days for Shopify Payments to transfer your processed funds into your business bank account, which is on a par with other top credit card processing companies. You receive an email alert when your funds arrive. If you prefer to receive your funds weekly or monthly, you can set up a payout schedule.</p>
<h3>Terms of Service</h3>
<p>Shopify has month-to-month terms and allows you to upgrade to a higher plan or downgrade to a lower one at any time. A discount is available if you sign up and pay in advance for a one- or two-year term, but no refunds are available if you prepay and later cancel, so you want to make sure the service is a good fit for your business before you sign up for longer terms.</p>
<p>Shopify is a payment facilitator and sets you up as a submerchant under its master merchant account instead of providing you with your own merchant account, so rather than sign a contract, you agree to the company’s terms of service. You should read the Shopify Payments’ terms of service, the merchant terms of service and the acceptable use policy, which are posted online, before signing up for an account to make sure that you understand your responsibilities and verify that this payment processor supports your business type.</p>
<p>Like other mobile payment facilitators, Shopify Payments seeks to prevent fraudulent activity and minimize its risk of losing money. It will hold your funds or close your account if it feels there’s something suspicious about your account activity, if you have what it considers to be an excessive number of chargebacks or refunds, or if it expects that you will have an excessive number of chargebacks or refunds.</p>
<p>Also, like nearly every mobile credit card processor, there are many business types that Shopify doesn’t support. Before signing up for an account, you’ll want to verify that the goods and services your business sells aren’t on Shopify’s list of prohibited products or services. If they are, the company will close your account. You can find this list in Section B, paragraph five of the <a href="https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=38&aff_id=1000&source=best-mobile-credit-card-processing&aff_sub=bestpick%7Cbest-for-online-businesses&aff_sub2=lineuprank%7C3&aff_sub3=deal%7Cno&aff_sub4=revenue%7CBZ-RFQ&aff_sub5=pos%7Ctext&url_id=140" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Payments Terms of Service</a>.</p>
<h2 id="shopify-features">Shopify Features</h2>
<p>Shopify has two mobile apps, and you’ll use both to get the most from your Shopify Payments account. The Shopify POS app is for processing payments in person, and you can accept all major credit and debit cards with it. The Shopify app is for managing your sales data, orders, products, customers and staff. Both apps are available for Android and iOS phones and tablets. The Shopify app is also available for the Apple Watch, showing you an overview of your sales data. Here are some examples of things you can do with these apps:</p>
<ul>
<li>Accept credit and debit cards, including contactless cards and mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay</li>
<li>Record cash payments and checks</li>
<li>Split tenders (accept two or more payment types for a transaction)</li>
<li>Accept partial payments or deposits</li>
<li>Accept tips</li>
<li>Issue refunds</li>
<li>Email or print receipts</li>
<li>Set discounts and taxes</li>
<li>Create customer profiles</li>
<li>Manage products, add photos, organize into categories, track inventory</li>
</ul>
<h3>Processing Equipment Options</h3>
<p>There are two mobile card readers available for use with Shopify Payments. Both options are EMV compliant, so you can accept chip cards and avoid liability for counterfeit fraud for the cards you accept in person.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Chip and Swipe Reader: $29.</strong> This mobile credit card reader connects to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth, and is compatible with Android and iOS devices. With it, you can accept chip and magnetic stripe cards.</li>
<li><strong>Shopify Tap and Chip Reader: $49; charging dock: $39.</strong> This EMV- and PCI-certified mobile card reader connects via Bluetooth, and is compatible with Android and iOS devices. With it, you can accept chip cards, contactless cards and mobile payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay.</li>
</ul>
<p>If you want to connect a receipt printer or barcode scanner to your phone or tablet, you’ll need to subscribe to the Shopify plan or higher.</p>
<h3>Dashboard</h3>
<p>The dashboard shows you an overview of your sales, and if you also have an online store or sell on social media, you can monitor your traffic. You can see which products sell best and which ones underperform. You can generate reports and export them to a spreadsheet or send them to your accountant.</p>
<h3>Integrations</h3>
<p>More than 1,200 apps are available in the Shopify App Store. You can add advanced features to your account and connect to third-party business applications that you may already use, such as accounting software like QuickBooks and email marketing services like Mailchimp.</p>
<h3>Sell on Social Media</h3>
<p>You can use Shopify to sell your products on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Houzz, Instagram and Pinterest. Other sales channels you can sell on include Amazon and eBay. You can see all your sales channel options in the Shopify App Store.</p>
<h3>No Signature Required</h3>
<p>When you accept chip cards in person, you’re no longer required to capture signatures at checkout. Shopify allows you to opt in to this feature, which can speed up the checkout experience for your customers. However, you can continue to accept signatures if you prefer.</p>
<h2 id="additional-considerations">Additional Considerations</h2>
<p>Shopify Payments is for business use only, so if you’re looking for a mobile credit card processing service that allows you to accept payments for personal or family use, you’ll need to choose a different processor.</p>
<p>Here’s more information to keep in mind before signing up with Shopify Payments.</p>
<h3>Security</h3>
<p>Shopify keeps your data secure by complying with Level 1 PCI data security, which has the most stringent security requirements for payment processors. Its card readers are EMV-certified, which has proven to be an effective tool against counterfeit fraud.</p>
<p>Additionally, the company provides fraud prevention tools for Shopify merchants, including fraud analysis indicators that identify potential issues, such as incorrect CVV codes or attempts to pay with multiple cards. It assigns a fraud recommendation for each order and flags orders it considers to be a medium or high risk on the Orders page for you to review. A free Fraud Filter app from Shopify is available on Shopify’s app store, as are multiple third-party fraud prevention apps, and Shopify Plus merchants can use Shopify Flow to create a workflow that notifies you when an order is created that raises red flags.</p>
<p>The company recently announced a new feature called Fraud Protect for Shopify Payments that analyzes online orders for fraudulent chargebacks. Exact pricing for this feature hasn’t yet been released, but the company notes that you’ll pay a small fee for each order it classifies as “protected.” Then, if there’s a chargeback for fraud on an order it flagged as safe, the company will handle the dispute and reimburse you the cost of the order, plus it takes care of the chargeback process for you.</p>
<h2 id="customer-support">Customer Support</h2>
<p>You can reach customer service by phone 24/7, or by phone, email, live chat or Twitter. If you’d prefer to troubleshoot an issue yourself, the company provides multiple resources to help you, including guides and tutorials, a searchable knowledgebase, a user forum, and a blog.</p>
<h2 id="limitations">Limitations</h2>
<p>As with other mobile payment facilitators, you can find complaints online about Shopify Payments holding processed funds and closing accounts. You may be able to avoid these headaches by reading the terms of service for Shopify and Shopify Payments before signing up to make sure that your business type and the products you sell aren’t prohibited businesses. You also want to be aware of actions that raise red flags and may cause the company to hold your funds.</p>
<p>Here are some additional issues to consider before selecting Shopify Payments as your mobile credit card processor:</p>
<ul>
<li>Adding users to your account can be expensive. The number of staff accounts you can add corresponds with the pricing plan you choose.</li>
<li>You’ll need to subscribe to the Shopify plan or higher if you want to connect to a receipt printer or barcode scanner.</li>
<li>Not all Shopify POS apps are created equal. Although you can ring up sales and accept payments using an iPhone, iPad or Android device, you’ll need an iPad if you want to access every feature, as some are lacking on the iPhone and Android versions of the mobile app. You can view a device comparison chart on the company’s website.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Editor’s note: Looking for a credit card processor? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></p>


Shopify Payments Review

<p>PayPal is a huge name in the payments industry, serving 23 million merchants and 246 million consumers in more than 200 countries and regions. With a PayPal Business account and the PayPal Here app, small businesses can accept credit, debit, and PayPal payments online, in-store and on the go.</p>
<p><a href="https://businesscom.go2cloud.org/aff_c?offer_id=27&aff_id=1000&source=best-credit-card-processing&aff_sub=bestpick%7Clow-volume&aff_sub2=lineuprank%7C6&aff_sub3=deal%7CNo&aff_sub4=revenue%7CBZ-RFQ&aff_sub5=pos%7Ctext&url_id=1" target="_blank" rel="external nofollow noopener sponsored">PayPal</a> is one of the few processors that allows both businesses and individuals to accept payments, making it a popular choice for freelancers, consultants, solopreneurs, and other very small businesses. It has flat-rate pricing and no contract, so you only pay for the processing services you use, and you can close your account at any time without paying a penalty. For these reasons, it’s our pick as the best low-volume credit card processor.</p>
<p>PayPal is also our pick as the best Android mobile credit card processor. While some mobile credit card processing apps are platform-specific, the PayPal Here app works equally well on both Android and Apple phones and tablets, and its Android app includes all the same features as the Apple version.</p>
<p><i>Visit our best picks pages to see all of our recommendations for </i><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-credit-card-processing/"><i>credit card processing companies</i></a><i> and </i><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-mobile-credit-card-processing/"><i>mobile credit card processors</i></a><i>. If you want to learn more about </i><a href="https://www.business.com/reviews/paypal-working-capital-business-loans-and-financing-options/"><i>PayPal’s business loans and working capital</i></a><i>, check out our </i><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/small-business-loans-and-financing-options/"><i>small business loans</i></a><i> review.</i></p>
<h2 id="pricing-and-terms">Pricing and Terms</h2>
<p>If your business doesn’t accept many credit card payments each month, you may find it expensive to work with a full-service processor that has a monthly minimum processing requirement and a handful of regular fees, such as monthly statement and gateway fees, and an annual PCI compliance fee. Choosing a processor like PayPal that has flat-rate pricing and pay-as-you-go terms can save you money since you only pay for the processing you use.</p>
<p>PayPal is very transparent with its pricing, and you can find all of its rates and fees posted on its website. Here’s what you’ll pay when you accept credit cards using PayPal.</p>
<p><strong>Accepting credit card payments in-person using PayPal Here:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>2.7% of each transaction</strong> for credit cards, debit cards and contactless payments you accept in-person using the PayPal Here app and a card reader. The rate is the same, no matter what type of credit or debit card your customer uses – including mobile wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>3.5% + $0.15 of each transaction</strong> for the credit and debit cards you manually key or scan in using the PayPal Here app. If you don’t yet have a card reader and need to accept credit card payments, you’ll pay a higher rate.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Accepting payments online or by invoice:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>2.9% + $0.30 of each online transaction</strong> for credit and debit cards you accept through your website or digital invoice.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Accepting credit and debit card payments using a virtual terminal: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>3.1% + $0.30 of each transaction</strong> for the Visa, Mastercard and Discover payment cards you accept using PayPal’s virtual terminal (such as payments you accept over the phone, by fax or by mail).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>3.5% of each transaction</strong> for the American Express cards you accept using PayPal’s virtual terminal, PayPal Payments Advanced or PayPal Payments Pro.</li>
</ul>
<p>You’ll notice that PayPal’s transaction fees are somewhat higher than those of full-service processors. However, it’s still more cost-effective if your monthly processing volume is low, because you aren’t paying account fees.</p>
<p>If you use a full-service processor, you pay around $20 per month in account maintenance fees and have a monthly minimum of $25, which can be difficult to meet if you process less than $2,500 per month.</p>
<p>Here are the fees you won’t pay using PayPal:</p>
<ul>
<li>No application fee or setup fee</li>
<li>No monthly fee for statements and customer support</li>
<li>No monthly minimum processing requirement</li>
<li>No gateway setup fee</li>
<li>No monthly gateway fee</li>
<li>No annual fee</li>
<li>No annual or monthly PCI-compliance fee</li>
<li>No early termination or account closure fee</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>Incidental and optional fees.</i> </strong>Some of PayPal’s additional services cost extra. For example, if you need the money from your transactions immediately, you can pay 1% for an instant transfer from your PayPal balance to your bank account. Regular bank transfers are free and usually take one business day.</p>
<p>Here are some more examples of optional services that carry fees:</p>
<ul>
<li>Chargebacks: $20 per incidence</li>
<li>Recurring billing service: $10 per month</li>
<li>Advanced fraud protection services: $10 per month plus $0.05 per transaction</li>
<li>PayPal Payments Pro: $30 per month. This option allows you to accept payments directly on your website and includes a virtual terminal</li>
<li>Cross-border fee: 1.5% is added to the transaction fee when you accept payments from customers outside the U.S. If your cross-border payments require currency conversion, it costs an additional 2.5%</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Special pricing is available for certain business types: </strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Registered charities pay 2.2% + $0.30 for online donations; in-person donations cost the same as regular business accounts, at 2.7%.</li>
<li>Businesses with transactions less than $10 may qualify for PayPal’s micropayment fees, which cost 5% + $0.05 per transaction.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>Terms.</i></strong> There’s no long-term contract requirement with PayPal, as you accept a user agreement instead of signing a contract. As your business grows and your processing volume increases to the point where the savings from lower rates would surpass account fees and you want to close your PayPal account and switch to a full-service processor, you can do so at any time without penalty.</p>
<h2 id="features">Features</h2>
<p>One of the best things about PayPal is that you can accept various payment methods simultaneously – on the go, at a brick-and-mortar location and online, via invoice and website – and the money from all of your transactions goes into one PayPal account, making it easier to manage your finances.</p>
<p>Here are more features PayPal offers</p>
<p><strong><i>Free basic POS software.</i> </strong>To accept payments in person at your business or on the go, you install the PayPal Here app on your phone or tablet and attach a credit card reader. This mobile credit card processing app includes point of sale features that help you run your business.</p>
<p>Here’s what it can do:</p>
<ul>
<li>Accept credit and debit card payments</li>
<li>Record checks and cash payments</li>
<li>Create an inventory list and add photos of items</li>
<li>Add multiple users to your account and manage their access</li>
<li>Set taxes, suggest tip amounts, apply discounts at checkout</li>
<li>Email, text or print receipts</li>
<li>Refund sales</li>
<li>Generate sales reports</li>
<li>Transfer funds from your PayPal balance to your bank account or your PayPal Business Debit Mastercard</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>Card reader options.</i> </strong>PayPal has several card readers for you to choose from. The basic Mobile Card Reader costs just $19.99, but it isn’t EMV compliant as it only reads magstripe cards.</p>
<p>Because there’s a greater risk of counterfeit fraud when you use this card reader, PayPal will hold your funds in a reserve account if you use it to process more than $500 of sales in a seven-day period. You can avoid this problem by choosing one of PayPal’s other three card readers.</p>
<p>The following credit card readers are EMV compliant and connect to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth. PayPal also sells receipt printers, cash drawers, stands and cases.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>PayPal Chip and Swipe Reader: Free.</strong> Until December 31, 2019, new PayPal Here merchants will receive this card reader at no cost. If you need additional readers or you already have an account, it costs $24.99. With it, you can accept magstripe and chip cards.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>PayPal Chip and Tap Card Reader: $59.99 (or $79.99 with charging stand).</strong> Accepts magstripe, chip and contactless cards. This model also accepts mobile payments from Apple Pay and Google Pay as well as contactless credit and debit cards.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>PayPal Chip Card Reader: $99.99.</strong> Accepts magstripe, chip and contactless cards as well as mobile wallets. This is the only model that has a screen and a built-in PIN pad.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>PayPal integrations.</i> </strong>One of PayPal’s strengths is that it integrates with many business systems and applications. Here’s a small sampling of the business solutions PayPal integrates with:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/best-pos-systems/">POS systems</a> like Revel Systems, <a href="https://www.business.com/reviews/touchbistro/">TouchBistro</a> and Vend</li>
<li><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/ecommerce-platforms/">E-commerce platforms</a>, such as 3dcart, BigCommerce and Shopify</li>
<li><a href="https://www.business.com/categories/accounting-software/">Accounting software</a>, including QuickBooks, <a href="https://www.business.com/reviews/xero-accounting-software/">Xero</a> and <a href="https://www.business.com/reviews/zoho-accounting-software/">Zoho Books</a> <strong>[Read our <a href="https://www.business.com/reviews/quickbooks-online/">review of QuickBooks</a> for more information.]</strong></li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>Online payments.</i> </strong>PayPal makes it easy to accept credit, debit and PayPal payments online. It offers two plans for this payment method as well as a payment gateway option:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>PayPal Payments Standard.</strong> There’s no monthly fee for this plan; all you pay are the processing fees for your online transactions. With it, you place buy buttons on your website that redirect your customer to a checkout page hosted by PayPal.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>PayPal Payments Pro.</strong> This plan costs $30 per month. With it, you can design and host the checkout pages yourself. It includes a virtual terminal that you can use to key in credit card information for sales made over the phone or by fax or mail.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><strong>Payflow payment gateway. </strong>If you already have a merchant account through another processor and need a payment gateway for your website, this may be a good option for you. With it, you can accept credit and debit card payments on your website as well as PayPal payments. You can also offer your customers PayPal Credit as a payment option. It costs $0.10 per transaction (above the processing rates you pay your other processor), and there are no setup or monthly fees.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>Online invoicing.</i> </strong>You can create and send invoices by logging into PayPal’s website using your business account credentials or using the PayPal Business app on your phone or tablet. Your customer receives an email with a link, clicks the link to open the invoice and can then choose to pay the invoice using their credit or debit card or their PayPal account. There’s no cost to send invoices; when receiving payments from your customers, you pay 2.9% + $0.30 for each transaction.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Invoicing with Messenger.</strong> If you and your customers use Facebook, you can create invoices in Messenger to send to your customers. Your customers can click on the invoice in your message to pay it using their PayPal account.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong><i>Accept payments from international customers</i>. </strong>If your small business sells to customers in other countries, PayPal is a good processor for you. It accepts payments made in over 100 currencies around the world.</p>
<p><strong><i>PayPal Commerce platform.</i></strong> Startups with online marketplaces, crowdfunding platforms and other e-commerce solutions can use this advanced payment platform to allow their sellers to accept payments from buyers around the globe.</p>
<h2 id="additional-considerations">Additional Considerations</h2>
<p>Here’s additional information about PayPal to keep in mind as you decide which payment processing company is the best fit for your business.</p>
<p><strong><i>Customer service.</i> </strong>If you run into an issue using PayPal, you can call or email the company 24/7 or use the self-help resources on its website, which include live chat, FAQs, a searchable knowledgebase, how-to guides, a community forum and its Resolution Center that assists with customer disputes. Although the company lists extended phone hours on its website, a company rep noted that you can actually reach a customer service representative 24/7, though if you call after hours, your call may be routed to one of its international offices.</p>
<p><strong><i>Security</i>. </strong>PayPal uses multiple security measures to keep your customers’ payment data safe, including end-to-end encryption and 24/7 transaction monitoring. It complies with the data security standards established by the Payment Card Industry, and most of its card readers are EMV compliant, which deters counterfeit fraud. Your account is password-protected, and you can add a second authentication factor using PayPal Security Key, which sends a unique one-time PIN code to your phone via text.</p>
<p><strong><i>PayPal Business Debit Mastercard.</i></strong> Using this card, you can spend your PayPal funds at any store and receive 1% cash back on qualified purchases. You can also withdraw cash from in-network ATMs. There’s no annual fee for this business debit card.</p>
<p><strong><i>PayPal Business Loan and PayPal Working Capital.</i> </strong>Eligible merchants can receive <a href="https://www.business.com/reviews/paypal-working-capital-business-loans-and-financing-options/">small business loans and working capital through PayPal</a>. You can also offer your customers financing options on purchases over $99 through PayPal Credit.</p>
<h2 id="drawbacks">Drawbacks</h2>
<p>PayPal is a great solution for low-volume businesses as it allows you to accept credit, debit, and PayPal payments in-person and online on a pay-as-you-go basis with no monthly or annual account maintenance fees and no long-term contract. However, if you go beyond the basic credit card processing services, there are a lot of little fees to keep track of, and they could add up quickly. Though to PayPal’s credit, it lists them in full on its website.</p>
<p>Another issue to be aware of is held funds and frozen accounts, which is the cause of many online complaints. This problem isn’t exclusive to PayPal – you’ll find similar complaints about other payment facilitators online as well – as this type of payment processor tends to be more wary of fraud than traditional processors, and irregular patterns in your processing, such as spikes in transaction amounts or frequency, can raise red flags.</p>
<p>Following PayPal’s <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/why-is-my-money-being-held-in-reserve-faq688" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener external">seller best practices</a> can reduce the likelihood of having your money held in a reserve account. You also want to make sure that the products or services your business provides are within PayPal’s <a href="https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/acceptableuse-full?locale.x=en_US#activities-requiring-approval" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener external">acceptable use policy</a>; otherwise, your funds may be frozen or your account may be closed without notice.</p>
<p><em><strong>Editor’s note: Looking for the right credit card processor for your business? Fill out the below questionnaire to have our vendor partners contact you about your needs.</strong></em></p>


PayPal Credit Card Processing Review

Lori Fairbanks