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Taking Credit Card Payments

2,762 Views | 18 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Flaith
TexLeoAg
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We run a small business that has been gaining momentum as of late. As part of this uptick we are finding ourselves needing to take large credit card payments on a somewhat irregular basis. We take between 4-5 credit card payments a month. Each one being a few thousand dollars. Would anyone be able to make a personal recommendation on a service we can use to facilitate this? It's looks like most services require a large number of transactions or have very high fees.
LostInLA07
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AG
Square
John Maplethorpe
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AG
Braintree.

No monthly fees. No contract. 2.9% transaction fee.

Although with your volume you might consider a plan with fees(or minimum volume requirement) but a lower transaction rate.
TSW2012
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AG
I use square, similar deal. No issues
TexLeoAg
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Thanks everyone. I really appreciate the info!
BO297
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Is 2.9% Amex or just visa/mc on Braintree?

OP my business is similar to yours as far as transactions. I use PayPal Virtual Terminal. $30 per month. I don't remember exact rates, but I think I pay in the 2's for visa/mc and 3.5ish for Amex.

PayPal transfers funds to me the same day even on Amex. I've seen others take up to 5 business days.
Zemira
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AG
I setup square for a small nonprofit. Worked well for us either swipe, chip or online portal for 2.75% and next day or two day deposits.

It's higher for keyed transactions, above 3%, but can't remember exactly.

Was easier for us since there is no monthly fee and we mostly did transactions 3-4 months a year.
26.2
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https://squareup.com/

2.75% for swipe, dip, or tap (including Amex)
3.5% + $0.15 for keyed in
n_touch
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Agree with Squareup. You can get card reader for taking a card through your smart phone, or you can just send invoices through their site. I use it and PayPal, but prefer squareup. The charges are the same, the only difference to me is the money is moved nightly into your accounts.
LOYAL AG
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AG
You're in an odd spot. It sounds like you could be running north of $15K a month in total volume. That's enough to make Square expensive but probably not enough to make another processor bite. What might be interesting to you is someone like Payline. No contracts, no fees, highly rated customer service and very well reviewed by Card Payment Options which is the first place i go to do research.

Payline's pricing may be favorable to you. It's Interchange plus either .2% or .35% depending on the business model. For the vast majority of Visa and MC cards that's going to beat Square by a significant amount and there's no comparison for debit cards. 2.75% for debit is really expensive for debit.

Ultimately it comes down to the type of cards you're taking. If you're taking a lot of AMEX then Square might not be bad because they are expensive. If you're taking a lot of debit cards Square is too high. Rewards cards and cash back cards are expensive too, FYI.
LOYAL AG
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AG
DON'T sign up with First Data or Wells Fargo under any circumstances. Both of those are horrible.
oldag00
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AG
LOYAL AG said:

DON'T sign up with First Data or Wells Fargo under any circumstances. Both of those are horrible.
Can you elaborate on why?
LOYAL AG
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AG
oldag00 said:

LOYAL AG said:

DON'T sign up with First Data or Wells Fargo under any circumstances. Both of those are horrible.
Can you elaborate on why?


Their pricing commitments are relatively short term and will increase after 3-6 months. They prefer tiered pricing which is almost always worse for the merchant. Their sales model is one that uses multiple layers of Independent Sales Organizations with each one getting a cut of the transaction. Those all represent profit points that contribute no value to the merchant. They will lease you terminals for about $1500 total ($30/month usually for 4-5 years) that several other processors will sell you for $350 - $500. Their pricing is very vague and the discounts charged during the month of processing can be changed up to 60 days after the transaction due to a downgrade of the card. Independent reviews of First Data are not favorable. Their contracts also auto renew for lengthy periods of time. Really there's nothing good to say about First Data and Wells Fargo operates in a very similar fashion. Iirc WF actually is an ISO for First Data.
beb06
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AG
Braintree
LostInLA07
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AG
Braintree is PayPal. Are their terms different?

And I still maintain Square is the best start. If you find all your purchases are with a visa debit card than look elsewhere. But if you're like us and they are all rewards cards and AMEX it's a good deal.

Regardless a good starting point.
beb06
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AG
Our cards are all keyed in, so Braintree is cheaper than square in that case, which is why we switched. And also because Braintree allows storing card info in their 'vault' for recurring use, which we couldn't do with square.
Zemira
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AG
Why are you keying all the credit card info in instead of the customer?
beb06
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AG
Its a customer providing payment info by phone. Not a point of sale type of process.
Zemira
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AG
I guess since we were taking non profit donations I'm a cheapskate. I would just Email them an invoice to pay from via square. I understand if that isn't in your business process.
Flaith
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AG
Plastiq is another option
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