10 Best Credit Card Processing Companies in 2023

If you’re tired of credit card processors taking a sizable cut of every transaction, you’ll like Stax’s simple monthly payment model – you just pay a monthly subscription with no percentage-based markup. What’s more, it’s a beginner-friendly platform that’s easy to set up and start selling with, even if you have no prior experience.

While there is a small flat fee per transaction in addition to the usual interchange rates (which isn’t mentioned on the site), most businesses will benefit greatly from this payment model. If you’re earning over $5000 per month, you’ll save significantly over traditional processors that charge a percentage markup on every transaction.

Stax is a particularly good option for online selling, with an e-commerce platform that allows you to create a custom shopping cart in a few clicks. It also provides easy integrations for popular e-commerce platforms like WooCommerce and Shopify, as well as for accounting software like Quickbooks. Its flexible API even lets you implement your own checkout system and create custom integrations.

To top it off, Stax offers exceptional sales and technical support through various channels, including live chat, email, and phone. And unlike most processors, it features a comprehensive knowledge base on its site complete with helpful guides and videos covering just about everything there is to know about processing payments with this provider.

Payment Depot has high customer satisfaction. Anywhere you look online you’ll find happy merchants speaking of the savings they’ve made working with Payment Depot. And they’re not lying – Payment Depot is among your cheapest options, thanks to its low-priced monthly subscription model. 

Like nearly all monthly subscription credit card processors, there’s a minimum amount you’ll need to be earning to really take advantage of Payment Depot’s monthly pricing. As with Stax, I’d recommend a stable income of at least $5000 per month.

Unlike the support teams of many credit card processors who seem to disappear when issues occur, Payment Depot offers responsive and incredibly helpful 24/7 phone support. In fact, Payment Depot’s dedicated risk monitoring team helps your business avoid roadblocks even before they occur by minimizing your risk of chargebacks and fraud.

Leaders Merchant Services promises to try to at least meet, but in many cases beat, the rates of your previous processor. You’ll be asked to provide your two most recent monthly processing statements and the sales agent will try to offer a better deal overall. 

This makes Leaders Merchant Services a nice option if you’re already with a payment processor – you can use your current rates as a starting point on the negotiation table. On the flip side, merchants looking for their first payment processor might not get as great a deal, as the sales agent will have no existing rates to beat.

As for its actual payment processing services, Leaders offers reliable solutions for both in-person and online transactions. It also provides 24/7 technical support, with an entire department dedicated to helping you effectively dispute chargebacks. If you’re a mid or high-risk merchant, this will likely save you a lot of money (and headaches) over time.

If you operate in a high-risk industry or have a poor credit score, you’ll probably find that many credit card processors won’t even speak to you. Thankfully, PaymentCloud has a 98% approval rate – one of the highest in the US.

While mid and high-risk merchants are charged a slightly higher percentage markup per transaction, the rates are reasonable compared to other high-risk payment processors, who often take advantage of your narrower range of choice.

In addition to providing a free POS terminal, Payment Cloud can set up a virtual terminal and payment gateway for you. Furthermore, PaymentCloud has one of the longest lists of accepted payment methods I’ve seen from a credit card processor. It even accepts crypto, including popular coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monero.

It’s rare for a credit card processor to display all of its rates and fees prominently on its website. National Processing bucks this trend by clearly stating all of its pricing details upfront.

In an effort to be 100% transparent, National Processing offers a pricing calculator to help you work out the exact rates you’d be paying. Most of its plans charge a monthly subscription, a low percentage markup on interchange rates (usually less than 1%), and a flat transaction fee. These rates vary based on the method of sale and your industry.

National Processing also offers its own line of impressive POS solutions. The included software allows you to split checks, create loyalty programs, and more. Furthermore, it starts cheap – you can use your own tablet with a basic terminal and cash draw to get started. That said, National Processing’s rates aren’t the cheapest, even if they are competitive.

Flagship Merchant Services offers same-day funding to your merchant account, regardless of whether the sales were made in-person or online. Most merchants will leave you waiting over 24 hours to have access to your earned funds, so this is no small bonus.

Same-day funding allows you to more flexibly manage the financial difficulties of running a business. You can more easily meet monetary obligations, ensure your inventory remains well-stocked, and so on. The same-day funding service does cost extra, but it’ll be well worth it for many businesses. 

Flagship Merchant Services is also refreshingly easy to get started with – onboarding is straightforward and your account can be approved in just a few hours. That said, Flagship isn’t the most transparent processor when it comes to pricing. I’d recommend negotiating for a simple interchange-plus plan for the best deal.

Like Stax, CreditCardProcessing.com ditches percentage-based markups in favor of a simple monthly subscription plus flat transaction fee. While this transaction fee is quite high on its lower-volume plans, high-volume businesses get some of the cheapest transaction fees I’ve seen.

Sweetening the deal even further is the free Clover Mini terminal you get with the High Volume plan. This offers responsive software with tons of useful functionality. You can manage inventory, staff scheduling, and more, straight from the terminal. I rarely see Clover terminals offered for free, so this is a major perk of CreditCardProcessing.com’s High Volume plan.

In addition, every plan gives you free access to the premium Vindica service, which makes it easy to manage and optimize the selling of subscription services, thanks to detailed analytics and a user-friendly platform. Vindica also attempts to fix any failed payments automatically, helping to keep your customers happy and your revenue stable.

Small to medium-sized enterprises will find a lot to love about Chase Payment Solutions℠. With no mandatory contracts, monthly fees, or hidden costs, and a simple interchange-plus pricing, this credit card processor is designed to keep your overheads low. You won’t miss out on any core features, either. Your merchant account comes with a range of software to help you grow your business, including a customer buying habits tracker.

Chase also stands out for providing rapid access to your funds. Next-day payouts come as standard, and Chase banking customers even get same-day payouts. You may have to pay a small monthly fee for your bank account, but this can be waived if you meet certain criteria that are fairly accessible for mid-sized businesses.

Just be aware that you’ll have to purchase all of the hardware you need outright from Chase’s limited POS selection, which includes proprietary devices you may not be able to reprogram later. Fortunately, Chase regularly runs promotions on its device range, so you can get equipment for your premises (or field technicians) for less.

Luminous Payments encourages the use of cash, which isn’t something I thought I’d ever say about a credit card processor. Thanks to its Cash Discount plan, you can add your processing fees as a surcharge on all card payments. Your customers will get lower prices paying by cash – and either way, you’ll keep more of your money. 

If you’d prefer a more traditional payment model, Luminous Payments also offers flat rates, tiered rates, and interchange+ pricing. You can even combine these various pricing models in a custom plan tailored just for your business. Regardless of what you go for, Luminous Payments offers better rates than most.

That said, Luminous is pretty new to the industry and has yet to build up a real reputation. All of the early indications are positive, but some merchants may prefer to go with a more tried-and-tested option.

While it’s nearer the bottom of this list, ProMerchant can still offer a great deal to the right business. Its standout feature is its Zero Cost Processing plan, which is only available for retail businesses and restaurants. This plan allows you to pass credit card processing fees to your customers via a surcharge.

This means you get 100% of every payment you take – even interchange fees can be passed on to the customer. Because of this, ProMerchant better fits businesses with high sales volumes, who’d get the most out of saving on transaction fees. 

Keep in mind that you will still have to pay a monthly subscription, and the surcharge will slightly raise your prices. Also, if your business isn’t in the retail or food industry, you’d have to use ProMerchant’s Interchange Plus plan. Sadly, the rates offered by this plan aren’t so impressive, so it could be worth shopping around.