Credit Card Processors Ratings Methodology 2024

At Forbes Advisor, our team of experts select and test credit card processing companies across 31 key metrics that matter to small businesses. We analyzed everything from reliability and affordability to features and inclusions, support quality and firsthand experience. We analyzed 15 of the leading credit card processors and with the help of our experts’ experience using these companies, we determined which are the best credit card processors for a variety of industries and business use cases from small online sellers to large multi-location companies selling in-person and online.

As a software, credit card processing providers are constantly evolving with new features and functionalities—and prices to go with them. Additionally, new processors are often entering the market, creating more competition and alternative options. For this reason, the experts at Forbes Advisor monitor the market, test new services and update our scoring accordingly to help ensure that our rankings remain accurate and up to date based on the latest pricing and versions of each provider considered in our in-depth analysis.

The team at Forbes Advisor consists of experienced in-house researchers, staff writers and editors. Every data analysis and ranking is carefully reviewed by multiple team members—at multiple levels—to ensure our scores reflect the product quality for small businesses. Data is periodically updated, along with our rankings and guides, to verify that all information is accurate and up to date. In return, we give our readers valuable information they can depend on to help them decide the best products for their unique needs.

We may earn a commission from select partner links on Forbes Advisor. However, the compensation we receive does not influence our editorial decisions, nor does it impact our product recommendations or any advice we offer in our content.

To develop a comprehensive scoring model, our team analyzed each of the included credit card processors across five overarching categories: pricing, general features, unique features, support and our expert analysis. Together, five categories span 31 metrics, including all key aspects of processing credit card payments to ensure that the top-rated providers offer all must-have features to meet the needs of a wide variety of businesses, as well as low fees, high reliability and the ability to accept a variety of payments in a variety of ways.

Pricing and Fees Pricing, and more importantly, value for price is a key element in the determination of the best credit card processing companies. Providers vary in terms of pricing structure, with some charging higher transaction fees with no monthly fees, while others charge a fixed monthly membership fee with more competitive transaction fees. We analyzed which are the most affordable for different types of businesses and use cases, such as low and high-volume sellers to seasonal sellers to determine which are the most affordable for various businesses.

Key Features

Our key features category covers all of the core features that businesses need from a credit card processing company. This not only includes the ability to accept payments from a variety of sources (e.g., Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, Apple Pay, Bitcoin, contactless payments, etc.) but also the ability to accept payments in a variety of ways from online to in-person. This category also considers the inclusion of invoicing, a reporting dashboard, data exports, PCI compliance, software integrations for added versatility and volume-based discounts.

	Payment Networks In order to process payments, businesses need to know which payment networks a provider accepts. While most accept all major credit and debit cards, such as Visa and Mastercard, others accept American Express, Discover, contactless payments, mobile payment options (e.g., Apple Pay, Google Pay), Bitcoin and the ability to buy now, pay later. While the average business will likely find that the major networks suffice, many will find additional payment options to be helpful in driving more sales.
	Payment Gateways Credit card processing companies inherently include payment gateways, however, which gateways are available varies by processor. While the vast majority offer the ability to accept payments online as well as in-person using mobile card readers or handheld terminals, others offer mobile apps that enable mobile devices to accept contactless payments, industry-specific terminals and full countertop registers. For this reason, we prioritized providers that offered a large range of gateways, giving businesses further flexibility.
	Software Integrations The leading credit card processing companies integrate with a large number of third-party providers to expand functionality for users. For example, businesses may wish to integrate with QuickBooks to automatically sync their payments to their accounting software or to their point of sale (POS) or customer relationship management (CRM) system to more effectively manage customers and sales. For this reason, we considered which providers offer users the most flexibility with the most integrations with major software providers that small businesses commonly use.
	Service and Support All credit card processors provide customer service and support, granted, support quality and available can vary greatly by provider. To help businesses find providers that offer quick and helpful support to assist in times of need, we considered which support channels are available to users (i.e., live chat, phone, email, tickets), support hours and how helpful its support teams are.

Unique Features

In addition to the core features, credit card processors often include a variety of unique features. These may include the ability to accept recurring payments, crypto payments, set up scheduled payments, create payment links, advanced fraud protection tools, surcharging and lending capabilities, and more.

Third-Party User Reviews

In order to gain a better understanding of what hundreds—even thousands—of users think of these credit card processing companies, we analyzed third-party reviews from reputable platforms, such as Trustpilot, G2 and Capterra. In doing so, it helps to gauge user satisfaction, as well as further uncover any hidden fees (if any), reveal support quality, usefulness of features, average payment turnaround time and ease of use. We not only considered the average rating, but the number of reviewers to ensure that we have a broad scope on any given provider.

Expert Score (Hands-on Testing)

To quantify soft—but crucial—metrics, such as ease of use, popularity, value for price and feature quality, we included our expert score, which is based on our own firsthand experience using payment processors. This includes processing payments, setting up integrations with third-party providers, creating invoices and using the reporting dashboard to view and manage transactions.

Our expert team considered dozens of credit card processors—including the biggest names in the business and rising stars alike. Our in-depth research process involves analyzing each processor, its transaction fees, monthly fees and any plans it offers across nearly two dozen metrics. Each of these metrics consider the key aspects of credit card processors that businesses need to easily, effectively and affordably process payments. The metrics are then weighted based on their importance to the average small business to score and rank the overall best credit card processing companies.

Best Credit Card Processing Companies

• Expert Score: 20% of score
• Payment Options: 20% of score
• General Features: 35% of score
• Ratings and Reviews: 10% of score
• Mobile App: 5% of score
• Customer Support: 10% of score

Read more: See our full Best Credit Card Processing guide.

Best Payment Gateways

• Mobile App: 5% of score
• Ratings and Reviews: 10% of score
• Customer Support: 5% of score
• General Features: 15% of score
• Payment Options: 15% of score
• Payment Gateways: 30% of score
• Expert Score: 20% of score

Read more: See our full Best Payment Gateways guide.

Best Credit Card Machines

• Pricing: 35% of score
• Features: 35% of score
• Expert Score: 30% of score

Read more: See our full Best Credit Card Machines guide.

Best High-Risk Merchant Account Providers

• Pricing: 10% of score
• Features: 60% of score
• Ratings and Reviews: 15% of score
• Expert Score: 15% of score

Read more: See our full Best High-Risk Merchant Account Providers guide.