Best Credit Card Processors for Small Business
For small businesses processing under $20K/month in cards, the right choice is usually whichever flat-rate processor matches your channel mix: Square for in-person, Stripe for online, Shopify for retail brands. Above $20K/month, the math shifts: interchange-plus processors (Helcim, Dharma, National Processing) start saving real money — typically 30–60 basis points effective rate.
- 1Square7.7/10
Free POS plus flat-rate processing — popular but rarely the cheapest.
Pricing: 2.6% + 10¢ (in-person)Contract: month-to-month✓ Free POS, free reader, no monthly fee, no contract✗ Flat-rate is expensive past ~$10–15K/mo in card volume - 2Helcim8.7/10
Interchange-plus pricing with no monthly fee — best-kept secret in SMB processing.
Pricing: Interchange + 0.4% + 8¢ (in-person)Contract: month-to-month✓ Interchange-plus pricing with PUBLIC rates — extremely rare✗ Smaller hardware lineup than Square or Clover - 3Stripe8/10
Developer-first online payments with transparent flat-rate pricing.
Pricing: 2.9% + 30¢ (online)Contract: month-to-month✓ Best-in-class developer documentation and APIs✗ Flat-rate is expensive once you cross ~$15K/mo in volume - 4National Processing8.2/10
Interchange-plus ISO with low monthly fee and strong restaurant pricing.
Pricing: Interchange + 0.14% + 7¢ (restaurants)Contract: month-to-month✓ Industry-specific public pricing — rare for an ISO✗ Smaller brand vs. Stripe/Square - 5Dharma Merchant Services8.7/10
Ethical, interchange-plus processing with strong nonprofit pricing.
Pricing: Interchange + 0.15% + 8¢ (retail)Contract: month-to-month✓ B-Corp certified — strong ethics positioning✗ $20/mo fee makes it pricier than Helcim at low volume - 6Shopify Payments7.2/10
Bundled with Shopify storefronts — penalty fees if you use anything else.
Pricing: 2.4%–2.9% + 30¢ (online, varies by plan)Contract: month-to-month✓ Native to Shopify — zero setup friction✗ Effectively forced — third-party processors get penalty surcharge - 7Chase Payment Solutions7.3/10
Bank-bundled processing — convenient if you already bank with Chase.
Pricing: 2.6% + 10¢ (in-person)Contract: month-to-month✓ Same-day funding to Chase business accounts✗ Real value requires already banking with Chase
Bottom line
If you're under $10K/month, Square or Stripe just based on simplicity. From $10K–$20K/month, evaluate Helcim — same simplicity, better economics. Above $20K/month, the case for interchange-plus is overwhelming and the only question is whether you want bundled hardware (Square) or pure processing (Helcim).
Head-to-head comparisons
Direct comparisons between the top-ranked processors on this list.
Fees that affect this category
Definitions, typical ranges, and how to negotiate them.
- Effective Rate1.80% (best-case low-risk) to 4.00%+ (poorly-priced tiered)
- SurchargingUp to 3% on credit cards (network rule)
- American Express Processing RatesOptBlue: 0.10%–0.30% above Visa rate. Amex Direct: 0.30%–0.80% above.
- Interchange Downgrades0.20%–0.80% extra cost per downgraded transaction
- Level 2 / Level 3 ProcessingSaves 50–100 basis points on commercial cards