As a dentist, you might assume that taking credit cards at your office is a fairly straightforward process. However, the truth is that merchant accounts come with a wide array of potential benefits and drawbacks. Some useful services for dentists include automated billing tools, online marketing, and virtual terminals for your front desk. But there are also some potential pitfalls like long-term equipment leases, hidden fees, and poor customer support. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you could get stuck in an expensive contract that you can’t extract yourself from.
To help you avoid traps and find a good fit for you, we’ve put together the following list of the best merchant accounts for dentists. The providers on this list offer virtual terminals, digital billing, online marketing tools, and other useful services for collecting payment from your patients. These providers are also known to provide low-commitment contracts with transparent pricing and quality customer service. To find the right provider for your dentistry practice, be sure to research each processor’s products and features and compare pricing and terms.
Best Merchant Accounts for Dentists
Host Merchant Services is a Newark, Delaware-based merchant account provider that is a great fit for DDS offices. The company’s products and services include point-of-sale solutions, online marketing tools, an online payment gateway and virtual terminal, mobile credit card processing, and merchant cash advance. Host Merchant Services specializes in e-commerce businesses and provides a free website and email address to interested new merchants. Host is an affordable options for dentists who would like to affordably accept credit cards both in person and online.
Host Merchant Services has received only positive feedback on public forums, with most reviewers singling out the company’s customer service for praise. Host offers interchange-plus pricing with no early termination fees to all of its merchants, meaning that users will enjoy the most transparent pricing model and can cancel service without penalty. The BBB gives Host an “A+” rating, and CPO also gives the company an “A+.”
For more information, visit the Host Merchant Services website or call (888) 727-4538.
Based in Woodland Hills, California, PaymentCloud is a merchant account provider that specializes in serving high risk business types. The company’s products and services include point-of-sale solutions, mobile phone swipers, an online payment gateway and virtual terminal, EMV-compatible terminals, and merchant cash advances. PaymentCloud is a good option for DDS offices.
PaymentCloud provides a dedicated account rep to all new merchants for the life of the account. The company has not received any negative complaints on consumer forums, and it customizes its pricing according to each merchant’s business type and processing history. The BBB does not maintain a profile for PaymentCloud at this time, but CPO gives the company an “A.”
For more information, visit the PaymentCloud website or call (888) 506-7859.
Active since early 2014, Fattmerchant is a merchant account provider leading the industry’s move toward flat-rate, subscription-style pricing. The company’s products and services include EMV-compatible countertop terminals, a virtual terminal, an online payment gateway, an online shopping cart, mobile phone processing, QuickBooks integration, online invoicing, and recurring billing. Fattmerchant is capable of serving all standard-risk healthcare environments and offers a comprehensive dashboard for tracking all payments and customers.
Fattmerchant offers multiple pricing plans with different rates. Merchants can select either a plan that charges a flat fee on all transactions or a plan that charges a fixed monthly fee plus a fixed per-transaction dollar amount above interchange. In other words, merchants can choose whether or not they are charged a percentage markup on each transaction. Fattmerchant currently has an “A” rating on CPO and an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau.
For more information, visit the Fattmerchant website, or call (866) 397-9826.
Additional Options
Located in Chesapeake, Virginia, CDG Commerce is another ideal option for dentist’s offices of all sizes and types. CDG has been privately owned since 1998 and offers a proprietary payment gateway (as well as a discount on Authorize.Net’s payment gateway), a virtual terminal, QuickBooks integration, mobile phone processing, sales reporting, security breach protection, and vulnerability scanning. CDG Commerce is ideal for dentistry locations that require a simple, low-cost, integrated method for accepting online and in-person payments.
CDG Commerce only charges a low, fixed fee per transaction and offers competitive contractual terms, including no annual fees, monthly minimums, or termination fees. CDG also offers next day funding to most business types. CDG has earned an “A+” rating in our review as well as an “A+” rating with the BBB.
For more information, see the CDG Commerce website or call (888) 393-1079.
Transparent Merchant Services is a Scottsdale, Arizona-based merchant account provider that offers a unique, membership-style pricing model. Rather than charging a percentage of each transaction, Transparent charges a small, flat fee above interchange on all transactions in addition to a fixed monthly membership fee. This makes Transparent remarkably affordable for merchants that process a low number of large-ticket transactions—which certainly applies to dentists. This pricing plan also keeps the company’s charges predictable and transparent from month to month. Transparent Merchant Services has the potential to be the most affordable option available for some dentists.
Transparent has received exclusively positive public feedback since it opened in 2008 and offers month-to-month agreements with no early termination fees. Transparent provides its merchants with live phone support during business hours as well as chat support and email support. Our review of Transparent gives the company an “A” rating, while the BBB gives Transparent an “A+” rating.
For more information, see the Transparent website or call (888) 510-2937.
Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Payline Data has consistently rated as one of the best merchant account providers on CPO since we first reviewed the company. Payline is capable of serving dentists’ offices of all sizes and types. The company offers traditional retail credit card terminals, mobile phone credit card processing (via Flint), an online payment gateway and virtual terminal, QuickBooks integration, third-party shopping cart integration, API integration, and various point-of-sale solutions. Payline Data is a great option for any dental health professional, regardless of size or specialty.
In addition to its wide array of services, Payline Data offers interchange-plus pricing with month-to-month contracts and no early termination fees. As a result, the company enjoys a large number of positive testimonials from its clients on this website and in other consumer protection forums. The Better Business Bureau currently assigns Payline Data an “A+” rating, and CPO also gives Payline an “A+.”
Based in San Francisco, California, Dharma Merchant Services is a highly rated merchant account provider that places a corporate emphasis on social consciousness and community outreach. The company’s products and services include countertop terminals, mobile device payment processing, an online payment gateway (Authorize.Net), QuickBooks integration, small business financing, and custom fundraising pages for non-profits. The company extends special pricing to non-profit organizations and donates a percentage of its profits to non-profits of its choosing every year. Dharma is best suited to provide savings for dentists who process over $10,000 per month.
Dharma scores highly in our review and elsewhere due to its positively reviewed customer service, transparent marketing practices, competitive interchange-plus rates, and fair service agreements. The BBB currently assigns a rating of “A+” for Dharma Merchant Services, while CardPaymentOptions.com also gives the company an “A+.”
For more information, see the Dharma Merchant Services website or call (888) 404-1237.
