What to Know Before Getting Started
Starting a New Business?
Selecting a credit card processor is often more complicated than most people expect. How much should you be paying in fees? Should you lease or buy equipment? Should you be locked into a service agreement for anything length of time? These considerations and several others are imporant to understand before signing up with any merchant account provider. Mistakes are easily made and can be very costly to your business. Along with seeing our top choices for payment services below, be sure to checkout this post to avoid common traps in the merchant services industry.
Considerations For Current Business Owners
Changing merchant accounts can be an expensive, complicated, and time consuming process. Are you really going to save as much as promised? Do you need to buy to new equipment or sign new lease agreements? Will there be other less accountable costs such as those associated with employee retraining? Before selecting one of our choices below, you may want to consider renegotiating your fees with your current payment processing vendors using the help of a contingency-compensated consultant. It can result in a dramatic decrease in costs without the pains of switching. In some cases business owner have also obtained substantial refunds of prior overcharges along with saving thousands in future processing costs. See this post to learn more about this little-known alternative to changing merchant account provider.
Save Time With Seamless Integration
Intuit’s QuickBooks accounting software is by far the most popular do-it-yourself bookkeeping program available for small business owners. Launched in 1994, the service has since become a household name with a market share above 80% and an entire suite of specialized business solutions. If you use QuickBooks and also accept credit cards, the odds are that you’ve considered syncing your merchant account with QuickBooks to save you the time of manually entering your transaction information. But not all merchant accounts support direct QuickBooks integration, and among those that do, there aren’t many competitively priced options—Intuit’s own payment processing service included.
Find the Best
That’s why we’ve compiled this list of highly rated credit card processors that also offer QuickBooks integration. The following providers are divided into two groups: those with direct integration and those with indirect integration. Providers with direct integration offer solutions like payment gateways, plugins, or APIs that seamlessly transfer your transaction details and payment history from your merchant account to QuickBooks. Providers with indirect integration can still be used with QuickBooks, but they may require you to take extra steps such as manually uploading reports or signing up with a third-party service.
Our unbiased articles are supported in part by helping you find highly reviewed merchant accounts. You can learn more here.
Why These Merchant Account Providers
Fattmerchant
Best Overall Option
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’s cutting-edge Omni Payments Platform integrates directly with QuickBooks Online for an easier accounting flow.
Fattmerchant + QuickBooks
Fattmerchant’s Omni Payments Platform can connect to QuickBooks Online with just a few clicks. This two-way integration automatically updates your customers, payments, and invoices across both apps throughout the day, eliminating the need for any manual reconciliation. You can send invoices to your customers or key in payments in either platform and the changes will be reflected in both. Other options include syncing sales receipts or using website payments with QuickBooks invoicing.
Fattmerchant Reviews
Fattmerchant offers multiple pricing plans with different rates, but all of its plans charge a fixed monthly fee and a fixed per-transaction dollar amount above interchange. In other words, none of Fattmerchant’s plans charge a percentage-based fee on each transaction, meaning that merchants will not pay more to process a large transaction than they will a small 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.
Shopify
E-Commerce Made Easy
Shopify is a great solution for e-commerce merchants who may or may not maintain physical storefronts. In addition to an endlessly customizable online store experience, Shopify offers chargeback recovery, email marketing, rewards programs, and an iPad-based point-of-sale application that merchants can use to accept payments in-person. Shopify offers month-to-month pricing plans with variable pricing and product tiers.
Shopify + QuickBooks
Integrating with QuickBooks through Shopify can only be accomplished via a third-party plugin. As a result, your experience with using QuickBooks through Shopify will vary depending on which plugin you select. Fortunately, the Shopify App Store has an entire section devoted specifically to different QuickBooks integration solutions, complete with reviews and descriptions of each plugin. Merchants can select which one is most appealing in terms of features, pricing, and user feedback, and some even include free trial periods.
Shopify Reviews
Shopify is headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, and has been in operation since 2005. The company provides phone, email, and live chat support to all of its merchant tiers and enjoys very few online complaints despite its massive user base. The BBB gives Shopify an “A+” rating at this time, while CardPaymentOptions.com awards the company an “A.”
For more information, see the Shopify website.
Durango Merchant Services
Niche Specialists
Durango Merchant Services is another traditional merchant account provider that specializes in hard-to-place or high risk business types. Although the company can provide processing for most standard retail, MOTO, or e-commerce businesses, it is also able to serve businesses that have poor credit or that require offshore merchant accounts, such as travel, collections, supplements, dating websites, MLM ventures, or magazine sales.
Durango + QuickBooks
Durango’s PCI-compliant payment gateway includes a QuickBooks SyncPay plugin that enables merchants to process transactions directly from within their QuickBooks software. The service is compatible with QuickBooks Premier, QuickBooks Pro, and QuickBooks Enterprise. It includes features like invoicing, sales receipts, batch processing, and batch reporting. Merchants should be aware that QuickBooks SyncPay is not compatible with QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Accountant, or QuickBooks POS.
Durango Merchant Services Reviews
Founded in 1999, Durango Merchant Services maintains its headquarters in Durango, Colorado, and offers phone and email support to both U.S. and international merchants. The company currently has an “A+” rating with the BBB and an “A+” rating with CardPaymentOptions.com.
For more information, see the Durango Merchant Services website or call (888) 316-1897.
Other Merchant Account Options
The providers in this section may not have been researched as thoroughly or may lack a quality that prevented them from being listed above. We have listed them here to provide a broader view of potential merchant account options. Are you a decision maker with your company and believe that you should be listed below? Tell us here.
Payline Data
Payline Data deserves a spot on this list because it has consistently ranked as one of the most transparent, affordable merchant account providers on CardPaymentOptions.com ever since our first review of the company. Payline Data offers interchange-plus pricing to all of its merchants with month-to-month contracts, no early termination fees, and fixed, low monthly fees. Additionally, the company has received a dozen or so positive testimonials online and only a handful of public complaints in its entire history.
Payline offers QuickBooks integration through its Payline Gateway, an online application that enables merchants to accept transactions online or in person via a virtual terminal. The exact method and extent of integration depends on what the merchant specifically requires, but the company’s integration portal lists a number of different options for novices and tech-savvy merchants alike (inquire directly for more information). Payline does not specifically charge extra for QuickBooks integration, but merchants should be sure to inquire about any potential costs that are associated with adding a payment gateway or integrating other necessary features.
Founded in 2009, Payline Data is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company offers phone and email support as well as an online help forum and knowledge base for all of its merchants. Payline Data currently has an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and an “A+” rating with CardPaymentOptions.com.
Dharma Merchant Services
Dharma Merchant Services is one of the most highly rated providers on CPO. Founded in 2007, the company is based in San Francisco and reflects the city’s famous culture of openness and acceptance. Dharma scores highly in our review due to its exceptionally rated customer service, ethical marketing practices, competitive rates, and fair service agreements. The BBB currently provides a rating of “A+” for Dharma Merchant Services, while CardPaymentOptions.com also gives the company an “A+.”
Dharma services most business types in the standard risk category but specializes in those that process in excess of $10,000 per month in credit card transactions. Those that process less than $10K per month (on average) may want to contact another provider in this list.
This provider can integrate in to Quickbooks’ accounting software in two ways: First, Dharma utilizes Authorize.net’s QB sync for QuickBooks. This is a popular method and used by the majority of providers in the industry, and merchants seem to have few issues with it. The second and less popular options is integration through Fi-Soft. This method allows for direct integration but can be more costly and complicated, and should be reserved for specific cases in which direct integration is a requirement.
For more information, see the Dharma Merchant Services website or call (888) 404-1237.
Banc Certified Merchant Services
Founded in 1996, Banc Certified Merchant Services is a merchant account provider that focuses on providing web-based processing solutions for small and mid-size businesses. Banc Certified integrates with QuickBooks via a plugin for its virtual terminal and online payment gateway. This is one of the simplest methods for QuickBooks integration available.
Headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio, Banc Certified Merchant Services offers month-to-month contracts with interchange-plus pricing and no early termination fees to all new merchants. The company has very few complaints across all consumer protection websites and appears to offer solid customer support. Our review of Banc Certified Merchant Services currently gives the company an “A” rating, while the BBB gives Banc Certified an “A+” rating.
AdvoCharge
AdvoCharge is yet another merchant account provider with very positive reviews across all merchant forums. Based in Boulder, Colorado, the company offers interchange-plus pricing with low, fixed monthly fees, month-to-month agreements, and no termination fees. AdvoCharge currently enjoys the distinction of having zero online complaints filed against it across all consumer protection websites, further reinforcing its credentials as a quality provider.
AdvoCharge integrates with QuickBooks via its QBCharge plugin. This service is a complete integration with QuickBooks Merchant Services that allows merchants to utilize their AdvoCharge merchant accounts alongside their QuickBooks accounting program. AdvoCharge offers QBCharge to merchants for $10 per month.
AdvoCharge was founded in 2009 and offers phone and email support to all of its merchants. The company has an “A” with the BBB and an “A+” with CardPaymentOptions.com.
If your business offers QuickBooks integration for merchant accounts, please leave us a comment in the section below or get in touch using our contact page in order to get listed in this article.
About Phillip Parker
Thank you for reading my review. I hope that it has helped you with your research.
Why I'm Qualified to Write About Credit Card Processing and Merchant Account Services
I'm a former credit card processing sales director who left the industry because I didn't like how it takes advantage of small business owners. It feeds like a leech on businesses and thrives by imposing fees that are nearly impossible to comprehend. Seeing a need for change, I left and built this website help business owners better understand the industry, research merchant services providers, and get refunds of excessive merchant account fees. My experience of working "behind the curtain" in the industry, and using that knowledge for good, has resulted in millions of dollars returned to hard-working small business owners as well as enterprise-level companies.
From the time that I starting working in the merchant services industry to when I left to create this website, I've been on the pulse of payments for nearly 15 years. It didn't seem fair to keep this "insider" knowledge to myself. To lift the fog, I've reviewed hundreds of companies, read thousands of user reviews, and learned the pricing tricks of every provider. If you have questions about credit card processing, you can find the answers on this website.
We are looking for a merchant account that is compatible with Quickbooks Point of Sale. Only one of those listed mentions QB POS, and that is to say that it does NOT work with it. As a non-profit organization, we need a cheaper solution than going through Intuit and paying their exorbitant charges. Suggestions? Thanks.
Hi Peggy,
There is no approved way to fully integrate a third-party merchant account directly with QuickBooks Point of Sale at this time (see this FAQ page). It is possible to link a third-party payment processor to QuickBooks Point of Sale, but you will have to manually enter transaction information into QuickBooks every time you process a payment. This may be okay for your organization if you do not have a highly active sales/donation environment. However, it will require extra work for each transaction and will not function like a fully integrated system (i.e. automatically tracking the payments for you in QuickBooks).
Good info, but list should be updated with information on EMV compliance. As far as I can tell, none of these solutions are EMV capable. I found [Redacted – restricted promotional content] to have a EMV capable solution (we are using their non EMV compliant solution right now), but cost of switching is expensive. I was hoping to find a less expensive solution that integrates directly with QBPOS.
Hi Mike, all of the providers in this list either offer EMV compliant hardware or have announced that they will accept liability for any fraudulent transactions run through their non-compliant hardware (at least until they have a compliant solution). Unfortunately, as of the posting of this reply, Intuit does not allow any third-party merchant account integrations with QBPOS. As a proprietary POS system, they have restricted merchants to using Intuit Merchant Services. If you wish to switch away from Intuit Merchant Services, you’ll either be forced to find a different POS or use a standalone terminal in conjunction with the POS and manually enter the sale in QBPOS.
I hope this helps you with your question. Best of luck with your business!
The point Phillip makes is a moot one. Although Intuit may claim they’ll accept responsibility for fraudulent claims and you pay their (handsome) PCI fees, the reality is; when push comes to shove and you have an issue, Intuit tells you to work it out with the customer (they won’t intervene ). In any dispute escalated for further review they charge the merchant a $500 fee per transaction to arbitrate. Meanwhile they hold your funds in limbo for 90 days. So intuit really doesn’t have any incentive to resolve fraud or disputed issue either way (and the customer is always wrong at Intuit ). Intuit always ride the elevator… you take the shaft.