Five different kinds of business end up in one column on a list of credit card processing companies, which is why the names never seem comparable. A card network, an issuing bank, an acquirer, a reseller and a software platform sit side by side. They do different jobs, and you are not choosing between all of them.
Who does what in a card sale
Follow one sale through. A customer taps. The transaction goes to the acquirer, which is the bank side that holds your merchant account. It routes through the card network. The customer’s issuing bank approves or declines and takes interchange for lending the money. Funds come back the other way and land in your account.
You do not choose the network and you certainly do not choose your customer’s bank. What you choose is who holds your merchant account, who sells and supports it, and what software rings the sale. That is a much shorter decision than a list of forty names suggests.
The five kinds of business on a list of credit card processing companies
Card networks. Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. They set the rules and publish their own schedules. Amex has historically had a different relationship with merchants than the others, which is why it sometimes appears separately in an agreement.
Issuing banks. They issue the cards your customers carry and take interchange. Not your counterparty and not a choice you make.
Acquirers and processors. The bank and platform side that underwrites your merchant account and settles your money. Your account ultimately sits with one of these, whoever sold it to you.
Resellers, ISOs and agents. Sell, board and support merchant accounts on behalf of an acquirer. This category is the largest by number of names and the widest by quality. Some are excellent and know your category properly. Some are a phone number that stops answering after the install.
Software platforms and payment facilitators. Square, Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Toast and Clover among them, each with its own published pricing and its own model. Some sit you underneath their own master account rather than boarding you individually, which is what makes signup fast and also what makes an account review feel abrupt when it happens.
Why the names look so different from each other
Because a platform is selling you a product and an ISO is selling you an account. A platform publishes one price for everybody and you take it or leave it. An account sold by a reseller is priced per merchant, which means it can be better or worse than the published option and you will not know until you read the schedule.
Neither model is dishonest. They just cannot be compared by name. They can only be compared by full written schedule against your own volume, which is what our credit card processing fee calculator is for.
Getting from a long list to three real options
Cut it with questions instead of reading more names.
Does it run your category properly? A store with thousands of SKUs, case breaks, age prompts and lottery is a different problem from a coffee shop with forty items.
Who holds the account, and is that in writing? Ask the name of the acquirer, not just the brand on the terminal.
What is the complete fee schedule, every line, in writing?
What are the exit terms: length, notice period, what leaving costs, and who owns the hardware?
Who answers when the lane is down on a Saturday, and what do they actually fix?
Five answers in writing will take a list of forty to a shortlist of three faster than any comparison table. How the pieces fit together for a store like yours is on our how it works page, and what a changeover involves is on our switching page.
Where we sit in that picture
We are in the fourth group. We set up point-of-sale systems and card processing for liquor stores, convenience stores, bodegas, small grocers and gas station c-stores, we are not a bank, and the merchant account is underwritten and approved by the acquiring bank rather than by us.
Our own published rate is 2.50% plus $0.10 on an in-person sale, and 2.90% plus $0.25 keyed or online. The monthly fee, annual fee, setup fee, statement fee, PCI fee, customer service fee and batch fee are each $0.00. Sample pricing applies to new accounts applying directly; pricing is subject to underwriting, MCC and the merchant agreement; rates may differ and are subject to change.
We would rather you knew that before you talked to us than after. If your current setup is already reasonable, we will say so. If it is not, send us what you are paying and we will show you the difference on your own numbers. And if what you actually want is off a particular platform, our alternatives page covers that comparison in more detail.
Frequently asked questions
Is a bigger company safer to sign with? Size buys stability and rarely buys attention. What matters more for a one-store operator is who picks up when a lane goes down mid-shift and whether they know your category. Ask a prospective provider what their support hours are and what they can actually resolve remotely rather than escalate.
Why does the same processor quote two different prices? Because merchant-specific pricing is set per account, based on your volume, your average ticket, your category and whoever negotiated it. This is why a published flat rate and a quoted schedule cannot be compared as headlines. Convert both to an effective rate on your own numbers first.
Should I go direct rather than through a reseller? Not necessarily. A good reseller who understands high-SKU retail is worth more than a direct relationship with nobody attending to you. A bad one is worth nothing. Judge the specific people you would be dealing with, ask who holds the account, and get every commitment they make in writing.
How many quotes should I get? Three is enough. More than that and the schedules start blurring and the decision drifts for months while you keep paying whatever you pay now. Get three complete written schedules, run all three on one month of your own figures, and choose.