Online Payment Processors: Instant Payments, Faster Business

Although online accounting solutions are true blessings for every decent business around the globe, there is one thing that is quite unpleasant for both business owners and their clients: payments. Let’s face it: you want to get paid immediately and decent clients want to pay as soon as possible too. Thankfully, you have the option to speed up the payment process by either allowing fast payment of your invoices for a transaction-based fee or by simply integrating a payment processor such as PayPal, Braintree and Stripe to your cloud accounting software. In this article we present you the latter option with the help of the above payment processors.

PayPal is without doubt the best-known payment processor with which you can choose from multiple payment processing options. You could send an invoice to your customers and let them pay via their PayPal account, or Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover cards. By placing buy buttons on your website, or by using PayPal Virtual Terminal for mobile payments or PayPal Here for in-store purchases, you can have your customers instantly pay on the spot. Furthermore, the latter option can easily function as a complete POS system too. PayPal only charges $0.30 + 2.9% per transaction – unless transactions occur in the other 20+ currencies – while the chargeback fee is $20. To avoid your customers being directed to PayPal, you can subscribe to Payments Pro for $30 per month, which also includes the Virtual Terminal. PayPal is available for integration with most of the best-known online accounting solutions including FreeAgent, FreshBooks, KashFlow, QuickBooks Online, Xero, Sage One and Zoho Books.

Braintree has no subscription or installment fee and it offers its users advanced free fraud protection, bank-level data security, recurring billing, and a single integration into your website or app. We left the best thing for last: with the exception of the always applicable $15 chargeback fee, you can use this software completely free of charge until your business sales cross $50.000 after which you have to pay the 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction.

Too good to be true, right? Yes, because unfortunately there is one catch: Braintree is available for FreshBooks and Zoho Books only.

Stripe

Stripe allows its users to accept payments by Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover cards, and other, lesser-distributed credit cards such as JCB and Diners Club. Stripe is capable of handling over 100 currencies including crypto-currencies like Bitcoins too. It lets you accept mobile payments via iOS and Android devices, set recurring billing, offer coupons, free trials, installment payments, save credit card data, and last, but not least, you can flawlessly integrate the software with other apps, including online accounting software. Stripe has no charges aside from the usual 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction fee and the $15 chargeback fee, which can be refunded in case of fraudulent claims. This software is available for Xero, FreshBooks, QuickBooks Online, FreeAgent, KashFlow and Zoho Books.