Top Payment Gateways in the US

The top payment gateways in the US include Ayden, Stripe, GoCardless, Authorize.net, TrustCommerce and PayPal.

Payment gateways are essential tools for any business, online or off. The purpose of a payment gateway is to accept and authorize credit card payments. The gateway serves as a secure third-party between the customer, merchant, and bank. Yet not all payment gateway providers are created alike, so it’s worth comparing features to find the best fit.

Top payment gateways in the US listed

Here are our top US payment gateway providers, in no particular order:

Adyen

Used in the US by big companies like Microsoft, Uber, Spotify, and others, Adyen is a popular tool for handling transactions. There are a few key features that set it apart from the rest, including integrated data insights. This means that the system helps businesses analyze buyer behavior to better serve their needs over time.

Additional perks of the Adyen online payment gateway include data-driven risk management tools to fight fraud, as well as the ability to accept over 250 different payment methods from a single platform.

TrustCommerce

Another top contender for best payment gateway is TrustCommerce, which connects merchants to multiple payment processors. It’s compatible with Chase Paymentech, Elavon, Vantiv, and others.

This payment gateway can handle credit and debit card payments, along with eChecks and ACH transfers. It can also handle recurring payments, ideal for subscription-based models. You can even set up a self-service portal for your customers, allowing them to make and track payments in real time. And with encryption and tokenization, payments are secure.

Stripe

The Stripe payment gateway is one of the best known within the United States, associated primarily with mobile payments. It’s designed with online businesses in mind, helping to take and process billions of dollars in transactions each year.

One thing that sets Stripe payment gateway apart is its flexibility. You can customize the product to best suit your business, including APIs for larger companies to enable crowdfunding, subscription, and marketplace transactions. It’s also a multi-currency platform that can take on mobile payments from different countries.

GoCardless

GoCardless offers an ACH Debit service that is more more reliable, secure and affordable than accepting card payments.

The merchant dashboard allows you to easily automate payment collection which reduces the burden of financial admin, delivering significant time savings to your team. One thing to be aware of is that ACH is not an instant payment and is therefore not suitable for use-cases that require immediate payment.

GoCardless makes getting paid, from one-off payments and invoices to recurring payments and subscriptions and international payments, quick and easy.

Authorize.net

One of the original payment gateway providers on this list, Authorize.net has been around since 1996. It supports both credit card and digital payments, with a wide selection of plans on hand to suit different business sizes and industries.

You can set up Authorize.net as an online payment gateway or an in-person POS for your retail store. All major credit cards are supported, and it’s fully integrable with online payment services like Visa Checkout and PayPal.

PayPal

Speaking of PayPal, it’s a payment gateway worth a mention on this list. With hundreds of millions of active users worldwide, it can handle payments big and small. One of PayPal’s strengths is its ease of use, whether you’re an individual contractor or larger company.

With a merchant account, you can accept credit card payments and integrate the gateway with your website’s checkout system. You’ll also be able to send online invoices and offer your customers a range of multi-currency payment options. 

Choosing a payment gateway for your business

Now that we’ve covered a few of the best payment gateway options in the US, how can you narrow these down to find the right fit? The answer will depend on your business type, industry, and trading volume. Those with lower sales volumes can choose a simple option with low monthly fees, for example.

Cost

Cost is definitely a factor to consider when comparing payment gateways, so look at fee structures carefully. These can vary widely but usually include setup costs, per-transaction fees, and administrative fees.

International Payments

Another question to ask yourself is whether you need to accept international payments. Does the gateway accept payments in multiple currencies? Does it have an interface that works with multiple languages and countries? For companies with a global client base, multi-currency payments are non-negotiable.

Security

Finally, security is a key issue to consider. Be sure that your gateway of choice is PCI DSS compliant and uses all of-the-moment standards like tokenization and encryption.

GoCardless can help with payment processing

GoCardless offers a more secure and affordable way of collecting payments and enjoys a higher payment success rate compared to cards, significantly reducing failed payments and allowing you to retain more customers.

GoCardless also helps you automate payment collection and bank reconciliation, cutting down the amount of financial admin your team needs to deal with.

Find out more about how GoCardless can save you time and money on payment collection.

Case Study: How PremierePC saves over $14k annually with GoCardless

PremierePC used to collect over 85% of their payments via credit cards, which meant hefty processing fees.

Switching to collecting payments through ACH Debit via GoCardless was simple and allowed the company to reduce payment collection fees by 85% and save around $1200 every month.

Find out more how GoCardless can save you time and money on payment collection.