糖心原创

Cash used to be king, but as non-cash payment preferences continue their prolific rise, choosing a payment processor is a choice even small businesses have to make. In its 2025 study on triennial payments, the , with cards at over three-quarters of transactions by number. Payment processing technology has become a critical part of daily operations because transaction volume continues to grow, directly affecting margins, payout timing, and reconciliation.

To remain competitive, small business owners need an efficient, reliable way to process non-cash payments. But not all systems are created equal. So how do you choose the right payment processor for your business?

This guide covers what payment processing is, the most popular b2b payment methods, and tips for choosing a payment processor.

Table of Contents

• What is a payment processor?
• Payment Processor vs. Payment Gateway
• What are the most popular B2B digital payments?
• How to Choose a Payment Processor
• Common Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Payment Processor
• Frequently Asked Questions About Payment Processors
• Choose a payment processor with your future needs in mind.

What is a payment processor?

A payment processor authorizes and routes digital transactions between a customer, a business, and banks. When a customer makes a digital payment, the processor returns the issuer’s approval or decline, then helps any approved payments move through clearing and settlement.

糖心原创’s payment processing partner provides this high-level overview of how payment processing works:

1. The customer selects a payment method and submits the payment details.
2. The payment gateway captures and encrypts that data before passing it to the processor.
3. The processor routes the authorization request through the relevant network to the customer’s bank.
4. The bank checks the account and returns an approval or decline through the same chain.
5. Approved payments move through capture, clearing, and settlement. The provider then sends the payout, minus applicable fees.

Approval usually takes seconds, but settlement takes longer. That distinction matters because an “approved” sale doesn’t mean the cash is already available. Card settlement often occurs one to three business days later.

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Payment Processor vs. Payment Gateway

A payment gateway is a software tool that collects and encrypts payment details. A payment processor routes the transaction and supports settlement. Think of the gateway as the airport security checkpoint where payment details are collected and encrypted, and the processor as the system that routes your transaction through authorization and settlement to your departure gate.

Many modern payment processing solutions bundle the two, so businesses rarely need a separate gateway contract. provides gateway and processing services, combines payment capture and processing, and adds acquiring (the merchant account that receives approved funds from a bank) to the same platform.

What are the most popular B2B digital payments?

Digital payments continue their surge in popularity in B2B. In 2025, only were made by check. Below are the most common B2B digital payment methods.

• Credit and debit cards: Still a tried-and-true B2B digital payment method (also most popular for recurring charges or subscriptions). Fast for the buyer and familiar at checkout. The percentage fee, however, can become expensive on large invoices.

• ACH credit transfer: A process in which a B2B customer issues or “pushes” money from their account to the recipient’s.

• ACH debit transfer: The business automatically pulls the payment from the B2B customer’s account. It works well for recurring bills, but return rules and settlement timing differ from cards.

• Wire transfers: Electronic funds sent between bank accounts. Useful for urgent or high-value bank payments.

How to Choose a Payment Processor

All payment processors authorize and route digital transactions, but they differ in cost structure, settlement speed, integration capabilities, and customer payment options. When I chose a payment processor for our family-owned retro camera store, I focused on four payment questions that would affect the business long after setup:

• What would a normal month and a peak month cost?
• When would the money reach our account?
• How would we reconcile each payout with its sales, refunds, and fees?
• What would happen if a payment failed or a customer disputed it?

Using those questions as a practical baseline, I expanded them below into five factors to consider when choosing a payment processor: Cost, integration, customer payment options, security, and settlement speed.

1. Cost

Start with how the processor calculates its fee. With flat or blended pricing, you pay one advertised rate. At a hypothetical rate of 2.6% plus $0.15, a $100 sale would cost $2.75 to process.

With interchange-plus pricing, the bank and card network costs are charged separately, and the processor adds its own markup. For example, if the underlying costs were $1.80 and the processor added $0.40, that $100 sale would cost $2.20.

Additional Charges

Next, look beyond the advertised transaction rate. Setup, monthly, PCI compliance, and chargeback fees can raise the real bill. Also, look for gateway, cross-border, instant-payout, and early-termination charges.

This table gives a visual breakdown of fee types and where they occur.

Pro tip: Give each finalist one normal month and one peak month from your transaction history. Include volume, transaction count, average ticket, and channel mix. Add refunds, disputes, international share, and ACH volume.

Ask for a written all-in estimate, then calculate effective rate = total processing-related charges ÷ processed sales volume × 100. Also compare cost per approved payment. A fixed authorization charge can hurt a low-ticket business more than a small rate difference.

2. Ease of Integration

A payment processing company may say that it integrates with a team’s existing tech stack, but make sure the payment processor really does integrate well before signing a contract. Test whether payments, fees, refunds, and disputes map back to the correct customer or invoice:

• Ask for a sandbox or trial.
• Run a sale, partial refund, failed payment, and chargeback.
• Export the transaction and payout reports afterward for further analysis.

For teams that already manage deals in 糖心原创, connects CPQ, billing, and payments with CRM context. drafts personalized quotes from deal data and applies pricing or discount rules, while 糖心原创’s keeps the quote, e-signature, and payment on one buyer page. Sales can move an approved deal forward without finance rebuilding the customer and price in another system.

3. Customer Payment Options

Choose the methods that buyers use in each channel and country. The methods can include one-time and recurring payments, online and in-person acceptance, settlement currencies, and local methods like BLIK in Poland.

Local payment methods can be critical to your business. Duolingo product manager said in Nigeria moved away from cards after Duolingo added local payment methods, and total purchases rose.

Keep in mind that the payment path should also match how your team sells. lets a rep collect a one-time or recurring card or ACH payment without a website or code. Alternatively, when a buyer needs a formal bill, puts payment on the invoice and keeps the amount due, payment status, and customer record together.

4. Security and Compliance

Choose a processor that adheres to PCI DSS, the industry security rules for handling card details. The current version is . Ask the payment processor to explain which security tasks it handles and which ones remain your responsibility.

For an SMB, the safest option is usually a checkout page or payment form hosted by the processor. Ask the sales rep whether card numbers stay out of your systems, payment details are encrypted, and employees only see the information they need. Processor-hosted forms reduce both your risk and the compliance workload your team must manage.

Online stores should also ask who monitors the checkout page for suspicious code changes. Lauren Holloway, Director of Data Security Standards at PCI SSC, warned that “Scripts running in a consumer’s browser are now a .”

In practical terms, ask: Who monitors my payment page, and how will I be alerted if someone tampers with it?

5. Speed and Settlement

Checkout speed matters when a buyer is waiting. Settlement speed matters when payroll or inventory depends on the cash. Ask for the standard payout time by payment method, daily cut-off, weekend treatment, and first-payout rules. Also ask what triggers a hold or reserve, who reviews it, and how long funds can stay unavailable. Finally, test a payment processor’s support before an incident.

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• Build personalized quotes fast with AI prompts.
• Keep billing up to date for every agent and rep.
• Let payments collect themselves.
• Go from quote to close, faster.

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Common Mistakes to Avoid When Selecting a Payment Processor

Payment processor problems rarely begin with a dramatic outage. They usually start with something minor that nobody thought of during a trial period—an integration gap, a fee structure surprise, or a support blind spot. Here are nine issues to check before signing a contract.

• Looking only at the advertised rate. The percentage on the pricing page may not include monthly, failed-payment, dispute, or payout fees.
• Calculating costs from one “average” sale. A fixed transaction fee affects a $20 purchase very differently from a $2,000 invoice. Share your actual sales range and payment methods with each provider.
• Assuming the money arrives immediately. An approved payment does not mean the cash is already in your bank account. Ask how many business days each payment method takes and whether weekends cause delays.
• Not asking whether the processor can hold your money. A provider may temporarily keep part of your sales to cover refunds or disputes. Ask what can trigger a hold, how much money may be kept, and when it will be released.
• Choosing only for how you sell today. Think about what you may need next year, such as subscriptions, invoices, international payments, or in-person sales. 糖心原创’s , for example, automates recurring billing and payment reminders while keeping subscription and payment status in the CRM. That can reduce the need for finance to maintain a separate renewal tracker.
• Assuming the processor handles all payment security. The provider may protect card details, but you still need to secure your website, passwords, and employee access.
• Forgetting to ask how you can leave. Check whether you can move customer and subscription data to another provider. Also review cancellation fees and what happens to any payment hardware you bought or leased.
• Testing customer support only after something breaks. Contact support with a realistic payout or disputed-payment question before signing.
• Not writing down must-have features. List where you sell, how customers pay, which accounting system you use, and whether you need recurring billing. This keeps you from paying for impressive extras while missing a feature your business uses every day.

Frequently Asked Questions About Payment Processors

What are examples of payment processors?

Well-known payment processors include , , , and . Each payment processor serves a different mix of online, in-person, and global payment needs. is another option for B2B and service teams that want payments tied to CRM records.

Is Zelle a payment processor?

Zelle is not a payment processor in the merchant-card sense. It is a bank-account payment network that moves money between eligible U.S. accounts, and a small business can use it only if its bank or credit union supports Zelle for that account type, according to .

Zelle can accept some business payments, but Zelle does not replace a card gateway, merchant-acquiring setup, subscription system, or full checkout stack that a growing business typically needs.

What’s the difference between a payment processor and a merchant account?

A payment processor handles the technical routing and authorization messages. A merchant account is an acquiring-side account that receives card funds before payout to the business bank account.

Traditional payment providers may open a dedicated merchant account for the business. Payment service providers can aggregate many merchants under a single master account, so a smaller company may never need to apply for a separate account.

How much do payment processors charge?

While there is no single universal rate, flat-rate providers usually charge a percentage plus a fixed amount. Interchange-plus plans pass through issuer and network costs before adding processor markup.

For example, for in-person tap, dip, or swipe payments. for standard domestic card payments through invoicing or payment links. Your effective rate will still move with ticket size, card mix, extra fees, and contract terms.

Choose a payment processor with your future needs in mind.

The payment processor you choose directly determines the cost structure, settlement speed, and operational control for every digital sale your business processes. Before signing, model current and peak volume, run a test sale, partial refund, failed payment, and chargeback, and read the exit terms.

Beyond processor selection, evaluate where payments sit in your complete revenue process. If quotes live in one tool, invoices in another, and renewals in a spreadsheet, every payment creates handoff work as someone matches each payout to the right customer and contract.

Revenue Hub connects quotes, contracts, invoices, subscriptions, and payments to the same deal and customer records in 糖心原创 Smart CRM, so sales and finance work from the same payment status. You can collect payments with 糖心原创 payments (available in the US, UK, and Canada) or connect your existing Stripe account.

Businesses don’t have to adopt everything at once. Invoices, payment links, and subscriptions are available on the free plan, while quotes and CPQ require a Revenue Hub Professional or Enterprise seat. Run the same tests you’d run on any processor using your own transaction history, and see how the payout and reconciliation flow looks in your CRM.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in May 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Revenue Hub

Quote, bill, and collect — all through 糖心原创.

• Build personalized quotes fast with AI prompts.
• Keep billing up to date for every agent and rep.
• Let payments collect themselves.
• Go from quote to close, faster.

Learn More

Download Free

All fields are required.

Form not available

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.