POS equipment | One card reader available for purchase |
Payment methods accepted | Credit and debit cards, digital wallets, ACH |
Payout times | Within 24 hours |
Contract length | Monthly (no cancellation fees) |
Customer support | 24/7 phone, email, knowledge base |
Security | PCI-compliant, advanced fraud detection and prevention, end-to-end encryption, tokenization, multi-factor authentication |
A Mixed Bag of Great Software and Not Much Else
If you’ve been comparing payment processors, then you’ll likely recognize Authorize.net. It’s one of the most popular payment gateway and virtual terminal solutions for US-based businesses. However, it offers far more than just payment software – you can also use it as your payment processor.
Its strengths clearly lie in e-commerce support: you’ll get fantastic and easy-to-use (if dated) software. The downside is that Authorize.net only works with one specific card reader model, so it’s not a good choice if you need to take more than the occasional card-present transaction. In combination with its monthly fee and flat rate pricing, I’d only recommend getting an Authorize.net merchant account if you’re a small, low-volume e-commerce business.
Fortunately, you’re not limited to using Authorize.net as your payment processor. Thanks to its certified reseller program, you can purchase Authorize.net’s software through another payment processor. This means that you can get the payment processing features (and customer support!) your business needs while using a more affordable payment processor. Our top recommendation, Leaders Merchant Services (LMS) is a great choice for almost all mid-volume merchants.
I’ve spent dozens of hours researching Authorize.net to see whether it’s worth your time and money. Keep on reading to see if it’s a good fit for your business.