8 Best B2B Payment Solutions for Small Businesses
Anna is a retail expert writer for Fit Small Business with over six years of evaluating dozens of software for small business. She holds a double degree in Accountancy and Financial Management and is currently pursuing further education in financial and payment technology.
Andrea is a staff writer at Fit Small Business, focusing on payments under the Retail section.
This article is part of a larger series on Payments.
A dedicated B2B payment solution allows qualifying merchants to receive significantly lower processing fees and discounts for high-volume transactions. Aside from low, competitive rates, B2B businesses also need payment solutions that handle big-ticket sales, invoicing, and various payment types.
According to our evaluation, the best B2B payments companies are:
- Helcim: Best overall B2B payment solution
- Stripe: Best for international B2B payments
- Braintree: Best for B2B subscriptions
- Authorize.net: Best for B2Bs needing multiple integrations
- QuickBooks: Best for B2Bs using QuickBooks
- PayPal: Best for occasional B2B sales
- PaymentCloud: Best for high-risk B2B merchants
- Stax: Best for large-volume B2B companies
Top B2B Payment Companies Compared
Monthly Fees | Virtual Terminal Fees | Invoicing/ Recurring Payment Fees | ACH/E-check Transaction Fees | Online Transaction Fees | Keyed-in Transaction Fees | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | $0 | Interchange plus 0.20% + 10 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents | Interchange plus 0.20% + 10 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents | 0.5% + 25 cents | Interchange plus 0.20% + 10 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents | Interchange plus 0.20% + 10 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents |
 | $0 | 3.4% + 30 cents | 3.4% + 30 cents to 4.2% + 30 cents | 0.8%, $5 cap per transaction | 2.9% + 30 cents | 3.4% + 30 cents |
 | $0 | 2.59% + 49 cents | 2.59% + 49 cents | 0.75% capped at $5 | 2.59% + 49 cents | PayPal rates |
| $25 | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents | 0.75% per transaction | 2.9% + 30 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents |
 | $15–$100 | 3.4% + 25 cents | 2.9% + 25 cents | 1%, max of $10 per transaction | 2.9% + 25 cents | 3.4% + 25 cents |
 | $0–$30 | 3.09% + 49 cents | 2.99% + 49 cents | 3.49% + 49 cents, maximum of $300 per transaction | 2.99% + 49 cents | 3.49% + 49 cents |
 | $10–$45 | 2% to 4.3% with $15 to $45 per month | 2% to 4.3% | 2% to 4.3% | 2% to 4.3% | 2% to 4.3% |
 | $99–$199 | Interchange plus 18 cents | Interchange plus 18 cents | Interchange plus 18 cents | Interchange plus 18 cents | Interchange plus 18 cents |
Helcim: Best Overall B2B Payment Solution
Overall Score:
4.39 / 5
Pros
- Automatic discounted transaction fees
- Free merchant account with no long-term contract or cancellation fees
- Free access to payment processing tools and customer self-service portal
Cons
- Limited business integrations
- Limited customer support hours
- Does not support high-risk merchants
What We Like
Helcim is a merchant services and credit card processing provider based out of Canada. It supports invoicing, recurring billing, virtual terminal, ACH, and ecommerce payment processing solutions, while also providing Level 2 and Level 3 credit card processing for US merchants.
Zero monthly fees and interchange-plus transaction pricing make it one of the cheapest payment processors ideal for B2Bs. Its free invoicing and customer self-service portal make it easy to use for both merchants and customers. While other providers provide the same B2B payment options, Helcim includes these without any add-on fees.
- Monthly Subscription: $0
- Transaction Fees:
- Online: Interchange plus 0.20% + 10 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents
- Keyed-in: Interchange plus 0.20% + 10 cents to 0.50% + 25 cents
- Domestic ACH/Wire Transfers: 0.5% + 25 cents
- Payment Service Fees:
- Invoicing: $0
- Recurring billing: $0
- International payments: $0
- Virtual terminal: $0
- Chargeback Fee: $0 or $15
- All-in-one dashboard for managing all payment processing tools
- Free virtual terminal for remote billing and taking payments over the phone
- Affordable yet advanced invoicing features (similar to Stripe) for estimates, quotes, and automatic accounts receivables reconciliation
- Free recurring billing features with a customer portal for subscription management
- ACH payments for single and recurring invoices, subscriptions, payment requests, and virtual terminals for up to $25,000 per transaction
- Free international credit card payment processing (however, note that a 1%–3% international service fee may be charged by your bank)
- Back-office tools for organizing and managing administrative tasks including business taxes; tax forms are listed and status is displayed for easy tracking
- Deposit speed of one to two days
All things considered, Helcim landed at the top of our list with an overall score of 4.39 out of 5. It gained stellar marks for pricing and free access to its payment tools, while limited integrations, slower deposit speed times, and customer support hours prevented Helcim from getting a perfect score. Helcim also does not work with high-risk merchants. If your small business is in a high-risk industry, you may find PaymentCloud a more suitable alternative.
Stripe: Best for International B2B Payments
Overall Score:
4.26 / 5
Pros
- 135+ currencies, 450+ integrations
- Handles recurring payments, invoicing
- Highly customizable payment tools and security features
Cons
- Complex setup and steep learning curve
- Charges extra for accessing invoicing and recurring payment tools
- Lacks a free, built-in virtual terminal
- Does not work with high-risk businesses
What We Like
Stripe is an international payment processor that can take payments as small as 50 cents and as large as $999,999.99, making it a good choice for B2B businesses. It offers the widest range of payment processing solutions among all the providers in our list, with both in-person and remote payment processing, and allows you to accept domestic and international payments through wire transfers, ACH/E-checks, and cards.
This provider’s strength lies in its versatility, although you may pay a little more for some features. You can integrate Stripe into your point-of-sale (POS) system or webpage or build your own solution (higher fees may apply). Support for 135+ currencies and 47+ currencies gave it the top spot in our list of best international merchant accounts for small businesses.
- Monthly Subscription: $0
- Transaction Fees:
- Online: 2.9% + 30 cents
- Keyed-in: 3.4% + 30 cents (card payment details are manually entered in the Stripe dashboard)
- Domestic ACH Debit: 0.8%, $5 cap
- Payment Service Fees:
- Invoicing: From 0.4%–0.5% per transaction (on top of transaction fees)
- Recurring billing: 0.5%–0.8% per transaction
- International payments: 1%
- Virtual Terminal: Third party
- Chargeback Fee: $15
- Local and international payments processing
- Customer support for more than 25 countries
- Built-in tools to create embeddable checkout forms and invoicing templates
- Real-time and unified reporting tools, including deposit tracking and integration with accounting software like QuickBooks and NetSuite
- Option to track payouts and control payout times when depositing to your bank account
- Programmable, automatic dispute handling, with tools to submit documents to card network directly from the Stripe platform
- Unified dashboard to manage your business operations, accessible from any iOS and Android device
- 24/7 customer support including technical support on Discord platform
- Deposit speed of one to two days
Slipping into second place, Stripe earned an overall score of 4.26 out of 5 for its variety of payment types, highly customizable payment tools, and advanced security management features—all of which make payment processing easy and flexible for B2B companies.
Although Stripe’s pricing system is clear, there are a lot of add-ons for specific tools, like invoicing, recurring billing, and fraud protection. Also, Stripe deposits funds in two days unless you pay an extra fee for faster deposits. We also docked points because it does not serve high-risk businesses.
Braintree: Best for B2B Subscriptions
Overall Score:
4.13 / 5
Pros
- Comes with dedicated merchant account
- Allows creation of custom pricing plans for customers
- Full PayPal integration
Cons
- Complex interface can be challenging to use
- Transaction fees are not returned for refunded transactions
- Slow deposit speeds
What We Like
Braintree is a PayPal-owned payment processor that specializes in online payments and offers full PayPal integration at no extra cost. Its payment processing fees are also very competitive and come with a dedicated merchant account.
One of Braintree’s best features is its recurring billing tool that allows merchants to create custom pricing plans for their customers. It is very flexible, and merchants can set up discounts, rewards, add-ons, and promotional periods, making it suitable for B2B subscriptions, such as regular orders of supplies and availments of services.
- Monthly Subscription: $0
- Transaction Fees:
- Online: 2.59% + 49 cents
- Keyed-in: PayPal rates
- ACH Direct Debit: 0.75% capped at $5
- Payment Service Fees:
- Invoicing: $0
- Recurring billing: $0
- International payments: 1%
- Virtual Terminal: $0
- Chargeback Fee: $15
- Easy and free PayPal integration
- Wide range of strong ready-made integrations and developer tools
- Account updater (at extra cost) that updates customers’ Visa, Mastercard, or Discover Card details—such as numbers, expirations dates, and account status changes
- Free basic fraud prevention that can be upgraded (for a fee) to a premium one that gives merchants more flexibility and control over their fraud prevention strategy
- Recurring billing tool that lets merchants create custom subscription plans for their customers
- Deposits funds in two to three business days
Braintree is only one of three B2B payment processors on this list with zero monthly fees—and this helped it land in third place with an overall score of 4.13 out of 5. It also earned above-average scores for its wide variety of payment types and easy integrations.
With its relatively low flat-rate transaction fees and flexible online methods, Braintree is also a great option for small B2B merchants needing online payment processing. The ability to create custom subscription plans for their customers, including setting up discounts, rewards, add-ons, and periods, makes Braintree suitable for B2B subscriptions. It includes automatic prorated billing for customers that change subscriptions mid-month—a slight advantage over Helcim, where this feature needs to be requested via the Helcim dashboard.
Authorize.net: Best for B2Bs Needing Multiple Integrations
Overall Score:
4.14 / 5
Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Over 900 technology integrations and over 400 certified technology partners
- Highly reliable
Cons
- More costly because of the monthly fee and slightly higher transaction fees
- Slower deposit speeds
- Limited in-person payment features
What We Like
Authorize.net is a Visa-owned company that offers one of the oldest and most trusted ecommerce payment solutions. It is a payment gateway that can facilitate virtual terminal, phone, recurring, mobile, e-check, and virtual POS payments. You’ll need a separate merchant account to use the platform, which you can sign up for separately or through Authorize.net.
Its smooth payment processing and wide and easy integrations make it one of the most popular payment gateways. Authorize.net also comes with full Level 2 and Level 3 payment processing, which are ideal for business or commercial card processing.
- Monthly Subscription: $25
- Transaction Fees:
- Online: 2.9% + 30 cents
- Keyed-in: 2.9% + 30 cents
- ACH Direct Debit: 0.75% per transaction
- Payment Service Fees:
- Invoicing: $0
- Recurring billing: $0
- International payments: 1.5%
- Virtual Terminal: $0
- Chargeback Fee: $25
- Full Level 2 and Level 3 payment processing
- 145 certified solutions and open API for more custom integrations, including B2B-specific platforms like B2B Commerce Cloud
- Two plans to choose from: a payment gateway-only plan and an all-in-one plan that comes with a merchant account
- Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) to identify, manage, and prevent suspicious and potentially fraudulent transactions
- International payment processing with support for 13 currencies
- Customer information management tool capable of holding up to 10 payments and 100 shipping details
- High-risk business support through its partners
Authorize.net earned an overall score of 4.14 out of 5. Although it is more popularly used as a payment gateway, Authorize.net also offers an all-in-one plan that comes with a merchant account through one of its partners.
Its biggest strength is its wide range of integrations—from ecommerce platforms to shopping carts, sales to accounting, and POS hardware to B2B platforms. Although Stripe also offers a wide range of integrations, Authorize.net requires less coding and developer help. For merchants that need custom-built integrations, Authorize.net also comes with an open API for extra flexibility.
QuickBooks: Best for B2Bs Using QuickBooks
Overall Score:
4.03 / 5
Pros
- Free instant deposits
- Invoicing and recurring billing
- Automatic bookkeeping
Cons
- No phone customer support
- Must have a QuickBooks Online account
- Does not support international money transfers and high-risk businesses
What We Like
QuickBooks offers a payment processing function with strong features and good rates for those already using QuickBooks Online. It has slightly lower processing fees for keyed-in and invoiced payments compared to Stripe and PayPal. Also, businesses processing over $7,500 a month can apply for a discount on transactions of up to 40%—making it a good fit for B2B companies.
QuickBooks Payments connects to your QuickBooks account, so you get the features of the complete accounting software, including invoicing, reports, budget tools, and sales tax tracking. You can accept payments online or in person using a mobile device or by sending invoices. It also integrates with many POS and business management systems.
- Monthly Subscription: QuickBooks Online: $30–$200 per month
- Transaction Fees:
- Online/ Invoice: 2.9% + 25 cents
- Keyed-in: 3.4% + 25 cents
- Domestic ACH: 1%, maximum of $10 per transaction
- Payment Service Fees:
- Invoicing: $0
- Recurring billing: $0
- International payments: 3%
- Virtual Terminal: $0
- Chargeback Fee: $25
- Accepts wire transfers, paper checks, and card payments
- QuickBooks platform for creating and sending customizable invoices
- QuickBooks Checking gives you access to free instant deposits, mobile deposits, and paper check payment tools
- Tools for adding a Pay Now button to your invoice to make it instantly payable
- Enables you to accept digital payments with ACH and e-check payment options
- Next-day access to your deposits, or instantly at no extra cost or with a QuickBooks Visa debit card; you can also set up a recurring schedule for depositing your funds
- Seamless integration with Shopify, BigCommerce, and other online platforms so you can accept payments from your website
- Cash Flow Center’s real-time dashboard to track and automatically reconcile online and invoice payments
- Deposit speed of two to three business days
If you already use QuickBooks for your business accounting and bookkeeping, using it for B2B payments is the most natural choice because you won’t be paying additional fees and your payments are automatically reflected for accounting and bookkeeping. QuickBooks handles all the payment methods we considered but does not have international money transfer capabilities and does not work with high-risk businesses.
And, while its transaction fees are competitive, you will end up paying at least $30 a month for a QuickBooks Online account, no matter how much you process in sales. It earned 4.03 out of 5 stars in our evaluation.
PayPal: Best for Occasional B2B Sales
Overall Score:
4.03 / 5
Pros
- Processes payments for over 200 countries
- Seamless online checkout integration
- Known and trusted platform by consumers
Cons
- Unpredictable freezing of funds
- Confusing pricing
- High currency conversion spread (4%) when making international payments
What We Like
PayPal is a popular payment solution for small businesses. Its $10,000 cap on transactions make it suitable for businesses processing lower-ticket sales. PayPal also works for in-person or online businesses of all types and in multiple currencies from over 200 countries, making it a suitable choice for small, international B2B payments.
It accepts payments online with PayPal, Pay Later, credit cards, Venmo, and cryptocurrency. It allows you to set up subscriptions and recurring payments. Also, PayPal can be integrated easily with most ecommerce platforms.
- Monthly Subscription: $0–$30
- Transaction Fees:
- Online/ Invoice: 2.99% + 49 cents (online), 3.49% + 49 cents (invoice)
- Keyed-in: 3.09% + 49 cents (Virtual terminal)
- Domestic ACH: 3.49% + 49 cents, capped at $300
- Payment Service Fee:
- Invoicing: $10–$30
- Recurring billing: $10–$30
- International payments: 1.5%
- Virtual Terminal: $30
- Payment Gateway: $0–$25
- Chargeback Fee: $20
- Supports credit cards, debit cards, ACH bank transfers, Venmo, and cryptocurrency
- Tools supporting recurring payments and buy now, pay later options for your customers
- Next-day access to your deposited funds, provided your bank account is linked to your PayPal
- Seamless integration with popular accounting, ecommerce, and POS tools
- Accounting tools for calculating taxes for your transactions; also tracks your payment volume and sends you a Form 1099-K if it crosses the IRS calendar year thresholds
In our evaluation, we gave PayPal 4.03 out of 5 stars. Unlike Stripe, which requires adding a code or using API, PayPal is often integrated with a lot of ecommerce platforms, and you only need to connect it with your PayPal account that’s ideal for B2Bs accepting international ACH payments. PayPal’s fees are higher than Stripe’s, but if you only need it for occasional B2B sales, PayPal is a suitable option.
Braintree offers some of PayPal’s features but will require you to set up a merchant account. If you only need a simple solution for your occasional B2B transactions that will let you start accepting payments in minutes, choose PayPal.
PaymentCloud: Best for High-risk B2B Merchants
Overall Score:
3.92 / 5
Pros
- Specializes in high-risk in merchants
- Same-day setup upon approval
- Accepts cryptocurrency payments
Cons
- No publicly disclosed pricing
- High fees
- Lengthy and comprehensive application process
What We Like
PaymentCloud specializes in medium- and high-risk vendors and industries. The platform offers both traditional and ecommerce terminals, and users report that customer service is excellent. PaymentCloud is a suitable option for high-risk B2B merchants that find it hard to sign up with payment processors. Pricing isn’t available online, which is to be expected for high-risk processors.
PaymentCloud supports in-person, online, ACH, e-check, virtual terminal, and even cryptocurrency payments.
- Monthly Fee: $10–$45
- Transaction Fees:
- Online/ Invoice: 2% to 4.3%
- Keyed-in: 2% to 4.3%
- ACH and eCheck: Contact PaymentCloud
- Payment Service Fee:
- Invoicing: $0
- Recurring billing: $0
- International payments: 1% to 2%
- Virtual Terminal: $15 to $45
- Payment Gateway: $15/month
- Chargeback Fee: $25
- Specializes in high-risk merchants
- Custom pricing depending on the nature of the small business
- Strong fraud prevention
- Supports cryptocurrency payment processing
In our evaluation, PaymentCloud joins our list with a score of 3.92 out of 5 stars. Although pricing is not the best as expected for a merchant provider, PaymentCloud supports a wide range of high-risk merchants. No other provider on this list supports high-risk merchants, except for Authorize.net.
It received mostly average scores for its higher monthly and transaction fees and virtual terminal that comes for an extra fee.
Stax: Best for Large-volume B2B Companies
Overall Score:
3.76 / 5
Pros
- Interchange-plus (wholesale) payment processing rates
- Low-cost ACH transaction fees
- All plans w/ full access to payment features
Cons
- Add-on cost for level 2 card-not-present data processing
- Accepting payments through payment links not included in basic plan
- Not suitable for high-risk merchants
What We Like
Stax is a subscription-based merchant services provider that offers wholesale interchange plus payment processing. This means users will only have to pay Stax the monthly subscription (ranges from $99–$199 per month) to access any type of payment method. For businesses that regularly process large-volume transactions, such as B2Bs, this setup amounts to huge savings, making Stax’s subscription plan structure attractive to B2B businesses.
However, Stax charges higher monthly fees if you want to include certain services. For example, if you want to accept payments through payment links or automatic recurring payments (through card-on-file service), you will have to pay $159 a month.
- Monthly Subscription: $99–$199
- Transaction Fees:
- In-person: Interchange plus 8 cents
- Online/Invoice: Interchange plus 18 cents
- Keyed-in: Interchange plus 18 cents
- Domestic ACH: $0
- Payment Service Fee:
- Invoicing: $0
- Recurring billing: $0
- Virtual terminal: $0
- International payments: n/a
- Chargeback Fee: $25
- Charges an add-on cost for level 2 card-not-present data processing required for accepting B2B payments
- Supports text-to-pay transactions that allow for faster payment processing and better communication with clients
- Free terminal/mobile card reader with subscription to basic monthly plan
- Free surcharging tools with the basic plan and advanced features through add-on
- Effectively offering month-to-month contract
All things considered, Stax earned a respectable 3.76 out of 5, earning above average scores for pricing and contract and our expert’s evaluation. The add-on cost for level 2 credit card data processing and lack of support for accepting international payments and high-risk merchants prevented Stax from placing higher in our rankings.
Stax’s subscription pricing can come out cheaper for large-volume businesses. Its processing fees are the lowest among other B2B payment processors, and even with the monthly fee, it could be more cost-effective than other processors with a percentage markup per transaction. However, it does not offer tools for accepting cross-border payments, so for large B2Bs with global clients, consider an alternative provider like Helcim or Stripe.
How We Evaluated B2B Payment Companies
We looked for merchant services that offer affordable B2B payment processing with transparent fees and minimal contracts. Then, we narrowed our evaluation to eight of the most affordable and reputable payment processors and considered the different types of payments each solution can accommodate.
For example, many B2B businesses accept payments via invoice, card-not-present, e-check, and automated clearing house (ACH) instead of a traditional payment terminal or online checkout. So, we prioritized processors that can handle those types of payments and awarded extra points for those that include invoicing or recurring payment software.
We also favored solutions that offer interchange-plus rates for Level 2 and Level 3 processors and processors that offer negotiable rates for high-volume businesses. Next, we looked for specific use cases like high-risk businesses. Finally, we considered real user reviews and ease of use.
At the end of our evaluation, Helcim came out on top as the best B2B payment solution for small businesses because of its price point, variety of payment types, and breadth of features. It also works for both international and domestic businesses.
Click through the tabs below for our specific evaluation criteria:
30%
Pricing and Contract
30%
Payment Features
30%
General Features
10%
Expert Score
30% of Overall Score
We gave the most points to payment processors that offer low or zero monthly fees, interchange-plus rates, did not require contracts or monthly fees, nor impose account cancellation charges.
30% of Overall Score
We assessed whether each solution can process e-check, ACH, virtual terminal, payment gateway, in-person, and international money transfer payments. We also considered if the processor offers Level 2 or Level 3 processing.
30% of Overall Score
Here, we considered a range of functions important to B2B companies such as invoicing and accounting tools, customer management features, support hours, ecommerce integrations, deposit speed, and whether or not high-risk businesses could use the payment service.
10% of Overall Score
This combined our overall evaluation of price and ease of use with scores from real-world users on trusted third-party review sites.
*Percentages of overall score
B2B Payment Solutions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
B2B payments refer to transactions between two businesses for the exchange of products or services. These are usually made through purchase orders and invoices and settled via credit card, check, or ACH.
B2B payments through card-not-present (CNP) transactions require Level 2 or Level 3 processing which involves more stringent data verification, though it comes with lower transaction fees.
Business clients often prefer remote payment methods such as CNPs, wire transfers or electronic fund transfers (EFT), over the phone through virtual terminals, payment links through payment gateways, e-checks, and ACH. And, because B2B transactions almost always involve large volumes of sales, merchants will need a payment processing service that provides the most savings.
The best payment gateway for B2B companies is Helcim. It does not charge any monthly fees and offers interchange plus transaction rates. It can handle almost any payment type, such as ACH and card payments.
The key concern for a B2B company is to look for a payment processor that offers the lowest transaction fees, most versatile payment methods, and most secure transaction processing tools. And while interchange plus pricing is ideal, merchants should also consider add-on costs for managing transactions.
Depending on your sales volume, you may find providers using flat-rate fees with free merchant services more affordable than payment processors offering interchange-plus rates with a monthly fee. Lastly, merchants should take into consideration additional features specific to their business, such as availability of support for accepting cross-border payments or high-risk merchant transactions.
Bottom Line
Businesses doing B2B sales have a lot of strong options for payment processors. Start by assessing your own needs, including the kind of processing (online, e-check, card swipe, invoicing) and the average amount per sale. Consider if you need hardware or software—and what software you may want to integrate with. Then, look at pricing and contracts.
Overall, we chose Helcim primarily for its automatic discounted transaction fees, versatility in features and payment types, competitive pricing, and free recurring billing tools for B2Bs.
