Best B2B Payment Solutions for Small Businesses

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 payment solution for B2Bs
• Stripe: Best for online B2B payments
• QuickBooks: Best for B2Bs processing invoice payments
• Square Payments: Best for businesses needing a strong POS system such as wholesalers or those with B2C and B2B transactions
• Stax (formerly Fattmerchant): Best for large-volume B2B companies
• PayPal: Best user-friendly solution for small B2B companies

Notable Runners Up:

• Payment Cloud: Best for merchants in high-risk businesses, like those selling CBD or firearms and startups
• Dharma Merchant Services: Best for high-volume businesses accepting international payments
• National Processing: Best for businesses accepting a large volume of ACH payments

Top B2B Payment Companies Compared

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Helcim: Best Overall B2B Payment Solution

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.

Aside from the free invoicing and customer self-service portal, Helcim’s automatic, discounted, and volume-based interchange-plus pricing method sets it apart from its competitors. This means you don’t have to submit a request for a review of your payment processing fees to get discounts for your growing sales volume.

All things considered, Helcim landed at the top of our list with an overall score of 4.2 out of 5. It gained stellar marks for pricing and free access to its payment tools, while limited integrations and customer support hours prevented Helcim from getting a perfect score.

Helcim B2B Features

• Provides an all-in-one dashboard that lets you set up your payment processing tools in a single merchant account
• Use the free virtual terminal to accept payments over the phone from any computer, tablet, or smartphone
• Offers more affordable but advanced invoicing features (like Stripe), allowing you to create estimates and quotes and automatically reconcile accounts receivables
• Provides free recurring billing features including a customer portal where subscribers can manage their own subscriptions
• Lets you accept ACH payments for single and recurring invoices, subscriptions, payment requests, and virtual terminals for up to $25,000 per transaction
• Allows you to accept cross-border payments, particularly by accepting international credit cards—does not charge extra for these transactions (however, note that a 1%–3% international service fee may be charged by your bank)
• Includes back office tools that assist in organizing and managing administrative tasks including business taxes; tax forms are listed and status is displayed for easy tracking

What Helcim Is Missing

While Helcim offers wire transfer services, this feature is not available for US merchants (only for Canada-based merchants). Instead, Helcim provides an ACH payment option, which can be a suitable alternative for clients to send payments directly to your bank. Consider traditional merchant providers like Stax if you prefer this option. Helcim also does not work with high-risk merchants; you may find PaymentCloud a more suitable alternative.

Stripe: Best for Online B2B Payments

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 POS or webpage or build your own solution (higher fees may apply). With over 450 integrations, some of which are specific for B2B merchants, you can link Stripe into your accounting software, POS, customer relationship management software, and more.

Slipping into second place, Stripe earned an overall score of 4.15 out of 5, still recognized for its variety of payment types (including paper check processing), highly customizable payment tools, and advanced security management features. Meanwhile, Stripe lost a few points for its pricing complexity; while its pricing system is clear, there are a lot of add-ons for specific tools, like 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.

Stripe B2B Features

• Accepts local and international payments with customer support for more than 25 countries
• Includes built-in tools to create embeddable checkout forms and invoicing templates
• Provides real-time and unified reporting tools, including deposit tracking and integration with accounting software like QuickBooks and NetSuite
• Provides you with the option to track payouts and control payout times when depositing to your bank account
• Includes programmable, automatic dispute handling, with tools to submit documents to card network directly from the Stripe platform
• Allows you to manage your business operations with a unified dashboard, accessible from any iOS and Android device
• Offers 24/7 customer support including technical support on Discord platform

What Stripe Is Missing

Unfortunately, Stripe’s versatile payment solutions are not available to high-risk businesses. However, its website advertises that it also offers custom pricing for those with a “unique business model,” so it won’t hurt to reach out to Stripe’s sales team to inquire. Otherwise, consider PaymentCloud for your high-risk merchant account.

QuickBooks Payments: Best for QuickBooks Users & Invoice Payments

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 Square and PayPal, which both charge 3.5% + 15 cents for keyed, and 2.9% + 30 cents for invoice transactions. Also, if you regularly process over $7,500 a month, you can apply for a discount on transactions of up to 40%.

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

Based on our evaluation criteria, QuickBooks earns 4.03 out of 5 stars. It handles wire transfers and records paper check payments, which sets it apart from most of the payment processors we considered. However, QuickBooks Payments 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.

QuickBooks Payments B2B Features

• Accepts wire transfers, paper checks, and card payments
• Create customizable invoices and send them directly from your QuickBooks platform
• QuickBooks Checking gives you access to free instant deposits, mobile deposits, and paper check payment tools
• Includes tools for adding a Pay Now button to your invoice to make it instantly payable
• Accept digital payments with ACH and e-check payment options
• Gives 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
• Offers seamless integration with Shopify, BigCommerce, and other online platforms so you can accept payments from your website
• Provides access to Cash Flow Center’s real-time dashboard to track and automatically reconcile online and invoice payments

What QuickBooks Payments Is Missing

QuickBooks does not support international currencies and therefore cannot accept international money transfers unless you subscribe to an integration. Stripe is a great alternative if you require a processor that integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks. On the other hand, Wise offers dedicated tools for processing international payments along with competitive rates.

Square Payments: Best B2B Payment Solution With POS

Square Payments offers a free POS system with its payment transactions, making it a great choice for B2B businesses that also have an in-person store, do a lot of trade show sales, or have a strong B2C market. It may be able to provide you with a complete solution where everything integrates natively (ecommerce, invoicing, scheduling, payroll, and time tracking), or you can check out its other integrations.

Square is a popular choice among small businesses. Aside from competitive transaction rates, it is the only B2B solution in our list that doesn’t impose chargeback fees (Stripe charges $15, for example, and PayPal, $20). It also has a transaction limit of $50,000 with standard next-day deposit, or same-day access to your funds for an additional fee.

Though Square typically tops our list for best POS and best merchant services for small B2C businesses, in our evaluation of B2B payment companies Square earned 3.8 out of 5 stars. It got a solid 5 stars for pricing and expert score. However, it loses some points for not serving high-risk businesses, charging for instant deposits, and offering limited processing for checks and ACH transfers.

Square Payments B2B Features

• Offers an easy sign-up process with no approval required to start accepting payments
• Features flat-rate transaction pricing for easy understanding of your monthly payment processing expenses
• Includes an all-in-one Square Dashboard where you can manage all your business processes, including tracking sales
• Allows you to create, send, and track invoices online or via Square Payments’ iOS and Android apps
• Features a chargeback and dispute management tool that allows you to manage chargebacks and disputes from the Square Dashboard
• Offers standard next-day fund deposits; get instant or same-day access to your funds (you can pay an additional fee to get up to $10,000 per day in sales transferred immediately, although some restrictions apply)

What Square Payments Is Missing

Wire transfer is not in the list of Square’s supported payment types and it doesn’t help that Square only offers limited processing of checks and ACH transactions. If this is a dealbreaker, consider Stripe, which offers the widest range of payment options.

Stax: Best Large-volume B2B Payment Company

Stax (formerly Fattmerchant) 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 set up amounts to huge savings.

Interchange-plus pricing generally results in lower transaction costs compared to flat rate fees, and Stax’ subscription plan structure makes it attractive to B2B businesses. However, the monthly subscription depends on the payment method, which means you may need to pay for a higher monthly fee if you need certain services. For example, if you want to accept payments through payment links or automatic recurring payment (through card-on-file service), you will have to pay $159 a month.

All things considered, Stax earned a respectable 3.73 out of 5, earning a perfect score for pricing and contract, and above average marks from our expert’s evaluation. The add-on cost for level 2 credit card data processing and lack of support for accepting international payments as well as high-risk merchants prevented Stax from placing higher in our rankings.

Stax B2B Features

• 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
• Add-on option for access to same-day funding service (including holidays and weekends)
• 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

What Stax Is Missing

Like most of the providers in our list, Stax does not support high-risk merchants, so consider other options like PaymentCloud for this feature. It also does not offer tools for accepting cross border payments so for large B2Bs with global clients, consider an alternative provider like Helcim.

PayPal: Best for Small B2B Merchants

Everyone knows PayPal as a way for people to share money or purchase items, but it also works for small B2B merchants. It has a $10,000 cap on transactions, so it’s best 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. In November 2020, PayPal added cryptocurrency transactions to its list of accepted payments, making it stand out further from its competitors.

PayPal accepts payments online with PayPal or credit cards and allows you to tie a bank account to your PayPal so you can fund payments through it (defaults to the PayPal account first). It also lets you send ACH transfers into your PayPal and tap your bank account to fund your PayPal transactions. It gives you the option to access your money immediately in PayPal, or have it transferred to your bank in a day or two.

In our evaluation, we gave PayPal 3.69 out of 5 stars. It got high marks for its pricing structure and is a flexible service that’s easy to use and continues to grow. However, like Square, it does not process wire transfers, but offers comparatively better tools for accepting ACH payments. It may also accept your high-risk business, but there are restrictions and chargeback fees that can make it less advantageous.

PayPal B2B Features

• Supports credit cards, debit cards, ACH bank transfers, Venmo, and cryptocurrency
• Offers tools supporting recurring payments and buy now, pay later options for your customers
• Gives next-day access to your deposited funds, provided your bank account is linked to your PayPal
• Seamlessly integrates with popular accounting, ecommerce, and POS tools
• Includes 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

What PayPal Is Missing

While PayPal does not support wire transfers, having a linked bank account to your PayPal is a decent workaround. However, PayPal does not have an alternative for processing check payments, which can be a concern for some businesses that still accept this type of tender. If you want your business to have check payment processing options, consider Stripe.

Notable Runners Up

We narrowed down our list to six providers for this update, however, there are a number of note-worthy runners up that offer features unique to B2B merchants:

PaymentCloud: Best for High-risk Merchants

PaymentCloud specializes in high-risk merchants. It does not consider credit scores and works with multiple banks with a 98% approval rating. Payment Cloud also offers free next-day funding for all card payments, which you won’t normally see for high-risk merchant account providers, making it a great option for any business needing a speedy cash flow.

In our evaluation, PaymentCloud earned an overall score of 3.66 out of 5, getting good marks for its invoicing tools and integrations with accounting software and POS systems. And, while it also gained points for being compatible with high-risk businesses, it lost points for requiring a contract  for high-risk sales. It also does not handle wire transfers or international transactions.

Read our full PaymentCloud review.

Dharma Merchant Services: Best for High-volume Businesses Accepting International Payments

Dharma Merchant Services offers competitive subscription pricing for growing B2B businesses that need offline and online payment solutions without the burden of a long-term contract. Dharma’s subscription plans include a free virtual terminal, online reporting, mobile processing, and a customer database, among other features. It provides interchange-plus pricing and can work to get you lower interchange rates. B2B businesses can also expect level 2/3 interchange reductions through Dharma’s integration with MX Merchant.

Based on our evaluation, Dharma Merchant Services earned a total score of 3.36 out of 5. It earned points for its ability to accept international money transfers, priority 24-hour funding for B2B merchants, and its suite of business tools. However, Dharma does not support high-risk businesses, charges extra for invoicing features, and collects a fee for closing an account which, all-in-all, prevented it from ranking higher in our evaluation.

Read our full Dharma Merchant Services review.

National Processing: Best for Accepting Large-volume ACH Payments

National Processing offers significantly low interchange-plus pricing for businesses willing to pay higher monthly fees. Contracts are on a monthly basis, with different rates based on industry type; larger businesses can opt for subscription pricing with even lower transaction fees. However, it’s in accepting ACH payments where National Processing stands out, with its own proprietary ACH software that allows it to offer low transaction fees.

Overall, we gave National Processing a score of 3.15 out of 5 for its highly competitive pricing, excellent customer service hours, compatibility with high-risk businesses, and added business tools. However, like Dharma, it lost points for its lack of wire transfer and cross border payment processing capability. Using National Processing’s ACH service will cost an additional monthly fee.

Read our full National Processing review.

How We Evaluated B2B Payment Companies

We searched for merchant services that offer affordable payment processing with transparent fees and minimal contracts. Then, we narrowed our evaluation down 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:

B2B Payment Solutions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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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 and its versatility in features and payment types. It also offers competitive pricing for small businesses. Contact Helcim today to learn more.

Visit Helcim