8 Best Virtual Terminals for Small Businesses in 2023

The downside to Square’s extensive feature set, especially for those businesses that do high-volume sales, is the transaction fee, which is the highest on our list. If you have consistent sales of over $5,000 per month, do a price comparison against Payline Data, Payment Depot, or Helcim, which offer interchange-plus pricing.

As you consider costs, however, keep in mind all the tools Square provides that you may otherwise have to pay for. As your business grows and you’re processing over $250,000 annually, you can apply for lower, custom rates through Square. Here are the standard fees:

• Monthly subscription fee: $0
• Virtual terminal monthly fee: $0
• Keyed-in (virtual terminal) transaction fees: 3.5% + 15 cents
• In-person (swipe, dip, tap) transaction fees: 2.6% + 10 cents
• Invoice transaction fees: 2.9% + 30 cents
• Ecommerce transaction fees: 2.9% + 10 cents
• ACH/bank transfer fees: 1% with $1 minimum

The virtual terminal includes inventory, recurring payments, and receipts. (Image: Squareup.com)

Square comes with free POS software for handling inventory and managing customers. It integrates with the virtual terminal, so you can itemize sales, calculate taxes, input discounts, and save customer information. Most of the other virtual terminals on our list are more basic, requiring you to manually input the items and prices unless you tie them to a POS system.

And like most Square products, the virtual terminal is free, easy to set up, and user-friendly. Your inventory gets automatically updated, and changes in your online store are also reflected in the virtual terminal. If you integrate with QuickBooks or other accounting software, the information from the virtual terminal is tied in as well.

Helcim’s free monthly plan and automated volume discounts set it apart from the other payment processors on our list. Card-not-present transaction rates, including virtual terminals, range from Interchange plus 0.2% + 10 cents per transaction (if your sales average more than $5,000,000 a month) to 0.5% + 25 cents (for average sales of $2,500 and below a month).

This is considerably cheaper than Payline Data’s 0.75% + 20 cents, but more expensive than Payment Depot’s interchange + 15 cents (although note that you have to pay at least $59 in monthly fees).

Helcim lets you key in a card payment or you can select the customer’s card stored in your Helcim card vault. (Source: Helcim)

Helcim offers a simple virtual terminal that lets you put in credit card information. You can also store it to look up later. All the services on our list share this feature, but many of those we evaluated did not. In addition to one-time sales, you can easily send invoices or set up recurring payments to automatically bill customers at a schedule of your choosing. Helcim’s virtual terminal can also be set up to accept multiple currencies.

The virtual terminal also works on any device, making it a great tool for taking payments on the sales floor and at the register. You also get a mobile app and a free POS system that can work on your existing smartphone, iPad, or tablet. Finally, it accepts ACH payments, something you don’t find with some payment processors on our list, like PayPal.

You don’t need to have a Chase Business Checking account to sign up for a merchant account with Chase. Those who do, however, have access to free same-day funding. Otherwise, merchant accounts are free to use, but the use of virtual terminals may cost extra (not disclosed).

The transaction rates vary by platform, but for virtual terminals, they are 3.5% + 10 cents per keyed-in transaction, which is slightly less than Square’s keyed-in rate. Like PaymentCloud (and possibly Payline Data), there may be room to negotiate for better rates. Some influencing factors are sales volume and whether or not you process B2B sales, which are more secure and usually have lower rates.

• Monthly fee: $0
• Virtual terminal fee: Not disclosed
• Online fee: 2.9% + 25 cents
• In-person fee: 2.6% + 10 cents
• Keyed-in fee: 3.5% + 10 cents
• ACH Processing: $25 per month for 25 transactions, 25 cents for each additional, or 1% for certain platforms
• Chargeback Fee: $25–$100

Chase’s Orbital Virtual Terminal lets you save customer data including card information to use again. (Source: Chase)

Chase lets you have a choice of virtual terminals. If you prefer to use Authorize.net with Chase, you can start accepting payments over the phone. However, Chase has its own—Orbital Virtual Terminal. It lets you process purchases and refunds and allows splitting of shipments, something we did not find in other virtual terminals, but which makes it well suited for sales that might need a deposit.

Unlike many virtual terminals on our list, Chase supports Level 2 and Level 3 card processing, which can get you better rates. You may also be able to process international currencies and electronic checks like PayPal. All you need to do is discuss this when setting up your account.

Another advantage Chase has over other merchant services is that, with a Chase bank account, you can get your funds the same or next day. Square charges extra for this, while PayPal will send money immediately but only to your PayPal account.

PayPal takes a big hit for not processing ACH payments and imposing additional fees for invoicing and recurring billing tools and chargeback protection. It charges $30 per month for use of the virtual terminal, which pales in comparison to Square, which offers similar tools (POS, payment processing) for free.

However, Square’s transaction rates are slightly higher with PayPal offering 3.09% + 49 cents per transaction for standard virtual terminal rates. It also offers a discounted transaction fee of 2.39% + 49 cents for nonprofits.

• Monthly fee: $0–$30
• Standard card-present fee: 2.99% + 49 cents
• Virtual Terminal fee: $30 per month plus
  • Standard: 3.09% + 49 cents
  • Charity: 2.39% + 49 cents
• Payment Gateway (Payflow): $0–$25/month
• Recurring Billing: $10 per month
• Invoicing: 3.49% + 49 cents
• Chargeback Fee: $20
• Chargeback Protection: 0.4%–0.6% per transaction

You can use PayPal’s virtual terminal to send invoices on desktop or mobile. (Source: PayPal)

PayPal’s virtual terminal is a simple tool but the system itself gives you access to a lot of free tools, such as the free POS software, Zettle, and its mobile app. However, the virtual terminal does not integrate with PayPal’s POS solution, limiting its ability for inventory tracking or itemizing sales. That said, you still have access to these tools through PayPal and a multitude of other third-party apps.

One of PayPal’s strengths, of course, is its international reach—200 currencies, with international exchange. It also comes with an application that lets your customers make installment payments rather than paying in full. Combine all these with international payment processing, you have a system that can take payments in any currency and through any venue.

Clover’s pricing is difficult to pin down because it has hundreds of resellers, many of whom offer discounted or even free Clover systems. The transaction rates similarly vary. When purchased directly through the Clover website, POS prices are from $0 to $44.95 per month, depending on your system, plus transaction fees of 3.5% + 15 cents for keyed-in transactions, which is on par with Square.

• Monthly Plan:
  • Starter: $0 (Payments only)
  • Standard: $14.95
  • Advanced: $44.95
• Virtual Terminal (no hardware): $14.95/month, 3.5% + 10 cents keyed-in rate (Fiserv)
• Card-present fee: 2.3%–2.6% + 10 cents (Fiserv)
• Default transaction rates and chargebacks by Fiserv but will vary by payment provider

You can subscribe to Clover’s virtual terminal instead of signing up for a hardware plan. (Source: Clover)

Like the other virtual terminals on our list, you can access Clover from any device over the web and process payments or refunds on the spot. It only processes credit or debit, unlike Square and Helcim, which handle ACH payments, or PayPal and Chase, which can accept e-checks. You can also request payments via email and receive payments online.

Clover is unique in that you can use its virtual terminal with hundreds of different payment providers. (Chase and Payment Depot, on the other hand, require you to use them as a merchant service and select a virtual terminal.) Like PaymentCloud and Chase, Clover can integrate with some CRM software, such as Zoho.

The best thing about Payment Depot’s price is that there is no percentage markup. You only pay a flat fee of 8 cents to 15 cents per transaction, plus the interchange price that every processor charges. No other virtual terminal on our list does this. (Some, like Square, Chase, and PayPal fold the interchange charge into their rates.)

If you process high-dollar-value transactions, you could save thousands of dollars. It also offers a calculator to help you determine how much you’re paying. Note, though, that plans run from $59 to $99 per month, depending on your monthly processing. These are the highest monthly fees of any option on this list, but plans include a free virtual terminal and may also include equipment.

Payment Depot offers several virtual terminals, depending on the plan you purchase. Shown here: Authorize.net. (Source: Authorize.net demo)

Unlike most of the products on this list, Payment Depot does not have its own virtual terminal, but gives you a choice of several, depending on your plan. Usually, you get Authorize.net or SwipeSimple. For higher plans or specific situations, you may do better with PayTrace or NMI. Your sales representative will help you find the best one, along with POS software and equipment.

Because of the choice of virtual terminals, the specific features will vary. However, Payment Depot itself integrates with QuickBooks, POS systems, and other software. It reprograms your POS equipment for free.

We give Payment Depot kudos for customer support. I sent a question via the contact form and got a call minutes later. The support person was friendly, helpful, and did not try to hard-sell me anything. Other FSB reviewers have had similar experiences, and the user reviews also call out the great service.

While we prefer Chase Merchant Services for B2B sales, Payment Depot also offers credit card processing with Level 2 and 3 rates. It does this through PayTrace, which requires you to upgrade to a higher membership plan.

PaymentCloud is the only virtual terminal provider on our list that does not have any publicly disclosed pricing. However, this does not come as a surprise—most high-risk merchant account providers do not disclose pricing because rates are customized to each business. A quick call with a PaymentCloud representative, however, gave us an overview of their rates:

• Monthly fee: $25–$30
• Medium-risk transaction fee: 2.69%–3.29%
• High-risk transaction fee: 2.95%–4.25%
• Payment gateway fee: $15 per month (average)
• Chargeback fee: $25
• Early termination fee: Waived

It negotiates with its partner banks to get you the best rates it can, and even adjusts its fee structure to match your needs; plus, it does not charge application, setup, or annual fees.

Aside from credit cards, PaymentCloud also accepts electronic check payments and credit and debit cards (like PayPal and Chase). Some of the virtual terminals on our list, like Square and Helcim, process ACH transfers instead.

PaymentCloud includes recurring billing and invoicing. (Source: PaymentCloud)

Advanced security is one key feature of PaymentCloud’s virtual terminals. It provides PCI compliance, fraud protection, data encryption, and multiple security verifications such as Visa 3D Secure, Mastercard SecureCode, JCB International J/Secure, and American Express SafeKey.

But like any typical virtual terminal, PaymentCloud can process credit card information but does not let you ring up itemized sales. You can use it to send and accept invoice payments, set up recurring transactions, and send digital receipts. The platform is also specifically designed to connect with CRM software like Salesforce unlike most providers in our roundup.

Note that the signup process can take longer than other virtual terminals, such as Square or PayPal, which are sign-up-and-go, but that’s because of the nature of being a high-risk business. However, you can be assured that PaymentCloud will assist you through the application process to make sure you have all the documents needed to get approved by one of their partner banks.

Payline has a monthly fee (with a one-month free trial), and in return offers low interchange-plus pricing. The fees run $20 for online transactions and $10 for in-person transactions. The virtual terminal has a one-time fee of $10, after which, it costs nothing.

For online and virtual terminal sales, it charges interchange + 0.75% + 20 cents. Compare this to Payment Depot, which has only an 8 cents to 15 cents transaction fee but a higher monthly membership.

Payline stands out from the rest, however, in its special pricing for medical facilities, nonprofit organizations, and educational institutions.

• Transaction fee for medical: Interchange + 0.2% + 10 cents
• Transaction fee for nonprofit, educational: Interchange + 0.1% + 10 cents

The Payline virtual terminal can be accessed on the web or mobile. (Source: Payline Data)

Payline Data offers virtual terminals through CardPointe, NMI, Transax, and Authorize.net. All provide tokenization and PCI compliance. Some offer customer management and allow for subscriptions, recurring payments, and electronic invoicing.

On top of reduced rates, Payline’s virtual terminal is HIPAA-compliant to protect patient data, something we did not see in other virtual terminal software. Nonprofits and educational services can benefit from the ACH transfer capability. An additional benefit for nonprofits is they get a free hosted payments page.

Payline Data also comes with strong fraud and chargeback protection (through Verifi). In addition to data to help you discover fraudulent transactions, it alerts you to chargebacks faster and gives you 72 hours to resolve the dispute before it becomes a chargeback.