List of Credit Card Processing Companies

Searching for a credit card processing company is a difficult task to say the least.

With deceptive sale tactics, unregulated credit card processing fees, and an industry full of scam artists, it is difficult to find which credit card processing companies are serviceable, avoidable, and who offers fair credit card processing fees.

Below is a list of credit card processing companies as of 2024 that are Direct Credit Card Processors and Acquirers of 2024.

List of Credit Card Processing Companies (2024)

In no particular order, below we list the majority of credit card processing companies that are available to merchants.

Here it shows all Direct Processors and ISO’s (Independent Sale Organizations) that are out there in the credit card processing world for 2023.

Direct Processors and Acquirers:

• First Data (Fiserv)
• Wells Fargo Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• Bank of America Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• Citi Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• PNC Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• WorldPay (FIS)
• Vantiv (FIS)
• Global Payments
• TSYS (Global Payments)
• Heartland (Global Payments)
• Elavon
• ChasePayment Tech
• Merrick Bank
• North American Bancard
• Priority Payment Systems
• EVO Payments International
• SunTrust Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• Intuit – Quickbooks (Owned by Fiserv)
• First American Payment Systems
• BB&T Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• iPayment
• PaySafe
• Merchant e-Solutions
• Paya
• Santander Merchant Services (Fiserv)
• Shift4 Payments
• Cayan (formally TSYS) Global Payments
• Clearent
• KeyBank (Fiserv)
• I3 Verticals
• Electronic Payments
• Gravity Payments
• MLS Direct Network
• Redwood Merchant Services
• M&T Bank (Fiserv)
• Integrity Payment Systems
• Commerce Bancshares
• BBVA Compass (Fiserv)
• TD Bank (Fiserv)
• Newtek Merchant Solutions
• JetPay
• Epicor Sofware
• BankCard Services
• First Hawaiian Bank
• First Citizens Bank
• Citizens Bank (FIS)
• Retriever Medical Dental Payments
• United Merchant Services
• Commercial Bank of California
• Complete Merchant Solutions
• Electronic Merchant Systems
• Paragon Payment Solutions
• Approval Payment Solutions
• Transfund Merchant Services
• Fulton Merchant Card Services
• Bank of Hawaii
• UMS Banking
• eVance Processing
• Mainstream Merchant Services
• C&H Financial Services
• NCMIC Finance Corporation
• North American Payment Solutions
• Umpqua Bank
• Security BankCard Center
• Intrix Technology
• Apogee Payment Systems

As of 2024, there are close to 4,100 Visa registered independent sale organizations that essentially sell credit card processing to merchants and business owners. An ISO can sell merchant services for different Direct Processors or Acquirers pending their engagement terms they have with said Acquirer.

If you want the full list of all registered ISO’s, you can see them on Visa’s website.

Other popular options include Payment Depot, National Processing, and Flagship Merchant Services.

How to Choose a Credit Card Processing Company 

With so many solicitations of payment processors on a daily business, parlayed with the endless options of merchant service providers, it’s difficult to make a decision on who you should process credit cards with.

Hyper competition and extremely thin margins force payment processors to find new ways to deceive merchants, increase credit card merchant fees, and make their money to present to stakeholders.

Here are a few recommendations I would suggest if you are in the middle of a choosing a credit card processing company:

Do Your Research Before You Accept Credit Card Payments

When searching on the web, most merchants, businesses, small business owners, or financial professionals will search for terms like:

• Credit card processor
• Credit card processing service
• How to accept credit cards
• Best credit card processors
• Best credit card processing
• Merchant account providers
• Payment processing companies
• Best credit card processing services
• Best credit card processor
• Payment processing for small business
• Payment processor for online payments
• Payment processing for ecommerce
• Best credit card processing for online payments

The list of similar search terms with “payment processing” or “credit card processors” is seemingly endless.

But what they don’t realize is that the majority of the credit card processing review sites out there are paid for credit card processing review sites.

Avoid “Paid” Review Websites

Most of the top hits for any search listed above will send you to a paid review website.

How does this work? A credit card processing company will pay for the top three to five spots on a credit card processing review website. This is known as affiliate marketing.

Whether it be a fixed monthly fee they pay to be on that review website or through a revenue share with the credit card processor, the site is compensated for “reviewing” the processors that pay to get featured.

A revenue share means that the review website gets a percentage of the credit card merchant fees a credit card processing company charges a merchant (you).

Due to this structure, many credit card processing review websites are biased, and only cater to the credit card processing companies who pay them the most money. The review sites don’t have the reader’s best interest in mind. They say which processors are “best” simply by who is paying the most.

So, how is is anyone suppose to know which website is biased and which one is not? The quick answer? You aren’t supposed to know and that is how these credit card processing companies want it.

Take any reviews you find with grain of salt. Look for the fine print on the page, or see if there’s a disclosure somewhere on the page saying that the site may be compensated if you click a link.

Examples of “Paid” Review Sites For Credit Card Processors

See below a list of credit card processing review websites that are “paid for” review websites as their credit card processing processors listed on the main pages pay top dollar to be advertised there:

• Creditcardprocessing.net
• Paymentprocessing.com
• Best10merchantservices.com
• Comparison.com
• Toptenreviews.com
• Businessnewsdaily.com
• Consumeraffairs.com
• Pcmag.com

I’m not saying you should avoid a payment processor on any of these sites. In fact, the majority of credit card processors reviewed here are great.

But I just want you to understand that you’re not actually getting an unbiased review. The top picks are always going to include credit card processors paying to be there. Even if they charge unreasonable monthly fees, high interchange fees, transaction fees, early termination fees, and more.

Equipment and Technology

Most payment processors are interchangeable when it comes to handling credit card transactions. The significant difference between them is what they can do for you from a technology standpoint and pricing.

Figure out what and how your business needs to accept credit card payments. Whether it be a POS system, stand alone terminal, or accepting cards via the internet or over the phone, this is a crucial step in the process.

Pricing and Interchange Fees

Once you lock down how your business is going to accept the payment and you have found the right solution to do so, it comes strictly down to pricing with these payment processors.

Don’t be fooled—all credit card processing companies offer Interchange Plus Pricing. If they’re not offering it to you, then that should be your first indication to find another payment provider! Flat-rate pricing might seem better, but interchange plus will always be your best option.

Pricing is negotiable with all merchant service companies, but obtaining the best credit card processing rates can be difficult. I suggest you have our team audit a merchant agreement (or statement) you receive prior to signing the dotted line. It’s FREE and can help you save thousands of dollars monthly by just having us do a quick glance.

Contract Terms

After you take care of the technical side and pricing, the last thing you should review is the term of the merchant service agreement.

Most payment processors either offer a one to three year commitment, including an early termination fee or liquidated damages (AVOID at all costs) or offer month-to-month agreements (common for small businesses).

ALWAYS review the term clause in merchant service agreements, which can be incredibly deceiving. If you’re able to obtain a month-to-month agreement without any auto enrollment, you’re in great shape.

Read the terms carefully. You might see a payment processor that charges extra for things like a payment gateway fee, in addition to your monthly subscription fee. Depending on the contract terms, you could be paying a lot more than just the interchange fee to accept payments. This limits what’s ultimately deposited in the merchant’s bank account after all the fees are taken out.

Final Thoughts on Payment Processing Companies

When it comes to deciding which credit card processing company a merchant should side with, most of the credit card processing companies out there are interchangeable.

All credit card processing companies pitch the same types of credit card merchant fees, offer similar products, and use the same smoke-and-mirror sales tactics. The major difference between credit card processing companies is ensuring the technical capabilities that your business needs can be accommodated appropriately by the credit card processor you choose.

For example, if your business currently uses a management software, there may be certain credit card processing companies that partner with that software, limiting your choices of which company to use. If that’s the case, make sure you do your homework and look beyond the monthly fees shown the surface.

Leverage pricing of all the vendors involved to ensure you are getting the lowest credit card processing rate, and have it looked at by a third party vendor, like Merchant Cost Consulting, to ensure the pricing you have received is true and accurate.

There are a lot of moving parts in the credit card processing industry. Leverage as many resources as you can to ensure you make the right decision.