Vetspire is a popular cloud-based veterinary practice management platform that’s built to streamline how vet clinics operate.
The software positions itself as a modern solution with AI-powered features, an intuitive interface, and robust features to help veterinarians work smarter in a market that’s saturated with lots of older, legacy systems.
One standout feature of Vetspire is its integrated payment processing capabilities, which allows veterinary practices to accept credit card payments directly within the software — and that’s what the bulk of this review will focus on (as that’s our expertise here at MCC).
So whether you’re currently using Vetspire or considering its payment processing capabilities, we’ll give you our insider take to ensure you’re getting the best possible deal on payment processing.
MCC Quick Take on Vetspire
We have several veterinary clients using Vetspire, and the feedback related to the software itself is mostly positive. Our clients like the features, support, documentation, and everything about the platform that’s clearly more intuitive than the legacy systems they used in the past.
In terms of Vetspire’s payment processing:
- The software integrates with four payment processors: Vetspire Pay, Worldpay, Stripe, and Square.
- Vetspire Pay is powered by CardConnect, which is actually an ISO of Fiserv.
- Regardless of the processor you’re using, your rates are 100% negotiable.
- There’s a good chance you’re overpaying to accept payments (especially if you’re using Worldpay or Vetspire Pay).
- Stripe and Square typically offer more transparent pricing, but integrated processing always comes with a markup.
Overall, Vetspire is a solid veterinary practice management solution.
But like most software companies that offer integrated payments, the convenience comes at a cost. And that cost is often higher than it needs to be (though you can take steps to reduce your fees without switching providers).
Vetspire Overview and Key Features
Vetspire is a relatively newer player in the veterinary practice management space. But it’s making waves for its modern approach to clinic operations.
Unlike traditional vet practice management software that was built primarily for billing purposes, Vetspire was designed to prioritize clinical workflows and medicine. This approach helps veterinarians who want to use technology to support their work instead of software that creates additional administrative headaches.
Our clients love that the software is cloud-based, meaning it can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection (no servers or complex IT infrastructure to maintain).
Top Features
- AI-powered documentation to transcribe conversations and take notes in real-time.
- Collaborative medical records so multiple team members can work on the same patient records simultaneously.
- Custom workflows for appointments, billing, and more.
- Integrated payment processing.
- Two-way client communication.
- Multi-location support.
Vetspire Payment Processing Options
For payment processing, it’s worth noting that Vetspire doesn’t handle transactions in-house (despite one of the options being branded with Vetspire’s name).
This is important to understand because your rates, fees, processing capabilities, and support will be very different depending on which processor you’re integrating with.
Let’s go through each of the four options so you can understand the differences.
Vetspire Pay (CardConnect)
Vetspire Pay is Vetspire’s branded payment processing solution. But there’s a lot happening behind the scenes.
The processing is actually going through CardConnect, which operates as an ISO (Independent Sales Organization) of Fiserv.
CardConnect acts as a middleman. They don’t actually process the transactions themselves, either. Instead, they resell Fiserv’s processing services under their own brand (and in this case semi co-branded with Vetspire).
This multi-layered structure is important to understand because it directly impacts your costs.
- CardConnect needs to take a cut.
- Fiserv also needs a cut.
- And Vetspire likely gets a referral commission on top of that.
All of the funds for these cuts and commissions come out of your margins in the form of padded rates.
CardConnect isn’t quite as egregious as other processors when it comes to junk fees and hidden charges. But we still find some overages on accounts we audit from them. And with integrated processing, rates are always bumped up even more.
One potential advantage of Vetspire Pay is that it’s positioned as a “native” solution, which allegedly makes the onboarding a bit easier.
Despite how this integration is marketed, all four processing options integrate with the software equally well. And as you can see, there are still multiple players involved, so I don’t know how the setup could actually be simpler.
If you’re using or considering these options, I recommend reading our CardConnect Review and Fiserv Review so you can get a better picture of who is actually handling your processing behind the scenes.
Worldpay
Worldpay is one of the largest payment processors on the planet. While the company’s size and scale may sound like a benefit, that’s actually not the case at all when it comes to Worldpay’s processing costs.
Large payment processors like Worldpay use their large market position to get higher rates from merchants. They’re notorious for complex pricing, hidden fees, and frequent rate increases.
Integrated processing through Worldpay is going to be even more expensive than its traditional processing solutions because they likely have to pay a commission or referral fee back to Vetspire for supporting the integration. And those costs get passed through to you.
What’s sad about this is that Worldpay wasn’t always all that bad. But they’ve gotten worse in recent years, and it’s about to get much worse in the coming years. Here’s why:
- Worldpay was just acquired by Global Payments.
- Global is probably the biggest offender in the industry when it comes to bogus fees and unethical billing practices.
- Once the acquisition is officially complete, we expect to see Global apply their same aggressive billing tactics to Worldpay customers (including those integrated with Vetspire).
So if you haven’t set up your integrated payments with Vetspire yet, I strongly recommend avoiding Worldpay.
With that said, if you’re already using Worldpay, you’re actually better off sticking with them because switching processors is practically never a good idea.
Just audit your statements carefully to identify bogus fees and rate increases, then contact Worldpay directly to negotiate better terms.
Our Worldpay review has plenty of tips on how to handle this.
Stripe
Stripe is one of the best payment processors on the market. We love that they offer transparent pricing, exceptional technology, and one of the most straightforward approaches to merchant services.
They’re an industry leader in integrated processing solutions. You just need to make sure you’re getting the right pricing structure.
Stripe doesn’t engage in the same level of rate padding and hidden fee nonsense that we see from processors like Worldpay or Global Payments. They’re pricing is published on their website, and they stick to it unless you negotiate better rates.
And you definitely need to be negotiating here.
- Stripe’s advertised flat-rate pricing of 2.9% + $0.30 is not a good deal.
- Get them to quote you on an interchange-plus structure, which varies based on volume.
- Try to get them down to 20-25 basis points over interchange.
- They also offered tiered-interchange plus contracts for practices processing over $1 million monthly, with reduced rates as your volume rises.
If you’re setting up a new Vetspire account for the first time, Stripe is probably your best bet from a cost perspective (assuming you’re getting interchange-plus upfront).
It’s also worth noting that Stripe’s integration with Vetspire supports Scratch Pay, which is a financial solution designed specifically for veterinary practices. It allows pet owners to finance veterinary care through flexible payment plans.
And while this is a “nice-to-have” feature to help clients who need help paying for your services, keep in mind that this typically comes with higher processing fees since they’re essentially small loans using a BNPL (buy-now-pay-later) model that’s just being processed through your payment system.
Check out our full Stripe review for more details on pricing, features, and negotiation strategies.
Square
Square is a bit different than the other processors that integrate with Vetspire because they don’t actually offer you a traditional merchant account.
That’s because Square is a payment facilitator (PayFac), which means they use a master merchant account and set up their clients as a sub-merchant.
This allows for a faster setup without complex underwriting. But it also means higher fees.
And while Square’s pricing is also transparent without tons of junk fees we see elsewhere in the industry, it’s not the best long-term solution for most veterinary practices.
Unless you’re super small or can’t get a traditional merchant account (due to being so new or some problem you’ve had in the past), you’ll probably outgrow Square. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck paying higher-than-normal rates.
Getting lower fees from a traditional merchant account provider is definitely better in the long run, even if it means going through some extra steps and filling out more forms during the initial setup.
One advantage of Square is that it has a great hardware ecosystem. The terminals and card readers for in-person payments are incredibly easy to set up, and everything is designed to work together seamlessly.
But from a pure cost perspective, Stripe is typically better than Square for integrated processing (especially at higher volumes).
Comparing Your Payment Processing Options in Vetspire
Now that we’ve covered all of the processing options in detail, let’s quickly compare them side-by-side you can see how they stack up:
- Worldpay: Highest fees, hidden charges, and poor transparency. Things will get worse once Global takes over, so avoid them if possible.
- Vetspire Pay (CardConnect): Better than Worldpay, but still overpriced due to the multi-layered structure between CardConnect, Fiserv, and Vetspire. Rates are negotiable but are generally higher compared to Stripe or Square.
- Stripe: Best overall option in terms of pricing, transparency, and features.
- Square: Solid option for smaller practices doing a lower volume of mostly in-person payments.
If we’re being totally honest, Stripe is the clear winner of these four options. So go with them if you’re just getting started.
But if you’re already using one of the other processors integrated with Vetspire, you’re actually better off sticking with them than switching.
How to Get Lower Vetspire Payment Processing Rates
As mentioned above, switching processors is not the answer if you want to save money on payment processing with Vetspire.
You might be thinking, “I’m paying too much with Square, I’ll just switch to Stripe.” But that’s actually not the best move, especially within an integrated software.
First and foremost, it’s too much of a hassle. You can experience downtime, data loss, operations issues, and other problems that outweigh the benefit or potentially getting lower rates.
But more importantly, you have better leverage to negotiate lower terms directly with your current provider.
Whether that’s CardConnect, Worldpay, Stripe, or Square — they don’t want to lose your account. You’re already set up with them and they have plenty of room to negotiate.
So pick up the phone and demand better terms.
It helps if you have something to point out, like bogus fees or inflated rates that you want removed. The average veterinarian probably can’t identify this stuff on their statements, which is why it’s so helpful to have a merchant consultant on your side.
Here at MCC, we’ve successfully negotiated better terms for our clients using all of these processors. So we know their “rock bottom” numbers and what’s a fair deal based on your account.
Contact us today for a free audit to find out how much you can save on your integrated processing with Vetspire.
Final Thoughts on Vetspire’s Payment Processing
Vetspire is a good veterinary practice management system.
Its payment processing options are also solid, mainly because you have multiple options to choose from. This isn’t always the case with other solutions that only offer a single integrated provider (or multiple processors owned by the same parent company).
With Vetspire, having several processing options creates competition. You can negotiate better rates because your processor doesn’t want you to leave and go elsewhere.
And you can actually use quotes from other providers that integrate with Vetspire as leverage during your negotiations.