Establishing a third-party merchant service or payment processing provider is critical to establishing credit and debit card payments. These companies install, integrate and operate the network behind all bank card swipe stations, which are often located near retail cash registers. Over time, these merchant service providers have helped expand the growing range of options for accepting payments for goods and services—some of which have been integrated with the latest smartphone features (“click here to pay,” anyone?) .
The same goes for technological advancements in the card reader itself, which facilitates 24/7 mobile payment processing anytime, anywhere. Behind all these in-person card and online shopping transactions are terabytes of customer data, recorded every time a payment transaction is processed.
Over time, many of these merchant service providers have evolved further to meet industry-specific networking needs. Today, both franchisors and franchisees have access to a complete roster of payment processing providers that directly meet their professional system requirements.
Related: What Franchise Does a Payment Processor Need
entrepreneur has announced its annual Top Franchise Provider rankings, a multi-faceted directory that includes the best of the best service providers in the industry. If you’re a franchisee who needs to understand the industry’s high-tech payment processors, there are plenty of options to choose from. These top 10 merchant service providers are a great place to start, earning a well-deserved spot on the 2022 list:
1. Toast
Founded in 2013, toast Powers successful restaurants of all sizes with a technology platform that combines restaurant POS, front, back and guest-facing technologies with a diverse marketplace of third-party applications. By combining technology with an unparalleled commitment to customer success, Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue and deliver amazing customer experiences.
2. Franchised Payment Network
Franchise Payments Network provides credit/debit/ACH processing and mobile payments to simplify the lives of consumers and business owners. Since 2006, we have served more than 190 franchise brands. Although we have grown over the years, our focus remains on the needs of franchisees, franchisees and consumers. Our dedicated team helps our clients with outstanding customer service. We cater to franchisees, ensuring they receive the education and support they need to increase unit revenue. We also assist franchisors in ensuring security and compliance to minimize the risk of data breaches. Franchise Payments Network CEO Tom Epstein talks about the platform that makes his company one of the best in the industry. “FPN and POLN8 are the best in the business because we have designed every aspect of our business, including business development, sales and service around the franchise model,” Epstein said. “My team and I have been in the franchising world for over 25 years. We live and breathe franchising. We fully understand the needs of franchisors and franchisees. We know their goals may not always be exactly the same So we live in a space where relationships are what we do – not payment processing or loyalty programs. We listen to our customers and understand the challenges they face. Help them overcome those challenges to grow their business It’s our job. If they grow, if the franchise in general grows — then we’ll continue to grow with them.”
3. Square
square Help sellers run and grow their business more easily with its integrated commerce ecosystem solutions. Square offers purpose-built software to run complex restaurant, retail and professional services operations, versatile e-commerce tools, embedded financial services and banking products, buy now, pay later via Afterpay, employee management and payroll capabilities, and more— All of this can work together to save sellers time and effort. Millions of sellers around the world trust Square to power their businesses and help them thrive in the economy.
Related: How to Find the Right Payment System
4. Intuit Quickbooks
Intuit is a global technology platform that helps our customers and communities overcome their most important financial challenges. Serving approximately 100 million customers worldwide through TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint and Credit Karma, we believe everyone deserves a chance to succeed. We never stop working to find new and innovative ways to achieve this. QuickBooks started out helping small businesses manage their books and is now the source of truth for millions of small businesses around the world. The QuickBooks platform provides interconnected financial products, including powerful accounting tools, payments, payroll, capital and banking services, helping small businesses save time and money while providing insight to help them make the smartest and most impactful decisions business decisions.
5.Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) aspires to move money and information in a way that moves the world. As a global leader in payments and financial technology, the company helps customers achieve best-in-class performance through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas such as account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and web services; payments; e-commerce; merchants acquiring and processing; and Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale and business management platform.
6. Eravan
Fully owned by US Bank (NYSE: USB), the fifth largest bank in the US, Elavon provides end-to-end payment processing solutions and services to more than 1.3 million customers in the US, Europe and Canada. As a leading supplier to airlines and hotels, A top-five provider of healthcare, retail and public sector/education, Elavon’s innovative payment solutions are designed to address corporate pain points from small to large global businesses.
Related: Merchant Service Fees Eaten Up Your Profits? Here are 7 tips to reduce them.
7. Stripes
Stripe is a technology company building the economic infrastructure for the internet. Businesses of all sizes — from start-ups to public companies like Salesforce and Facebook — use the company’s software to accept online payments and conduct technically sophisticated financial operations in more than 100 countries. Stripe helps new companies get off the ground and grow revenue, as well as incumbents to accelerate entry into new markets and launch new business models. Stripe aims to increase the GDP of the internet in the long run.
8. Authorize.net, a visa solution
Authorize.net has been a leading provider of payment gateway services since 1996, managing billions of transactions submitted to the processing network on behalf of merchant customers. Authorize.net is a wholly owned subsidiary of Visa (NYSE: V). Authorize.net services are sold through a network of reseller partners, including Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs), Merchant Service Providers (MSPs) and financial institutions that provide Authorize.net payment services to merchant customers.
9. Universal Payments
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading global provider of payment technology and software solutions, delivering innovative services to our global customers. Our technology, service and employee expertise allow us to provide a broad range of solutions that enable our customers to accept all payment types and conduct business more efficiently across a variety of distribution channels in many markets around the world. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with approximately 11,000 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a member of the S&P 500 with clients and partners in 32 countries across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Brazil.
10. Worldpay from FIS
FIS’ Worldpay helps its clients use technology in innovative ways to solve critical business challenges and provide their clients with a superior experience. It serves more than 1 million merchants, including 60% of the largest U.S. retailers, and processes approximately $2 trillion in transaction volume annually.
Related: The Ins and Outs of Modern Payment Processing
