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Are you on the hunt for the best payment organizations to simplify your transaction processes? Join us on our review of leading business payments companies tailored for all sorts of payment needs.
We’ll be discussing some of the largest payment companies, including Wise Business, a standout platform in the payment landscape that is ideal for international transactions. Let's go ahead and start exploring so you can find what you’re looking for.
Looking to save on international business payments?
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Wise Business is here to provide a quality account that not only lowers your fees but also help you run your business more efficiently. Let's take a look at some of the key parts of the Wise Business account.
The Wise International Business Advantage: |
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Wise helps you send payments instantly, transparently, and safely. With Wise, you can send and receive international payments in 40 currencies, all at the touch of a button. This is especially useful for businesses and freelancers with an international reach who need to pay or get paid.
The process is so easy that you’ll only need a few details to send money to your recipient's account—no mysterious codes or complex steps. The money also gets there quickly, often more quickly than via most other providers.
Wise also lets you receive payments in multiple currencies. With a Wise account, you'll get unique account details for 9 global currencies, including USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, and more. This way, your clients can pay you just like they pay a local, and there's no need for costly fees on your end to receive your hard-earned funds.
Wise keeps their pricing transparent, so you always know what you’ll be charged. Find a list of fees here.
There's no subscription cost for opening or maintaining a Wise Business account. For each transaction, you'll pay a small, flat fee and a percentage of the amount converted. The exact cost can vary depending on the currency route, but you'll still be saving when sending money abroad.
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QuickBooks is a popular accounting software solution that's designed to help small businesses manage their financial activities. The platform is a staple in the modern business world, helping business owners with their accounting, payroll, and more.
QuickBooks’ Contractor Payroll feature lets you pay contractors with next-day deposit. Contractors can create their own accounts and fill out their bank deposit details so payments are automated and tax season is made easy.²
The platform lets you take payments via card, Apple Pay, Venmo, ACH, and more. You can send out professional invoices, use the GoPayment app, create payment links, and even schedule recurring payments if you’re looking for automation.
QuickBooks Payments has two tiers, the Simple Start plan at $30/month and the Essentials plan at $27.50/month.³ The extras on the Essentials plan include entering time, managing and paying bills, and connecting up to 3 sales channels. If you want QuickBooks Payroll, that’s priced separately, at $15/month for contractor payments and $45/month (+$5 per employee) for QuickBooks Payroll Core (employees and contractors). There are also bundle plans that combine Simple Start and Payroll.³
See the Best Banks for Small Businesses >>
FreshBooks might sound similar to QuickBooks, and that’s because it is – in that it’s an accounting program that helps small business owners manage their finances better. The difference is that FreshBooks is said to be easier to use and learn, with less complex features than QuickBooks.
Clients can easily pay through FreshBooks through their own Client Account, which is a quick way to pay invoices as they come in – individually or in bulk. Whether it’s with PayPal or credit card, there are plenty of ways to pay.⁴
There are a variety of payment options offered on FreshBooks. Checkout links can be placed on your website or anywhere else online for a click-and-pay method. You can accept credit card payments online, in-person, or over the phone, or send out a customizable invoice.
FreshBooks has four pricing tiers: Lite ($17/month), Plus ($30/month), Premium ($55/month), and Select (custom pricing). Each tier gets you more perks and features, which you might need depending on your business.⁶ When it comes to accepting payments, FreshBooks Payments charges a 1% bank transfer fee for ACH and 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction for credit cards.⁷
If you’re looking for a sleek payments company that caters to a range of payment solutions, Helcim might be a good fit. They offer virtual terminals, invoicing, online checkout, subscription payments, ACH payments, to name a few. There’s also international credit card processing available if you need to make payments overseas.
Helcim is solely focused on processing payments so you can get paid. Unfortunately, they don’t offer a way to send payments.
A big standout feature of Helcim is that it truly puts you in the driver’s seat. Receiving payments through the platform isn't just convenient but also swift and secure. You can create anything from a shopping cart with “Buy Now” buttons, use QR code payments, or go with a recurring subscription format.
Helcim doesn’t have a monthly fee and works on a pay-as-you-go system. On average, they charge 1.94% + 8¢ for each in-person transaction and 2.51% + 25¢ for each online transaction. However, the higher the amount you process every month, the less you pay.⁸
👉 Looking to learn more about payment processing tools? Find out more below!
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Next on the list is PayPal, one of the largest payments companies in the world. PayPal is used for both personal and business transactions. Whether you’re shopping online or handling online sales, PayPal has both the simplicity for individuals and the robust tools that businesses need.
Got bills to pay? Or maybe you’re buying something from an online site across the pond? With PayPal's personal account, you can simply use your PayPal balance and connect your account to your credit card or bank account.
Venturing into the business sphere? If you are a company looking to send payments or pay your freelancers across the world, PayPal is equipped to handle those transactions too.
To receive payments, all you need to provide is your email address or phone number associated with your account. With PayPal for Business, you can seamlessly provide an online checkout solution, send invoices, or offer installment payments. Customers can pay however they want to, with all major payment solutions available.⁹
While setting up a personal or business PayPal is completely free, businesses will be charged a percentage and fixed fee depending on the payment type. For example, PayPal Checkout incurs a 3.49% + $0.49 fee, while standard debit and credit cards come with a 2.99% + $0.49 fee.¹⁰
If you’re part of the world of digital commerce – a freelancer, ecommerce store owner, or in digital marketing, for example – Payoneer is a strong contender. The platform is primarily known for dealing with international cash flow, which is often a complicated feat when doing business across borders.
When sending payments, you can choose from a variety of modes: bank transfer, ACH bank debit, credit card, and send money to contractors and remote workers in over 200 countries. The catch is that the recipient has to be a Payoneer customer, so you’ll have to invite them to join Payoneer.¹¹
When you’re receiving payments from buyers or clients, you can get paid directly to your bank account or e-wallet. Like Wise, Payoneer gives you your own set of account details in 8 other currencies, as if you had bank accounts around the world. You can also get paid from marketplaces.¹¹
Where Payoneer falls a little short is their pricing. Although transparent, the fee structure is a little complicated. When sending money, batch payments will incur a 2% for the transfer. You’ll also have to pay up to 2% of the transaction amount when sending money, and a fixed fee applies even when you’re making a USD to USD payment (1.50 USD). While Payoneer uses XE for their currency market rates, you might not get the exact mid-market exchange rate.¹²
Revolut is an all-in-one fintech platform with both personal and business accounts. They cover many features, including crypto and stocks, international transfers, on-demand pay, subscriptions, budgeting and analytics, and even joint accounts. So if you’re looking to do multiple things on the same platform, Revolut is a savvy choice.
The platform allows you to send money in 29 currencies, which is useful if you’re paying global suppliers or freelancers. Employees can also use Revolut to manage their earnings, track their wages, and let employers know if they want on-demand pay or early salary.¹³ ¹⁴ Another great feature is that you can manage all your subscriptions in one place, so you’ll never be in the dark.
Payments can also be accepted from anywhere, in 25+ currencies, into dedicated currency accounts.¹⁵ They offer Revolut Pay for a solid checkout experience, QR codes and invoices, a customizable Widget and Merchant API so you can integrate a payment gateway wherever you need it, and in-person options like their Revolut Reader and contactless payment with iPhone.
There’s a free plan offered for both personal and business accounts, but the business accounts have three extra paid tiers, and the personal accounts have four.
On the business side, they have the Grow plan (£25/month), the Scale plan (£100/month), and the Enterprise plan (Custom), with more perks the higher you go. With the free plan, you won’t get a fee-free international payment allowance (£3 applies per transaction) or non-marked-up exchanges per month (0.4% markup), but you have a specific allowance with the paid plans.¹⁶
Plastiq(see Plastiq alternatives) focuses on driving business growth by making accepting payments and making payments fast and flexible. Their suite of products includes Plastiq Pay, Plastiq Accept, and Plastiq Connect. The main perk? Paying by credit card even in places where it’s not accepted.
With Plastiq Pay, businesses can take advantage of credit cards and short-term financing to better manage their cash flow. They also offer the option to pay internationally in over 45 countries with next-day wire transfer – with credit card, even if it’s not traditionally accepted!¹⁷
Plastiq Accept also hones in on the credit card feature. With the product, you can get paid by credit card with zero merchant fees. Whether you want to send an invoice, use a Virtual Terminal, send a QR code over text, or offer short-term financing, you can do all that with Plastiq.
Standard Plastiq Pay and Plastiq Accept are free, but if you want to take it up a notch, the Pro versions are priced at $59/month. Plastiq Pay Enterprise is $119/month, whereas you’ll have to speak to an associate for Plastiq Accept Enterprise.¹⁸
For wire transfers, it’s a $5 fee for domestic and $39 for international. There’s also a 2.9% fee for card payments and a 2.7 - 9.9% fee for short-term financing.¹⁸
The Wise Business account could be a lifesaver for your business through offering you low-cost, easy way to send and receive money internationally. Let's start thinking of how much you could save on your payments to suppliers, wholesalers, merchants, or your foreign workers.
Dharma is one of the top payment companies that target a more specific customer base – small businesses in retail, restaurant, hospitality, and business-to-business, and nonprofits, for example. They market themselves as a full-service merchant services provider (MSP) that offers virtual, storefront, and nonprofit solutions.
Dharma focuses on merchant services, which means it doesn’t have the option for users to send payments.
All Dharma accounts come with a virtual terminal feature, mobile processing, online payment links, and a customer database with credit card storage. They also use something called Interchange Plus pricing.¹⁹ As card-issuing banks charge a flat fee and percentage fee (like 3.00% + 0.49¢), and credit card providers then charge an extra fee on top of that. Dharma stays competitive by offering a consistent, flat margin that’s the same for both smaller and larger merchants – no more penalties for small amounts!
Pricing for Dharma is complex. It all depends on the industry your business is in, the type of card you’re processing, and the margins for each card. For example, a small business or retail store has a 0.15% + $0.08 above interchange rate and a $25/month fee.²⁰
Braintree is a PayPal product – a customized solution for businesses. It’s an easy-to-use way to handle payments with plenty of ways to pay, including Bitcoin and Apple Pay. The platform is also known to be developer-friendly, offering a fully customizable checkout experience.
Through PayPal’s other product, Hyperwallet, Braintree lets businesses send payments globally to whoever they need to. You can even unlock mass payout capabilities to recipients in 200+ countries and regions. And with such diverse payout options, you can pay in a multitude of ways.
Braintree Direct has everything you’ll need to accept online payments. If you’re looking for a checkout experience, you can opt for their ready-made Drop-in UI or create an entirely new one. There are even recurring billing and buy-now-pay-later options for added flexibility for your customers.
Pricing is similar to PayPal, where there’s no monthly charge to use the service but a charge per transaction. For cards and digital wallets, you’ll be charged 2.59% + 0.49¢ per transaction. For Venmo, the charge is 3.49% + 0.49¢ per transaction and 0.75% for ACH Direct Debit.²¹
Square and its logo have become synonymous with payment processing, making it one of the biggest payment companies for doing business today. With in-person, online, remote, and buy-now-pay-later options, you can always meet your customers where you are. They even offer extras such as loyalty programs, marketing tools, banking tools, and more.
Square has full-service payroll that comes with tax filing and expert support. There’s also a next-day payroll feature that lets you pay using your Square balance or checking account.
The commerce products Square offers are vast, with their Square hardware, online checkout, invoices, Afterpay, virtual terminal, and other POS systems. Their omnichannel commerce tools make it easy to sync all your transactions in one place.
Square has three plans: Free (+ processing fees), Plus ($29+/month + processing fees), and Premium (a bespoke plan + processing fees). In terms of processing fees, in-person transactions come with a 2.6% + 10¢ fee, online transactions come with a 2.9% + 10¢ fee, and invoices come with a 3.3% + 30¢ fee.²² ²³
Formerly Chargify, Maxio brings together Chargify and SaaSOptics to create a unified financial platform for B2B SaaS businesses. Chargify focuses on billing and subscription management, while SaaSOptics specializes in automating financial operations.
Maxio doesn’t offer an option to send payments.
Maxio is unique in that it offers a flexible billing engine with billing models and usage-based pricing. For example, maybe you want to craft a custom contract or charge at a specific billing frequency. Maybe you want to add a setup fee or simply do a one-time charge. There are many upfront models and usage models available, all supported by direct deposit, credit cards, and more.
Maxio is much more expensive than other options on this list, but that’s because it’s such a comprehensive platform. It’s unlike the others in that it has a heavier focus on billing modules and revenue tools. The Essentials plan starts at $599/month, while the Growth and Scale plans work with custom pricing.²⁴
Let’s get right to it – Adyen’s bread and butter is its incredible range of payment methods.²⁷ It includes country-specific ones like iDEAL for Dutch customers and Alipay for Chinese customers, for instance. This means that your payment processing will be inclusive and suitable for an international market.
With the global payouts feature, you can send payments out in real time to vendors, partners, or employees. Active local payouts are available in 40+ countries, and you can even simplify things by automating instructions and approvals. Adyen supports payouts to bank accounts, cards, and Adyen-issued cards.²⁵
Adyen supports cross-channel payments, online payments through apps and websites, and payments through terminals and devices. You can even embed payments into your platform or marketplace – and of course, all in the customer’s favorite local payment method.
While all of Adyen’s products are priced independently, there are costs associated with each transaction. Adyen’s processing fee is always ¢0.11, while the percentage cost will depend on the method of payment. For example, American Express cards incur a 3.95% fee, and South Korea’s PayCo tacks on a 4% fee.²⁶
Verifone simplifies modern commerce by providing flexible payment APIs and custom-branded checkouts where you can accept payments from any device and from any country(see Verifone (2checkout) alternatives).
Unfortunately, Verifone doesn’t have the capability to send out payments.
Their cross-channel payments solution means using one single platform to get paid on physical and digital channels. They offer in-store payments, online payments (including hosted checkout!), and physical payments through mobile POS, portable devices, and more. This means going beyond accepting just debit and credit cards and providing the modern flexibility every customer deserves.
Pricing isn’t available on their website at this time. If you’re interested in Verifone’s services, contact sales to find out more.
Looking for a simple, low-cost way to make payments or get paid? Wise Business helps over 300k businesses save while conducting overseas transactions. This smart digital alternative to traditional banking offers digital payments that are both convenient, transparent, and instant.
Built specifically with small businesses in mind, Wise Business offers a ton of perks that make it super attractive for companies like yours.
Wise Business has no hidden fees or exchange rate markups. Plus, their international account is a game-changer for businesses dealing with multiple currencies. Whether you're paying freelancers abroad or accepting ecommerce payments from customers, Wise Business has got your back.
Some key features of Wise Business include: |
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Better visibility and organization of business finances. This is helpful for account reconciliations and audits. |
Administration controls for users. It’s possible to allow team members to carry out specific tasks. |
Receive payments from ecommerce platforms (such as Amazon or Stripe) |
Create invoices using the Wise invoice generator or invoice templates. |
Features for bill payment, including a QuickBooks Bill Pay connection. Bill payments will be synced, matched, and categorized in QuickBooks for simple reconciliation. |
Batch payment options. This allows the fast payment of up to 1,000 people, by uploading a spreadsheet. |
Get the Wise Business account >>
Free opening for US business accounts
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Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
Wise is not a bank, but a Money Services Business (MSB) provider and a smart alternative to banks.
*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.
This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.
We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.
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