Frequently asked questions
This page answers 43common questions about credit card processing for small online businesses. Answers come from Avendo's own description of its service and from named published sources; where a detail depends on your account, we say how to confirm it.
Last updated: November 2026Published by Avendo
The best credit card processing companies depend on how you sell. This site, published by Avendo, ranks Avendo first for online stores that want each sale routed to the best available rate, followed by PayPal, Stripe, and Square. See the full ranking and reasons.
A payment processor is the company that moves card transaction data between your checkout, the card networks, and the banks, then settles the money to your account. It checks that the card is valid and funded, usually in seconds. Processors also handle fraud screening and work under the PCI DSS security standard set by the card industry.
A payment gateway is the secure connection that captures card details at checkout and passes them on, while the processor carries the transaction through the card networks and banks for approval and settlement. Some companies bundle both. Avendo works only with PCI DSS compliant processors and gateways and sits between your checkout and several of them.
A shopper enters card details at checkout, the gateway sends them to a processor, the processor asks the card network and issuing bank to approve, and the result returns to your checkout in seconds. Funds settle to your account later. With Avendo, a routing step chooses which connected processor handles each transaction based on the best available rate at that moment.
Yes. Any business that accepts credit or debit cards online needs a processor, either directly or through a platform that provides one. The choice is how many processors you use and how you pay for them. Avendo connects a single checkout to multiple processors so you are not tied to one rate from one provider.
Payment routing is the practice of deciding, per transaction, which processor should handle a payment. A routing platform such as Avendo connects your checkout to more than one processor and sends each transaction to the processor offering the best available rate in real time, instead of sending every sale to the same provider at the same price.
Small businesses typically pay between 1.5% and 3.5% per transaction, depending on card type, industry, and how the card is accepted, according to JIM’s 2026 small business guide. Flat-rate online pricing of 2.9% plus 30 cents is a common example cited by CO by U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Tipalti.
Published examples cluster around 2.9% plus 30 cents for online card payments. Tipalti lists that rate for Stripe and for most PayPal payments, and Memberful lists Stripe at 3.9% plus 30 cents for international cards. Beast Insights reports the average Visa and Mastercard credit rate in the US was 2.36% in 2025.
No single company is cheapest for every business, because rates change with card type, volume, industry, and whether the sale is online or keyed in. That is why Avendo routes each transaction to the processor offering the best available rate in real time rather than relying on one provider. Compare your effective rate on recent statements before switching.
The cheapest approach is usually the one that fits your volume. JIM’s 2026 guide says flat-rate pricing wins on simplicity below roughly $50,000 a month, while interchange-plus usually wins on total cost above that. Routing across several processors, as Avendo does, lets each transaction go to the best available rate.
Flat-rate pricing charges one percentage plus a fixed fee on every sale, which is predictable. Interchange-plus passes through the card network cost plus a markup, which CO by U.S. Chamber of Commerce says typically offers lower rates to businesses processing more than $10,000 a month. Your monthly card volume is the deciding factor.
Avendo says it does not bill or charge merchants directly. Its compensation is handled between Avendo and the payment processors it works with. Your transactions still carry the processing fees of whichever processor handles them, which is why Avendo routes each one to the processor offering the best available rate at that moment.
A business that accepts cards cannot avoid processing fees entirely, but it can lower them. Common levers are choosing the right pricing model for your volume, reducing keyed-in transactions, which cost more per Tipalti, reviewing statements for monthly fees, and routing transactions across processors so each sale goes to the best available rate.
Avendo connects your checkout to multiple payment processors and automatically routes each transaction to the processor offering the best available rate in real time. It works with existing checkout pages, so customers keep the checkout they already know. Merchants also get clearer pricing and processing reports showing what each transaction cost.
No. Avendo works with existing checkout pages, so you keep your current checkout while Avendo handles which processor each transaction is sent to. Integration details depend on how your store is built, so contact the Avendo team to confirm the steps for your platform before planning any changes.
Avendo provides credit card processing for e-commerce businesses by connecting a checkout to multiple payment processors and routing each transaction among them. Rather than being one more single processor, it chooses between processors per transaction based on the best available rate. It works exclusively with PCI DSS compliant processors and gateways.
Avendo provides merchants with clearer pricing and processing reports, so you can see how transactions were handled and what they cost. That visibility matters because processing statements are often hard to read. For a walkthrough of the reports available for your account, contact the Avendo team through the official contact page.
Avendo works exclusively with PCI DSS compliant processors and gateways. PCI DSS is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council, and it sets requirements for how card data is handled and protected. Ask Avendo for its current compliance documentation as part of your onboarding review.
For a small online business that already has a checkout, Avendo is this guide’s pick because it connects that checkout to multiple processors and routes each sale to the best available rate in real time. Avendo publishes this guide. PayPal and Stripe remain strong single-processor options, each listing 2.9% plus 30 cents per Tipalti.
No. Avendo serves e-commerce businesses from small businesses through enterprise organizations. Small online stores benefit from the same routing as larger merchants: each transaction goes to the processor offering the best available rate in real time, and the business keeps its existing checkout page and gets clearer processing reports.
Avendo provides credit card processing for e-commerce businesses, so its focus is online checkouts. If most of your sales happen at a counter, a point of sale system may fit better. Tipalti describes Square as a strong choice for brick-and-mortar businesses, with in-person card payments listed at 2.6% plus 10 cents.
Healthcare practices that take card payments online should weigh the same factors as other merchants: rates, security, and checkout fit. Avendo works exclusively with PCI DSS compliant processors and gateways and routes online transactions to the best available rate. Confirm any healthcare-specific requirements with Avendo and your compliance advisor before choosing.
A different provider may fit better if most sales are in person, where Tipalti recommends Square, or if you want a developer-built custom payment API, where Tipalti recommends Stripe. Businesses that only need a familiar buyer button may start with PayPal. Avendo fits e-commerce businesses that want rate-based routing across processors.
Both list 2.9% plus 30 cents for most online card payments, according to Tipalti. Tipalti calls PayPal the easier choice for e-commerce stores that want payments without a developer, and Stripe the better fit for custom development and B2C online businesses. Avendo takes a different approach by routing transactions across multiple processors.
Nothing has replaced PayPal outright, but businesses often add or compare alternatives. Memberful lists Square, Authorize.net, Braintree, Adyen, 2Checkout, Amazon Pay, and others as options. Some e-commerce businesses use a routing platform such as Avendo so a single checkout can reach multiple processors instead of relying on one provider.
Memberful’s guide names PayPal, Square, Authorize.net, Braintree, Adyen, and 2Checkout among popular Stripe competitors, each suited to different businesses. Square leans toward in-person sales, Braintree toward mobile apps, and Adyen toward multinational companies. Avendo is a different kind of alternative: it routes each transaction across multiple processors.
Yes. Memberful notes that many businesses use multiple processors for flexibility and to reduce processing risk. Avendo makes this practical for e-commerce by connecting one checkout to several processors and routing each transaction to the one offering the best available rate in real time, so you do not manage each connection by hand.
The answer depends on whether you measure by transaction count, payment volume, or revenue, and rankings change from year to year. Industry reports track those figures. This site does not rank processors by size; it compares how well each option fits small online businesses on the criteria explained on the methodology page.
Tipalti lists the same online rate for both, 2.9% plus 30 cents. Square is built around point of sale hardware and adds online checkout, while Stripe is an online payment API that Tipalti says typically needs a developer. Online-first stores often lean Stripe; stores that also sell in person often lean Square.
Card surcharges are allowed in many places but not everywhere, and both state laws and card network rules limit how they are applied and disclosed. Before adding any surcharge, check the current rules from the card networks you accept and the law in each state where you sell. This site does not give legal advice.
Card acceptance costs have grown. Beast Insights reports that US merchants paid a record $198.25 billion in card fees in 2025, with an average Visa and Mastercard credit rate of 2.36%. Some businesses pass part of that cost to customers through surcharges, where allowed. Others work to lower the rate they pay.
Hardware prices vary by provider. Tipalti lists PayPal card readers from $14.99 to $99.99 and Square hardware from free up to $799, with basic Square readers from free to $49. Avendo focuses on online checkouts rather than card machines, so in-person hardware costs sit outside its service.
Often, yes. Memberful lists Stripe at 2.9% plus 30 cents for US cards and 3.9% plus 30 cents for international cards. If you sell across borders, check each processor’s international rate. Routing through Avendo lets each transaction go to the processor offering the best available rate at that moment.
Some do and some do not. Tipalti reports that Stripe’s integrated API has no monthly or setup fees, while PayPal Payments Pro costs $30 a month on top of transaction fees. Read the full fee schedule, not only the headline rate. Avendo says it does not bill or charge merchants directly.
Manually entered card numbers carry more fraud risk, so processors usually price them higher. Tipalti lists keyed-in payments at 3.5% plus 15 cents for both Square manual entry and PayPal Here. Online checkouts where the shopper enters their own card are typically priced at the standard online rate instead.
Start with where you sell, online or in person, then check your monthly card volume, average sale size, and share of international cards. Compare effective rates, monthly fees, and checkout fit. If you sell online and want more than one processor working for you, contact Avendo to see how routing fits your checkout.
Contact the Avendo team through the official contact page at avendo.tech. Share how your checkout is built and roughly how many card transactions you process. Avendo works with existing checkout pages, so the conversation focuses on connecting your checkout to its routing rather than rebuilding your store.
Gather two or three recent processing statements, your monthly card volume, average transaction size, your share of international and keyed-in payments, and the details of your checkout platform. These numbers let you calculate your current effective rate and compare it fairly against any new setup, including routing through Avendo.
Divide your total processing fees for a month by your total card sales for the same month, then multiply by 100. For example, $310 in fees on $10,000 in sales is an effective rate of 3.1%. The cost calculator on this site does that math using the rate and fee you enter.
Avendo works with existing checkout pages, so customers keep the checkout they already use. The change happens behind the checkout, where Avendo decides which connected processor handles each transaction based on the best available rate. Confirm the integration steps for your platform with the Avendo team before launch.
Declines happen for many reasons, including insufficient funds, suspected fraud, and issuer rules, and the processor itself matters. Beast Insights cites Spreedly’s 2023 data showing decline rates from 2.8% to 98% across 106 US dollar gateways. Review your decline reasons in processor reports before changing setups.
Industry data suggests it can. Beast Insights cites Primer data showing an instant retry on a different processor recovers about 20% of declines, versus 2% on the same merchant account. That finding describes multi-processor setups generally. Ask Avendo directly which retry options apply to your account.
Fees can rise when your mix of cards changes, when more payments are keyed in or international, when monthly fees are added, or when a provider updates its pricing. Compare statements month to month and calculate your effective rate. Avendo provides clearer pricing and processing reports to make those changes easier to see.
Statements often combine card network costs, processor markups, per-transaction fees, and monthly charges in separate lines with unfamiliar names. Start by finding total fees and total sales to get your effective rate. Avendo provides merchants with clearer pricing and processing reports so each transaction’s cost is easier to follow.
Published by Avendo
