When thinking about which payment processors are best for a blog, it’s important to know what some terms mean. For example, you need a way to get paid when you sell things or services through your blog. But terms like payment processors, payment gateways, and merchant accounts are easy to mix up. So first, let’s deal with that:
Merchant Account – This is an account that allows you to accept credit card and debit card payments. You can’t do this with a regular bank account, but you can with a merchant account. Most banks will give you an online merchant account, but they will charge you a lot. You’ll have to pay an upfront fee of $100 US dollars or more and a monthly fee of $50 or more.
Payment Gateway – Merchants can ask for payment through the payment gateway (e.g., your blog). This could look like a payment button and then a form that your customers fill out with their payment details. Then, it sends requests for payment to the payment processor. Authorize, SecurePay, USAePay, and Chase Orbital are all examples of gateways.
Payment Processor – The payment processor links the merchant account and the payment gateway. It gets payment requests from the gateway and sends card information to the card network (like Visa or MasterCard). The card network then sends the transaction to the issuing bank for authorization and payment to the merchant account. WorldPay, TSYS, Elavon, and Chase Paymentech are all examples of processors.
In effect, though, the terms “payment gateway” and “payment processor” are often used to mean the same thing: a system enabling an online business to request and accept payments. Some, like PayPal and Stripe, combine the merchant account, payment gateway, and payment processor. This is called an “aggregator,” and you are using their merchant account. Others combine the gateway and the processor but still need a separate merchant account.
Top Best Payment Processors For Blog
You can find many of these payment systems online, and choosing the one that works best for you is important. Some of the things on this list might be outside of your country. PayPal, for instance, is only accepted in some countries, like Nigeria and Pakistan. Residents of these countries and anyone buying or selling to or from them must use alternatives. We didn’t include those only sold in the USA since that limits you to selling only in that country.
If that’s confusing, it’s no wonder regular people have trouble choosing the best payment processors for a blog they use to sell affiliate products or even their eBooks, videos, or software. The best payment processors for blog list below should help you figure this out. Unlike most other lists like this, it shows which systems also need a separate merchant account and which do not. In addition, all the fees detailed below are paid by the group that is getting the money.
1. Combined Payment Processors And Merchant Accounts
All credit card merchant services listed below function as aggregators and replace the first three parts of a payment system. As a result, you only have to deal with one service.
Payoneer
The Payoneer is an international payment processor with its main office in New York, USA. It’s one of your best processors if you need a payment method through your blog. The good thing about Payoneer is that it is easy to get money from customers in other countries. Payoneer has lower fees and conversion fees than PayPal or Direct Bank Transfer. It’s a great option to get paid for your freelance work. It’s like heaven compared to PayPal and Upwork. For example, when an Indian customer gets money from the US, Payoneer does not charge any fees to withdraw the money. They only have to pay a small fee for the exchange, which saves them a lot of money in the long run.
Payoneer is an easy choice if you want to get the money you’ve won quickly and easily. It lets you get your money in 24 hours, while PayPal takes between 3 and 5 business days. Payoneer is the best choice for small and medium-sized businesses that serve customers all over the world. Its services are available in more than 200 countries, and it works with more than 150 currencies. So, it makes sense to use Payoneer if your blog has readers and buyers worldwide. In addition, it has versions specific to each country, making it easier to follow the rules. Sign up, and you’ll get a $50 bonus (if you sign up and make a $100 transaction, you’ll get a $50 bonus).
PayPal
PayPal is one of the most popular aggregators online, but it’s usually just called a payment processor. Well, it is used in most countries, but only some of them. Combining all of the above features of an online payment system, it is simple to set up an account, and the payment system can be challenging. A PayPal balance can be used to buy things with PayPal or transfer to your bank account. In some countries, you can sign up for a PayPal Access card, a prepaid credit card used at ATMs to get cash or in stores to make things. You can add PayPal buttons to your blog so people can pay for certain products.
The price of your product is written into the buttons, and buyers can pay with either their own PayPal account or a credit or debit card. They can pay you without a PayPal account. There are Business Accounts, which let you set up a professional billing system with your logo. PayPal gives you your money right away, minus a transaction fee of 3.4% plus 20 cents, all in US dollars. Its dispute time is easy to understand, but it can take a while to finish. If you use PayPal to buy something, you are covered if you don’t get it, if it’s different from what was described, or if it’s broken when it gets to you. One advantage of PayPal is that you can send money to other PayPal members in other countries for the standard charge. Most of the time, this is much less than most banks would charge to send money abroad.
Stripe
Stripe is a payment aggregator similar to PayPal. It doesn’t cost anything to set up or use, but each transaction costs 2.4% + 20p UK. It is profoundly a system for developers, with clear, solid APIs that can be used to build a beautiful payment processing system that includes a secure merchant account. Stripe accepts 139 different currencies for marketing worldwide. You can set up membership accounts, flexible billing periods, special deals and coupons, and even let customers try your products before paying. The APIs give you a lot of freedom and a lot more.
Skrill
The UK company Moneybookers has changed its name to Skrill. It is a combined payment processing aggregator like PayPal. It works in every country except Afghanistan, Cuba, Nigeria, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, and Sudan. You can request payment the same way with PayPal: just put in their email address and the amount you want, and Skrill will take care of the rest. Like PayPal, the client doesn’t have to be a member. If you’ve money in your Skrill account, you can send it to anyone with an email address. They don’t have to be members. Like the other payment processors for blog on this page, Skrill-Moneybookers is safe and won’t share your information. For countries outside of Europe, the fees are 3.9% + 0.35 Euro and 2.9% + 0.25 Euro (or £0.2 for UK accounts).
2Checkout
Once upon a time, 2Checkout had affiliate products to sell, but now it focuses more on its function as an eCommerce payment system. With 2CO buttons, you can make your products and sell them on your blog. You must say that 2Checkout is your payment processor on every page. It’s free to set up and, like the others, doesn’t require a separate merchant account. However, it’s not as easy to use as PayPal, and you only get paid once a month if your earnings meet a certain threshold.
It is profoundly a method to send products to other people instead of selling money. You can’t use it to send money to someone else. First, you set up a product. Then, you get the product code and put it behind a button on your website or blog. When a customer wants to pay, they click that button. They can use a card or PayPal to pay. It is said to be available to use in every country. For US sellers, 2Checkout has a 2.99% charge plus a $0.430 transaction fee. International sellers have to pay fees of 5.5% plus $0.45 per transaction.
Google Wallet
Google Wallet isn’t so much a payment processor or aggregator as it is a means for your customers to pay for goods on your blog using the Google Wallet app. Users can pay with an account that is linked to their Google profile. Customers can pay with just one click by registering and putting the “Buy with Google” button on your site. Google charges 2.9% plus 30 cents for every transaction, no matter how big or high. If you make a lot of sales each month, this charge goes down, just like it does with PayPal. Google Wallet’s biggest problem right now is that only a few Google users are signing up for it. This is partly because only a small number of merchants accept it as a payment method. Joining and adding a Google payment button to your site won’t hurt. You might attract those who need help finding it on other blogs.
2. Mobile Payment Systems
Even though it doesn’t benefit your blog, some of your readers might be interested in an offline payment system they can use to accept payments on the road, at clients’ homes, in a restaurant, or anywhere else where a portable payment system would be useful.
PayAnywhere
PayAnywhere is a payment to pay for things with a mobile system. This system is easy to add to your mobile apps, and you don’t have to pay a fee or meet a minimum every month. The system is free and comes with a device you can attach to your phone. This enables you to swipe the card of a customer. It is not just an online system because it can be used to make or accept payments on the spot. However, even though it’s free, you must pay 2.9% each time you swipe your charge.
Square
Square is the same as PayAnywhere; again, you don’t have to pay anything to start. It charges 2.75% for each swipe or 3.5% plus 15 cents for each transaction entered by hand. Buyers swipe their cards on the device provided or type in their card details by card. The next day, the money is in your account.
3. eCommerce WordPress Plugin For Blog: WP eCommerce
WP eCommerce is more than just a payment processor. It can help you turn your blog into a real eCommerce store. It is a full eCommerce system for WordPress users that integrates with your existing blog. Well, you can use it with PayPal, Stripe, and many other payment systems that work with integration. WP eCommerce is perfect if you have a blog and want to sell goods through it. In an online store, you can create product listings that can be styled and designed in many different ways.
You can make the checkout system as simple as possible to get as many sales as possible. It also integrates with a variety of shippers so that you can get real-time shipping rates. WP eCommerce is free, but some add-ons, like payment gateway plugins, membership plugins, and FedEx shipping plugins, cost money. However, many more ways to make your eCommerce blog site look professional cost only a few dollars.
4. Authorize.net
Authorize.net was started in 1996 and is now the biggest online payment gateway, processing more than $88 billion in transactions annually. It has its section here because it is often wrongly thought of as a total payment system. It is a payment gateway, but one that is easy to add to an eCommerce platform. If your sales volume is high enough to justify the $99 setup fee, $20 monthly fee, and $0.10 transaction fee, you will like this better than PayPal. Authorize is set up to work with many of the most popular shopping systems and eCommerce platforms, such as Volusion, Magento, and X-cart. It has a strong API that lets it be built into platforms that the company doesn’t make.
But Authorize is not the same as a merchant account, and you will need a merchant account to use Authorize. So even though this is a good way to set up a professional eCommerce site, it differs from PayPal or 2Checkout. Authorize.net is on many lists of blog payment processors, and we’re putting it here so you understand what it can do. It’s good, but it’s only one part of the whole payment system.
Conclusion: Payment Processors For Blog
Most of the processors listed here are total payment systems or aggregators that combine the gateway, processor, and merchant account. If your monthly cash turnover is high enough, it might make sense to go with one of the more professional systems that contain a separate bank merchant account. But regular bloggers only need to spend so much money if all they want is a method for their readers to buy an eBook or software package now and then. Likewise, affiliate marketers don’t need a separate merchant account because they get paid directly through their affiliate system (ClickBank, Commission Junction, etc.).
The mobile payment systems that come with a card swiper are a good way to accept payments if you offer services away from home but not at home. For example, numerous bloggers use their blogs for advertising services like restaurants, hair salons, or auto repair businesses. They could use a portable card-scanning payment system like Square or PayAnywhere. People will be unhappy with at least one of the systems on our list, just like banks. Many people have used PayPal for years without problems, while others have had terrible things happen to them. This applies to all payment processors, so we won’t leave any out because some people have said bad things about them online.
Remember that people are more likely to complain when things go wrong than when they go right. So check each of these online, and you will likely find more complaints than compliments. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide which payment processor to use, so check it out to ensure your choice is the best for your blog.