Establishing a third-party merchant service, or payment processing vendor, is vital to establishing credit and debit card payments. These are the companies who install, integrate and operate the networks behind all of those bank card swiping stations, usually found in close proximity to retail-based cash registers. Over time, these merchant service providers have helped expand the increasing amount of options for accepting payment for goods and services — several of which have been integrated with the latest smartphone features (“Tap Here to Pay,” anyone?).
The same goes for technological advances in the card readers, themselves, facilitating mobile payment processing capabilities anytime, anywhere, 24/7. Behind all of these in-person card swipes and online shopping transactions are terabytes of customer data, recorded each time a transaction is processed for payment.
Over time, many of these merchant service providers have further evolved to address industry specific network needs. Today, both franchisors and franchisees have access to a full roster of payment processing vendors who cater directly to their specialized system requirements.
Related: What Franchises Need from a Payment Processor
Entrepreneur has announced its annual Top Franchise Supplier rankings, a multi-faceted directory which includes the best of the best service providers in the industry. If you’re a franchisor in need of a high tech payment processor who understands the industry, there are plenty of options to choose from. And a good place to start are these top-10 merchant service providers who’ve earned 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 of house, back of house and guest-facing technology with a diverse marketplace of third-party applications. By pairing technology with an unrivaled commitment to customer success, Toast helps restaurants streamline operations, increase revenue and deliver amazing guest experiences.
2. Franchise Payments Network
Franchise Payments Network provides credit/debit/ACH processing and mobile payments to simplify the life of the consumer and the business owner. Since 2006, we have served over 190 franchise brands. Though we have evolved over the years, our focus remains on franchisors, franchisees, and the needs of the consumer. Our dedicated team helps our clients through excellent customer service. We cater to franchisees, ensuring they have the education and support they need to grow unit revenues. We also assist franchisors with security and compliance to minimize the risk of data breaches. Tom Epstein, CEO of Franchise Payments Network, spoke about the platforms that make his company one of the best in the business. “FPN and POLN8 are the best in the business because we’ve designed all aspects of our business, including business development, sales and service around the franchise model,” Epstein says. “My team and I have been in the franchise space for more than 25 years. We live and breathe franchising. We completely understand the needs of the franchisor and franchisee. We know that their goals may not always be exactly the same. As such, we live in a space where relationships are really what we do — not payment processing or loyalty programs. We listen to our customers and understand the challenges they deal with. It’s our role to help them overcome those challenges to grow their businesses. If they grow, and if franchising in general grows – then we will continue to grow with them.”
3. Square
Square helps sellers more easily run and grow their businesses with its integrated ecosystem of commerce 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 functionality through Afterpay, staff management and payroll capabilities, and much more – all of which work together to save sellers time and effort. Millions of sellers across the globe trust Square to power their business 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 with TurboTax, QuickBooks, Mint, and Credit Karma, we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to prosper. We never stop working to find new, innovative ways to make that possible. QuickBooks began by helping small businesses manage their books and today serves as the source of truth for millions of small businesses globally. With interconnected financial offerings including robust accounting tools, payments, payroll, capital, and banking services, the QuickBooks platform helps small businesses save time and money, while providing insights that help them make the most informed and impactful 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 clients achieve best-in-class results through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and the Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale and business management platform.
6. Elavon
Elavon is wholly owned by U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB), the fifth-largest bank in the United States, and provides end-to-end payment processing solutions and services to more than 1.3 million customers in the United States, Europe, and Canada. As the leading provider for airlines and a top five provider in hospitality, healthcare, retail, and public sector/education, Elavon’s innovative payment solutions are designed to solve pain points for businesses from small to the largest global enterprises.
Related: Merchant Service Fees Eating Up Your Profits? Here Are 7 Tips To Minimize Them.
7. Stripe
Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet. Businesses of every size—from new start-ups to public companies like Salesforce and Facebook—use the company’s software to accept online payments and run technically sophisticated financial operations in more than 100 countries. Stripe helps new companies get started and grow their revenues, and established businesses accelerate into new markets and launch new business models. Over the long term, Stripe aims to increase the GDP of the internet.
8. Authorize.net, a Visa Solution
Since 1996, Authorize.net has been a leading provider of payment gateway services, managing the submission of billions of transactions to processing networks 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 offer Authorize.net payment services to their merchant customers.
9. Global Payments, Inc.
Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN) is a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions delivering innovative services to our customers globally. Our technologies, services, and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of solutions that allow our customers to accept all payment types and operate their businesses more efficiently across a variety of distribution channels in many markets around the world. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., with approximately 11,000 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a member of the S&P 500, with customers and partners in 32 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and Brazil.
10. Worldpay from FIS
Worldpay from FIS helps its clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. It serves more than a 1 million merchants, including 60 percent of the largest retailers in the U.S., and processes approximately $2 trillion in volume each year.
Related: The Ins and Outs of Modern Payment Processing
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