Online payment processing and checkout
Online acceptance carries a structurally higher cost than the counter: every ecommerce transaction is card not present, priced for its risk. What separates well run online payments from expensive ones is everything layered on top of that floor.
- Settlement
- Typically one to two business days depending on gateway and acquirer
- Cost basis
- Card not present interchange, above card present rates, plus gateway fees and acquirer margin
- Best for
- Ecommerce, bookings, deposits and any sale completed away from a counter
- Watch for
- Paying platform convenience premiums on top of the structural card not present premium
Example fitted margin for card not present volume, above the higher online interchange floor.
Illustrative example. Your fitted rate is negotiated against your actual statement.
How it works
Card details enter through your site's checkout or a hosted payment page, over encrypted channels.
Address verification, security codes and fraud screening qualify the transaction and protect your dispute position.
The gateway passes the transaction to the acquirer; settlement lands with your normal deposit cycle.
The floor is real; the ceiling is optional
Card not present interchange is higher than card present everywhere in the world, and no provider waives it. Above that floor sit the layers your agreement sets: gateway fees, platform premiums and acquirer margin. Businesses that adopted an online provider for convenience years ago are usually still priced as a convenience customer on all three layers, long after their volume stopped matching that profile.
Verification is margin protection
Address verification and security code checks do two jobs: they qualify transactions for better treatment within card not present tiers, and they build the evidence position that wins disputes. An online setup with verification half configured pays twice, in downgrades and in chargebacks. Configuration is part of every online deployment we run.
One business, every channel, one read
Online volume rarely lives alone: there is a counter, a phone line or a field crew somewhere in the same business. We read all channels together and price each on its own basis, because consolidated acquiring prices the whole relationship rather than each fragment, and because the alternative, nobody seeing the whole picture, is how mispricing persists for years.
Common questions
Why is my online rate higher than my terminal rate?
Card not present interchange is structurally higher because the fraud risk is higher. The part worth examining is everything above that floor: gateway fees, platform premiums and margin, which vary enormously.
Do I need a payment gateway and a merchant account, or one provider?
Either model works. Bundled providers are simpler; separate gateway and acquiring gives you more control at volume. We recommend based on your stack and numbers, not a house preference.
Which gateways can you deploy behind?
We are a registered agent of Authorize.net among others, and the deployment plan confirms fit with your platform, whether that is Shopify, a booking system or a custom checkout.
Do fraud settings actually change what I pay?
Yes, two ways: fewer chargebacks and their fees, and cleaner qualification within card not present pricing tiers. Verification settings decide which tier each transaction lands in.
A recommended payments partner of the BC Chamber of Commerce
Find out what you are actually paying
Send us a recent statement. We read it line by line and come back within 1 to 2 business days with exactly what you are paying and whether the structure matches how you run. No obligation, just numbers.
Built for businesses that expect more from their payment systems.