Authorize.Net Review

Pros

• Predictable flat-rate pricing
• Month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts
• Broad support for multiple currencies
• Robust security and anti-fraud features
• Excellent customer support and service

Cons

• All-in-one option may confuse some customers
• High flat-rate pricing rates for an optional merchant account
• May be more expensive than using Authorize.Net gateway with another provider

What Is Authorize.Net?

Visa-owned Authorize.Net is one of the oldest and most popular payment gateway providers in the payments industry. It’s so ubiquitous in the eCommerce sector that most proprietary payment gateways offered by other merchant service providers frequently include an “Authorize.Net emulator mode” to ensure compatibility with its gateway. While Authorize.Net is not a merchant account provider per se, it does offer an all-in-one gateway + merchant account option, with the merchant account being provided through a third-party partnership with one of several direct processors.

Its service performs well and offers several additional features that make its gateway more than just a way to accept credit cards over the internet. It also backs up its service with excellent customer support.

A well-established and reliable name in the eCommerce industry, Authorize.Net earns a very good score overall, and is one of the best payment gateway providers for small businesses.

Countries Served

Authorize.Net is available to merchants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia.

Products & Services

Here are all the standard and optional features that Authorize.Net offers:

Fees & Rates

Note: The rates quoted below only apply if you sign up directly with Authorize.Net, rather than through your existing merchant account provider.

Many merchant account providers not only offer access to the Authorize.Net payment gateway, but they’re also able to waive some fees and negotiate lower credit card processing fees than what you’d pay if you signed up directly with Authorize.Net. In other words, the pricing below represents the full retail price for Authorize.Net’s services. If your merchant account provider wants to charge you higher rates than those listed below, don’t do it.

Pricing Overview

Monthly Plans

Authorize.Net features three pricing options on its website:

• The All-In-One option includes both a merchant account and a payment gateway.
• The Payment Gateway & Check option is for merchants that already have a merchant account but need a payment gateway as well as eCheck processing.
• The Gateway-Only option is for merchants that already have a merchant account.

If you need a merchant account, Authorize.Net can set you up with a flat-rate pricing plan. However, it might be more affordable to find one of Authorize.Net’s partner resellers rather than having Authorize.Net set up your merchant account, especially if you’re already doing a reasonable volume of sales. Going directly through Authorize.Net for a merchant account is a competitive option for online payment processing for new and low-volume businesses. Also, businesses processing more than $500,000 per year can obtain customized pricing (including interchange-plus pricing) with Authorize.Net.

Extra Costs

Note that the credit card transaction fee applies only to the Gateway-only plan; this fee is charged in addition to your merchant account provider’s transaction fees.

Some things you won’t pay extra for include the Advanced Fraud Detection Suite, Automated Recurring Billing, Customer Information Manager, and QuickBooks integration features—Authorize.Net includes all of these for free. Use of the Account Updater feature is billed on a per-update basis rather than paying a fixed monthly fee.

Supported Payment Types & Currency

Authorize.Net supports Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, JCB, PayPal, Click To Pay, Apple Pay, Chase Pay, and eCheck payment types.

Authorize.Net can handle transactions in American, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand dollars; Swiss francs; Danish and Norwegian krone; Swedish krona; euros; British pounds; and Polish zloty. Just be aware that supported currencies may vary depending on your business location. For example, a US-based business would have currency support for US and Canadian dollars.

Ease Of Use

Authorize.Net provides a Merchant Interface online dashboard for accessing your payment gateway account, managing transactions, viewing reports, etc., that you can access from any computer with an internet connection and browser. Once you activate your account through this portal, things become a little more complicated. Your account will be placed in “Test Mode,” which allows you to submit test transactions to see if your connection works.

Depending on whether you’re using an online shopping cart, software integration, or your own website, you may or may not need a developer to help test your connection. (Authorize.Net will point you in the direction of a developer if you need one.) Either way, you’ll want to factor those costs into your calculations.

Authorize.Net provides a pretty detailed walkthrough of getting and using your API Login ID and relevant keys, but there are quite a few steps involved.

Once you’re up and running, however, Authorize.Net should be fairly straightforward to use.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

As a tech-focused company, it should be no surprise that Authorize.Net has an excellent website. The design is clean, and the layout makes it easy to navigate. There’s even a site map and a search function if you’re having trouble finding information on a topic. Best of all, it doesn’t come off as overly “salesy” as many other websites in the payments industry often do.

If you need a merchant account, Authorize.Net will set you up with one of its resellers to provide this service. While the company points this out on its website, it probably could be a little clearer about explaining this. Take a look at the Reseller Directory on the Authorize.Net website for a full list of available providers.

Like many companies in the payments industry, Authorize.Net offers an online signup process where merchants can submit the basic required information about their business and get approved for an account very quickly. This option allows you to get up and running in a short amount of time (particularly if you’re eCommerce-only and don’t need to wait for your processing equipment to arrive in the mail). However, it’s also an easy way to trap yourself in a long-term commitment if you don’t adequately review your contract documents before completing the sign-up process.

We recommend that you only use the online signup option if you already have a merchant account and just need the Gateway-Only option. If you need the All-In-One option, you’ll want to contact the company’s sales department directly and carefully research which merchant account provider you want to work with before signing any contracts.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

Use of the Authorize.Net gateway is on a month-to-month basis, with no long-term contracts and no early termination penalty if you close your account. However, if you also go through Authorize.Net for your merchant account, be aware that things might be different. While many of its resellers (especially Dharma Merchant Services) will honor these guarantees, others are free to set additional terms and conditions. Some of them might impose a standard three-year contract with an early termination fee.

Once again, you’re probably better off going directly through your merchant account provider to get an Authorize.Net gateway and not the other way around. You’ll have more room to negotiate, and you can usually get a better deal than the standard 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction eCommerce processing rate. In any event, be sure to review your contract thoroughly before signing it.

Customer Service & Technical Support

Authorize.Net provides numerous avenues of support to customers, including:

• Telephone Support: Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (except for major holidays).
• Support Center: Authorize.Net maintains an excellent knowledgebase on its website as well as numerous articles, white papers, and video tutorials.
• Live Chat: Existing users can chat with the Authorize.Net support team or submit an online support request. You’ll have to be signed in to use this option.
• Social Media: Authorize.Net has an active social media presence, with accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The latter includes network status updates, so you’ll want to follow them to keep up with any outages. It also has a YouTube channel, which features both tutorials and customer testimonials.

Authorize.Net has a great reputation for excellent customer support and has won the Ace Award for 12 consecutive years. However, one thing to be aware of is that Authorize.Net’s customer support is for its payment gateway only. If you’re having a problem with your merchant account, you’ll have to go through your merchant account provider.

Authorize.Net Reviews, Complaints, & Common Problems

Final Verdict On Authorize.Net

Authorize.Net follows the maxim of doing one thing and doing it well. It provides a payment gateway and numerous ancillary services to support that gateway — and that’s it. While you may or may not need options such as echeck processing or mobile payments, it’s nice to know they’re available and perform well for merchants who require them. Basic features of its gateway service, such as the fraud prevention filters, will be useful to everyone using its service.

Authorize.Net has partially addressed some of its data migration issues, although it’s not clear whether low-volume customers will get the same level of assistance as larger businesses on a custom pricing plan. The company’s flat credit card processing fees for the All-In-One gateway + merchant account combo are still expensive for a high-volume business, however, so you’ll want to shop around if you’re also in the market for a merchant account and need interchange-plus pricing.

With broad support among merchant account providers and a host of standard features included at no extra charge, we highly recommend the Authorize.Net payment gateway for your eCommerce business or sales channel. The company earns a very commendable score overall and is clearly one of the best choices on the market for a payment gateway.

New e-commerce merchants should also take a look at Stripe and PayPal, both of which offer many of the same features and similar processing rates while including built-in payment processing services (without the need for a separate merchant account).

Check out our Stripe vs. Authorize.Net matchup to see which provider is a better choice for your business.

Credit Card Processor Review Methodology

We evaluate and test each payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on certain key characteristics in order to generate our granular ratings for merchant accounts and credit card processors.

For payment processing reviews, we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate the provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.

We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.

Read more about how we rate payment processors.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Authorize.Net	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Authorize.Net for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Authorize.Net	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Authorize.Net for yourself.