2Checkout Review (Now Verifone)

Pros

• Predictable flat-rate pricing
• Month-to-month billing
• Good for international merchants
• Excellent website and advertising

Cons

• Cannot process card-present transactions
• Frequent reports of held funds
• High transaction fees

What Is 2Checkout?

2Checkout (2CO) is a payment service provider (PSP) for eCommerce merchants, specializing in international sales, subscription billing, and easy shopping cart integration.

Offering straightforward (though pricey) flat-rate pricing and month-to-month contracts (which we appreciate), 2CO is for card-not-present purchases only. If you need to process card-present transactions, you’ll need to use another top credit card processor in addition to or in place of 2CO.

This review covers 2Checkout’s expansive platform and how it can benefit your online business.

Products & Services

2Checkout earns an excellent score in the Products and Services category. We’re quite impressed by the range of features 2CO offers eCommerce merchants and the fact that 2CO offers three different ways (Standard, Inline, and Payment API) to add its checkout services to your website. You can see which of these checkout types are compatible with your shopping cart by looking at 2CO’s master list of third-party integrations.

2CO (an abbreviation Breaking Bad fans can appreciate) breaks up its offerings according to the pricing plan. Merchants on higher-tier (read: pricier) plans will have access to more features. That said, you can always add on more features à-la-carte style via 2Checkout’s add-ons. You’ll need to decide what features your business needs before you can evaluate the total cost of ownership.

Here is a brief breakdown of the features included in each plan:

2Sell

• Sell Internationally: Sell in a remarkable 234 countries and territories worldwide. List your checkout in 30+ languages, and accept payment in 100 currencies. Your customers won’t have to sign up for 2CO themselves; they can quickly make purchases using one of the 45 accepted payment methods (including PayPal if they have a PayPal account).
• Integrate With Shopping Carts: 2Checkout has prebuilt integrations with 120+ of the most popular software options.
• Checkout Features: Make your checkout page mobile-friendly and customize the look to match your brand. Localized checkout is also available.

2Subscribe

Along with the features from 2Sell, 2Subscribe offers:

• Recurring Billing: Recurring billing is available globally through nine specific payment methods. Take advantage of 2Checkout’s subscription management tools. Customize your subscription’s billing frequency and select your pricing model (you can choose from flat-rate, usage-based, and hybrid). Subscription reporting is also included.
• Revenue Recovery Tools: 2Checkout claims to help merchants recover up to 20% of their revenue using its account updater and retry logic tool.

2Monetize (For Selling Digital Goods Only)

Along with the features from 2Sell, 2Monetize offers:

• Conversion Rate Optimization Tools & Services: The company doesn’t include more detailed information about its tools and services on its website.
• Cart Abandonment Prevention: These tools typically include cart abandonment reports.
• A/B Testing: See what inspires more purchases.
• Invoice Management: Send invoices to customers.
• Global Taxes: Use 2Checkout to manage VAT and sales tax collection and handling.
• Risk & Fraud Protection: Reduce chargebacks with fraud protection tools.

Add-Ons

As we’ve mentioned above, you can add more features to your chosen plan through add-ons. Some of these add-ons are already included as features of specific plans, and some you can purchase at additional cost. Pricing for individual add-ons is not listed online, unfortunately.

• Verifone CPQ: B2B quote tool that provides integration between sales and back-end ordering, subscription, payment, and financial systems, available at additional cost.
• 2Bill: Subscription management tools that 2Subscribe and 2Monetize already include.
• 2Recover: Renewal recovery tool that includes an advanced authorization dashboard, available at additional cost.
• 2Partner: Increased channel distribution and automation that is available only for 2Monetize at additional cost.
• 2Service: For premium services and dedicated support, available at additional cost.

Regardless of your plan, the following features are available to 2CO merchants:

Also, 2Checkout offers an optional and unique selling solution that it calls “Merchant of Record.” In this model, 2Checkout becomes a reseller of your digital and physical goods. Your goods are sold on a “co-branded” website, and 2Checkout is responsible for order processing, payment processing, and tax collection.

As the merchant, you can change the website’s look and feel and monitor your sales through a dashboard. You are still responsible for shipping your physical products, but aside from that, your business’s daily operations are passed on to 2Checkout. 2Checkout also offers add-on services for building integrations and marketing, which are available for purchase.

Remember, this Merchant of Record service is entirely optional and is separate from the payment processing service.

Fees & Rates

2Checkout’s score in this category reflects the fact that the company’s per-transaction fees are significantly higher than industry averages. However, we also accounted for the fact that 2CO’s pay-as-you-go model eliminates the monthly/annual fees commonly charged by processors.

Pricing Overview

Monthly Plan Pricing

Your transaction fees (and features) depend on which pricing plan you sign up for.

2Checkout’s rates are quite a bit higher than we’re used to seeing. The cheapest plan is significantly more than the industry standard flat rate for online transactions (2.9% + $0.30). If you are just looking for a basic online processor, this might be a deal-breaker for you.

However, in return for these higher transaction rates, you’ll gain access to a few features that aren’t available with cheaper competitors.

Extra Costs

2Checkout charges very few fees on top of its flat transaction rates. There is a chargeback fee (which is charged by all payment processors), the amount of which depends on your business’s chargeback ratio.

Additionally, 2CO charges cross-border fees. If you are operating in one of 23 select countries (including the US, UK, and Canada) and you have a 2Sell or 2Subscribe account (2Monetize accounts are exempt), you can expect to pay an additional cross-border fee to accept payments from customers outside of that country.

Add-ons are also available at an additional cost. No pricing information for add-ons has been made available.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

We’ve given 2CO very high marks in this category, as the company stands out for its transparency and honest sales practices.

2Checkout’s website is clear and easy to navigate. Pricing is straightforward and easily accessed, as is the fact that 2CO is a PSP, not a merchant account provider. Advertising is standard and mostly limited to the web. 2CO attracts new customers via its site or referrals, and I found no evidence of an old-school salesforce cold-calling potential customers.

The Legal Center contains several handy resources, such as privacy policies and lists of restricted industries. 2Checkout could improve transparency even further by making this list of restricted industries even more prominent for onboarding merchants. Negative reviews indicate that some merchants sign on with the processor without having read this list. Overall, though, 2CO is exemplary in this area.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

2CO’s excellent score in this category reflects the fact that the company’s services are offered on a month-to-month basis with no early termination fee. No multi-year contracts here.

Your processing agreement may be terminated with 30 days prior written notice. Upon termination, 2CO may decide to reserve a portion of your funds as a “deposit.” The purpose of this deposit is to guarantee security for 2CO by covering any remaining refunds, chargebacks, fees, and penalties that your business may incur after you terminate your 2CO account. 2CO can choose to hold this deposit for as long as it deems necessary.

In its Merchant Agreement, the company states that it is typical to hold these funds for up to 180 days (the standard window for chargebacks on credit transactions).

Also, check out 2CO’s “Legal Overview,” including the company’s lists of prohibited and restricted products. It’s exceptionally comprehensive and detailed. This lack of ambiguity is a huge plus.

Finally, information on payouts and 2CO’s rolling reserve is available in the knowledgebase. Here’s a quick overview of 2CO’s policies:

Payouts occur weekly for merchants on the 2Sell and 2Subscribe plans. Sellers on 2Monetize will have monthly payouts by default. Slow payouts are one of the negatives that we’ve seen users mention on review sites. If you go with 2Checkout, try to negotiate a more frequent payout schedule (and get it in writing).

2Checkout operates on a rolling reserve: The company will withhold 5% of your transactions for 90 days on a rolling basis. 2Checkout also maintains the right to raise the reserve rate (hold more of your money) if your business experiences too many chargebacks or refunds. However, keep in mind that this issue (held funds) is typical of all PSPs. Read up on how to avoid merchant account holds, freezes, and terminations to minimize the chance of this happening.

Overall, 2Checkout is on par with similar providers as far as processing agreements go, maybe even a bit better thanks to that super-clear list of prohibited businesses. Just make sure you read every word of each document before you sign.

Customer Service & Technical Support

2CO’s score takes a bit of a hit in this section due to the recurring complaints I’ve found regarding the inconsistent quality of the company’s customer service. We do appreciate the many avenues of support offered, however.

Some additional details about the support options:

• Phone Support: This option is available Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-4:30 PM EST. These aren’t the greatest hours, but the fact that phone support exists at all puts 2CO ahead of many other competing payment service providers.
• Support Tickets: Inquiries outside the regular operating hours listed above are answered ASAP.
• FAQ: This webpage covers a dozen or so basic topics.
• eCommerce Resources: Whitepapers, webinars, infographics, and datasheets are available for download. You’ll have to hand over some personal information (name, phone number, and email) to access these resources. You can also view product release videos (no personal information required).
• Glossary: This feature is not particularly extensive, but it’s better than nothing.
• Blog: 2Checkout publishes articles regularly, covering selling strategies and industry news.
• Developer Resources: Here, you’ll find a knowledgebase and API documentation. I’d suggest perusing these resources if you’re considering 2CO. I found very important bits of information here, such as details on payout options and the rolling reserve.

You can also contact 2Checkout via social media, though this is more of an option of last resort. 2Checkout is active on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X and occasionally responds to customer complaints and concerns on these platforms.

User Reviews

2Checkout reviews cover a wide variety of opinions. Some users love 2CO; others call it a scam. In total, I found more negative reviews than positive ones. However, this is not abnormal for a payment processor. After reading hundreds of reviews, I identified a few trends in these comments, both positive and negative.

Alternatives To 2Checkout

Let’s see how 2Checkout stacks up against its main competitors.

Final Verdict

2Checkout’s high overall score owes to its strength as a payment solution for several specific categories of merchants. If you are selling exclusively online and need access to comprehensive subscription management features, 2CO may be for you. In the same vein, if your business is located in a country without many payment processing options, 2Checkout will likely be available.

2CO’s high per-transaction costs ding its overall score, as does the number of negative reviews posted by merchants. Also, high-risk merchants may need to look elsewhere for a high-risk merchant account provider, as 2CO doesn’t support all high-risk business types (though it does support some high-risk businesses and international eCommerce is sometimes considered high-risk in itself).

Nevertheless, the company’s unique service packages offer strong value for eCommerce businesses.

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 🏆

2Checkout	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see 2Checkout for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

2Checkout	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see 2Checkout for yourself.