National Processing Review 2024: Fees, Features and Alternatives

National Processing is a payment processor with competitive rates, useful integrations and compatibility with several card readers. It works with high-risk merchants and can be a competitive option for businesses in various industries.

National Processing’s payment processing fees are only guaranteed for merchants that process at least $10,000 in sales a month.

Plans

Customers choose a plan based on either their type of business or the types of payments they want to accept. Because each plan’s features are already determined, there’s no room for customization.

National Processing has plans for the following types of businesses:

• Restaurant.

• Retail.

• E-commerce.

• Service-based.

• High-risk. 

It also offers an ACH processing plan for transferring funds between banks; it does not include credit card processing capabilities. Plans cannot be combined, so you’ll need to determine which type of payment processing works best before choosing a plan.

All plans except the ACH processing plan include a free mobile card reader and allow you to have your existing equipment reprogrammed to work with the National Processing system. Other plan features include free gateway setup, a virtual terminal and recurring transaction options.

Point-of-sale system

National Processing offers point-of-sale (POS) systems from different companies, including Clover and SwipeSimple. The Clover Duo, for example, has a customer-facing screen for tipping in quick-service environments, while the Clover Mini is more compact. Hardware pricing is quote-based.

Credit card readers

One of the cool features of National Processing is that it lets you purchase a Clover or SwipeSimple credit card reader with your account or use one you already have.

The company can also reprogram some existing card readers, which means you might be able to keep your favorite model if you switch to National Processing.

» MORE: Best credit card readers for small businesses

Payment gateways

National Processing has its own processing gateway for online transactions. This allows you to connect your shopping cart with a POS system or virtual terminal to sell your products through your website.

You can also use Authorize.net as your payment gateway. If you already have an account, you can work with Authorize.net to reprogram the gateway to work with National Processing as your processor.

Works with high-risk merchants

National Processing works with multiple banks with high risk tolerance, allowing them to provide services to merchants in high-risk industries. The company also provides several ways for high-risk businesses to mitigate their risks, including fraud and chargeback management tools. These tools can make it easier to avoid potential losses and maintain a good processing track record.

Offers popular integrations

National Processing offers several good integrations for accounting, online selling and shopping carts. Available integrations include:

• QuickBooks.

• WooCommerce.

• BigCommerce.

• Ecwid.

• Zendesk.

• Shopify.

• OpenCart.

• WordPress.

These integrations can save you time, make your checkout more streamlined and reduce accounting errors.

Fees add up

All plans require customers to pay a monthly fee in addition to transaction fees.

Square: No long-term contracts

Payment processing fees:

Why we like it: Although it’s not an option for high-risk merchants, Square offers month-to-month plans with no long-term contracts. There's no monthly fee, but processing rates are higher than National Processing’s rates. Square also provides payment gateway services. And its POS comes with features that include inventory management, reporting and management of different store locations.

PaymentCloud: More features for high-risk businesses

Payment processing fees: Undisclosed/quote only.