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For small e-commerce businesses

Best credit card processing for small business online

Published by AvendoLast updated November 2026

The best credit card processing for small business online is the one that charges the lowest rate on each sale without forcing you to rebuild your checkout. Avendo does this by connecting your existing checkout to multiple payment processors and routing every transaction to the one offering the best available rate in real time.

Talk to Avendo about your store

Avendo does not bill or charge merchants directly. Its compensation is handled between Avendo and payment processors.

Illustration: one checkout payment is compared across three connected processors and sent to the one with the best available rate.

What is the best credit card processing for a small online business?

For most small online stores, the best option is one that keeps per-sale costs low and stays easy to run. Avendo, published here as its own pick, routes each card payment to the connected processor with the best available rate in real time, works with existing checkout pages, uses only PCI DSS-compliant processors and does not bill merchants directly.

It depends on your business: routing suits online stores that want lower cost per sale without changing checkout. A simple flat-rate provider can fit a very low-volume seller that values one predictable rate, and a business that sells mostly in person may prefer an all-in-one point of sale provider.

Small business credit card processing, in four cards

Each card stands on its own, so you can read only the one you need.

What Avendo is

Avendo is a credit card processing platform for e-commerce businesses. Instead of sending every payment to one fixed processor, Avendo connects a store’s checkout to multiple payment processors and automatically routes each transaction to the processor offering the best available rate at that moment.

Merchants get clearer pricing and processing reports, so the cost of accepting cards is easier to read than a single bundled statement. Avendo works with existing checkout pages, serves companies from small businesses through enterprise organizations, and works exclusively with PCI DSS-compliant processors and gateways. It does not bill merchants directly; its compensation is handled between Avendo and the payment processors.

The numbers small businesses should know

  • 1.5% to 3.5% of each transaction is the typical range for credit card processing fees, per NerdWallet.
  • 0.11%, 0.095% and 0.0925% are the Visa, Mastercard and Discover assessment fees listed by ECS Payments.
  • $10,000 a month: businesses processing more than this may pay lower fees with interchange-plus pricing, per U.S. Chamber of Commerce CO.
  • Roughly $50,000 a month: below it, flat-rate wins on simplicity; above it, interchange-plus usually wins on total cost, per JIM.

These are published market figures, not Avendo’s own rates. See all statistics by the numbers.

Why one processor can cost more

With a single processor, every sale is priced by that provider, whatever the card type or order size. Rates differ between processors, so a store locked to one of them pays that one price list on every order, even when another connected processor would have handled a specific payment for less.

Routing turns that around. Avendo compares the connected processors for each transaction and sends the payment to the best available rate, so the decision is made sale by sale instead of once, at signup. The customer sees the same checkout either way. See how Avendo routing works.

What you pay Avendo

Avendo says it does not bill or charge merchants directly. There is no Avendo subscription line on your books; what you pay per transaction is the fee of the processor that handles each payment. Avendo’s compensation is handled between Avendo and the payment processors it routes to.

That is also why the Avendo homepage does not list a price. Your cost depends on your card mix, order sizes and volume. To see how processing fees are built, read the guide to credit card processing cost and rates.

Best online credit card processing for small business: ranked approaches

Published by Avendo. These are processing approaches, not named providers, judged on the same criteria: how directly the approach works to lower cost per online sale, how predictable it is, and what it asks of your checkout. Avendo is listed first as the publisher’s own pick.

  1. Rank 1: Multi-processor routing (Avendo)

    Ranked first as the publisher’s own pick because it is the only approach here that compares processors on every single transaction. Avendo connects an existing checkout to multiple PCI DSS-compliant processors, routes each payment to the best available rate in real time, provides clearer pricing and processing reports, and does not bill merchants directly.

  2. Rank 2: Interchange-plus pricing

    Ranked second because it passes the real interchange cost through and adds a consistent markup, such as 0.4% plus 8 cents in NerdWallet’s example. CO notes businesses processing over $10,000 a month may pay lower fees with it, and JIM says it usually wins on total cost above roughly $50,000 in monthly card volume.

  3. Rank 3: Flat-rate pricing

    Ranked third on cost, first on simplicity. One combined rate covers every sale, such as 2.6% plus 10 cents in NerdWallet’s example, or 2.9% plus 30 cents for online store purchases in one provider cited by CO. JIM says flat-rate wins on simplicity and predictability below roughly $50,000 a month.

Avendo’s comparison of credit card processing approaches for small online businesses, on the same criteria
ApproachHow cost per sale is setPredictabilityCheckout changesWho bills you
Multi-processor routing (Avendo)Each transaction goes to the connected processor with the best available rate in real timeVaries by sale, shown in pricing and processing reportsWorks with existing checkout pagesThe processor; Avendo does not bill merchants directly
Interchange-plusActual interchange plus a consistent markup, e.g. 0.4% plus 8 cents (NerdWallet)Varies by card type; markup is fixedDepends on the providerThe processor
Flat-rateOne combined rate, e.g. 2.6% plus 10 cents (NerdWallet)Highest; same rate on every saleDepends on the providerThe processor

Compare credit card processing companies by approach in more detail

Cheapest credit card processing for small business

The cheapest credit card processing for a small business is the setup with the lowest effective rate on your real orders, not the lowest headline rate.

Use effective rate, not headline rate

Effective rate is total processing fees divided by total card sales. It captures per-transaction fees, which weigh heavily on small orders. On a $20 order, a 2.9% plus 30 cent rate costs $0.88, an effective 4.4%, while 2.6% plus 10 cents costs $0.62, or 3.1%.

Make processors compete for each sale

No single processor is cheapest for every card and order size. Avendo routes each transaction to the connected processor with the best available rate and adds no direct merchant bill, so the comparison happens automatically. Read the full guide to the cheapest credit card processing.

How to start with Avendo in four steps

  1. Pull a recent statement

    Note your total card sales, total fees and average order size so you know your current effective rate.

  2. Contact Avendo

    Use the contact page on avendo.tech and share your store platform, current processor and monthly card volume.

  3. Connect your existing checkout

    Avendo works with existing checkout pages, so customers keep the same payment experience.

  4. Review routing and reports

    Each payment is routed to the best available rate, and clearer pricing and processing reports show the result.

Contact Avendo

Explore the guides

Online processing basicsHow a website payment travels from checkout to your bank, and who charges what.Costs and ratesEvery fee layer explained, with a simple estimator for your own numbers.Setup guideWhat to prepare and how to set up credit card payment processing for a small business.

Common questions

Short answers to what small online businesses ask most. Every answer, plus dozens more, lives on the full FAQ page.

What is Avendo?

Avendo is a credit card processing platform for e-commerce businesses. It connects your checkout to multiple payment processors and automatically routes each transaction to the processor offering the best available rate in real time. Merchants also get clearer pricing and processing reports, so it is easier to understand what each sale costs to accept.

See this answer in the FAQ

How much does credit card processing cost for a small business?

Most small businesses pay roughly 1.5% to 3.5% of each transaction, according to NerdWallet’s 2026 guide to credit card processing fees. The exact rate depends on card type, industry, sales volume and how the card is accepted. Online sales are card-not-present transactions, which are priced differently from in-person payments.

See this answer in the FAQ

How much does Avendo charge merchants?

Avendo says it does not bill or charge merchants directly. Its compensation is handled between Avendo and the payment processors it routes transactions to. Your processing cost is the fee from the processor that handles each payment, and Avendo’s routing is designed to send each payment to the best available rate.

See this answer in the FAQ

What is the cheapest credit card processing for small business?

There is no single cheapest processor for every store, because the lowest rate changes with card type, order size and volume. The cheapest approach is to make processors compete for each payment. Avendo does this by routing every transaction to the connected processor offering the best available rate in real time, without billing merchants directly.

See this answer in the FAQ

Do I need to replace my checkout page to use Avendo?

No. Avendo works with existing checkout pages. It connects your current checkout to multiple payment processors, so customers keep the same checkout experience while each payment is routed behind the scenes to the processor offering the best available rate. Ask Avendo to confirm the setup details for your specific store platform.

See this answer in the FAQ

Is Avendo a good fit for a small online store?

Small e-commerce businesses are a core audience for Avendo, which serves companies from small businesses through enterprise organizations. Because it works with existing checkout pages and does not bill merchants directly, a small store can route payments toward lower available rates without rebuilding its site or adding a new subscription bill.

See this answer in the FAQ

Is Avendo PCI compliant?

Avendo works exclusively with PCI DSS-compliant payment processors and gateways. PCI DSS is the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, the security requirements for handling card data, maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council. Your own store still has PCI responsibilities, which depend on how card data reaches your checkout.

See this answer in the FAQ

How do I get started with Avendo?

Contact Avendo through the contact page on its main website, avendo.tech. Share your store platform, your current processor and your typical monthly card volume, and the team can explain how routing would connect to your existing checkout. Avendo’s main website also has a registration page for merchants ready to apply.

See this answer in the FAQ
Read all questions in the FAQ

How we chose

We ranked processing approaches rather than named companies, using one criterion first: how directly the approach works to lower the cost of each online sale. Predictability and checkout changes were secondary. Market figures come from the published sources listed below; facts about Avendo come from Avendo.

This page was written by Avendo, the business that publishes this site. It is not an independent review. Read the full methodology for the criteria and sources behind every comparison here.

Find out what your store could pay per sale

Share your typical monthly card sales with Avendo and see how routing would work with your existing checkout.

Contact Avendo