Acumatica Payment Processing Your processor and gateway are a setup choice, not something fixed by the software
Most Acumatica users assume their expensive credit card processing fees come with the ERP. They do not have to. Acumatica processes cards through processing centers that use plug-ins, so you can pick any processor you want and, in many setups, choose your own payment gateway. That gateway choice controls most of what you pay.
Written by Robert Day, just under 30 years in credit card processing, including more than a decade as an executive at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv and Worldpay, now part of Global Payments.
How Acumatica payments usually get set up
Acumatica has its own integrated payments option, and implementation partners often recommend a payments provider while the system is being built. Once it is live, few companies revisit it. The rate they were given becomes what card payments cost inside Acumatica.
It does not have to be. Acumatica is built so the payment connection can be changed.
Your options inside Acumatica
Processing centers
Acumatica handles card payments through processing centers. Each processing center is tied to a plug-in for a specific gateway or processor, so the payment connection is configuration, not code baked into the ERP.
Third-party plug-ins
Acumatica publishes the interface developers use to build payment plug-ins, and third-party developers offer plug-ins for other gateways. That is what gives Acumatica users a choice beyond the integrated option.
Comparing platforms? See how this works across QuickBooks, Sage, NetSuite, Acumatica, Microsoft Dynamics and Prophet 21 in our guide to ERP payment processing.
Why the gateway matters more than the processor
Your processing bill has two layers. Interchange is the wholesale cost set by Visa and Mastercard and paid to the bank that issued your customer’s card. It typically makes up 80 to 90 percent of the total cost of processing. The processor’s markup is everything on top of it. Most businesses only ever negotiate the markup, which means they are fighting over the smallest part of the bill.
The processor sets the markup
A better processor on interchange-plus pricing stops the overbilling on that layer. It is worth doing.
The gateway decides your interchange rate
Business, corporate and purchasing cards qualify for far lower interchange when the transaction carries enhanced data: invoice number, tax amount and line items, known as Level 2 and Level 3 data (Visa now calls its version Product 3). Acumatica holds that detail on your invoices and sales orders. The question is whether your plug-in and gateway pass it to the card networks. Your gateway is what sends that data to the card networks, or fails to.
The short version
Getting a better credit card processor is important. Getting a better gateway is very important.
The $80,000 gateway upgrade that unlocked $1.8 million
A US animal health and pharmaceutical manufacturer processed about $425 million a year in card payments, almost all business to business. Its markup was competitive and its statement was clean. But its gateway could not send the data that qualified its transactions for the lowest interchange rates. We recommended a gateway that cost about $80,300 more a year. It recovered about $1.84 million a year in interchange and took the effective rate from 2.87 percent to 2.31 percent.
For the details on enhanced data, read our guide to Level 3 credit card processing.
What to check before you switch anything
- Find out who your processor really is. The processing center name in Acumatica is often a gateway or a reseller. Your monthly processing statement names the actual processor and shows every fee they charge.
- Confirm the workflow survives. Stored customer cards, payment links on invoices and automatic application of payments in Acumatica should all carry over to any replacement plug-in.
- Check whether your gateway sends enhanced data. Look on your statement for commercial card lines such as VI-US BUS TR5 PRD 3 or MC Business Level 3 Data Rate II. If your customers pay with business cards and those lines are missing, your gateway is costing you money.
- Check your pricing model. If you are not on interchange-plus pricing, your processor can keep the savings a better gateway creates.
- Look for fees you pay twice. Payment add-ons often charge their own per-transaction or monthly fees on top of the processor’s. Count both.
Before you switch, ask whether switching is even the right move. Sometimes the answer is a better deal with the processor you already have. Our statement decoder explains every line, and our free audit tells you exactly what your current setup is costing.
We do the work. You get the savings.
weAudit is America’s #1 Credit Card Processing Auditing Firm. We audit your statement, check what your gateway is and is not sending, and then fix it, whether that means restructuring the deal with the processor you have or moving to a different processor or gateway. You keep your software either way.
- The first audit is free, so you can see the numbers before you decide anything.
- Our fee is flat and never a percentage of your savings, so the savings stay with your company.
- We are month to month, with no contract, so we have to earn your business every month.
- We never take a revenue share from any credit card processor, so the advice is not for sale.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my own credit card processor with Acumatica?
Yes. Acumatica processes cards through processing centers that use plug-ins, and third-party plug-ins exist for other gateways and processors. The integrated option is a choice, not a requirement.
What is a processing center in Acumatica?
It is the configuration that connects Acumatica to a specific gateway or processor through a plug-in. Changing processors usually means setting up a new processing center with a different plug-in.
Does Acumatica send Level 3 data automatically?
Acumatica holds the invoice, tax and line item detail, but whether it reaches the card networks depends on your plug-in and gateway. Check your statement for Level 3 or Product 3 interchange lines to see whether it is working.
What is the difference between a processor and a gateway?
The gateway carries the transaction and its data from Acumatica to the card networks. The processor moves the money and charges a markup on top of interchange. Interchange is 80 to 90 percent of the total cost, and the gateway decides which interchange rate you qualify for.
Find out what your Acumatica payments are really costing you
Send us a recent processing statement. We will tell you whether your processor, your gateway or both are costing you money, and what to do about it.
Or call 800-672-1292
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