The weAudit Gateway Scorecard · No. 1
Authorize.net Review: Fees, Interchange Impact, and Our Rating
The most recognized name in payment gateways, graded the way we grade everything: by what it actually costs merchants.
4.5
out of 10
Last updated July 2026
1996
The year this gateway was built
Authorize.net went live before Google existed. It has been patched, acquired, and rebranded, but the core platform your transactions run through today was architected for the dial-up era. That matters, because a gateway is not just a pipe. It determines how your transaction data reaches the card networks, and that data determines your interchange rate.
The Paper Trail
Who Owns Authorize.net?
1996
Founded in Utah
2007
Sold to CyberSource
$565 million
2010
Visa buys CyberSource
$2 billion
Owned by Visa
The network that sets interchange rates owns the gateway that does not optimize them. Sit with that for a moment.
Follow the Money
The $565 Million Question
Authorize.net has been bought twice: $565 million in 2007, then folded into Visa’s $2 billion acquisition of CyberSource in 2010. Nobody spends that kind of money out of generosity. Those prices were calculations: buyers looked at the monthly fees, the dimes per transaction, and the batch fees flowing out of millions of merchant accounts and decided the stream was worth paying for. Twice.
So ask the question nobody asks: how much must a gateway be making on merchants for it to be worth $565 million to one buyer and part of a $2 billion deal to the next? Every fee you have paid since has been funding the return on those investments. When a payments company changes hands, the merchants become the payment plan.
The Popularity Trap
Why Is Authorize.net So Popular?
Simple: it is easy to plug in. Nearly every developer, web agency, and software vendor has connected Authorize.net before, so when a merchant asks “what gateway should we use,” it is the fast, safe answer. The integration goes live in days and everyone moves on.
Here is the problem. The people recommending it because of the fast, easy plug-in are not interchange experts. They are judging the gateway by how quickly it connects, not by what it does to your rates. They have no idea what this gateway is truly costing the company in interchange downgrade fees, because those fees never show up in the developer’s world. They show up months later, buried in your processing statement.
The Scorecard
How Authorize.net Scores
Interchange
2/10
No Automatic Level 2/3 Data
Interchange makes up over 80% of total processing costs, and the gateway controls the data that qualifies each transaction. Authorize.net does not automatically enhance transactions with Level 2 and Level 3 data. For B2B merchants, that means corporate and purchasing cards routinely downgrade to higher interchange categories: think 3.25% instead of 1.95%. On real volume, that is tens of thousands of dollars a year, silently.
Stacked Fees
4/10
Fees on Top of Fees
The gateway-only plan runs $25 per month, plus 10 cents per transaction, plus a 10 cent daily batch fee. None of that replaces what your processor charges. It stacks on top. And because most merchants get Authorize.net through a reseller, the fees you actually pay are often marked up well beyond the published rates.
Legacy Tech
3/10
Built for a Different Era
Modern protections like 3D Secure 2.0 exist on the platform, but they are gated behind support requests and third party integrations rather than switched on by default. Fraud tooling that competitors treat as standard equipment requires phone calls, tickets, and developer time here.
Credit Where Due
9/10
Integrations and Reliability
This is why the name survived three decades: Authorize.net integrates with nearly every shopping cart, ERP, and point of sale system on earth, and its uptime record is genuinely excellent. If your only requirement is that transactions go through, it delivers. Our issue has never been whether it works. It is what it quietly costs.
“Everyone knows the name. Nobody checks the bill.”
Beyond the Scorecard
Are You Even on the Right Gateway?
A scorecard tells you about the gateway. An audit tells you about YOUR gateway, on your card mix, your industry, and your statements. Every weAudit engagement reveals:
✓Whether you are on the right payment gateway for your business, or quietly paying for the wrong one
✓Missed interchange qualifications and forced downgrades
✓Incorrect setups: interchange flags, MCC codes, shopping carts, and gateways
✓Hidden, inflated, and made up fees buried in your statement
✓Processor markups and kept interchange rebates
✓PCI non-compliance fees you may not even owe
✓Contract traps: auto renewals, exit penalties, and terms working against you
✓Incorrect MCC codes costing you specialty interchange rates
✓And much more. If it is on your statement, we audit it.
Common Questions
Authorize.net FAQ
Does Authorize.net support Level 2 and Level 3 processing?
Technically yes, but not automatically. The platform can pass Level 2 and Level 3 data if your integration is built to send it, and most are not. Without that data, corporate and purchasing cards downgrade to higher interchange categories. In our audits, the overwhelming majority of B2B merchants on Authorize.net are not sending enhanced data and have no idea what it is costing them.
How much does Authorize.net cost per month?
The published gateway-only plan is $25 per month, plus 10 cents per transaction, plus a 10 cent daily batch fee. But most merchants get Authorize.net through a reseller or their processor, and resellers frequently mark those fees up. The number on Authorize.net’s pricing page and the number on your statement are often two different numbers.
Is Authorize.net good for B2B companies?
Out of the box, no. B2B merchants see a high percentage of corporate, purchasing, and fleet cards, which are exactly the cards that need Level 2 and Level 3 data to qualify for lower interchange. A gateway that does not enhance that data automatically is the most expensive kind of gateway a B2B company can run.
Who owns Authorize.net?
Visa. Authorize.net was founded in Utah in 1996, sold to CyberSource in 2007 for $565 million, and Visa acquired CyberSource in 2010 for $2 billion. The company that sets interchange rates owns the gateway.
Should I switch away from Authorize.net?
It depends entirely on your card mix, your industry, and your current setup, which is exactly what an audit determines. For some merchants the fix is configuration, not a switch. For others, the right gateway pays for itself many times over. Upload a statement and we will tell you which one you are.
Are You Paying the Authorize.net Tax?
If you run on Authorize.net, your statements will show exactly how much the gateway is costing you in downgrades, stacked fees, and reseller markups. Upload a statement and we will show you, line by line. No obligation. Just answers.
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Written by the team at weAudit, founded by a Former Executive for the World’s Largest Credit Card Processor. Forbes Business Council. Entrepreneur Contributor.
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