The weAudit Gateway Scorecard · No. 7
PayTrace Review: Data Enhancement, Real Costs, and Our Rating
The gateway we most often place clients on, graded by the same standard as every gateway we review: what it actually costs merchants. Yes, we kept the strikes.
7.25
out of 10
Last updated July 2026
Full Disclosure
When our audits determine that a data-enhanced gateway is the right fix, PayTrace is often where we place clients. You deserve to know that before you read a word of this review. It is also why this page exists: leaving out the gateway we know best would be its own kind of dishonesty. The template here is identical to every scorecard in this series, no company, including this one, gets editorial input, and the strikes below come from our own audit findings. Grade us on whether they are honest.
$114M
In documented interchange reductions in a single year
In 2021, PayTrace settled $43 billion in volume, $24 billion of it qualifying at Levels 2 and 3, producing roughly $114 million in interchange reductions for its merchants. That is the entire argument for data enhancement stated in dollars: the platform populates and maintains the qualification data on the back end, absorbs the April and October rule changes, and the 30-field burden that sinks merchants on other gateways simply is not yours to carry. So why is the score a 7.25 and not a 10? Because the gateway is only half the story. The other half is who sold it to you, what they charged, and whether it was configured correctly. Keep reading.
The Paper Trail
Who Owns PayTrace?
2004
Founded in Spokane, Washington
2022
Acquired by North American Bancard
Price undisclosed
2024
NAB rebrands as North
PayTrace is its preferred gateway
The North Question
PayTrace now belongs to North American Bancard, one of the largest independent acquirers in the country, which made it the preferred front door to its own processor, EPX. A great gateway inside a big acquirer’s sales machine is still a great gateway. But whose interests the sales machine serves is a question every merchant should ask, and the answer is on your statement, not in the brochure.
Follow the Money
The Undisclosed Question
We have asked the same question of every gateway in this series: what did the buyer pay, and who pays it back? For PayTrace, we cannot tell you the number, because North American Bancard never disclosed it. What we can tell you is what NAB bought: the most credible B2B gateway in the market, 40,000+ merchants, 300+ resellers, and a reputation for saving money, promptly installed as the preferred front door to NAB’s own processor.
Our standard applies here too: when a payments company changes hands, the merchants become the payment plan. The honest difference with PayTrace is that this platform gives a documented share back, $114 million in interchange reductions in one year. The question for any individual merchant is not whether the tool saves money. It is whether the deal wrapped around the tool lets you keep it.
The Popularity Trap
Why Do B2B Merchants Flock to PayTrace?
Simple: it actually does the thing. In a market where every gateway claims to be the best, PayTrace built genuine Level 2 and Level 3 automation and let the interchange savings make the argument. More than 300 resellers and a long list of ERP and accounting integrations carry it into B2B merchants every day, and the pitch practically writes itself: stop overpaying on corporate cards.
Here is the problem. A gateway that saves money is also a gateway that can be sold at a premium, and the seller decides which one you get. The same 300-reseller channel that spreads PayTrace also prices it, configures it, and pockets the difference when either goes wrong. The tool is real. The outcome depends entirely on the hands it passes through before it reaches you, which is why even this gateway earns strikes below.
The Scorecard
How PayTrace Scores
The Craftsman Problem
6/10
Not Out of the Box
Here is what the marketing does not say: the data enhancement does not work by magic. It has to be configured correctly for your card mix, your MCC, and your processor, and in our audits we regularly find merchants running PayTrace and still paying high interchange because the processor that set it up did not know how. It is like any tool: it is only as good as the craftsman. Over 95% of our audits find issues, and yes, that includes merchants on PayTrace.
The Premium Trap
6/10
Savings, Sold Back to You
Because PayTrace demonstrably saves on interchange, some of the people selling it price it at a steep premium, quietly eating the savings back up. It is almost like a revenue share on money that was supposed to be yours: the gateway recovers a dollar of interchange, the markup takes back sixty cents of it, and the statement still looks like a win. The savings are real. Whether you keep them depends on the deal you signed, which is exactly the line item nobody reads.
Ownership
7/10
A Parent With a Record
PayTrace itself has a clean reputation. Its parent is a different file: North American Bancard settled a federal class action alleging it marked up fees and added unauthorized charges in violation of merchant agreements, denying wrongdoing but agreeing to change how fees are calculated, and merchant complaints about reseller sales tactics and surprise fees have continued after the rebrand to North. None of that changes what the gateway does. It changes who profits from the ecosystem around it, and it is why even PayTrace statements deserve independent eyes.
Data Enhancement
10/10
The Real Deal
This is the category the whole series has been pointing at, and PayTrace earns the only 10 we have given. The platform enhances Level 2 and Level 3 data on the back end, absorbs the April and October interchange updates so your team does not have to, and has the receipts: $114 million in documented interchange reductions in a single year. When it is configured correctly and priced fairly, it is exactly what a B2B gateway should be. Those two conditions are the strikes above.
“The best tool in the shed. Still only as good as the craftsman.”
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
PayTrace FAQ
Does PayTrace automate Level 2 and Level 3 processing?
Yes, genuinely, and that is what separates it from nearly every gateway in this series. The platform enhances the qualification data on the back end and absorbs the April and October interchange rule changes. The caveat that matters: it is not magic out of the box. It must be configured correctly for your card mix, MCC, and processor, and our audits regularly find PayTrace merchants overpaying because that configuration was never done right.
How much does PayTrace cost?
It depends entirely on who sells it to you. PayTrace reaches merchants through 300+ resellers and directly, and pricing varies deal by deal. Because the gateway demonstrably saves on interchange, some sellers price it at a premium that quietly eats the savings back, almost like a revenue share on your own money. The gateway fee is rarely the problem. The deal around it sometimes is.
Who owns PayTrace?
North American Bancard, now branded North, which acquired PayTrace in 2022 for an undisclosed price and made it the preferred gateway for its wholly-owned processor, EPX. The parent company settled a federal class action alleging fee markups and unauthorized charges, denying wrongdoing, and merchant complaints about its reseller channel’s sales tactics have continued since the rebrand. PayTrace the product is excellent. The ecosystem around it deserves the same scrutiny as any other.
Why does weAudit review a gateway it recommends?
Because leaving it out would be dishonest. Our audits frequently conclude that a data-enhanced gateway is the right fix, and PayTrace is often where clients land, so we disclosed that at the top of the page and then applied the exact same template we use on every gateway. The strikes are not softened. They come from our own audit findings, including PayTrace merchants overpaying due to misconfiguration and premium pricing. Over 95% of our audits find issues. No gateway, including this one, changes that.
Is PayTrace right for my business?
If you are a B2B merchant with meaningful corporate, purchasing, or fleet card volume, it belongs on your shortlist, because that is where data enhancement pays hardest. Whether it is right for you specifically depends on your card mix, your current setup, and the deal you would actually be offered, which is exactly what an audit determines. And if you are already on PayTrace, the question changes: is it configured correctly, and are you keeping the savings? Upload a statement and we will answer both.
On PayTrace and Still Overpaying?
The right gateway does not guarantee the right outcome. If you run on PayTrace, your statements will show whether the enhancement is actually configured, whether the savings are reaching you, and whether your pricing quietly took them back. 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 More Than a Decade as an Executive at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv and Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, the world’s largest card processor. Forbes Business Council. Entrepreneur Contributor.
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