Two of the most popular merchant account providers are ProPay and PayPal. We often get asked how does ProPay vs PayPal compare. When it comes to selling online, there are a number of merchant account options for processing payments. It’s important to look at their specific services to see which one is best for you, PayPal or ProPay.  ProPay and PayPal are both third-party services that help online merchants accept credit card payments. This is vital, since online shopping has become increasingly popular, and more people are using their credit cards to shop online. Merchants need to be able to have an account that accepts credit cards and for smaller sellers, this needs to be done at an affordable price. In our PayPal vs ProPay review we are going to take a closer look at each company and which one is better for your needs.

ProPay is a merchant account that process credit cards for online merchants without the buyer having to set up an account. There are multiple ways that a business owner can accept credit cards with ProPay. ProPay has been in business since 1997 and has built a very strong reputation in the credit card merchant account industry. ProPay is a very large company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

• ProPay JAK- This is the ProPay mobile credit card reader that connects to any smartphone or tablet. With the ProPay JAK you can easily swipe credit cards and collect your customer’s signature.
• ProPay App- Small business owners can use the ProPay app to process credit cards and transfer funds between them and customers. On the ProPay app you can also view all your previous transactions.
• ProPay to ProPay- This is a quick and secure way to accept credit card payments with ProPay. If your customer has a ProPay account you can easily transfer and receive money with no transaction fees!
• Text/Email Invoicing- All the business owner has to do is send a text or an email to their customer with a secure payment link and they will collect their money. The business owner will get notified as soon as the payment is made and placed into their ProPay merchant account.
• ProPay Online Virtual Terminal- With the ProPay online virtual terminal you can accept credit card payments in real time. This feature is included for free in your ProPay account. To accept credit card payments with ProPay online virtual terminal all you need is an internet connection!

ProPay does charge reasonable fees for its service. They have three different levels for their clients to choose from to make sure they get what they need. With all three plans all ProPay merchant account clients get the online terminal, mobile application, mobile website, touchtone phone payments, buy it now buttons, donate now buttons, and the ability to store credit cards. Below are the ProPay merchant account fees:

ProPay Premium

• Visa, MasterCard, or Discover (Swiped)- 2.6% with no additional fees
• Visa, MasterCard, or Discover (Keyed)- 3.55% with no additional fees
• American Express (Swiped or Keyed)- 3.40% with no additional fees
• Bank Transfer fee: .35 cents
• Single transaction limit: $500
• Monthly transactions limit:  $3,000
• ProPay JAK card reader: Not included
• Sign up cost $39.95 a year

ProPay Premium with card reader

• Visa, MasterCard, or Discover (Swiped)- 2.6% with no additional fees
• Visa, MasterCard, or Discover (Keyed)- 3.55% with no additional fees
• American Express (Swiped or Keyed)- 3.40% with no additional fees
• Bank Transfer fee: .35 cents
• Single transaction limit: $500
• Monthly transactions limit:  $3,000
• ProPay JAK card reader: Included
• Sign up cost $41.95 a year

ProPay Platinum Card Reader

• Visa, MasterCard, or Discover (Swiped)- 2.4% with no additional fees
• Visa, MasterCard, or Discover (Keyed)- 3.35% with no additional fees
• American Express (Swiped or Keyed)- 3.20% with no additional fees
• Bank Transfer fee: .30 cents
• Single transaction limit: $500
• Monthly transactions limit:  $3,000
• ProPay JAK card reader: Included
• Sign up cost $69.95 a year

PayPal is one of the most popular merchant account providers and has been around since 1998. While PayPay is owned by eBay, it is its own business. PayPal has over 277 million account holders and accepts payments in more than 100 currencies. Just like ProPay, PayPal is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

The PayPal fees are pretty standard in the merchant account business. Below are a list of the PayPal fees that you can expect to be charged when using PayPal to accept credit card payments.

• Online transaction in the US- 2.9% plus flat fee based on currency
• Online transaction outside the US- 4.4% plus flat fee based on currency
• In store transaction in the US- 2.7% with no additional fees
• In store transaction outside the US- 4.2% with no additional fees
• 501(c)(3) business transactions in the US- 2.2% plus flat fee based on currency
• 501(c)(3) business transactions outside the US- 3.7% plus flat fee based on currency
• Mobile card reader (swiped) – 2.7% with no additional fee
• Mobile card reader (keyed or scanned) – 3.15% plus .15 cents per transaction
• Mobile card reader (International fees) – 2.7% plus 1.5% cross border fee and/or 2.5% currency conversion

We mentioned the PayPal currency fees and those PayPal fees are currently the following amounts:

• Australian Dollar: 0.30 AUD
• Brazilian Real: 0.60 BRL
• Canadian Dollar: 0.30 CAD
• Czech Koruna: 10.00 CZK
• Danish Krone: 2.60 DKK
• Euro: 0.35 EUR
• Hong Kong Dollar: 2.35 HKD
• Hungarian Forint: 90 HUF
• Israeli Shekel: 1.20 ILS
• Japanese Yen: 40 JPY
• Mexican Peso: 4.00 MXN
• Malaysian Ringgit: 2.00 MYR
• New Zealand Dollar: 0.45 NZD
• Norwegian Krone: 2.80 NOK
• Philippine Peso: 15.00 PHP
• Polish Zloty: 1.35 PLN
• Russian Ruble: 10 RUB
• Singapore Dollar: 0.50 SGD
• Swedish Krona: 3.25 SEK
• Swiss Franc: 0.55 CHF
• Taiwan New Dollar: 10.00 TWD
• Thai Baht: 11.00 THB
• U.K. Pounds Sterling: 0.20 GBP
• U.S. Dollar: 0.30 USD

PayPal and ProPay are about the same when it comes to merchant account fees. With PayPay you don’t get charged an annual fee and the transaction fee is slightly lower. However, PayPal lacks some of the “customer service” items that are associated with merchant accounts like ProPay. Even though you can accept credit cards through PayPal, it isn’t the same sort of merchant account that ProPay is.

PayPal does have the advantage of allowing the buyer to protect his or her payment and personal information. All of that is entered into PayPal, and the seller never sees it. PayPal facilitates the transfer of funds by getting the money from the buyer, and then transferring it to the seller. Many buyers are more comfortable with this because it means they do not have to enter their credit or debit card numbers. The main drawback, though, is that buyers have to have PayPal accounts. So it can be a hassle for buyers to set up an account in order to buy something from a particular online merchant that only accepts PayPal.

It is possible to accept both ProPay and PayPal. Because they are different types of accounts, it makes some sense. If you accept both, then your customers can choose which they prefer. Both are convenient, but one protects the buyer’s privacy and the other requires the buyer to share his or her credit card number. But, since PayPal is cheaper and has no annual fee, you aren’t losing much by setting it up. And since ProPay is reasonably priced, you (for the most part) don’t have to worry about breaking the bank to process credit cards that way.

The bottom line is that you need to look at your business, and what will work best for you and your customers. You need to provide a way for them to easily pay you for goods and services, most businesses need to accept credit cards, and you need a way to make sure that your business runs smoothly. PayPal and ProPay are both great options for helping you make this all possible.