Authorize.Net Payment Gateway

Do you need a merchant account for Authorize.Net?

Yes. Every Authorize.Net user has one, even if they never see it. Authorize.Net refers merchants to START for it: we find the acquiring bank that fits your business, underwrite the merchant account and send the details back to Authorize.Net so your gateway is connected. Authorize.Net also sells an All-in-One plan direct, with a flat-rate merchant account through its program with PNC Bank ("subject to eligibility").

• →Where it must come from: Authorize.Net requires a merchant account from a provider based in the U.S. or Canada.
• →Switching? Saved cards and subscriptions live in the gateway account, so plan for them before you change providers.

What Authorize.Net costs

Bought direct, Authorize.Net lists these plans on its pricing page (checked September 27, 2026), with $0 setup and no contract or early termination fee. Through a provider, the provider sets the gateway fee, so ask for every fee in writing. As volume grows, a merchant account on interchange-plus pricing usually costs less than a flat rate.

Virtual terminal, invoices and payment links

The virtual terminal lets you key in a card or bank payment from any browser, for phone and mail orders. Digital Invoicing sends a customer one link to pay by card, eCheck or other methods your account supports, and Authorize.Net says it comes with every plan.

• →Safety: use address and card-code checks on keyed orders, and never write card numbers down.
• →Refunds: void before the batch settles, or refund a settled sale for up to 180 days.

Recurring billing and saved cards

Automated Recurring Billing (ARB) charges a customer on a schedule. Customer Information Manager (CIM) stores card and bank details securely with Authorize.Net, so you can charge repeat customers without handling card numbers. Account Updater keeps saved Visa and Mastercard details current.

• →Failed payments: ARB doesn't retry them for new accounts. Authorize.Net says Automatic Retry is a legacy feature that can't be turned on for new accounts, so plan your own follow-up.
• →Cost direct: ARB and CIM have no monthly fee; Account Updater is 25¢ per update.

eCheck.Net: Authorize.Net eCheck fees and funding time

eCheck.Net takes payments straight from a customer's U.S. bank account over the ACH network. It suits B2B invoices, large tickets and subscriptions, and gives customers a way to pay without a card. It's for U.S.-based businesses only. For how eCheck processing works with any provider, see our eCheck guide.

• →Direct pricing: 0.75% per eCheck, a $10 monthly minimum, $3 per returned item and $25 per eCheck chargeback.
• →Timing: slower than cards. Authorize.Net's own pages say three to five business days in one place and up to seven days in another.

Integration methods

Choose a method by who handles the card data. Simple Checkout gives you buttons, payment links and QR codes with no coding. Accept Hosted puts Authorize.Net's own payment form on your checkout, which keeps your PCI scope smallest. Accept.js and the Authorize.Net API are for developers building a custom checkout.

• →Still on SIM, DPM or AIM? Authorize.Net has deprecated all three. They still work but get no new features, and no end date had been announced as of September 2026.
• →Apple Pay and Google Pay: Authorize.Net lists them processor by processor, so which wallets you can offer depends on the processor behind your merchant account.

Shopping carts: Shopify, WooCommerce and more

Most major carts connect to Authorize.Net, but what works depends on the plugin. Shopify is the big change: Authorize.Net now connects through a new app, and the old connection stopped working after August 31, 2025.

• →Shopify: Authorize.Net says Customer Information Manager and Recurring Billing aren't available through the new app.
• →Any cart: check the plugin for saved cards, subscriptions, eCheck, wallets and refunds from the cart.

The Advanced Fraud Detection Suite

The Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) is a set of 13 filters that flag or stop risky payments: too many attempts in an hour or a day, address and card-code mismatches, orders from certain regions or IP addresses, unusual amounts and more. For each filter you choose what happens to a payment that trips it.

• →Actions: process and report, authorize and hold for review, hold without authorizing, or decline.
• →Cost direct: no monthly fee on Authorize.Net's pricing page.

Authorize.Net vs Stripe, PayPal and Square

Stripe, PayPal and Square sign you up in minutes under their own master account and review you later, which is why they can hold funds or close an account without warning. With your own merchant account and the Authorize.Net gateway, the account is in your business's name and approved up front. A flat rate charges the same markup on every sale, while interchange-plus pricing usually costs less as sales grow.

• →Compare by effective rate: total monthly fees divided by card sales, at your real volume.
• →Switching: ask how your saved cards and subscriptions move before you change.

Taking cards on a phone or tablet

Any Authorize.Net account can take payments on the go without hardware: open the virtual terminal in a phone's browser, or send a payment link, QR code or invoice the customer pays on their own phone. To tap or dip a card, the "Authorize.net 2.0" app for iPhone and Android works with a BBPOS Chipper 3X reader or Tap to Pay, but only on certain processors.

• →Processor limits: Authorize.Net lists chip cards on First Data Nashville and TSYS only, and Tap to Pay for U.S. businesses on TSYS (FDN on some of its pages).
• →"Free" apps: no monthly fee still means a fee on every sale, and keyed payments cost more than tapped ones.