Payanywhere Review: Pros, Cons, Costs and Alternatives

Payanywhere is a payments platform that allows U.S. businesses to accept credit card transactions in store, online and on the go. For merchants looking for a mobile POS with straightforward pricing, it’s a strong option. It stands out by offering flat-rate pricing and free next-day funding.

The platform, launched in 2011 by its parent company, North American Bancard Holdings, LLC, is designed for a broad group of merchants, including retail stores, professional services, food trucks and nonprofit organizations. In addition to payment processing, it also offers tools for invoicing, reporting, and inventory and employee management. However, it supports limited integrations and sometimes charges early termination fees.

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From the Payanywhere website, you can start your application by creating an account, selecting your plan and hardware and providing your personal, business and banking information. Within 24 hours, you can expect an email notification about your application.

You will use the same password you created for your online account to log in to the Payanywhere app and the payments hub. The payments hub is the control center for your account where you can accept payments, pull reports, view your accounts, add users and manage funding and closing settings.

Once you are approved and set up, you can accept credit cards, debit cards and contactless payments in-person and online. A virtual terminal, located in the payments hub, lets you enter payments from your computer for online orders or ones placed over the phone.

Pricing

Payments

Payanywhere offers two pricing models:

• Pay as you go. This includes:

  • 2.69% of total for in-person transactions that are swiped, dipped or tapped.

  • 3.49% plus 19 cents per transaction for virtual terminal (keyed) payments, invoicing and recurring payments.

  • $3.99 per month is charged as an inactivity fee when you don’t process a transaction for an entire year.

• Custom. You can contact the sales team and get a quote.

Software

The Payanywhere app itself is free with no monthly fee to use the software. However, there are monthly software fees ranging from $9.95 to $39.95 to run devices. The app is compatible with most smartphones and tablets. Apple devices require iOS of 13.0 or higher and Android devices require 5.1.1 or higher.

Hardware

All devices accept EMV chip card payments and magstripe payments. The more expensive devices offer built-in barcode scanning, receipt printing and customer-facing screens.

Free placement is offered for some devices, which means they can be used without cost but must be returned when you no longer use the service.

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Invoices

It’s easy to email invoices from the Payanywhere app or payments hub with the option of creating a single invoice or setting up recurring invoices at the frequency you want. The invoices you send can be customized with your logo and contact information. In addition, the customers who you’ve set up with recurring invoices can enroll in autopay. The fees for invoice payments are 3.49% plus 19 cents per transaction.

Inventory

You can sell, track and restock items, and upload inventory information in bulk. You also have the ability to have multiple price variants for items, sort items into categories and set discounts that can apply to a single item or the entire order.

Employee management tools

Tools to help you hire, schedule and pay your staff are included at no cost with Payanywhere. Different levels of access can be given based on your employees’ roles. You can produce reports on individual or group productivity by identifying transactions completed, sales volume, tips and payment method. And your employees can rate their shift plus clock in and out using the Payanywhere app.

Reporting and analytics

To help you identify trends, free reporting and analytics tools are provided so you can review sales volume, payment type and customer purchases. You can view your dispute activity, upload supporting documents and be alerted when you need to take action. Flash reports can be used to see net sales, discounts, tax, tips, voids and other details. For a quick look at your sales activity, open your Payanywhere app.

Integrations

Payanywhere mentions two integrations. You can export your data to your QuickBooks Online account to sync transactions, and also integrate with the scheduling software Homebase.

Software development kit

Payanywhere’s software development kit, or SDK, would appeal to developers who want to accept payments in their apps. The SDK lets you plug into a complete payments system where you can accept popular payment methods and transaction types. You can customize a hosted payment form, view transactions, export sales reports and manage disputes. You’ll pay the standard Payanywhere rates per transaction and the download is free.

All-in-one solution

Payanywhere is a one-stop payments solution that could save merchants time and effort. It can accept in-person, online, mobile, invoiced and keyed payments. Mobile readers, mini terminals, POS systems and accessories are available through the company. In-house payment processing is provided through Electronic Payment Exchange, a fellow subsidiary of North American Bancard. It also allows for offline payments. Tools to help manage inventory and employees and generate reports and analytics are included for free with the software.

Pricing flexibility

The platform offers pay-as-you-go pricing and a free reader option. You can also pause processing transactions for up to 12 months before incurring an inactivity fee of $3.99 per month, providing flexibility some merchants need when starting a business or encountering a lull in sales.

Limited integrations

Unlike some of its competitors, Payanywhere integrates with only two apps. You can sync with accounting software giant Quickbooks Online and employee scheduling software Homebase. You will have the ability to download information from Payanywhere about transactions, customers and items as CSV files, which you can upload to different apps, but this isn't the same as integrating with an app.

Potential termination fees

If a merchant selects the pay-as-you-go option, they avoid a contract term and any potential of a termination fee. However, if a merchant opts for non pay-as-you-go or custom pricing, they could have a contract length up to three years. And depending on the contract, an early termination fee of $295 or more could apply.

Square

Square’s low start-up costs, free software and comparable payment processing fees makes it a strong competitor of Payanywhere. Like Payanywhere, your first card reader is free. Team management tools, reporting and analytics and a virtual terminal are included at no additional cost. You can pay a little more and upgrade your plan to include customer loyalty programs, email marketing and gift cards.

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Helcim

If you are looking for lower payment processing fees, Helcim is a good option. It has an interchange-plus pricing model that uses the payment method and card type to determine fees. You don’t have to sign a contract or worry about monthly fees, and you can close your account without a penalty. Automatic volume discounts are available along with a free virtual terminal. Like Payanywhere, you have the ability to sync with QuickBooks, but Helcim offers a few other integrations including Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento), WooCommerce and Zone 4. However, customer support isn’t available 24/7.

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