Authorize.net vs. Clover vs. Square POS

Authorize.net is reliable and I feel confident that customers' information is protected. The security protocols used by Authorize.net appear to be as good, and probably better than many credit card payment processors. However, the initial setup process was very difficult. I distinctly recall getting up and running as being very cumbersome and time-consuming. I also was disappointed with how the processing and deposit of payments were not consistent. I distinctly remember regretting the decision to go with Authorize.net. However, as mentioned before, with the time and effort required to get the account set up and running, I refused to go through the process again and try a different provider.

Incentivized

Clover is well suited for high-volume environments where quality and dependability are paramount. The hardware can scale easily and always looks good on the counter. I have even seen Clover hardware used in small mom-and-pop type stores. The ability to swing the monitor around for signature is really nice. Customers appreciate the ease of use. The stations we have to use nice large bright screens. Not familiar enough with the Clover product line to know if the smaller screen sizes are available for applications where space is a concern.

Incentivized

Square POS is by far the easiest POS software to use at events and train additional team members on - even with temporary or first-time employees. It's easy to see how each event is doing in live time. It gives the event manager a real-time view of revenue earned. Its really easy to create/manage/delete users to keep the platform secure.

Incentivized

• Very smooth workflow to authorizing, capturing, voiding, and refunding charges. This can all be done via API calls, or through their online dashboard.
• Their AVS settings for validating credit cards are substantial and have been reliable in ensuring that our customers cards are being used safely and properly.
• Their uptime and response times are very good in general. The only issues we ever have communicating with their services is when our connection quality is compromised.

Incentivized

• BluePay has been very responsive when we've had questions and gone out their way to make sure that users understand the answers that are given.
• During our cut over to BluePay we found that there were reports that our users were used to having that didn't have an equivalent on BluePay's site. Our account rep went above and beyond to make sure that our users had the information that they needed by having custom reports sent on the schedule that we determined.
• Overall our interchange rates are much lower with BluePay than they were with our previous gateway provider.

Incentivized

• Mobile transactions (not like from a phone, but in terms of the ability to physically relocate rapidly).
• Simple setup.
• Generally uncomplicated pricing.
• Widespread customer familiarity: because it's so regularly in use in our industry (musicians/entertainment professionals), people know and trust it in a way that you might not with a different provider.

Incentivized

• The lack of data portability is a big issue for me.
• Authorize.net uses the same $49.00 gateway setup fee to scam merchants out of money, which is no better than any of the other gateways out there.
• Their customer service is not up to the mark. You can get stuck if you need any help from their end.

Incentivized

• Focus functionality on retail use and not broad based with focus on food services
• Build a turn table into the countertop unit so both the employee and customer can use the tablet
• Offer color choices in units (white is not always friendly with long term use)

Incentivized

• Too much going on for simple users. There are so many different apps and pages now that I get lost almost every time I log onto Square
• The high percentage of fees taken from sales
• The difficulty in changing default settings
• The layout of the “website” you can create is truly a nightmare

Incentivized

Authorize.net has been a useful system for our Chamber. We appreciate the ease of use and access to our Main Frame. Connecting Authorize.net to our system for membership, event and other payment ease has been excellent and we have experienced no problems whatsoever.

Incentivized

I don't really foresee anything being able to dislodge Square from our organization—we're not evangelists or anything like that—it's just the best solution we've found for our use case. Being able to quickly handle transactions from customers and then track all of those sales for analysis/bookkeeping later on.

Incentivized

Except for some of the back of the house issues with settings the overall usability was great

Incentivized

There are numerous aspects to Clover's usability: the usability of their point of sale systems, the usability of their CRM and web dashboards, and the technical side of integrating with other third-party services. All are top tier. Clover's usability is excellent and I have never had a problem figuring out how to use their services at any level. The POS system has a very low barrier to entry and an easy learning curve for newcomers.

Incentivized

We find Square POS is very user friendly. Its interface is customizable to our needs and very easy to use. Before we adopted Square POS, we used a combination of solutions from different manufacturer to try and achieve a portion of the functionality that Square POS provides under only 1 login

Incentivized

I have no experience directly with the support offered by Authorize.Net.

Incentivized

We rarely have problems, but when we do, they are major and the system becomes unusable. While Customer Support does eventually respond and fix the issue, they can take a long time. If a major problem occurs on a weekend during the dinner rush, it can be catastrophic to sales and customer returns.

Incentivized

An admission - I have NEVER had to use Square POS support. The system is seamless, it just works! I have never had any queries about how the system worked as everything is so clearly laid out. I have never had any problems with payments. If their support systems are anywhere near as good as their software, I think we'll be in good hands.

Incentivized

Authorize.net is a reliable and affordable payment processing service that offers more robust security than other services, such as Stripe or PayPal with their monthly fees at $25 dollars month lot of people may be turned off by these high prices but you get what you pay for - protection against fraud in risky transactions so I would recommend using Authorize.net if this matters to your business!

Incentivized

None are available on the list. Clover competes with HotSauce, Paradise, Poynt, and many more POS systems. We easily sell Clover more than anything else and everyone loves it. It's easily one of the best products I've seen since I have been in integrations. The sales managers love it, our sales reps love it, and most importantly our merchants love it.

Incentivized

We only used Square POS while we were getting set up with Authorize.Net. It isn't as flashy or recognized by the general public, but in our industry, that isn't a priority. We do very large transactions so the higher rates and fees from Square add up insanely quickly making the lower rates and fees from Authorize.Net the nail in Square's coffin for us.

Incentivized

• Lets us charge cards so we can get paid on time, every time.
• It was very difficult to setup the DocuSign integration the first time, but after we got it setup, it's made the onboarding process very easy. That probably saves about 30 minutes every time we get a new client.

Incentivized

• Definitely makes us look more professional, and we are able to handle products much smoother and faster
• The reporting allows us to see what is really selling and how much money we have actually made, which is also great, especially when you are selling things you have made or grown because you may not always have an inventory, but you can tell how much you've sold.
• We can't pause the fees for the "off-season," so it definitely is wasted money during those times.

Incentivized

• The opportunity cost of waiting for payments and manually bringing them to a bank means that we don't have to visit our bank branch. That alone saves us several hours each month.
• We can use ordinary computers and mobile devices with Square instead of paying for expensive software or terminals.
• Our clients appreciate not having to process payments to us, and anything that helps our clients and makes them happy carries more import than I can explain in this space.

Incentivized