Braintree Payments is a popular online payment processor for eCommerce businesses to accept mobile and web payments. Braintree also accepts trendy new payment methods, like Google Pay and Apple Pay.
If you’re old school, there’s support for all debit cards and most credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, etc.)
The company has a pretty impressive client list: including Uber, Github, and Airbnb - so you can rest easy knowing you’re in good hands!
We’ll fill you in on all of the products and features that Braintree offers, as well as the fees that come with them.
Braintree was acquired by PayPal in 2013, but has kept its own branding and is a separate service from PayPal.
You might be asking “why would I use Braintree then if I could just stick with PayPal?”
Good question. There’s actually quite a few differences between Braintree and PayPal. We’ll run you through them so you can pick the right option for you!
Braintree Payments Products and Features:
Braintree has everything you’d expect from an online payment solution. It allows you to make simple transactions, has 24/7 customer support, and so on.
However, there’s quite a few features that are rare amongst competitors and some that are unique to Braintree.
Check them out:
Marketplace functionality: Braintree comes equipped with integrated marketplace business tools. This lets you set up payments for the products and services of other companies that are featured on your marketplace.
Control Panel: Braintree offers a feature called Control Panel, which provides detailed insights into your old and new payments using advanced transaction searches. This enables you to easily find what you're looking for by filtering through payment types, new and archived payments, and so on.
POS: If you need it, Braintree will sort you out with a physical point of sale system that's compatible with all major debit and credit cards, as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Global Payments: Braintree, like PayPal, is a worldwide service provider - so no matter where your customers are coming from, they’ll be able to make a payment. Braintree is available in 40 countries and uses 130 currencies. These merchant accounts come equipped with a feature called Hyperwallet, which lets you make global outbound card payments quickly and easily.
Custom Payments: For businesses with complex transactions, Braintree lets you create custom and scalable payment plans based on your business. It also features recurring billing, so ideal for a subscription-based business model.
OneTouch payments: This is a PayPal feature that lets you make a new payment immediately without having to slog through tedious sign-in and shopping cart pages.
Fraud assessments: With all Braintree products you get a wealth of fraud protection measures, including detailed PCI-compliant fraud assessments and 3D secure payments.
Mobile App: Ease of use is super important, and Braintree knows this. Their app is ultra simple to use and helps you manage your account on the fly. This is available on both Apple and Android OS.
Braintree Payments and Fees
Braintree is upfront with their fees, making it easy to compare their quotes with other competitors.
Here are the 2 account options and their fees:
Standard: This account is ideal for newer businesses looking to grow. There’s no contract, so no early termination fee if you change your mind. This merchant account charges 1.9% + 20p per transaction. There's no extra charge for credit card processing fees.
Enterprise: If you’re a more established business and are already turning a pretty profit, then this is the account for you. This merchant account’s pricing is tailored to your business model - so you’ll need to contact Braintree for an exact quote.
What are the reviews like?
Like all online payment processing platforms, Braintree has a large number of negative reviews from customers. The vast majority of these are from customers who’ve raised a chargeback dispute and aren’t happy with the outcome.
Don't get too freaked out by these reviews, as most online payment processors (including PayPal, Stripe etc.) have similar reviews from customers. No one’s leaving a review to say how great it was to make a payment, so you’re only going to see negative customer comments!
We’re interested in the merchant account reviews anyway, as these are the ones that detail how good Braintree is to use.
Here’s a summary of the reviews from TrustPilot:
Merchants were impressed by:
- How easy the mobile payments app and website are to use.
- The cheap transaction fees.
- No setup costs or monthly fee! This means merchants don’t need to worry about an early termination fee if they change their mind.
Merchant’s weren’t so impressed by:
- Braintree withholding funds after assessing the merchant as suspicious with no justification.
- The impression that Braintree pays less attention to smaller clients and focuses more on big companies.
- The customer service being slow and unhelpful.
- Long wait times to solve a chargeback dispute.
Why use Braintree Payments over PayPal?
PayPal is definitely the more popular name between the two, so customers might be more likely to trust what they’re familiar with. However, there’s a reason they took over Braintree!
Here’s some reasons why you might prefer a Braintree account:
- Custom SDK (Software Development Kit): Braintree might just have the strongest developer tools and customization options in the online payment game. If you have skilled engineers on your team, you can create a brilliant looking custom Braintree payment gateway.
- A dedicated Merchant Account: Having your own merchant account makes it easier to stay on track of your business. While Braintree has this as standard, PayPal doesn’t. Instead, they deposit the money into their account and then send you what you’re due, minus fees, straight into your bank account. If having your own merchant account is important to you, you ought to go with Braintree.
A PayPal account might be better for you if:
- You want to keep it simple: If PHP, Sandbox, and Magento mean nothing to you, and your budget is too sparse to hire a developer, PayPal might be the best option. PayPal’s systems are super simple to set up and are designed for those with no development experience.
Summary
Braintree Payments is a great option for an online payment method provider. Despite being bought over by PayPal, Braintree has kept its own identity and offers some unique tools that your backend developers will appreciate.
If you want a company with a huge global presence, but want a bit more customisation options than the basic options you get with Stripe and PayPal accounts, then give Braintree a shot.
However maybe you don't care about the developer options and just want a simple payment method! If this is you, check out Cardsave, another huge name payment solution that’s really easy to use!
