How To Accept Credit Card Payments: A Guide (2026)

Credit cards are still the main way consumers pay for goods. In 2025, 82% of US adults had a credit card, according to the Federal Reserve. A separate Federal Reserve survey found that 38% of consumers preferred credit cards for in-person payments.

Accepting credit cards gives those shoppers a familiar way to buy from your business. Getting set up involves choosing a payment provider and connecting the tools you’ll use at checkout.

This guide explores how to accept credit card payments online and in person. It also explains processing costs and how credit and debit transactions differ for businesses.

How do credit card payments work?

When a customer pays by credit card, your payment processor sends the transaction details through the card network to the issuing bank. The bank approves or declines the payment. Your terminal or online checkout then displays the response.

After approval, the business captures the payment to begin collecting the money. Credit card processing continues with settlement between the financial institutions involved. The payment provider sends the funds to a business bank account according to the payout schedule.

Payout timing depends on your provider and your bank. For example, US businesses using Shopify Payments have a minimum settlement time of three business days. After the payout is sent, the bank may take an additional one to three business days to post it to your account.

The total wait varies because settlement and bank processing happen in separate stages. Your payout schedule also affects when the money arrives. Weekends and holidays extend the calendar wait. Account reviews can cause further delays.

How to accept credit card payments

Set up credit card payments in four steps:

1. Assess how you sell. Identify what you sell and where customers pay; for example, a service business that visits customers may need invoices and mobile wallet payments. Consider recurring billing needs and check providers’ eligibility rules for your industry.
2. Choose a payment processor. Compare fees and payout schedules. Some processors require a dedicated merchant account, which holds card payments before they reach your bank, while integrated providers such as Shopify Payments take care of this arrangement.
3. Choose how to accept payments. Align checkout tools with your sales channels. You can combine in-person card readers with online checkout, for example. Add payment links or phone payments as needed.
4. Connect your bank account and test payments. Link an eligible payout account, then run a test transaction using your provider’s instructions. Confirm your account is approved and check when your first payout is expected.

Setup time depends on account verification and the tools you choose. Shopify says uploaded verification documents can take up to 24 hours to review. 

Hardware delivery or custom website development adds time. Your first payout follows the provider’s schedule and may take longer if further account checks are needed.

How to accept in-store credit card payments

Once the processor is approved, connect your checkout equipment, including:

• A point-of-sale (POS) system. Use POS software to build customers’ carts and record sales. A system that also tracks inventory updates stock quantities as you sell.
• Card readers or payment terminals. Choose hardware compatible with your processor and POS system. Shopify card readers accept chip and contactless payments, including eligible digital wallets.

How to accept online credit card payments

Online payments need a processor, as well as a gateway that securely passes payment details to the processor. Integrated services can provide both.

You can use a hosted checkout, which gives you a ready-made payment page managed by your provider, or build your own checkout with their payment components. This gives you more design control, but also requires development work. 

You can also accept cards through:

• Payment links. You’ll send customers a checkout link by email or message. They’ll open the link and enter their payment details.
• QR-code payment links. Customers will scan a code to open checkout on their phones. Shopcodes can send shoppers to checkout with a selected product already in their cart.
• Digital invoices. You’ll create a draft order and email an invoice containing a payment link.
• Social commerce. You’ll connect eligible social sales channels to your store. For example, Instagram Shopping lets shoppers select tagged products and complete payment through your Shopify checkout.

Use Shopify Payments test mode to simulate successful and declined payments. Check order totals and confirmation emails. Turn test mode off before accepting real orders.

How to accept mobile credit payments

For sales at markets or customer locations, use a point-of-sale (POS) app and a compatible mobile device:

• POS app. Use Shopify POS to build the cart and collect payment through Shopify Payments. Send the customer a receipt from the app.
• Phone or card reader. Eligible US merchants can use Tap to Pay on iPhone or Tap to Pay on Android through Shopify POS. Customers tap a contactless card or digital wallet against your compatible phone. Both require Shopify Payments and an internet connection. To accept chip payments, pair a compatible card reader. 

How to accept credit card payments over the phone

A virtual terminal lets you enter a customer’s card details into a secure payment page while taking a phone order.

With a Shopify Payments account, you can collect payment through a draft order. Select Collect payment > Credit card and enter the customer’s details. In Shopify POS, select Manual card entry at checkout.

US Shopify Payments merchants pay higher fees for manually entered payments because these transactions carry greater fraud risk.

If manual entry fails for an insert-only card, send a payment link so the customer can choose an eligible payment method at checkout.

How to choose a payment processor

Choose a provider that accepts your business type and works across your sales channels. Integrated payment services bundle processing with checkout tools. 

Other providers arrange a dedicated merchant account that holds card payments before transferring them to your business bank account.

Compare these factors when choosing a processor:

• Pricing. Choose between flat-rate pricing (bundles processing costs into a set rate for each transaction category), interchange-plus (passes through card costs and adds a processor markup) and a subscription plan (adds a monthly fee to card costs and per-transaction charges).
• Sales channels and currencies. Confirm compatibility with your POS and online store. Verify which customer currencies and payout currencies are available.
• Cash flow. Compare settlement and bank processing times. Ask about reserves—money held back to cover potential refunds or disputes. Confirm how much can be withheld and when it’s released.
• Service and contracts. Check help-desk hours and how disputes are handled. Review cancellation terms and access to transaction data. Check accounting integrations and how staff issue refunds.
• Security. In the US, retail and ecommerce merchants incur an average total cost of $4.61 for every $1 of fraud, according to a 2025 LexisNexis study. That makes it important to verify the processor’s compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), clarify your own responsibilities, and assess the provider’s fraud controls.

Shopify Payments integrates payment management into your Shopify admin. A third-party payment processor may suit certain business categories or regional requirements. 

Compare the processor’s fees with any applicable third-party transaction fees. Shopify Payments transactions incur processing fees and are exempt from those additional charges.

How much does it cost to accept credit card payments?

Credit card processing costs are made up of three charges:

• Interchange fees that go to the bank that issued the card
• Network or assessment fees that go to the card network
• A processor markup that pays the company handling your transactions

A flat-rate quote bundles these charges. Interchange-plus pricing separates the underlying card costs from the processor markup. Check whether each quote includes network fees.

Card-present payments typically cost less because the physical card helps reduce fraud risk. Online and phone orders are card-not-present transactions. Shopify classifies manually entered POS payments as card-not-present and applies the online credit card rate. Check US Shopify Payments rates for applicable manual-entry fees.

To compare providers, request quotes using the same month of sales. Include your total card revenue and transaction count. Break sales down by channel and card type. Add recurring account charges and any gateway fees. Factor in chargeback charges and currency conversion where relevant.

Ask how refunds affect fees and whether monthly minimums apply. Include additional platform transaction fees in your total. Compare hardware costs separately.

To calculate your effective processing rate, use this formula:

Effective rate (%) = (total monthly processing fees / total monthly card sales) x 100

For example, $350 in fees on $10,000 in card sales produces a 3.5% effective rate. Using the same sales mix makes each quote easier to compare.

Plans advertised as “free” may pass processing costs to customers through surcharges. Equipment and subscription charges may still apply. Surcharges must comply with applicable laws and card network rules. 

Credit cards vs. debit cards: What’s the difference for merchants?

You can accept credit and debit cards through the same compatible POS system and card reader. Debit payments draw money from the customer’s bank account, while credit cards let customers borrow against a credit limit and repay the issuer later.

Debit cards often have lower interchange fees. With flat-rate pricing, your processor may charge the same rate for credit and debit transactions.

In the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Diary of Consumer Payment Choice, the average credit card transaction was $80.15. Debit transactions averaged $74.40 and cash transactions averaged $57.64. 

Larger purchases spread the flat per-transaction fee over more revenue. The percentage fee still increases in dollars as the sale grows. Imagine you have a rate of 2.9%, plus a 30¢ fee:

• A $20 sale costs 88¢ to process. The 30¢ flat fee represents 1.5% of the sale.
• A $100 sale costs $3.20 to process. The same 30¢ flat fee represents just 0.3% of the sale.

Larger baskets reduce the flat fee’s relative cost. However, percentage charges continue to apply to the full transaction value, which means a larger basket does not cancel out card costs.