Shopify provides all-in-one eCommerce solutions to individuals and businesses who want to sell their products online. The Canadian company has established its name for powering eCommerce platforms and remains one of the most popular companies in its particular sector.
The online shopping cart tool also offers physical point of sale (POS) solutions that allow its clients to accept credit card and debit card payments in person. Combined with its online payment powering solutions, this financial product takes the name Shopify Payments.
Shopify payments are powered by Stripe who deals with the processing fee, the payment method, credit card transaction fees, and deals with many Shopify Merchants.
However, Shopify Payments mainly utilizes its branding in its payment processing solutions. It also makes it highly simple to integrate these payment services into the powered and hosted websites by its platform for Shopify Merchants. The brand makes it possible to run an online store, incur a transaction fee, helps those using Shopify Payments to minimize their reliance on several third-party services through its Shopify Payments plan options.
At the same time, its POS hardware also remains quite easy to set up for those clients who may also sell their online store products in person.
But despite boasting of a straightforward setup, Shopify Payments are known for being more expensive as compared to traditional credit card services providers. The pricing is often justified by the ease of use of these solutions.
However, it runs high when you consider other payment service providers such as Stax, which offer the same or an even greater level of accessibility at more affordable price points.
Here is a direct comparison and overview of both services to help you determine how the online store provider and its Shopify Payments compare to the Stax payment processor services.
Shopify Payments Come With Stipulations to Use Other Services
As noted above, Shopify Payments is a division of the company’s eCommerce services. This means that to use these solutions and obtain their full benefits, you need to subscribe to one of Shopify’s monthly plans.
Shopify Has Additional Monthly Fees in Place
Starting from $29/month and going up to $299/month, the main Shopify plans include its hosting solutions, its eCommerce website design tools, and its overall management services for online businesses.
This subscription may apply to hybrid businesses that also sell their solutions in-person or through their physical premises.
Each of these plans covers the basic Shopify Payments service for retail stores that are called Shopify Point of Sale Lite. But if you need additional solutions such as omnichannel selling or unlimited registers, you need to pay for Shopify Point of Sale Pro with an extra $89/month per location.
Stax Has No Such Requirement
On the other hand, Stax is a fully-fledged payment services provider that offers solutions to any business that needs online payments or in-person payment services.
You do not need to hold a subscription to an additional/special service or host your website with Stax to take advantage of these payment solutions.
Instead, your payment plan and costs relate entirely to your payment requirements. This particular factor sets Stax apart from Shopify Payments and adds greater accessibility to it.
Shopify Payments Has Additional Charges As a Standalone Service
If you are currently considering an all-in-one payment solution for your online or hybrid business, Shopify Payments would require you to sign up for website hosting or management tools subscription with the platform.
Stax does not hold any such requirements. Stax is a pure-play payment services provider that can meet your payment processing needs.
This also means that if your online store already exists on another hosting service, you would need to move it to Shopify to use Shopify Payments.
But with Stax’ payment solutions, you can keep your online store on its host while taking advantage of the payment services you need.
When It Comes to Payment Services, Shopify and Stax Offer Similar Solutions
As mentioned above, you need to meet particular criteria as a Shopify subscriber to use Shopify Payments services. But once you access them, the overall solutions are not much different from a conventional third-party payment services provider in their most basic form.
For instance, both Shopify and Stax offer standard grade security in the form of Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance.
With that, Shopify Payments’ overall offerings are quite limited, especially in terms of its hardware.
Point of Sale Payment for Retail Stores
Both Shopify Payments Point of Sale Lite and Shopify Payments Point of Sale Pro allow you to accept in-store payments to process credit card and debit card transactions from major payment networks. This is done through multiple devices, which are available in the form of Shopify’s card readers.
As compared to conventional Point of Sale equipment, these card readers do not have a display screen of their own. Instead, they connect to your tablet or smartphone to process payments.
The Shopify Chip & Swipe Reader, which accepts both EMV chip and magstripe payment cards, is available for a one-time fee of $29. Whereas, the Shopify Tap & Chip Card Reader that accepts EMV chip cards comes at a one-time fee of $49.
To accept in-store payments, you need to pay an approximate amount of 2.4% – 2.7% per transaction.
On the other hand, Stax offers a variety of conventional as well as modern POS equipment that also lets you select devices with built-in screens.
This gives you a wider range of options and lets you be more flexible in your selection. Stax marketplace devices can accept EMV chips and magstripe cards without any issues.
The rates offered by Stax are also quite competitive. For instance, the company processes its in-store payments at a monthly rate plus access to direct costs of the interchange.
Merchants appreciate Stax due to its overall affordability, simplicity, and straightforward process when it comes to its overall service.
Wireless Payments for Mobile Vendors
Shopify’s card reader equipment comes with built-in wireless functionality; it is already enabled to accept payments without being tied to a physical location.
This particular function allows you to accept in-person payments anywhere through a single device. However, if you operate your business at multiple locations, you will need to pay the Shopify POS Pro fee of $89/month per location.
The fee to accept payments wirelessly through EMV chip or magstripe cards remain the same as the in-store fee, which is 2.4% – 2.7% per transaction.
On the other hand, Stax also offers wireless payment solutions for a variety of mobile vendors. Allowing you to select equipment from various devices that can be easily powered through Stax services.
For Stax, the transaction charges for wireless payments also come with its regular monthly pricing plan with access to direct costs of the interchange. This once again makes the company a more affordable solution as compared to Shopify Payments.
Tap to Pay or Contactless Payments
Out of Shopify’s two available card readers, the Shopify Tap & Chip Card Reader enables contactless payments and accepts Apple Pay and Google Pay.
This lets you accept tap to pay transactions without any additional setup. With that, these transactions’ charges remain the same as the in-store or in-person transactions, which makes them expensive.
In comparison, Stax offers you a more comprehensive range of tap-to-pay POS and wireless payment devices and does so at its more affordable rates of in-person transactions. It also supports methods such as Apple Pay and Google Pay without any issues.
This makes Stax a better choice in terms of exploring your options and controlling your long-term costs.
Online Payment Gateway
Since Shopify is originally an eCommerce platform, it is no surprise to see that this is the one section where its range of solutions can match other vendors in terms of overall functionality.
Shopify’s online payment gateway can accept all primary payment methods to process credit card and debit card payments. Depending upon your primary Shopify subscription other than Shopify Payments itself, this particular service delivers at a range of 2.4% + 30¢ USD per transaction – 2.9% + 30¢ USD per transaction.
Third-party payment processor services are free if you are using Shopify Payments. However, the solution’s overall rates remain relatively high compared to more accessible all-in-one payment platforms.
For instance, Stax offers the same services at genuinely affordable rates with its monthly subscription plan and variable payment processing. It also allows you to accept payments through an EMV smart terminal, making it easy to process over-the-phone payments.
Shopify Payments Are Convenient Only If You Already Host Your Website With the Solution
Overall, Shopify Payments can be a convenient solution if you already host your website with the company. However, if you have your website set up with another vendor or don’t have an existing web portal, it is better to choose the services of a fully-fledged payment provider such as Stax.
The accessibility and affordability factor also strengthens this idea further. If you are looking for more payment hardware options or more competitive transaction fees, Stax stands out as the clear winner out of the two.
Stax Payment Processing Services
Businesses across the world need payment processing services. The reason why payment processing is necessary today is because of the more modern and sophisticated forms of commerce. Thanks to technology, merchants can conduct business wherever they are with a few simple devices.
The nature of business is evolving, and all-in-one payment platforms like Stax are ensuring that they continue to invest in the appropriate infrastructure improvements to enable further convenience in this domain.
Stax steps into this domain to ensure merchants can subscribe to a merchant service provider that keeps it simple, cost-effective, and hassle-free.
Stax understands the importance of convenience and simplicity in this modern era and gears its services and overall operations to making the business’s life as easy as possible.
What Should You Know About Stax and What it Offers to Online Stores?
The first point is that Stax is a subscription-based, all-in-one payment platform that provides direct access to the cost of interchange and simple payment processing for a simple monthly charge.
That means merchants only have to worry about one thing; their customers and coming up with more services and solutions that meet their client’s needs.
They do not have to worry about the various charges that they may incur for conducting business through several different mediums. No, they simply connect with Stax, pay a flat monthly subscription, and go on about their business.
With a mere monthly subscription cost and the variable cost per transaction, business owners know what they are getting and can estimate what they need.
What does that mean?
You have clarity over costs and do not have to worry about hidden costs, random expenses, and frustrating rate hikes.
Stax differs from the pack because it brings about transparency in payment processing.
Clients have access to the Stax platform that enables you to see data and analytics for your online store. The platform enables simple full-scale payment processing with an all-encompassing platform.
Finally, do not worry about extra costs for PCI compliance, statements, or moving to another provider.
Stax’ Critical Features:
- Subscription-based pricing
- No contracts or markups
- Real-time data and analytics dashboard
- 24/7 in-house customer success team
- Over 200 available software integrations
- 2-way QuickBooks integration
- Free PCI compliance assistance
- Mobile processing
- Payment gateways
- Next day funding for approved businesses
- Integration with most established POS systems
Merchants love that Stax is simple to set up and implement. They also appreciate that they can take advantage of Stax’ customer success team that will always be there to guide merchants with their problems.
The Stax platform enables you to have an understanding of your business sales trends, outstanding payments, and other pertinent details. Do not forget that Stax offers a flexible relationship with zero contracts.
That’s right; you can try out Stax and see if it meets your needs. If you don’t like it, you can move to another provider that could align with your needs.
You will not have any hassles or issues throughout the process.
From PCI compliant features to the reviews of many different customers who appreciate Stax credit card payment processing, this payment provider has outshined many competitors. It can serve your eCommerce website, process your credit cards, and please your end customers with no additional fees.
Learn more about Stax payment processing and find out how you can quickly start saving on payment processors and merchant services today. Stax can answer any questions you have and help you leverage the best all-in-one contactless payment processing solution for your needs.
Quick FAQs about Shopify Payments
Q: What is Shopify Payments?
Shopify Payments is an all-in-one eCommerce solution that allows businesses to accept credit and debit card payments online and in person. It’s powered by Stripe and is integrated into the Shopify platform, simplifying the payment process for Shopify Merchants.
Q: What is Stax?
Stax is a comprehensive payment services provider that offers online and in-person payment solutions to businesses without the need for a separate hosting or website management subscription. Stax provides a wide range of payment options, including EMV chips, magstripe cards, and contactless payments.
Q: How do Shopify Payments and Stax compare in terms of costs?
Shopify Payments can be more expensive due to the additional costs of monthly plans, which start at $29/month. On the other hand, Stax offers more affordable payment plans solely based on your payment requirements. Transaction fees with Stax are competitive, often lower than Shopify Payments.
Q: Do I need to host my website with Shopify to use Shopify Payments?
Yes, to use Shopify Payments, you need to subscribe to one of Shopify’s monthly plans, which include website hosting and management tools.
Q: Can I use Stax’s payment solutions if my online store is hosted elsewhere?
Yes, Stax’s payment solutions are independent of your website’s hosting service. This means you can keep your online store on its current host while benefiting from Stax’s payment services.
Q: What security measures do Shopify Payments and Stax have in place?
Both Shopify Payments and Stax adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) for securing transactions, ensuring the safety of your customers’ payment information.
Q: What are the hardware options for in-store payments with Shopify Payments and Stax?
Shopify Payments uses card readers that connect to a tablet or smartphone to process payments, while Stax offers a variety of Point of Sale (POS) equipment, including devices with built-in screens, providing more flexibility in your selection.
Q: How do Shopify Payments and Stax handle contactless payments?
Shopify’s Tap & Chip Card Reader enables contactless payments, including Apple Pay and Google Pay. Similarly, Stax offers a range of tap-to-pay devices that support the same methods, often at more affordable rates.
Q: What online payment capabilities do Shopify Payments and Stax offer?
Shopify’s online payment gateway can process all primary payment methods. Stax also offers comparable services, including the ability to accept payments through an EMV smart terminal for processing over-the-phone payments.
Q: What are the benefits of using Stax for my business?
Stax offers a subscription-based pricing model, no contract requirements, a 24/7 in-house customer success team, over 200 software integrations, real-time data and analytics dashboard, free PCI compliance assistance, and next-day funding for approved businesses. With Stax, businesses can enjoy transparency, simplicity, and cost-effectiveness in their payment processing.
Q: Can I integrate Stax with my Shopify store?
Yes, integration between Shopify and Stax is possible, allowing you to list products, collect credit card payments, and ship your goods using both platforms.
Q: What should I consider when choosing between Shopify Payments and Stax?
If your website is already hosted with Shopify, Shopify Payments might be a convenient choice. However, if you’re looking for more payment hardware options or more competitive transaction fees, or if your website is hosted elsewhere, Stax could be a better option.
