Payment providers in United States

Payment providers in the United States

The US is the largest card market in the world, so most payment service providers here start with Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover acquiring and add wallets and bank rails on top. This page lists {count} PSPs, gateways and processors that support US merchants or US customers — from classic merchant accounts to payout APIs.

Local payment methods in the USA

• Cards and wallets: card payments, Apple Pay and Google Pay dominate online checkout.
• Bank rails: ACH debits and credits for subscriptions, rent, B2B and payroll; RTP and FedNow for instant transfers.
• Mechanics: recurring billing, payment links and POS for omnichannel sellers.

Merchant accounts and high-risk processing

US acquiring is underwritten by sponsor banks, and the card schemes' monitoring programs punish high chargeback ratios. Merchants in nutra, CBD, dating, subscriptions, forex or adult usually need a high-risk merchant account: expect rolling reserves, higher discount rates and stricter KYB. Online gambling and sports betting are legal only in some states, so gaming merchants need a processor that checks state-level licensing. See high-risk merchants.

Regulation in brief

Money transmission is licensed state by state, and payment companies often register with FinCEN as an MSB. A PSP that pays out to US recipients or holds funds should be able to explain which licences or bank partners it relies on.

How to compare US payment processors

• Interchange-plus vs blended pricing, chargeback and ACH return fees
• Settlement speed (next-day vs T+2) and reserve terms
• Card-not-present fraud tools, 3DS, and chargeback alerts
• Payout options: ACH, push-to-card, RTP

Related: US banks and EMIs, legal and licensing in the US, payouts. Can't find the right fit? Post a request and providers will contact you.