by Ben Dwyer As a PayPal company with high-profile clients (including AirBnb, LivingSocial, and Angry Birds) Braintree gets a lot of attention. Is it right for your business? This profile is full of information on Braintree’s rates and fees, services, security, and customer reviews to help you decide.
- History
- What does Braintree do?
- How can I take payments with Braintree?
- Equipment and Software
- Security and Fraud
- What does Braintree cost?
- Contract, Cancellation Fees, and Your Data
- Reviews
History
Braintree is a payment processor founded in 2007 in Chicago and owned by eBay that provides the ability to accept payments on your website or mobile app. Braintree is available to businesses based in the United States, Canada, Australia, and EU countries, though not all Braintree services are available in all countries. In this profile, services that are available to United States-based businesses are discussed. Availability of services is subject to change at Braintree’s discretion and may become available in other countries over time.
Braintree is a registered ISO and MSP of Wells Fargo Bank.
What does Braintree do?
Braintree offers credit and debit card processing through apps or e-commerce websites. With Braintree card processing, you can take major credit and debit cards (including MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Diners’ Club, and JCB), as well as PayPal, Venmo, Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Bitcoin. Accepting PayPal requires a PayPal Business account. Braintree also offers the following services:
International Currency Payments
Braintree currently supports 130 international currencies so your foreign customers can conveniently pay in their preferred home currency.
Recurring Billing
Do you need to bill customers on a regular basis, such as for subscription box services or other regular payments? With Braintree, you can set up and accept recurring payments for goods and services offered on a recurring schedule, such as weekly or monthly subscriptions or membership dues.
Buying Through Pinterest
Braintree partners with Pinterest to offer buyable pins. As your customers browse Pinterest, they can optionally choose to purchase a pinned item directly from their mobile phone. Braintree stores customer payment information securely in their card vault.
How can I take payments with Braintree?
There are two payment method options with Braintree: online through an e-commerce website, or on the go with a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Take Payments Online
Braintree provides a payment gateway so you can process transactions directly within your website. Developers can integrate Braintree quickly and easily to begin accepting payments online. Braintree works with many e-commerce platforms, and supports multiple programming languages, including Java, Python, PHP, Ruby, and more.
Take Payments with a Mobile Device
Braintree offers One Touch, a fast mobile checkout available for both Apple and Android operating systems. One Touch requires using a PayPal or Venmo account installed on a smartphone. With One Touch, customers can keep their information ready to pay and won’t need to re-enter their passwords or other information.
In addition to accepting payments, you can also quickly process refunds and voids.
Equipment and Software
Braintree doesn’t offer equipment leasing or sales. Braintree’s services are available for Android and Apple devices. Website processing is available on existing computers with internet connections, and Braintree provides sample code and documentation to help you implement payment gateways.
Security and Fraud
Braintree provides free PCI compliance validation through partner company Security Metrics, helping you meet all your legal security obligations. The company utilizes tokenization and encryption technologies. Braintree also offers fraud protection by constantly monitoring customer purchasing to identify suspicious transactions.
Additionally, Braintree offers a customer card vault, allowing you to securely store customer card information.
What does Braintree cost?
Braintree advertises no monthly fee for processing and charges a per-transaction rate of 2.9% + $0.30. Braintree offers an introductory special where they will cover the fees on your first $50,000 processed.
Volume pricing discounts may be available if you process more than $80,000 per month.
Separate fees apply if you’re using the Braintree payment gateway. For the gateway, Braintree charges a $49 monthly fee and a $0.10 per-transaction fee.
Additional fees may apply, such as chargeback fees and fees for transactions in foreign currencies.
Special Pricing Situations
If you’re accepting PayPal through Braintree there are no Braintree charges, but you will be subject to PayPal charges.
If you accept Bitcoin through Braintree’s Coinbase option, your first $1,000,000 in Coinbase processing is free. After that, 1% conversion fees and $0.15 batch fees may apply.
Getting Your Money
Funds from MasterCard, Visa, and Discover transactions are generally deposited into your bank account in 2 business days. Funds from American Express transactions are generally deposited in 4 days or less.
Published rates and pricing is subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, we suggest you request a quote directly from Braintree through your CardFellow account. If you don’t have a CardFellow account, you can create one for free to request a Braintree quote specifically for your business.
Contract, Cancellation Fees, and Your Data
When searching for a processor, remember that contracts play a role as much as pricing. Braintree boasts no early termination fees, effectively creating month-to-month agreements. Additionally, Braintree offers data portability, meaning that if you leave Braintree for another processor, you can take your customer and transaction data with you.
Contract and cancellation terms can change, so be sure to read your contract carefully.
Reviews
In the processing world, Braintree is still a young company and doesn’t currently have a lot of reviews online. As of autumn 2015, there are no complaints in the Ripoff Report directory, and no reviews (either positive or negative) on Yelp. Braintree does have information available on the Better Business Bureau website and on their own site.
Braintree at the Better Business Bureau
As of autumn 2015, Braintree is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, but has an A+ rating, the highest available. Braintree has had 2 complaints lodged with the Better Business Bureau in the past year. One complaint is in the "Billing/Collection Issues" category and the other is in the “Problems with Product/Service” category. The complaints allege that Braintree illegally held funds because of issues with chargebacks, that Braintree closed accounts, and that Braintree refused to answer emails.
One complaint is listed as resolved with assistance from the BBB, the other complaint is listed as “answered.” Answered complaints with the BBB mean that the business that complained didn’t respond to the BBB to state if they were satisfied with the resolution, or they replied but were not satisfied with Braintree’s resolution.
Testimonials from Braintree Customers
Braintree has a section of their website dedicated to testimonials. Reviews praise Braintree’s seamless integration to existing systems, great customer service, and ease of use. Testimonials include the reviewer’s name and business name.
What CardFellow Thinks
As of autumn 2015, CardFellow has not had the opportunity to review Braintree billing statements or processing agreements firsthand. We rely on that type of factual information instead of ‘ranking’ processing companies. As we receive more information on Braintree’s processing, we’ll add it to this section.
