Authorize.Net Review

Authorize.Net can process Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, Diners’ Club, JCB, signature debit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, electronic checks, and international transactions. Read on for information about what else Authorize.Net offers.

Taking Credit Cards with Authorize.Net

There are a few different ways to use Authorize.Net for taking credit cards. In all cases, you’ll need the gateway. But you can get the gateway, credit card processing, both, or neither through Authorize and still use the gateway. Additionally, the option that you choose impacts the overall cost of your processing solution. If that seems a little confusing, check out our article on Authorize.Net Fees and features to see which option makes sense for your business.

The Authorize.Net gateway acts as the ”credit card machine” for your online transactions. You’ll need both a gateway and a merchant account to accept payments through your website. The company offers an introduction video:

Security

Reduce your risk of security breaches by taking advantage of Authorize.Net’s security tools, including checkout and customer information management options that let you store data on Authorize.Net’s PCI-compliant servers. Information is safer than when it’s stored on your local server.

Features

As a leading gateway choice, Authorize.Net provides a wide range of features for convenience and easy transaction processing and customer billing, including hosted payments, recurring billing, convenient reporting and more. Note that some features may have an additional cost.

Hosted Payments Page

Authorize.Net offers a hosted payments page for secure, seamless payment acceptance. You can customize the look of the page to match existing branding and create a checkout process that mixes convenience and security. If you’re new to accepting online payments or don’t have a lot of programming or tech expertise, hosted payments are a great way to get started without a lot of effort or cost.

Account Transfer

As mentioned earlier, you need both an Authorize.Net account and a merchant account in order to use Authorize for online payments. Authorize.Net accounts can be used with multiple different processors, which is helpful as you won’t be locked in with a processing company. However, it’s important to note that once you have an Authorize account, the costs to switch that account to a different processor can add up. We’ve seen information from Authorize.Net that indicates a ”data search” fee will apply. Essentially, Authorize.Net will compile a list of the data in your existing account (such as recurring billing info) so that you can upload it into a new account, effectively ’transferring’ your service. 

The data search service costs $125 per hour, with a 4-hour minimum.

Invoices and Billing

For repeat customers and recurring billing, such as for monthly subscriptions, Authorize.Net allows the ability to set up recurring billing without storing payment information locally or needing customers to re-enter payment details every time. The Automated Recurring Billing (ARB) feature handles recurring billing online automatically. However, as of spring 2017, Authorize.Net does not offer an automatic card updater to help limit declines when cards used in recurring billing expire or are changes. The company has stated only that such a feature may be in the works in the future.

Read more about Recurring and Subscription Billing.

B2B Transactions

If you take corporate or government credit cards, you have two choices: provided what's called "enhanced data" with the transactions, or pay more because the transactions will "downgrade." 

Fortunately, Authorize.Net supports enhanced data. There are two levels when it comes to enhanced data: level 2 and level 3. Some processing companies only support level two data. Authorize.Net supports both level 2 and level 3. In the developer's resources section of its website, Authorize explains the levels, stating that level II includes providing information on applicable taxes, purchase order numbers, and customer codes. This information helps the accounting departments of the business that made the purchase. 

Level III data includes the same fields as level II plus support for line-item detail, such as descriptions, SKUs or product codes, quantities, and a shipment's originating address. The chart below shows what fields may be required to qualify for level III data rates.

That said, the exact requirements for level II and level III data cam vary depending on the processor, card used, and more. Note that Authorize.Net only supports level II and level III data for authorizing and automatically settling transactions or for using prior Auth Capture Transaction to settle an authorization. You won't be able to use Authorize for level II and level III for authorization only transactions that don't automatically settle. 

Read more about enhanced data for B2B transactions. 

Reporting

Online account access helps you manage business with ease. Review transactions, change account settings, view account statements, download reports, and more, all through a secure password-protected interface. Authorize.Net allows easy set up of multiple user accounts, with unique permissions. Additionally, you can automatically import settled Authorize.Net transactions into an existing QuickBooks account with Sync for QuickBooks integration.

Fraud Management

Authorize.Net utilized industry-standard Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption, and offers an Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) to help you manage and prevent suspicious transactions. AFDS is customizable and rules-based, allowing merchants to tailor fraud protection to their specific business needs. Authorize.Net offers Address Verification Service (AVS), Card Code Verification (CVV2), and support for MasterCard SecureCode and Verified by Visa.

Address Verification Service

With Address Verification Service, you compare the address given by the customer to the address on file with the credit card company to ensure a match. Non-matching data can be investigated further to determine if the transaction is potentially fraudulent, saving you the time and hassle of dealing with a chargeback.

Card Code Verification

With Card Code Verification, you can enter the 3-digit security code found on the back of major credit cards to ensure that the customer currently has the card in their possession, helping ensure authorized use.

Authorize.Net also utilizes tokenization for additional security.

Accessories

If you process transactions that would benefit from optional accessories, Authorize.Net supports certain card readers and check processing equipment. Only card readers that utilize the Authorize.Net encryption keys are supported.