Braintree is a mobile and web-based payment platform for online businesses. In 2013, PayPal bought Braintree for $800 billion. The payment platform replaces the traditional methods of payment where one must get a payment gateway and posses a merchant account. The account supports multiple currencies and fast payment.
Braintree Payments Key Takeaways
- The platform allows you to offer payment options to your customers such as PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Venmo (in the US), credit and debit cards, ACH, etc., in a single Braintree integration.
- There are no monthly fees, minimum transaction processing amount and you only pay for what you use.
- Braintree Direct feature acts as both your merchant account provider and payment gateway.
- It allows you to offer ‘buy now, pay later’ options.
- Braintree supports recurring billing and subscriptions.
Contents
How Braintree Works
Braintree offers products that make it easy for you to accept payments in your app or website. To use Braintree, you need to complete your application with specific information, which includes: drivers license / state ID / passport, proof of address, bank statements, processing statements, IRS SS4 letter, etc. Some merchants can start using Braintree immediately after filling out the signup form. However, in some cases, you might be required to provide additional information. In case this happens, the customer support will be in touch within one business day.
You need to have a bank account so that Braintree’s payment gateway deposit your funds into this account automatically. You don’t need a merchant account because the platform provides a merchant account as a part of the Braintree Direct setup. If you already have your own merchant account, it’s possible to continue using it with our Braintree payment gateway.
Integrating with Braintree payment gateway requires a developer. Braintree offers one of the easiest integrations your developers need – 3 client SDKs (software development kits) for both mobile and web platforms as well as server-side libraries in 6 common languages. An experienced developer can complete a basic integration with Braintree in less than half an hour.
Braintree sandbox lets you try the Braintree experience before you apply with no obligation to apply for a Braintree account. You are able to explore the control panel, reporting tools, features, run sample test transactions, play with subscriptions, and fully test the braintree API.
Braintree Customers
Braintree payment gateway supports a wide range of customers from established businesses, startups, organizations and individual customers. The platform has limitations in working with some businesses due to legal and compliance requirements. Some of world’s leading brands that use Braintree payment platform are Uber, StubHub, Dropbox, GitHub, and Yelp.
Time Taken To Process Payments
Braintree merchants will receive most of their money in two business days and the rest of it in four days, which is several days faster than what most payment aggregators offer. When using MasterCard, Visa and Discover, merchants in the US can complete a transaction between 2-3 business days after when the money will be deposited into your bank account. For those using American express, money can be deposited into your bank account between 3-5 business days.
Braintree Products and Features
Braintree provides its customers with a merchant account which they can use for payment purposes. It has the following products.
- Braintree Direct. This is a feature that gives you everything you need to sell online to customers. It is a payment gateway and merchant account rolled into one.
- Mobile app. Braintree app can be integrated with other e-commerce apps and SDKs so that merchants can set their payment buttons for iOS and Android apps.
- Braintree Auth. This feature enables merchant service providers to connect with your Braintree accountand take authorized actions on your behalf. It can be providers of services such as invoicing, analytics, or recurring billing.
- Braintree international payments. Braintree supports merchants located supported countries to receive multi-currency payments from all over the world.
- Braintree integration. The payment platform integrates easily with most popular ecommerce platforms and shopping carts such as WooCommerce, 3Dcard, Yoddle, BigCommerce, etc.
- Credit card vault. Any customer’s payment data is encrypted so that it is not accessible to third parties. Again, if the merchant switches to another payment processor, they can easily download the credit card information.
- Fraud tool. These tools secure the customer’s account against chargebacks. They are of different types: basic, advanced and Kount that can be integrated into cloud service at a cost.
- Webhooks. This tool allows push notifications to the merchant if there is any transaction like a disbursement or changes in a subscription. The merchant has an option to broadcast that information to other apps.
- Braintree Extend. This is a flexible set of data-sharing tools that help you securely connect with partners or service providers so you can manage and help grow your business.
Braintree Supported Payment Methods
Braintree gateway supports various payment platforms ranging from PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo. Also, credit cards and debit cards are accepted such as MasterCard, Visa, Diner’s Club, JCB, American Express and Discover.
Braintree Fees
| Service | Braintree pricing |
|---|---|
| Supported cards and digital wallets | 2.59% + $.49 per transaction |
| American Express | 3.50% per transaction with no additional fixed fee |
| Cerified charitable 501(c)(3) organizations | 1.99% + $.49 per transaction for Visa, Mastercard, Discover, JCB, Diner’s Club, and UnionPay cards, digital wallets, and 1.99% + $.49 per transaction for American Express cards |
| Chargeback | $15 |
| ACH Direct Debit | 0.75% per transaction |
PayPal and PayPal Credit fees are subject to the terms applicable to your PayPal account. Custom flat rates and interchange-plus pricing are available for established businesses based on business model and processing volume (more than $80,000 per month).
Braintree Supported Countries
Braintree countries are the United States, Canada, Australia, Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and New Zealand. To use Braintree, you must be a resident in any of the supported countries. However, your customers must not necessarily be in countries supported by Braintree. Your customers are covered in whichever country they are in. Besides, the platform supports multiple currencies. Therefore, this is a platform that can be used for business transactions globally.
Braintree Customer Support
In case you have an issue, you can contact Braintree customer support through an email or a call. They are available from Monday to Thursday between 8 am to 7 pm CST. On Friday, the customer support is available from 8 am to 5 pm.
Is Braintree Safe?
Braintree has two-factor authentication for the security of your account. To log in, you will need to input a phone generated password. This ensures that even if a hacker has your password, he cannot access your account without your mobile phone. Also, the account also has a fraud protection without an additional cost.
Braintree Alternatives
Braintree alternatives and competitors include the following:
- Dharma Merchant Services
- PaySera (the European Economic Area)
- Durango Merchant (supports high risk businesses)
- PaymentCloud
- Axerve (UK and Italy)
For businesses that need to accept cryptocurrency, please read our review of cryptocurrency payment gateways.
