Payments & Card Data
3 tools, 5 guides, 12 compares
Your processor carries much of your PCI weight, or very little of it, depending on how you connect to it. These pages ask the question merchants actually type, is my processor PCI compliant, and answer the one underneath it: what is still yours to do once you use it.
The compares set processors and gateways against each other on that question. The form generators cover the paper side: the authorization a customer signs, and what you may keep from it afterwards.
Tools
Credit Card Authorization Form Generator
Your business details and terms on a printable form whose card fields stay blank for the customer.
- Business detailsname, contact
- Termsone-time or recurring
ResultForm
ACH Authorization Form Generator
A one-time or recurring bank debit authorization with the bank fields left blank for the customer.
- Business detailsname, contact
- Debitone-time or recurring
ResultForm
Hotel Credit Card Authorization Form
A hotel's authorization form for deposits, incidentals and third-party bookings, card fields blank.
- Property detailsname, contact
- Chargesdeposit, incidentals
ResultForm
Compares
- PCI Compliant Payment Gateways for Small MerchantsShortlist
Gateways judged by the questionnaire they leave you on, the paperwork they share, and phone orders.
- Stripe vs SquareHead to head
The PCI side of the choice: which questionnaire each setup lands you on and what stays your job.
- Clover vs ToastHead to head
Two countertop systems for restaurants and shops, compared on terminals and what you still validate.
- Stripe vs PayPalHead to head
The checkout types each offers and the questionnaire each one puts a small online shop on.
- Square vs CloverHead to head
A small retail counter's view: terminals, encryption listings, and the PCI work left to you.
- Helcim vs SquareHead to head
The PCI burden each processor leaves you: the questionnaire each names, the readers, the virtual terminals.
- Authorize.net vs StripeHead to head
A gateway on its own versus an all-in-one: which ways of connecting keep your questionnaire short.
- Stax vs SquareHead to head
Subscription versus per-swipe processing from the PCI side: who runs your PCI program and how.
- PayPal vs SquareHead to head
For sellers who invoice and take a few payments in person: the PCI path each one leaves you on.
- Shopify Payments vs StripeHead to head
Two ways to take cards in an online shop, compared on the PCI work each leaves the store owner.
- Helcim vs StripeHead to head
Two processors for different buyers, compared on the questionnaire and the PCI help each offers.
- PCI Compliant Virtual TerminalsShortlist
Virtual terminals for keying in card payments, compared on what keeps card data off your network.
Compares12
Guides
- Is Square PCI Compliant?16 min
What Square states it covers, and what a Square seller still has to validate and when.
- Is Stripe PCI Compliant?16 min
Stripe's own PCI status versus yours, and which way of using Stripe keeps your questionnaire short.
- How to Store Credit Card Information (PCI Rules)16 min
What you may keep, what you may never keep, and why your processor's token beats your own vault.
- Is QuickBooks PCI Compliant?16 min
QuickBooks Payments' stated PCI position, and what bookkeepers must never do with card numbers.
- Is Shopify PCI Compliant?16 min
What Shopify states about its own PCI status, and what a Shopify store owner still answers for.
Guides5