6 Best Credit Card Processing for Therapists in 2024

Every good therapist knows that client comfort goes beyond the therapy session. The same principle applies to collecting payments, too. By offering a simple invoicing process and multiple ways for clients to pay, you can set yourself apart from the competition.

Unfortunately, not every credit card processor offers the level of service you need. Some accept very few payment methods, while others don’t offer HIPAA-compliant software for managing your practice’s finances. Many companies also impose lengthy contracts and early termination fees, making it easy to end up stuck with a provider that isn’t meeting your expectations.

After researching dozens of credit card processors, I’ve found the most affordable and reliable options with great features for therapists. Most therapy practices will benefit from Leaders Merchant Services’s (LMS) custom pricing and appointment scheduling integration. You can even collect payments through subscriptions or alternative methods like payment links, which offer your patients even more ways to pay.

Continue reading to see what other HIPAA-compliant payment solutions I recommend.

What We Look For in the Best Credit Card Processing for Therapists

Though every therapy practice is unique, there are some common payment processing features that almost any in-person or virtual practice will benefit from. Here are the therapist-friendly features I made sure every processor on my list offers:

• HIPAA compliance. If you want to use any built-in software or software integrations, you’ll need to keep an eye out for HIPAA compliance. Every payment processor on this list is either HIPAA compliant itself or integrates with third-party software that is.
• Various payment methods. While credit cards are still a popular payment method, they’re not everyone’s preferred way to pay. Offering a variety of payment methods will make it easier for your clients to pay your invoices on time.
• E-commerce integrations. E-commerce integrations allow your clients to schedule and pay for therapy sessions online. This means you can spend more time supporting your clients and less time on administrative tasks.
• Invoicing. Invoicing software that allows partial payments or custom payment plans will make your services accessible to clients who can’t pay upfront or all at once. Every credit card processor on this list either integrates with third-party invoicing software or offers one or more virtual terminals with invoicing functionality built-in.

1. Leaders Merchant Services: Custom Rates to Suit Any Practice

Leaders Merchant Services (LMS) biggest benefit is that you can tailor its custom pricing structure to suit your business’s needs. You’re encouraged to negotiate an interchange-plus pricing structure that works for your practice. Best of all, you can expect relatively low monthly fees starting at $9.00 and per-transaction fees starting at ~2% + 0¢.

LMS itself isn’t HIPAA-certified but integrates with software that is. For an extra fee, you can use Clover’s HIPAA-compliant software to schedule appointments, manage client data, and more. Clover’s point-of-sale (POS) system can seamlessly integrate with any existing Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software. Depending on your plan, you may get one free Clover POS device, meaning you’d only have to pay for its HIPAA-compliant software.

Every LMS merchant also gets access to the iAccess business portal. This business management tool allows you to see financial analytics, explore industry trends, and respond to online reviews.

Features and Benefits

• Quick setup. It takes less than 5 minutes to apply for an LMS merchant account, and most accounts receive approval within 2 business days. Once approved, you can start accepting payments the next business day.
• 24/7 fraud and chargeback management team. Whether you operate within standard business hours or offer out-of-hours appointments and therapeutic support, LMS will still be available to help resolve any issues if something goes wrong. The processor has a dedicated fraud protection department that provides rapid problem resolution.
• Cash advances. These collateral-free loans are a flexible financing option that’s ideal if you’re a new therapy practice or need some extra capital to expand your business. You can simply repay the loan through a small commission on your future sales.
• Variety of payment methods. On top of the standard debit/credit card payments and ACH transfers, you can also accept bank transfers, digital wallets, and check payments if you purchase the mini check reader from LMS.

Read our expert Leaders Merchant Services review for more details.

2. Paysafe: Best for Therapists Offering Programs, Sessions & More Globally

Paysafe’s integration with HIPAA-compliant software Amilia enables comprehensive management for therapy practices. Its functionalities include client databases, scheduling, memberships, online registrations, facility bookings, and various types of supported payment methods. You can custom-brand the software and integrate it directly into your therapy practice’s website.

Paysafe and Amilia make the perfect match for established therapists who organize events, seminars, and retreats and sell memberships globally on top of seeing patients one-on-one. This software also allows you to manage your employees and access reports. It even includes social equity tools to offer targeted benefits and financial assistance to disadvantaged community members in need of therapy.

Paysafe’s lower-than-usual online fees starting at 0.99% + 25¢ (debit cards) and 1.99% + 25¢ (credit cards)  per transaction can significantly cut your processing bill if you process a high volume of transactions online, whether through registrations for your events or session bookings. Its interchange-plus plan is just as affordable with a fee of $7.95 and 0.30% + ¢10 per transaction.

Features and Benefits

• Accept payments globally. Paysafe supports global payment processing in over 120 markets and 250 payment methods, including local options. This feature is especially beneficial for therapists offering memberships, online sessions, and event tickets worldwide.
• Discounted payment gateway. The Authorize.net payment gateway is available at a significantly reduced cost through Paysafe. It also includes a virtual terminal, enabling you to process payments over the phone when patients make bookings, protecting your practice from no-show losses.
• Free mobile card reader. Paysafe offers a compatible mobile card reader for free. This tool is essential for therapists who wish to accept payments within the office without a bulky POS setup or remotely at events, enhancing the flexibility of payment options.
• Accept cash online. You can accept cash online with Paysafecash. It allows your patients to pay their therapy invoices in cash online by generating a barcode for the transaction that you take at some of the 200,000 partner locations to scan and get the cash.

Read our Paysafe review for more details.

3. Stax: Best for High-Volume Practices With Multiple Income Streams

Stax is an ideal solution if your practice extends beyond one-on-one sessions, like selling online courses, webinars, journals, and books. If your multiple income streams result in a high volume of transactions, Stax could save you up to 40% thanks to its membership pricing model. Its low transaction fees of 0% + 10¢ (in-person) can also save you money if you process large transactions.

Stax is a great solution if you need both payment processing and HIPAA-compliant software for your US-based practice. Your monthly fee includes nearly every tool you could need for your business. For example, you can create digital invoices and allow clients to pay in full or in installments. You can also set up payment plans and recurring invoices for repeat patients.

If you see clients in-person, you can also benefit from Stax’s fantastic selection of hardware. You can get a free terminal can use your smartphone or tablet as a terminal. This will allow you to set up invoices, charge cards on file (via the virtual terminal), and manually enter card information. If you connect the Authorize.Net payment gateway, you’ll also be able to accept PayPal.

Features and Benefits

• Built-in shopping carts. If you already have a website, clients can make bookings and pay for sessions or deposits with Stax’s one-click shopping cart.
• Analytics and reporting. Every Stax plan grants access to Stax Pay software and its reporting and analytics dashboard, allowing you to keep an eye on your practice’s financial health throughout the year.
• Industry-leading security. Stax has a comprehensive guide to help you achieve PCI compliance. You’ll also get a PCI compliance dashboard that guides you through your yearly security assessments and shows your current compliance status.
• Fraud protection. Stax’s virtual terminal uses the Address Verification Service (AVS) to detect potential fraud. It also places temporary holds on customer accounts that require additional verification, protecting you from fraudulent transactions and chargebacks.

Read our expert Stax review to learn more about this all-in-one platform.

4. Chase Payment Solutions: Dedicated Processing Solutions for Healthcare

Chase Payment Solutions’ InstaMed integration offers a suite of HIPAA-compliant features. InstaMed uses proprietary AI technology to tailor payment plans to your patient’s needs. It allows you to create easy-to-understand statements with personalized messaging to simplify the billing process and increase payment compliance.

You can leverage InstaMed’s Reporting and Insights dashboard to gain greater visibility over the performance of your therapy business. From here, you can access your transaction data, valuable consumer loyalty insights, client behavior, and progress reports. You can also use it to store communication preferences, benefits information, and payment activity for each client, improving the efficiency of your practice and patient satisfaction.

Compared to most of my recommendations, Chase Payment Solutions has pricier per-transaction fees. You can expect to pay 2.6% + 10¢ per in-person, 3.5% + 10¢ per keyed-in, and 2.9% + 25¢ per e-commerce transaction. But unlike other processors, it doesn’t charge any monthly fees for its software. That said, the HIPAA-compliant InstaMed integration costs extra. InstaMed provides custom pricing, meaning you’d have to reach out to get a quote.

For more, check out our in-depth Chase Payment Solutions review.

Features and Benefits

• Chase Mobile app. The Chase Mobile app offers features like real-time transaction tracking and the ability to send and receive payments swiftly. It allows you to manage your business finances on the go, giving you more time to focus on your primary role: patient care.
• Recurring billing. To avoid payment delays, you can set up an automatic collection service. Chase allows you to securely store your patient payment data and use it to bill them automatically. This encourages eStatements and online payments that reduce paper waste and your overall processing costs.
• Free same-day funding. With a Chase Business Banking account, you can get free same-day funding, a benefit that is usually not available or comes at an additional cost. This quick turnaround is especially beneficial for managing operational expenses and optimizing financial planning.
• Zero liability protection. Chase Payment Solutions’ zero liability protection ensures that in the event of unauthorized transactions such as fraud or theft related to your Chase Business Banking account, you’re not held responsible for the costs. Chase promises to reimburse any money lost in these situations.

5. POS Pros: Custom HIPPA Compliant Processing Solutions

POS Pros stands out with its personalized approach to POS equipment, making it best suited for therapists conducting in-person sessions. You’ll receive a free consultation from a POS specialist who will advise you on the right equipment for your needs.

The specialist will most likely suggest HIPAA-compliant Clover or Revel equipment and provide free system demos. You can get a free Clover Mini or Clover Flex terminal, but access to the HIPAA-compliant software costs extra. Clover and Revel enable you to accept bookings, securely store patient data, and collect feedback all in one place. This centralized management makes your service more personal, fostering patient trust and loyalty.

POS Pros’s interchange-plus pricing structure provides highly competitive rates. You can expect to pay $5.00/month and 0.30% + 10¢ (in-person) per transaction. However, I advise you to inquire about potential additional fees because of POS Pros’s lack of transparency in pricing. Emerging solo practitioners can save with its affordable cash discount plan, freeing up more resources for patient care.

Features and Benefits

• No long-term contracts or cancellation fees. This flexibility is crucial for new therapy practices, where the volume of clients can fluctuate. It ensures you can adapt your payment solutions as your practice grows without worrying about penalties.
• On-the-go business management. You can manage your therapy practice remotely with apps like Clover Go and Revel POS. This means you can access analytics, reports, and transaction history from anywhere, making it easier to keep track of your business.
• Accounting integration with QuickBooks. You can simplify financial management by automatically syncing transactions into QuickBooks to save time on data entry and improve accuracy in your financial reporting.
• Take online payments for less. Authorize.net allows your clients to pay for their sessions online or over the phone. POS Pros offers this service at a discounted price or for free if you process at least $250,000.

See our in-depth POS Pros review to learn more.

6. Flagship Merchant Services: Support for Your New or Growing Practice

Flagship Merchant Services is a good choice if you’re a new practice without a credit score or processing history. With one of the highest approval rates (98%) in the industry, you’ll almost certainly be able to start processing payments within a few days or even within a few hours in many cases. It has affordable monthly rates of $7.95 and low per-transaction fees of 1.58% + 19¢ (in person). It typically offers tiered pricing to new customers, but I’d suggest negotiating for interchange-plus rates for greater transparency.

Flagship is also a great choice if you’re looking to expand your therapy practice as it offers merchant cash advances of up to $150,000 to invest in your business. Like LMS, you can pay back these advances from a percentage of your future sales. The application process is simple, and you can receive your funds within one business day.

Flagship itself is not HIPAA-certified, but it is a certified Clover reseller, and Clover’s POS software is fully HIPAA-compliant. Using this software comes at an additional monthly fee, but it’s worth the extra cost to access the HIPAA-compliant features you’ll need for your practice, including storing card information safely, setting up recurring charges, and offering a secure checkout for online payments.

Features and Benefits

• Payment gateway at a discounted rate. Through Flagship,you can access Authorize.net and some of its advanced security features at a significantly lower fee than going through Authorize.net.
• Free terminal. You’ll be able to get a free Clover Mini POS system. Clover’s POS software is HIPAA-compliant and allows you to set up an online booking system, manage your staff, and create financial reports.
• Same-day funding. While payments normally take two days to reach your account, Flagship offers same-day funding for an additional fee.
• Telephone payments. Flagship allows you to take payments over the phone when patients schedule their sessions. This saves both you and the patient from the discomfort of discussing payment details after a difficult session. It also allows you to offer teletherapy.

Read our expert Flagship Merchant Services review to learn more.

These Are the Best Credit Card Processing for Therapists

While credit card processors don’t need to be HIPAA-compliant to handle your sales, your payment processing software does. This does limit what software you can use. Fortunately, all of the processors on this list have built-in or available integrations for HIPAA-compliant software.

New and small practices will find a lot of support from Leaders Merchant Services. LMS offers custom pricing and cheap rates. On top of that, you can receive a free high-quality Clover device and business financing. It’s ideal if you need only the essentials and want to save on credit card processing.

I recommend Paysafe to established therapists organizing events, seminars, retreats, offering memberships, and conducting online sessions worldwide. Paysafe integrates with the HIPAA-compliant Amilia software, enabling scheduling, membership management, online registrations, and facility bookings. You’ll benefit from a discounted payment gateway, lower-than-usual online transaction fees, and a free mobile card reader for in-person payments.

Stax suits therapists with multiple income streams, such as those selling online courses, webinars, journals, and books in high volumes. Its subscription-based fee structure and the industry’s lowest transaction fees can save you up to 40% if you process over $8,000/month. The monthly fee includes nearly every tool you’d need for your practice like digital invoicing tools and one-click shopping cart setup.

FAQ

Do payment providers have to be HIPAA compliant?

Payment providers do not have to be HIPAA compliant if all they do is process payments. That’s because under HIPAA regulations, credit card processing companies are simply providing a financial service. However, if these merchant services providers offer built-in software that handles (or has access to) PHI, they are considered healthcare business associates and need to be HIPAA-compliant.

How do you charge clients online?

To charge therapy clients online, you have two main options: you can use a payment gateway to accept payments through your website, or you can use invoicing software to create digital invoices that can be paid online. Either way, you need to make sure that any software that handles PHI is HIPAA compliant. For example, LMS integrates with Clover’s HIPAA-Compliant software to ensure secure payment processing.

Is Helcim HIPAA-compliant?

No. Helcim specifically states in its help center that healthcare businesses should not use Helcim to store PHI as its software is not HIPAA-compliant. If you need an interchange-plus payment processor with HIPAA-compliant software for your therapy practice, I recommend Leaders Merchant Services instead. You’ll get competitive per-transaction rates, great POS support, and (for an extra monthly fee) Clover’s HIPAA-compliant POS and e-commerce software.

Can therapists use Venmo for payment?

No. While Venmo is covered by the payment processing service exemption under HIPAA, it shares user information with PayPal. PayPal also sells user data to advertisers. Therapists need to be aware that most of these payment apps are not HIPAA-compliant. Paysafe offers compliant convenient payment options like digital invoicing, payment links, and even subscription plans, making it easy for clients to pay you without legal risk.