Disclosure: Our editorial staff write reviews independently. We may be compensated if you sign up for a service through our affiliate links.
- Highs: Includes merchant account with good account stability. Syncs perfectly with QuickBooks software. Clear processing limits. Bank account available.
- Lows: Requires accounting subscription. Confusing how pricing and products relate. Poor support reviews. Monthly PCI service cost.
- Choose if: You’re an existing QuickBooks user who wants a seamless integration with simple in-person card payments.
How does it work?
Previously called Intuit GoPayment, QuickBooks GoPayment is a mobile app for accepting credit cards through a connected card reader.
In contrast to Square, GoPayment includes a full-fledged merchant account for credit card processing. This gives you greater account stability, clear transaction limits and therefore a far lower risk of payment issues.
Accepted payments
The card reader is paid for upfront, and then there are just pay-as-you-go transaction fees on top of your monthly QuickBooks accounting subscription (which is required).
The service is intended as an extension to existing QuickBooks users who want a seamless accounting integration with face-to-face payments. While GoPayment used to be available as a standalone solution, this is no longer an option.
Transactions accepted through the app are automatically synced with QuickBooks software, more smoothly than if you integrated QuickBooks with a third-party solution like Square Payments.
The card reader accepts the major credit and debit cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover, and the mobile wallets Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.
Payouts take around 1-3 business days to transfer to your bank account, depending on your bank’s processing times. Alternatively, you can subscribe to QuickBooks Cash, an online business account with a debit card, where your payouts can go instead.
The nearest alternatives? See our 2021 comparison of card readers
GoPayment fees and pricing
QuickBooks GoPayment fees have changed several times over the last few years, and hidden fees have mostly been eliminated. But despite the commendable effort to be more transparent, the pricing is subject to change any time and can be confusing when you look closer.
That’s because there are different fees for using GoPayment with QuickBooks Online or with QuickBook Desktop accounting software.
With QuickBooks Online, there used to be a choice between pay-as-you-go card processing rates and a pay-monthly plan that lowered transaction rates. The monthly plan seems to be scrapped now so there is only pay-as-you-go pricing – unless you’re a QuickBooks Desktop subscriber where a monthly plan for lower card rates is still available.
If you want a QuickBooks Cash business account as well, a bundled price plan may be communicated during sign-up, but you’ll need a QuickBooks Online subscription for it.
| GoPayment with QuickBooks Online | Pay-as-you-go |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None |
| QuickBooks Card Reader | $49 |
| Swipe and tap transaction fee | 2.4% + 25¢ |
| Keyed transaction fee | 3.4% + 25¢ |
| Invoice transaction fee | 2.9% + 25¢ |
| ACH payments | 1% (max $10) |
| GoPayment with QuickBooks Online |
Pay-as-you-go |
|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None |
| QuickBooks Card Reader | $49 |
| Swipe and tap transaction fee | 2.4% + 25¢ |
| Keyed transaction fee | 3.4% + 25¢ |
| Invoice transaction fee | 2.9% + 25¢ |
| ACH payments | 1% (max $10) |
To use GoPayment, you need to create a QuickBooks Payments account where all QuickBooks payment methods are managed. To create such an account, new users are encouraged to subscribe to a QuickBooks Online plan (existing users can just sign in), which can be the following:
- Simple Start: $25/month
- Essentials: $50/month
- Plus: $80/month
- Advanced: $180/month
There’s usually a promotional offer on the Online plans for new users, for instance “save 50% for the first 3 months”.
All the GoPayment plans are commitment-free, so can be canceled any time without termination fees. There are also no setup fees or ongoing costs for the merchant account (QuickBooks Payments).
| All GoPayment solutions | Pricing |
|---|---|
| Setup fee | None |
| QuickBooks Payments (merchant account) | Free |
| Minimum monthly sales volume | None required |
| Termination fee | None – no lock-in |
| PCI Service (applicable to pay-as-you-go plan) | $9.95/month |
| Per chargeback | $25 |
| ACH bank reject charge | $25 |
| Returned check fee | $10 |
| Authorization fees | 30¢-$1 added to some card payments |
| Transactions paid with non-US card | 0.4%-0.8% cross-border charge depending on card type |
| All GoPayment solutions |
Pricing |
|---|---|
| Setup fee | None |
| QuickBooks Payments (merchant account) | Free |
| Minimum monthly sales volume | None required |
| Termination fee | None – no lock-in |
| PCI Service (applicable to pay-as-you-go plan) | $9.95/month |
| Per chargeback | $25 |
| ACH bank reject charge | $25 |
| Returned check fee | $10 |
| Authorization fees | 30¢-$1 added to some card payments |
| Transactions paid with non-US card | 0.4%-0.8% cross-border charge depending on card type |
PCI compliance – a normal requirement with a merchant account – does cost extra on a pay-as-you-go plan which asks you to opt into a monthly $9.95 PCI Service fee. This can be avoided for QuickBooks Desktop users on the monthly payment plan where PCI Service is included.
Furthermore, it used to be the case that GoPayment’s “swipe fee” (covering contactless and EMV cards – swipe is no longer an option) only applied to specific, qualified Mastercard and Visa cards, with extra fees added to other card payments. These additional fees are now gone, except for the authorization fees on certain non-qualified payments specified in the contract terms. Then you have cross-border charges added on top if your customer’s card was issued abroad.
As for QuickBooks Desktop users, the card rates differ slightly from the above fees:
| GoPayment with QuickBooks Desktop |
Pay as you go | Pay monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly fee | None | $20 |
| QuickBooks Card Reader | $49 | $49 |
| Chip and contactless payments | 2.4% + 30¢ | 1.6% + 30¢ |
| Keyed and invoiced card payments | 3.5% + 30¢ | 3.3% + 30¢ |
| ACH bank transfers | $3 each | $3 each |
| GoPayment with QuickBooks Desktop |
|
|---|---|
| Pay as you go | Pay monthly |
| Monthly fee | |
| None | $20 |
| QuickBooks Card Reader | |
| $49 | $49 |
| Chip and contactless payments | |
| 2.4% + 30¢ | 1.6% + 30¢ |
| Keyed and invoiced card payments | |
| 3.5% + 30¢ | 3.3% + 30¢ |
| ACH bank transfers | |
| $3 each | $3 each |
If you’d rather receive payouts into a dedicated business bank account, qualifying merchants can add a QuickBooks Cash checking account. It is free to create, has no monthly cost and includes a QuickBooks Debit Card so you can spend your incoming cash flow immediately. It’s possible to receive card reader payouts within 30 minutes free, but certain conditions apply for this.
A great thing about GoPayment is their card processing limits that are clearly shown in the online QuickBooks account. All you have to do is keep transactions below those limits to avoid frozen funds. Several competing card reader services are more secretive about these, causing more payment headaches.
If your business processes more than $7,500 a month, you can negotiate up to 40% lower rates with QuickBooks directly.
Have an Android phone? See the best 5 card readers for Android devices
Card reader specs
QuickBooks offers one credit card reader that works with the GoPayment app, aptly referred to as the ‘QuickBooks card reader’. There used to be two card reader models, but these have now been replaced with the current one below.
Here are the tech specs for the new QuickBooks card reader:
The card reader comes with a charging cable. According to QuickBooks’ website, a Power Stand (charging dock) for $39 is due to be launched in summer 2021, but we have yet to see this happen.
When not in use, the card reader is just plain black with small QuickBooks and contactless logos. This changes when a transaction is initiated and its black plastic surface shows the transaction amount and tipping options.
As for accessories, neither the card reader nor app connects with a receipt printer, cash drawer or any other POS equipment. For that, QuickBooks has its own POS solution unrelated to GoPayment.
QuickBooks GoPayment app
The GoPayment app is pretty basic. It’s suitable for simple payments, lacking sophisticated features needed in, say, a full-fledged retail POS system.
For example, the product library doesn’t have stock counts and the tax settings are no more than basic (ironic considering QuickBooks is a cloud accounting leader). Nor can you view past transactions or even a simple sales overview in the app.
Here are more or less all the features available in the GoPayment app:
A neat touch is the ability to add quite a few user accounts, which would be relevant with a team of staff. There’s also a virtual terminal for key-in payments, accessible if you log in to your ‘Merchant Service Center’ in an internet browser.
Sales reports can be accessed in your QuickBooks Online account, not in the GoPayment app.
More extensive features can be found in the QuickBooks Point of Sale package (POS) that works with various checkout hardware.
Photo: QuickBooks
You can key in card transactions in the QuickBooks GoPayment app if you forgot the card reader.
Customer service and user reviews
The support team for QuickBooks Payments is available free by phone on business days between 6am and 6pm. There is also an online resource section, community forum for discussions with other QuickBooks users, website chat and Facebook messaging.
Though you do get better account stability with GoPayment because of the dedicated merchant account, when there’s an issue with the app or anything else, you may not get good support from the customer service team. Many QuickBooks reviews express that the support feels non-existent, with long holds on the helpline.
When it comes to payment issues, there are few complaints apart from occasional slow payouts. Issues with the app are more frequent, e.g. bugs where the app does not update after changing some details in the web dashboard. We see the app is regularly updated, though, so QuickBooks is keen to fix bugs.
Some users get rejected after signing up, which is because of the stricter sign-up protocols required for a traditional merchant account. Not everyone gets accepted as a merchant.
Our verdict
QuickBooks GoPayment appears to offer a competitive solution in the mobile card reader market, but there are limitations.
The limited app features and lack of options to integrate with a receipt printer could be deal-breakers for some merchants. Moreover, having to opt for a QuickBooks Online or Desktop package means it is only intended for merchants using QuickBooks for bookkeeping.
If you’re using QuickBooks already, GoPayment offers the smoothest integration with in-person payments. Just beware that more complex point-of-sale features are not possible with GoPayment, so it is best used for simple transactions.
Another benefit is the dedicated merchant account and business bank account at no monthly cost, offering faster payouts, greater payment stability and clear card processing limits
Fees that QuickBooks doesn’t advertise clearly are a downside, such as authorization charges and cross-border fees that get added to some transactions. You also cannot avoid some kind of monthly cost, since a monthly PCI service charge is required when not on a monthly QuickBooks Desktop plan.
On the plus side, there’s no contractual lock-in so you’re never stuck with QuickBooks GoPayment.
