accept.blue describes itself as a next-generation payment gateway. In practice it is the gateway we hand to merchants who have outgrown Authorize.net or a bank-issued gateway and want modern tools without changing their software. This page is a description, not a review: what it does, how it is sold, what it costs relative to alternatives, and where it is not the right fit.
What accept.blue does
From accept.blue’s own published feature list as of September 2026:
- Payment types. All major credit cards, signature debit, eChecks and ACH.
- Enhanced Level 2 and 3 data. Passes the line-item detail that qualifies commercial cards for lower interchange. Matters for B2B, government and corporate-card-heavy merchants.
- 3D Secure. Cardholder authentication for online sales, which shifts fraud liability and can reduce chargebacks.
- Amex smart routing. Routes American Express through the lower-cost path available to the merchant.
- Tokenized customer vault. Cards and bank accounts stored as tokens for repeat and recurring billing. Imports from other gateways’ exports.
- Recurring and scheduled payments. Subscriptions, installments, scheduled one-offs.
- Invoicing suite. Send invoices with a pay link, track status, accept card or ACH.
- Fraud protection and scoring. Rules and scoring on card-not-present transactions.
- Hosted payment pages and virtual terminal. For MOTO and for merchants without a cart.
- GSA card split. Handles government purchase cards that require split data.
- White label and API. For software companies embedding payments.
- PCI Level 1 compliant.
That is a fuller list than Authorize.net’s gateway-only plan offers, particularly the Level 3, 3D Secure and invoicing pieces.
How it is sold
accept.blue does not sell to merchants directly. It sells through ISOs and agents, who board the merchant account, set pricing, and provide support. The company’s own marketing is aimed at ISOs. For a merchant that means two things:
- Your pricing is your provider’s pricing, not a published rate card. Get it on one page.
- Your support is your provider. Pick one that answers the phone.
We are one of those providers. Our terms for accept.blue accounts: month to month, gateway and processing on one bill, interchange-plus on card-not-present, dual pricing available for any in-person channel, and a person to call.
Pricing approach
Because the gateway is priced per merchant, the only useful comparison is all-in. A written quote should show:
| Line | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Gateway monthly fee | Comparable to or below Authorize.net’s $25 |
| Gateway per-transaction fee | Comparable to Authorize.net’s 10¢; ask about batch fees |
| Processing pricing model | Interchange-plus with the markup stated in basis points and cents |
| Monthly processing fees | PCI, statement, annual: should be few and small, or none |
| ACH pricing | Percentage and cap, or flat per item |
| Contract | Month to month, no early termination fee |
Then compute the effective rate on your real volume and compare it to your current combined gateway and processing bill. Our Authorize.net fees page walks through that math.
Who it fits
- Ecommerce stores on WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento and similar that want a lower all-in cost than a bundled 2.9% + 30¢ processor.
- B2B and wholesale businesses that take commercial cards and benefit from Level 3.
- Service businesses that invoice and want a pay link and ACH on the same platform.
- MOTO merchants who need a virtual terminal and vault.
- Businesses migrating from Authorize.net with stored customer profiles.
Who it does not fit
- A brand-new online business with no volume yet. Stripe or Square is faster to start and costs nothing monthly.
- A platform with no accept.blue integration and no budget to add one. NMI or staying on Authorize.net with re-priced processing is the better answer.
- Merchants who want to buy a gateway direct with a published price and no sales relationship.
Migration from Authorize.net
Stored profiles exported from Authorize.net import into the accept.blue vault, and your platform is remapped to the new tokens. The step-by-step, including Authorize.net’s export process and timeline, is in switching from Authorize.net.