If you run a dental, veterinary, medical, salon, fitness, field service or similar practice, there is a good chance your card processing was set up by clicking “enable payments” inside your software. The processor behind that button, for a large number of vertical software products, is Global Payments Integrated, formerly OpenEdge. This page explains what it is, why the bill looks the way it does, and what you can do about it.
What it is
Global Payments Integrated is a subsidiary of Global Payments based in Lindon, Utah. It was formed in 2014 when Accelerated Payment Technologies and PayPros merged under Global Payments ownership, operated as OpenEdge, and was later renamed. Its business is integrated payments: card, debit and ACH processing embedded in third-party software, plus hosted payment pages and fields, the OpenEdge View reporting tool with a virtual terminal, and gateway integration for developers.
The pay24x7 domains are its hosted payment portals. A customer paying an invoice from your software’s email link may land on one. So may a staff member who follows a stale bookmark.
Why the bill looks the way it does
Integrated processing is sold to the software vendor first and the merchant second. The consequences:
- Pricing is per integration. The rate and fee schedule for merchants on a given software product is negotiated between the processor and the vendor, then applied to you. It is rarely interchange-plus and rarely reviewed.
- Fees accumulate. Gateway or integration fee, PCI fee, statement fee, annual fee, sometimes a “technology” fee, on top of the processing rate.
- Increases arrive on the footer. Merchant cost consultants have documented rounds of rate and fee increases on Global Payments Integrated accounts. Each is disclosed by notice; silence is acceptance.
- Nobody compared it. The account was opened as a software feature, so it has never been through a quote process.
Effective rates over 3% on these accounts are common. The method to check yours is on the statement guide.
Your options
1. Negotiate with Global Payments Integrated. Ask for interchange-plus and removal of the junk fees. Software-bundled accounts sometimes have less room, but it costs a phone call.
2. Change the processor behind the software. Many vertical software products support more than one payment partner. Check your vendor’s payment integrations page. If an independent gateway (NMI, accept.blue, Authorize.net, Fluidpay) or another processor is supported, the software stays and the processing moves. Some vendors charge a modest integration fee for non-default processors; compare it to the monthly saving.
3. Run the counter separately. Where the software is exclusive to Global Payments Integrated for its built-in payments, some practices keep it for the integrated online and portal payments and put a dual-pricing terminal at the front desk for walk-in card-present volume, which is often the larger share. The two reconcile separately, which is a trade-off, but the in-person processing cost goes to zero. How dual pricing works is on the dual pricing page.
4. Change software. Rarely worth it for processing alone. Worth knowing that most competing software products have the same bundled-processor structure.
What to check first
| Item | Where |
|---|---|
| Effective rate | Total fees divided by volume on last month’s statement |
| Pricing model | Tiered (qualified, mid, non-qualified), flat or interchange-plus |
| Fee list | Gateway, PCI, statement, annual, technology, minimum |
| Rate increase notices | Statement footer, last three months |
| Software’s supported processors | Vendor’s integrations or partners page |
| Contract | Term and termination fee, if any, separate from the software agreement |
Send us the statement and the software name and we do the first five in a day. If the software is exclusive and the pricing is fair, we tell you and you stay.