BigCommerce Payment Processing

Quick answer: BigCommerce charges zero additional gateway fees for any of its 65+ pre-integrated payment gateways. For high-risk merchants, BigCommerce offers a managed platform (no self-hosting) with third-party gateway support — making it the best middle ground between Shopify's ease and WooCommerce's flexibility.

BigCommerce is often overlooked by high-risk merchants who default to Shopify or WooCommerce. But it offers a compelling combination: managed hosting (like Shopify), zero extra gateway fees (like WooCommerce), and 65+ pre-integrated payment gateways.

BigCommerce vs Shopify vs WooCommerce

Feature	BigCommerce	Shopify	WooCommerce
Extra gateway fees	0%	0.5-2.0%	0%
Pre-integrated gateways	65+	~100	Any (plugins)
Hosting	Managed	Managed	Self-managed
Monthly cost	$39-399/mo	$39-399/mo	Hosting only
High-risk support	Third-party gateways	Third-party only	Any gateway

Best Gateways for High-Risk BigCommerce Stores

BigCommerce pre-integrates with several gateways suitable for high-risk merchants:

Authorize.net — most widely supported, robust fraud tools
PayTrace — purpose-built for high-risk, interchange-plus pricing
NMI — flexible gateway with strong tokenization
CyberSource — enterprise-level fraud detection
BlueSnap — multi-currency specialization

Setting Up High-Risk Processing on BigCommerce

1. Get a high-risk merchant account from Unison 2. Choose a pre-integrated gateway (Authorize.net, PayTrace, or NMI) 3. In BigCommerce admin: Store Setup → Payments → select your gateway 4. Enter API credentials from your merchant account 5. Test with sandbox transactions 6. Enable chargeback prevention

BigCommerce Built-In Features for High-Risk

Multi-currency — display prices and process in 100+ currencies
No transaction fees — BigCommerce never takes a cut of your sales
API-first architecture — headless commerce for custom checkout flows
B2B support — purchase orders, quote management, company accounts
Advanced tax — automatic tax calculation (Avalara integration)

Contact Unison for BigCommerce payment processing setup.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does BigCommerce charge extra for third-party gateways?▼

No. BigCommerce does not charge additional transaction fees for any payment gateway. You only pay your payment processor's rate. This is a significant cost saving compared to Shopify, which charges 0.5-2.0% on top of third-party gateway fees.

Can high-risk merchants use BigCommerce?▼

Yes. BigCommerce supports third-party payment gateways from high-risk processors. Connect PayTrace, NMI, or Authorize.net through a high-risk merchant account from Unison. BigCommerce does not restrict product categories like Shopify Payments does.

Is BigCommerce better than Shopify for high-risk products?▼

BigCommerce is often better for high-risk merchants because it charges zero additional gateway fees (Shopify charges 0.5-2.0%) and has a managed platform (unlike WooCommerce). For a store processing $50K/month, this saves $250-1,000/month compared to Shopify.

Tagged:

BigCommercepayment gatewayecommercehigh-risk

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Natalie Cloez

Director of Merchant Services, Unison Payment Solutions

Natalie Cloez oversees merchant onboarding and compliance at Unison Payment Solutions, specializing in high-risk industries and chargeback prevention.