BigCommerce Payment Processing
Quick answer: BigCommerce charges zero additional fees for third-party payment gateways and supports high-risk gateways like PayTrace, NMI, and Authorize.net directly. This makes it a strong alternative to Shopify for high-risk merchants and comparable to WooCommerce without the self-hosting requirement.
BigCommerce sits between Shopify and WooCommerce: managed platform (like Shopify) with no extra gateway fees (like WooCommerce). For high-risk merchants who want ease of use without Shopify's additional transaction fees, BigCommerce is worth evaluating.
BigCommerce Gateway Options
| Gateway | Integration | High-Risk Support | Monthly Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| PayPal powered by Braintree | Built-in | No | $0 |
| Authorize.net | Direct integration | Yes | $25 |
| PayTrace | API integration | Yes | $0-25 |
| NMI | API integration | Yes | $0-25 |
| Stripe | Direct integration | Limited | $0 |
For high-risk industries, use Authorize.net, PayTrace, or NMI with a high-risk merchant account from Unison.
BigCommerce vs Shopify for High-Risk
| Feature | BigCommerce | Shopify |
|---|---|---|
| Extra gateway fees | None | 0.5-2% |
| Product restrictions | Minimal | Yes (per AUP) |
| Gateway integrations | 65+ | 100+ |
| Managed platform | Yes | Yes |
| Starting price | $29/mo | $29/mo |
The key advantage: zero additional gateway fees. A high-risk merchant processing $30K/month on Shopify Basic pays $600/month in extra fees (2%). On BigCommerce: $0.
Setting Up High-Risk Payments on BigCommerce
1. Get a high-risk merchant account from Unison 2. Choose your gateway (Authorize.net has the best native BigCommerce integration) 3. Go to Store Setup → Payments in your BigCommerce admin 4. Select your gateway provider and enter API credentials 5. Configure checkout and enable fraud prevention tools 6. Process a test transaction
Contact Unison for BigCommerce payment processing setup.