A complete breakdown of every major payment processor relevant to ExpertSigned — rates, features, risks, and a phased recommendation for launch through scale.
Use Stripe from day one with no hesitation. Sign the HIPAA BAA immediately for the medical vertical. Enable Stripe Radar and set fraud rules for your average transaction size. At $30K+ MRR, call Stripe directly to negotiate custom pricing — they'll typically offer 2.2–2.5% + flat per-transaction fee. Stripe Connect also solves your reviewer payout problem: you can pay reviewers directly from the Stripe dashboard without setting up a separate payroll system.
Add PayPal as a secondary checkout option at the payment step (alongside Stripe), but route all actual transaction processing through Stripe. For medical forms, show only Stripe/card options — never PayPal, as PayPal does not offer a HIPAA BAA. For immigration and financial planning, PayPal is especially valuable — these client segments are more likely to have PayPal accounts and less likely to have credit cards on hand.
Skip Square. The identical online rate and lack of a HIPAA BAA make it an inferior choice to Stripe. The only reason to reconsider is if you open a physical office or want to run in-person intake sessions at medical offices or immigration clinics — Square's POS hardware and in-person workflow is genuinely better than Stripe's.
Don't set this up at launch. Revisit when you land your first enterprise B2B client (hospital group, large brokerage, immigration law firm outsourcing to you). At that point, route all B2B contracts above $500/transaction through Braintree ACH. The savings compound quickly: 20 enterprise clients at $1,000/mo each = $20,000 in ACH payments = $9.80 in processor fees vs. $580 via Stripe card rate.
| Processor | Card Rate | ACH Rate | HIPAA BAA | Monthly Fee | Reviewer Payouts | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stripe | 2.9% + 30¢ | 0.8% (max $5) | ✓ Available | $0 | ✓ Stripe Connect | ★ Use from day 1 |
| PayPal | 3.49% + 49¢ | N/A | ✗ No BAA | $0 | Payouts via PayPal only | Add as checkout option |
| Square | 2.9% + 30¢ | N/A (online) | ✗ No BAA | $0–$29 | No payout system | Skip — no HIPAA BAA |
| Braintree | 2.59% + 49¢ | $0.49 flat | ✓ Available | $0 | Manual via API | Phase 3 B2B ACH only |
| Authorize.net | 2.9% + 30¢ | Unknown | ✓ Via resellers | $25/mo | No payout system | Skip entirely |
Unlike physical goods, digital document delivery is hard to dispute-proof. Clients who don't get what they expected may go straight to their bank rather than contact you. The good news: clear terms + delivery confirmation + email audit trail wins most disputes.
Target: keep chargeback rate below 0.5%. Above 1% triggers Stripe's monitoring program. Above 2% risks account termination.
Go to stripe.com/hipaa, sign the BAA before your first medical transaction. Enable Stripe Radar. Set a maximum transaction limit of $1,000 to flag anything unusual. Enable 3D Secure for all transactions.
stripe.com/hipaa stripe.com/radarAdd the PayPal button to immigration and financial planning checkout flows. Hide it on the medical form. This is a one-hour integration using PayPal's JavaScript SDK. Route actual processing through Stripe — PayPal just surfaces as an option.
developer.paypal.com/sdk/jsCreate a Stripe Connect Express account. Add the onboarding flow to the reviewer portal — reviewers complete KYC in 5 minutes. Pay out weekly or per document. This eliminates manual Venmo payments entirely and keeps a clean audit trail.
stripe.com/connectCall Stripe's sales line and say you're processing $30K+/month and growing fast. They'll offer 2.2–2.5% + flat per-transaction fee. Get this in writing. Expect to save $200–400/month at $50K MRR vs. standard rates.
When your first enterprise B2B client (hospital group, large law firm, brokerage) comes on board with a monthly contract, route that billing through Braintree ACH. At $2,000/month per B2B client, you save $57 per client per month in processor fees vs. credit cards.
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