Online payments
NMI payment gateway with a merchant account, set up by Stratamize
What NMI is and is not, the merchant account behind it, and what we set up: virtual terminal, card on file, recurring billing, invoicing and checkout.
Online payments
Send invoices and payment links with NMI, no website required
Invoices and payment links with NMI, paid by email, text or QR code with no website: how an invoice flows, QuickBooks and Xero sync, and what we set up.
Not every business needs a web store. A contractor wants to be paid before the truck leaves. A consultant bills a retainer by email. A distributor invoices other businesses and wants some of them paid by bank transfer. The NMI gateway covers all of that without a website: electronic invoices sent from the gateway, a payment link or QR code you can send any way you like, and a sync that puts a pay button on the invoices you already raise in QuickBooks or Xero.
What makes it different from a flat-rate payment-link app is what sits behind it. Every link and invoice settles to your own merchant account, which Stratamize boards alongside the gateway in one application. Approvals usually come back within hours, three days at most. Invoicing, card on file, recurring billing and the virtual terminal share one login, so a customer who paid one invoice can be charged for the next without typing a card again. If you also take cards in person, the same merchant account can run a Clover device: invoice from the office, tap a card on site.
What we set up
- Board the merchant account and provision the NMI gateway from one application, with ACH requested where you want bank payments on invoices.
- Enable electronic invoicing, load your logo and business details into the template, and send you a test invoice.
- Create your first Collect Checkout link and QR code and show you where to make more.
- Turn on Bill Connect for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop or Xero if you invoice from your accounting system.
- Set the invoice options you asked for: partial payments, reminders, due dates and the save-card option for repeat customers.
- Add staff users with their own logins and permissions, so nobody shares the owner password.
- Stay on as the first call after the first real invoice goes out.
What merchants ask about invoicing and payment links with NMI
Can I send a payment link by text with no website?
Yes. A Collect Checkout link is an ordinary web address that opens an NMI-hosted payment page, so you can paste it into a text, an email, a chat or a social post, or print it as a QR code. The gateway itself sends invoices by email; for text, it is you or your office software sending the link. If the customer expects an itemized bill with a due date, send an invoice; if you want a fast fixed-amount payment, the link is the better tool. We create the first link and QR code with you on the setup call.
What is the difference between an invoice, a checkout link and a QR code?
An invoice is a document: line items, a due date, your logo, a record in the gateway, reminders and a pay button. Use it when the customer expects a bill. A checkout link is a hosted payment page with no document behind it, for a fixed amount or one the customer enters; use it when you want to be paid now. A QR code is the same checkout link drawn as a square the customer scans. All three land on a page hosted by NMI and settle to the same merchant account, so the choice is about what the customer needs to see.
Can customers pay an invoice by bank transfer?
Where your merchant account is boarded for ACH, yes: the invoice shows a bank-account option next to the card option. ACH is not a gateway switch; it is set up on the merchant-account side, and not every business is boarded for it, so tell us on the first call if you invoice other businesses and want bank payments. ACH settles more slowly than a card payment and can come back later as a return for insufficient funds. For large business-to-business invoices the lower cost is worth the wait; for small consumer invoices, card is simpler.
Can I take partial payments or a deposit on an invoice?
The gateway's invoicing can allow a partial payment on an invoice, so a customer pays a deposit now and the balance later against the same invoice, and the gateway tracks what is still owed. It is a per-invoice setting, and we show you where it is. Decide up front whether every invoice allows partials or only the ones you choose. For a fixed deposit, a separate checkout link for the deposit amount is sometimes simpler; tell us how your jobs are billed and we will say which fits.
Does it sync with QuickBooks Online?
Yes, through Bill Connect, NMI's invoice-payment service for QuickBooks Online, QuickBooks Desktop and Xero. Invoices raised in your accounting system get a pay link, the customer pays by card or ACH where boarded, and the payment posts back against the invoice. The part that trips people up: a merchant cannot turn Bill Connect on from inside the gateway. The reseller enables it, which is us, so ask for it in the application. There is also an older Desktop-only route, SyncPay, and plain export-and-import; we will tell you which fits your books. A fuller QuickBooks page is coming; until then, ask us.
Can I brand the invoice?
Yes. The invoice template carries your business name, logo and contact details, and the hosted payment page can take your logo and colors, so the customer sees your bill, not a generic form. The sending address and footer of the email come from the invoicing system rather than your mail server, so we show you exactly what the customer receives before the first real one goes out. What you cannot change is where the card is entered: that stays on the hosted page, which is what keeps the card number out of your inbox and your PCI scope small.
Is a payment link PCI-safe?
Safer than most alternatives. The link opens a page hosted by NMI; the customer types the card there, and the number is tokenized before anything comes back to you. You never see it, your email never carries it and your website, if you have one, is not involved, which puts you in the smallest PCI scope a merchant can have. The risks that remain are human: a forwarded link can still be paid by the wrong person, and a customer who emails you a card number has put it in your inbox, so point them to the link instead.
What does invoicing with NMI cost?
We quote it with the gateway rather than publishing a rate card, because NMI sells only through resellers and has no list price of its own, and because the bigger number is your processing, which depends on the cards your customers use and is set at boarding. Flat-rate payment-link apps publish a single rate, for example 3.3% plus 30 cents per transaction, as published by Square at the time of writing. A merchant account is priced on your actual card mix instead, which is often the lower-cost route. Ask us for a quote and you will see the gateway fee, the invoicing fee and the processing together.
Does Authorize.net do invoicing and payment links too?
Yes. Authorize.net has its own digital invoicing: you create an invoice in the merchant interface, the customer gets an email with a pay link and pays by card or eCheck, and it is included with the gateway. If you are already on Authorize.net, use that rather than adding a second gateway for invoices. The two differ on accounting sync: Bill Connect covers QuickBooks Online, Desktop and Xero on NMI, while Authorize.net's own sync is for QuickBooks Online, with middleware for the rest. Our Authorize.net page covers its setup and published fees.
Transparent pricing
We quote the gateway fee and processing together so there is no second surprise; ask us for a quote.
Ready to take payments online?
Tell us how you sell and we will recommend the gateway and the setup, in writing. Our team is based in Newnan, Georgia, and we work with businesses nationwide.
- Apply online with your need already selected.
- Confirm your email, then complete the secure application.
- After approval, we provision your gateway and set it up with you.