Comparison · Updated October 17, 2026
Host Merchant Services vs Payment Depot
Host Merchant Services
B+
A Delaware ISO that publishes real interchange-plus margins — 0.25% and $0.10 retail, 0.20% and $0.09 restaurant, 0.35% and $0.10 e-commerce — on month-to-month terms with no termination fee, an A+ BBB record since 2011 and 4.6 on Trustpilot.
Payment Depot
C+
Payment Depot, now operating as "Payment Depot by Stax," is a California-based merchant services provider founded in 2013 that pioneered the subscription/interchange-plus pricing model for small businesses, but has experienced significant customer service and transparency issues since its 2021 acquisition by Stax.
VS
Overview
Host Merchant Services (HMS) and Payment Depot are both US merchant-account sellers. Both price on interchange plus: you pay the card networks' interchange cost, plus a markup. Both are registered ISOs of Wells Fargo Bank. That means they sell accounts under the bank's sponsorship rather than acting as the bank themselves. HMS was founded in 2010 by Lou Honick, who still runs it, and is based in Newark, Delaware. It publishes its markups by business type: interchange + 0.25% + 10¢ for retail, + 0.20% + 9¢ for restaurants and + 0.35% + 10¢ for e-commerce. It also publishes a $14.99 monthly fee, a $14.99 monthly gateway fee where one is needed, and a $0.75 batch fee. Payment Depot began in 2013. Stax, an Orlando payments company, bought it in 2021, according to Stax's own company timeline. It now trades as "Payment Depot by Stax" and lists an Orlando address. Its pricing page lists 0% markup on interchange, plus 8¢ per in-person transaction and 15¢ per keyed or online one. That is a lower markup than HMS on every in-person sale, and on online sales above about $14. But the same page says "subscriptions" unlock its software and names no subscription price. It also headlines "variable rates as low as 0.2% - 1.95%" and sends you to a sales consultant for a quote. Both offer month-to-month terms with no cancellation fee and next-business-day funding. HMS lists 24x7x365 merchant support and has an A+ BBB rating. Payment Depot has an F rating from the BBB and 2.3 on Trustpilot. Payment Review grades HMS B+ and Payment Depot C+.
Key Takeaways
- ✓HMS (B+) is the safer choice for most small businesses. You can work out nearly the whole bill from its public fee table, support runs 24x7x365, and its BBB rating is A+ with one complaint in three years.
- ✓Payment Depot's published markup is lower: interchange + 0% + 8¢ in person, against HMS's 0.25% + 10¢ for retail. But it publishes no monthly subscription price, so its full cost is only known once a consultant quotes you.
- ✓At $20,000 a month in $50 card-present sales, HMS's published fees come to about $124 above interchange. Payment Depot's published fees come to $32. Payment Depot is cheaper only if its unpublished monthly charges stay under about $92. That gap widens as volume grows.
- ✓Payment Depot is owned by Stax, which bought it in 2021. It holds an F rating from the BBB, which cites five unanswered complaints. Recent complaints describe fee increases and trouble cancelling.
- ✓Both offer month-to-month terms with no cancellation fee, no setup fee and next-business-day funding.
Host Merchant Services
Choose Host Merchant Services if you want to price your account before you call anyone, want support at any hour, and value a clean complaint record. Its fixed fees ($14.99 a month, plus $14.99 for a gateway, $0.75 per batch and $24 a year for 1099 reporting) cost more than Payment Depot's published fees at any volume. What you get for that is a fee table you can audit.
Payment Depot
Choose Payment Depot only if you process enough volume for its 0% markup to matter, and you get the subscription price, PCI fee and chargeback fee in writing before you sign. Watch your statements closely. Its BBB and Trustpilot records point to billing and cancellation problems since Stax bought it.
Overall Winner
🏆 Winner
Host Merchant Services
B+expert grade
Runner-up
Payment Depot
Why?
Host Merchant Services is the better choice for most merchants, as its B+ grade against Payment Depot's C+ suggests. You can price it before you call: a published markup, a $14.99 monthly fee, a $14.99 gateway where needed, $0.75 per batch, $24 a year for 1099 reporting, and a $0 closure fee on month-to-month terms. Support runs 24x7x365, and its BBB record is A+ with one complaint in three years. Payment Depot's published markup of 0% + 8¢ is lower, and at high volume that difference adds up: about $92 a month at $20,000 in $50 card-present sales, and about $709 at $250,000 in $100 sales. But Payment Depot publishes no subscription price, its pricing page treats 0% as a starting point for a quote, and its BBB F rating and 2.3 Trustpilot score both centre on fees and cancellations. Payment Depot's low markup is only worth having if you get the whole fee schedule in writing first.
Feature by feature
Detailed Comparison
Filter Options
Pricing (USD, published rates, as of October 2026)
| Feature | Host Merchant Services | Payment Depot |
|---|---|---|
| Card-present markup | Interchange + 0.25% + 10¢ (retail); + 0.20% + 9¢ (restaurant) | Interchange + 0% + 8¢ |
| Payment Depot's markup is lower on every transaction. No winner is marked, because the two are not measured on the same total. Payment Depot names no monthly subscription price, and its pricing page also headlines "variable rates as low as 0.2% - 1.95%" with a quote from a consultant, so 0% is the listed rate, not a guaranteed one. HMS also says its pricing is tailored to your volume and card mix, but its pricing page publishes the markup for each business type. | ||
| Keyed and online markup | Interchange + 0.35% + 10¢ (e-commerce) | Interchange + 0% + 15¢ |
| HMS publishes its rate for e-commerce accounts. Payment Depot's 15¢ covers both keyed and online payments. HMS publishes no separate rate for keyed sales on a retail account. On a $50 online sale, HMS's markup is 27.5¢ and Payment Depot's is 15¢, before any monthly fees. Below about $14 a sale, HMS's markup is the lower of the two. | ||
| Monthly account fee | $14.99 | Not disclosed |
| Payment Depot's pricing page says "Subscriptions unlock all these features at no extra cost" but prints no subscription price. The terms of use it links to (Stax's, last modified 20 December 2024) say subscription fees are billed monthly in advance until you cancel. Payment Review's own Payment Depot review lists $0, which the pricing page does not confirm. Several BBB complaints from 2024 and 2025 refer to a monthly or membership fee, including one describing a 50% increase. | ||
| Gateway fee | $14.99 a month, where a gateway is needed | Not disclosed |
| HMS offers Authorize.net, Transaction Central or its own HMSExpress gateway. Payment Depot lists API access, hosted payment pages and payment links among the features its subscription unlocks, and publishes no separate gateway fee. | ||
| Batch fee | $0.75 per batch | $0 ("no batch fees") Winner |
| Over 22 batch days, HMS's batch fee comes to $16.50 a month. HMS also charges $0.20 per PIN-debit batch. | ||
| PCI compliance fee | $0.75 (period not stated) | Not disclosed |
| HMS's pricing page promises "No PCI Compliance Fees" and then lists PCI compliance at $0.75 in the fee table on the same page. It does not say how often that is charged. Independent reviews report a $10 monthly PCI fee for Payment Depot, rising to $19.99 if you are non-compliant. Payment Depot's site does not confirm this, so ask both for the figure in writing. | ||
| ACH / eCheck | Not disclosed | 1% per transaction, capped at $10 |
| HMS offers ACH through Paya, Authorize.net eCheck and NMI, but publishes no ACH price. | ||
| Setup fee | $0 | $0 |
| HMS's pricing page says "No Setup Fees". Payment Depot's industry pages promise "no set-up or cancellation fees". | ||
| Chargeback fee | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Neither fee table lists a chargeback fee. Independent guides quote $15 to $25 for Payment Depot. Neither company confirms a figure. | ||
Card-present markup
Host Merchant Services
Interchange + 0.25% + 10¢ (retail); + 0.20% + 9¢ (restaurant)
Payment Depot
Interchange + 0% + 8¢
Payment Depot's markup is lower on every transaction. No winner is marked, because the two are not measured on the same total. Payment Depot names no monthly subscription price, and its pricing page also headlines "variable rates as low as 0.2% - 1.95%" with a quote from a consultant, so 0% is the listed rate, not a guaranteed one. HMS also says its pricing is tailored to your volume and card mix, but its pricing page publishes the markup for each business type.
Keyed and online markup
Host Merchant Services
Interchange + 0.35% + 10¢ (e-commerce)
Payment Depot
Interchange + 0% + 15¢
HMS publishes its rate for e-commerce accounts. Payment Depot's 15¢ covers both keyed and online payments. HMS publishes no separate rate for keyed sales on a retail account. On a $50 online sale, HMS's markup is 27.5¢ and Payment Depot's is 15¢, before any monthly fees. Below about $14 a sale, HMS's markup is the lower of the two.
Monthly account fee
Host Merchant Services
$14.99
Payment Depot
Not disclosed
Payment Depot's pricing page says "Subscriptions unlock all these features at no extra cost" but prints no subscription price. The terms of use it links to (Stax's, last modified 20 December 2024) say subscription fees are billed monthly in advance until you cancel. Payment Review's own Payment Depot review lists $0, which the pricing page does not confirm. Several BBB complaints from 2024 and 2025 refer to a monthly or membership fee, including one describing a 50% increase.
Gateway fee
Host Merchant Services
$14.99 a month, where a gateway is needed
Payment Depot
Not disclosed
HMS offers Authorize.net, Transaction Central or its own HMSExpress gateway. Payment Depot lists API access, hosted payment pages and payment links among the features its subscription unlocks, and publishes no separate gateway fee.
Batch fee
Host Merchant Services
$0.75 per batch
Payment Depot
$0 ("no batch fees")
Winner
Over 22 batch days, HMS's batch fee comes to $16.50 a month. HMS also charges $0.20 per PIN-debit batch.
PCI compliance fee
Host Merchant Services
$0.75 (period not stated)
Payment Depot
Not disclosed
HMS's pricing page promises "No PCI Compliance Fees" and then lists PCI compliance at $0.75 in the fee table on the same page. It does not say how often that is charged. Independent reviews report a $10 monthly PCI fee for Payment Depot, rising to $19.99 if you are non-compliant. Payment Depot's site does not confirm this, so ask both for the figure in writing.
ACH / eCheck
Host Merchant Services
Not disclosed
Payment Depot
1% per transaction, capped at $10
HMS offers ACH through Paya, Authorize.net eCheck and NMI, but publishes no ACH price.
Setup fee
Host Merchant Services
$0
Payment Depot
$0
HMS's pricing page says "No Setup Fees". Payment Depot's industry pages promise "no set-up or cancellation fees".
Chargeback fee
Host Merchant Services
Not disclosed
Payment Depot
Not disclosed
Neither fee table lists a chargeback fee. Independent guides quote $15 to $25 for Payment Depot. Neither company confirms a figure.
Best For Your Business
Recommendations based on your business type
Small retail shop or restaurant processing $5,000 to $30,000 a month
Recommended
Host Merchant Services
HMS publishes nearly every fee, so you can check your statement against its fee table. Its fixed charges come to about $34 a month before markup. Payment Depot's monthly charges are unpublished, so you cannot make the same check, and its complaint record is about exactly that kind of surprise.
High-volume card-present merchant ($100,000+ a month) willing to negotiate in writing
Recommended
Payment Depot
At $250,000 a month in $100 sales, HMS's retail markup and fixed fees come to about $909 above interchange. Payment Depot's published per-transaction fees come to $200. That gap is large enough to absorb most subscription prices. Take it only with the subscription, PCI and chargeback fees written into your agreement, and reconcile deposits in the first months.
Business that needs support outside office hours
Recommended
Host Merchant Services
HMS lists 24x7x365 merchant support by phone, chat and email. Payment Depot shows no support hours on its contact page, and its site data lists weekdays, 9am to 5pm.
Service business that wants customers to cover card fees
Recommended
Host Merchant Services
HMS publishes the terms of its cash discount program: $0 processing at $5,000 or more a month, $20 a month below that. It is not available on Fiserv or Wells Fargo platforms, so confirm which platform your account would use. Payment Depot offers surcharging but publishes no program price.
High-risk merchant
Neither. HMS advertises high-risk accounts but publishes no rates for them. Its funding page shows high-risk accounts funding in 2 to 3 business days rather than next day. Payment Depot's industry pages cover mainstream sectors only and mention no high-risk program. A specialist high-risk provider will price you more clearly.
Host Merchant Services: Best for 3 use cases
Payment Depot: Best for 1 use case
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this comparison
It is owned by Stax. Stax's company timeline lists Payment Depot among its 2021 acquisitions, Payment Depot's logo now reads "Payment Depot by Stax", and its site description says it is "backed by Stax Payments". The brand is still sold separately, with its own pricing page and phone lines, and is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank.
On published figures, Payment Depot: interchange + 0% + 8¢ in person against HMS's 0.25% + 10¢ for retail, with no batch fee against HMS's $0.75. But Payment Depot publishes no subscription price. At $20,000 a month in $50 card-present sales, HMS costs about $124 above interchange and Payment Depot $32 plus its subscription. Payment Depot is cheaper only if its unpublished monthly charges stay under about $92. The higher your volume, the bigger that allowance gets.
Neither publishes one. HMS lists a $0.00 closure fee on month-to-month agreements. Payment Depot's pricing page promises no cancellation fees. Some of Payment Depot's BBB complaints say cancelling was hard or that fees continued afterwards, so cancel in writing and keep the confirmation.
Both advertise next-business-day funding. HMS publishes its batch cut-off times by processing platform, from 4pm to 11pm Eastern, and says Sunday batches fund on Tuesday. Payment Depot publishes no cut-off time.
Its pricing page says both. It promises "No PCI Compliance Fees", and its fee table on the same page lists PCI compliance at $0.75 without saying how often. Ask which applies and get it in your agreement. Payment Depot publishes no PCI fee. Independent reviews report $10 a month.
HMS lists 24x7x365 merchant support by phone, live chat and email. Payment Depot gives a support phone line (877-877-7668) but no hours on its contact page. Its site metadata lists weekdays, 9am to 5pm, while its homepage says support is reachable "anytime".
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