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How real-time payment routing works with Avendo

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Avendo routes each transaction from your existing checkout to whichever connected processor offers the best available rate at that moment.

How does payment routing to multiple processors work?

Payment routing works by connecting one checkout to several processors and choosing between them for every transaction. Avendo links your checkout to multiple PCI DSS-compliant processors, compares the rates available when each payment arrives, and sends 100% of transactions to the lowest available processor rate in real time.

What happens to a single transaction, step by step

  1. Your customer checks out on your existing page

    Nothing about the purchase flow changes. Avendo works with existing checkout pages.

  2. The transaction reaches Avendo

    Your checkout is connected to multiple payment processors through Avendo instead of just one.

  3. Available rates are compared

    Avendo evaluates the connected PCI DSS-compliant processors at the moment of the sale.

  4. The payment is routed to the best available rate

    The transaction goes to the processor offering the lowest available rate. This happens for 100% of transactions.

  5. The result shows up in clearer reports

    Merchants see pricing and processing in reports designed to be easier to read than raw processor statements.

Step 1

Your existing checkout

Step 2

Avendo compares rates

  • Processor A
  • Processor BBest available rate
  • Processor C
Illustration: every transaction from your checkout is compared across the connected processors and sent to the one offering the best available rate at that moment. Processor names are placeholders.

What is payment routing?

Payment routing is the practice of sending each card transaction to one of several connected processors based on a rule. Avendo's rule is cost: each transaction goes to the processor offering the best available rate in real time.

A single-processor setup has no routing at all. Every transaction takes the same path and pays the same published price, whatever the card type or order size.

Why does routing lower costs?

Prices differ by how a card is accepted. Square lists 2.6% plus 15 cents for in-person payments as of February 25, 2025, and 3.5% plus 15 cents for manually entered ones. The SamCart roundup lists an extra 1% for international cards.

When prices vary, a fixed choice overpays some of the time. Routing every transaction to the best available rate removes that overpayment.

Every transaction, 100% of them, goes to the lowest available processor rate at the moment it happens.

The routing rule

What stays the same for your customers?

Everything they see. Avendo works with existing checkout pages, so the design, fields and steps your customers know stay in place. For a seven-figure store with a tuned conversion rate, that matters: you can change how payments are priced without touching the part of the site that earns revenue.

The change happens behind the checkout, where a single processor connection becomes several, and every payment is routed to the best available rate.

Which processors can transactions be routed to?

Only PCI DSS-compliant ones. Avendo works exclusively with PCI DSS-compliant processors and gateways, the data security standard maintained by the PCI Security Standards Council for organizations that handle cardholder data. Security matters here: 41% of U.S. small businesses experienced a cyberattack in 2023, according to the Stripe small business guide. Read more on the PCI DSS and payment security page.

What do merchants see after routing?

Merchants receive clearer pricing and processing reports. When each processor sends its own statement, finding out what you actually paid takes hours of manual reconciliation. Compared with manual processor reconciliation, Avendo offers the potential for six figures of savings, because clear numbers make overpayment visible and routing removes it.

Back to the overview of credit card payment processing for small business.

Common questions

What does real-time payment routing mean?

Real-time payment routing means each transaction is assigned to a processor at the moment it happens, based on the rates available right then. Instead of fixing one processor for every sale, a routing platform like Avendo evaluates the connected processors for each transaction. Each payment goes where it costs the least among the available options.

How does Avendo choose a processor for each transaction?

Avendo chooses the processor offering the best available rate for each transaction, in real time. Your checkout connects to multiple payment processors through Avendo, and at the moment of each sale the platform routes the payment to the lowest available rate among them. 100% of transactions route this way, so no sale defaults to a more expensive option.

What percentage of transactions route to the lowest available rate?

100% of transactions processed through Avendo route to the lowest available processor rate in real time. Every transaction is evaluated against the connected processors at the moment it happens. That consistency is what turns small per-transaction differences into meaningful savings at seven-figure volume, where each 0.1 percentage point on $1,000,000 of sales is worth $1,000.

Does Avendo replace my checkout page?

No, Avendo works with existing checkout pages. Your customers keep the checkout experience you built, and Avendo connects that checkout to multiple payment processors behind the scenes. You can change how transactions are routed and priced without redesigning the purchase flow your customers already know and trust.

What is the difference between a payment gateway and a payment processor?

A payment gateway securely captures and transmits card data from your checkout, while a payment processor moves the transaction through the card networks and settles the funds. Many providers bundle both. Avendo works exclusively with PCI DSS-compliant processors and gateways, connecting your checkout to several of them so each transaction can go to the best available rate.

What reports does Avendo provide?

Avendo provides merchants with clearer pricing and processing reports, so you can see what card processing actually costs your store. Clear reporting matters because many merchants still reconcile processor statements by hand. Compared with manual processor reconciliation, Avendo offers the potential for six figures of savings.

Read all 47 answers in the credit card processing FAQ

Route every sale to the best available rate

Keep your checkout. Avendo connects it to multiple PCI DSS-compliant processors and does not bill merchants directly.