CDG Commerce

Who CDG Commerce is for

CDG Commerce has been processing payments since 1998, still run by its original founders. No private equity buyout, no corporate acquisition, no rebranding. In an industry where processors get acquired every few years (and service quality drops shortly after), CDG’s independence is itself a feature.

CDG works best for ecommerce businesses and nonprofits processing $10,000-$200,000 per month. The interchange-plus plans include a free payment gateway (Quantum Gateway), which saves $15-$25 per month compared to processors that charge separately for gateway access. PCI compliance is included at no charge, with no non-compliance penalty. For online merchants, those two savings alone offset the slightly higher interchange-plus markups.

CDG also offers dedicated nonprofit rates at interchange + 0.25% + $0.10, which puts it alongside Dharma as one of the few processors with explicit nonprofit pricing. If you run a 501(c)(3) accepting donations or selling goods online, CDG is worth evaluating.

The pricing

CDG offers three pricing tiers based on monthly volume:

Flat Rate (under $10K/month):

Transaction type	Rate
Card present (swiped/tapped)	2.90% + $0.30
Card not present (online/keyed)	3.50% + $0.30
Monthly fee	$9.95

The flat-rate tier is not competitive. Square charges 2.6% + $0.15 in-person with no monthly fee. Stripe charges 2.9% + $0.30 online with no monthly fee. If you process under $10,000/month, CDG’s flat-rate plan is not the right choice.

Interchange-Plus ($10K-$200K/month):

Transaction type	Markup
Retail (card present)	IC + 0.30% + $0.10
Online (card not present)	IC + 0.35% + $0.15
Nonprofit	IC + 0.25% + $0.10
Monthly support fee	$10
Gateway fee	$0 (Quantum Gateway included)
PCI compliance	$0

This is where CDG’s value proposition comes together. The markups are not the lowest (Dharma charges 0.15% + $0.08 retail, HMS charges 0.25% + $0.10), but the total cost of ownership is competitive because you are not paying $5-$25 per month in gateway and PCI fees on top of the markup.

Wholesale Membership ($200K+/month): $49-$199 per month (billed annually) plus $0.06-$0.15 per transaction above interchange. Four sub-tiers scale with volume. At this level, the per-transaction cost approaches wholesale interchange, which is as low as processing gets.

The free gateway advantage

Most interchange-plus processors charge separately for a payment gateway. Authorize.Net costs $25/month plus $0.10 per transaction through most providers. Even processors that include a gateway often charge $5-$15/month for access.

CDG includes its Quantum Gateway at no additional cost on interchange-plus and wholesale plans. For an ecommerce business processing 500 transactions per month, that saves $25-$75/month ($300-$900/year) compared to paying for Authorize.Net separately.

The Quantum Gateway handles virtual terminal, recurring billing, electronic invoicing, and integrations with major shopping carts. It also supports Level 2 and Level 3 data processing, which can reduce interchange costs for B2B and government transactions by providing enhanced transaction data to the card networks.

One limitation: Quantum Gateway does not include an automatic card updater. If you run a subscription business, expired or replaced cards will fail without manual intervention. Stripe and Braintree handle this automatically. For subscription-heavy businesses, this is a meaningful gap.

How CDG compares

For an ecommerce business processing $15,000/month online ($50 average ticket, 300 transactions):

Processor	Model	Estimated monthly cost	Monthly/gateway fees	Annual cost
CDG Commerce (0.35% + $0.15)	IC+	~$352	$10 (no gateway fee)	~$4,224
Dharma (0.20% + $0.11)	IC+	~$348	$25	~$4,176
HMS (0.35% + $0.10)	IC+	~$367	$19.94 + gateway	~$4,404
Helcim (0.50% + $0.25)	IC+	~$395	$0	~$4,740
Stripe (2.9% + $0.30)	Flat	~$525	$0	~$6,300

CDG and Dharma are nearly identical in total cost for online processing at this volume. CDG wins if you factor in the free gateway (Dharma charges $25/month for its Dharma Gateway or you pay separately for Authorize.Net). Dharma wins on raw markup rates.

Both CDG and Dharma significantly undercut Stripe. At $15,000/month online, you save roughly $2,000/year by switching from Stripe to either interchange-plus processor.

Bottom line

CDG Commerce is a processor for merchants who have been burned before. No contracts. No early termination fees. No PCI fees. No gateway fees. No bait-and-switch. The founders have been running the company for over 25 years, which means no post-acquisition service collapse and no corporate parent quietly raising your rates.

The markups are not the absolute lowest. Dharma and Host Merchant Services both offer lower percentage markups on interchange-plus. But CDG’s total cost of ownership, after accounting for the free gateway and zero PCI fees, is competitive with both. For ecommerce businesses especially, the free Quantum Gateway closes the gap.

If you are processing $10,000-$200,000 per month and want a processor you can trust to leave your rates alone, CDG belongs on your shortlist alongside Helcim, Dharma, and Host Merchant Services. A statement audit comparing your current effective rate against CDG’s published markups will tell you within minutes whether switching saves money.