Payment Depot vs LawPay: A Detailed Comparison of Features, Pricing, and Merchant Ratings

In the diversified American legal industry, law firms and legal professionals provide wide-ranging legal services. Market research firm Statista found that the aggregate US legal services market comprises nearly half of global legal services.

Whether you have a small firm or large law practice, every law firm needs a payment solution for legal payments. Clients pay with credit card payments, debit card payments, and eCheck payments. To handle a client’s credit card payment, each practitioner needs a payment services provider.

In this article, we’ll compare the features, benefits, pricing, and ratings of two such popular providers—Payment Depot and LawPay.

Functions of a Payment Services Provider

A full-service payment services provider completes multiple payment processing tasks. These may include eCheck bank account payments, online payments, and scheduled payments. Monthly retainer clients may appreciate the latter payment method’s convenience.

Practice management personnel should compare Payment Depot’s and LawPay’s features, pricing, and ratings.

About Payment Depot

Payment Depot is a well-regarded credit card processing and merchant services provider. Owned by Stax, it handles merchants’ in-store and online payment transactions.

Established in 2013, Payment Depot offers budget-friendly, membership-based pricing plans. Its transparency and customer support are appreciated by merchants who want to work with a reliable payment partner. 

About LawPay

LawPay is a legal industry-focused merchant services provider handling major credit card and debit transactions. An Affinipay subsidiary, the company processes eChecks, scheduled payments, and QR code payments.

LawPay also processes ClientCredit “BNPL” (or Buy Now, Pay Later) payments. Data analytics and reporting, plus continuing legal education (or CLE) seminars, are among its offerings.

LawPay offers complete trust account compliance to its integration partners. A tech-savvy practice manager can likely integrate practice management software with LawPay.

The American Bar Association (or ABA) has named LawPay as its exclusive payment processor. The ABA Advantage Program offers LawPay to ABA members.

Today, over 60 local and specialty bars, along with 50 state bars, endorse LawPay as a preferred payment solution. To enhance its services, Affinipay acquired law practice management provider MyCase in 2022.

Payment Depot vs LawPay: Features

Payment Depot and LawPay are different types of payment processing solutions. Payment Depot is a full-featured merchant services provider while LawPay offers a law practice management solution.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot’s business customers enjoy these features:

• Payment gateway and terminal equipment
• Universal online virtual terminal
• Numerous hardware brands for purchase
• Integrations with payment gateways, POS systems, and shopping carts
• Quick funding (24 to 48 hours)
• Chargeback, data breach, and risk monitoring protection
• 24/7 customer support via phone, email, and chat
• No long-term contracts or hidden fees
• No PCI compliance fee

Payment Depot also protects merchants against credit card fraud. The company’s robust analytics software enables merchants to view sales trends and customers’ purchase histories.

LawPay  

LawPay’s legal clients enjoy these features:

• Three credit card acceptance methods
• Custom online payment pages
• Scheduled payments that enable predictable income
• IOLTA account protection*
• Integration with 30+ legal software programs
• ClientCredit designed to automate client payments  
• Robust data security features

*Most law offices have an operating account and an IOLTA account (or a trust account). The trust account typically contains retainer clients’ funds. As an attorney incurs expenses, they transfer money to the practice’s operating fund.

Payment Depot vs LawPay: Integrations

Payment Depot and LawPay each offer distinct integration capabilities. Payment Depot syncs with diverse applications while LawPay focuses solely on legal industry integrations.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot offers multiple payment gateways and POS software. The platform integrates well with third-party offerings.

Payment Depot offers software for diverse industries. Examples include hair salons, healthcare facilities, restaurants and bars, retail businesses, and pet groomers.

LawPay

LawPay’s software integrations are limited to the legal industry. Besides AbacusLaw, the company’s software is compatible with Clio and CosmoLex. The LawPay platform also works with PracticePanther and ZolaSuite software.

Payment Depot vs LawPay: Pricing

Many businesses consider pricing to be an important factor when choosing a payment services provider. Payment Depot and LawPay take considerably different pricing approaches.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot uses a membership-based pricing model. Businesses pay a membership fee plus a low per-transaction charge. They receive wholesale processing rates with no markup.

Pricing plans vary with the business’ annual processing volume. Membership fees currently range from $59 to $99 per month. Payment Depot has no hidden fees, cancellation fees, or long-term contracts.

LawPay

LawPay assesses a $20 per month service fee plus per-transaction fees. Standard cards, specialty cards, and American Express cards are charged progressively higher transaction fees.

In addition to the $20 monthly billing, merchants using transacting on Visa, Mastercard, and Discover pay 2.95% processing + $0.20 per transaction. Meanwhile, American Express cards incur 3.75% processing + $0.20 per transaction.

This means a law firm would pay $315 in processing fees (+ $20 monthly fee) when they process $10,000 worth of transactions using Visa, Mastercard, and Discover.

The company does not discuss add-on services and early termination fees for its standard plan. LawPay does not require a service contract.

Payment Depot vs LawPay: Pros and Cons

Selecting the best payment services provider may be difficult. The following list of pros and cons may enable an objective decision.

Payment Depot

Pros

• Platform syncs with popular hardware
• Standard virtual terminals
• Supports many integrations
• Money-saving membership pricing
• Pricing transparency
• No hidden or cancellation fees
• Excellent customer support

Cons

• Not available to high-risk merchants
• Not available to non-US merchants

LawPay

Pros

• Easy eCheck acceptance
• Mobile app payment acceptance 
• QR code mobile payment acceptance
• Recurring and scheduled payments
• Targeted integrations
• Payment link for business communications

Cons

• Not ideal for large law firms
• No basic bookkeeping or accounting software
• No free trial available

Payment Depot vs LawPay: Customer Support

Good customer support can turn a mediocre service experience into an outstanding one. Payment Depot and LawPay each provide varied support services.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot offers exceptional customer support. The company’s support services are available Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Eastern time), along with 24/7 tech support via phone, live chat, and email services. Finally, Payment Depot offers a virtual knowledge base.  

LawPay

LawPay provides live phone support along with live chat support. Email support and a user knowledge base are also available. The company also provides a website-based customer support form. These multiple contact methods enable law firms to resolve service issues that may arise.

Payment Depot vs LawPay: Customer Ratings and Reviews

In today’s highly competitive marketplace, customer ratings and reviews can provide a snapshot of actual user experiences. This information can help potential customers make a purchase decision.

Payment Depot

Payment Depot has numerous positive customer reviews. On Trustpilot, the company has 1249 reviews, with 88 percent of customers offering a five-star review. Overall, Payment Depot has a 4/5 score.

Most Trustpilot reviews pertain to Payment Depot’s customer service and merchant savings. Reviewers also noted that it was easy to transfer from a different provider to Payment Depot.

On Capterra, Payment Depot has 57 reviews, averaging 4.7 of 5 stars. The platform’s pricing structure and customer support have received positive reviews.

LawPay

To date, LawPay does not have any negative reviews about steeper-than-expected fees or undesirable contract terms. This indicates that most LawPay users are amenable to the company’s rates and fees.

LawPay mostly markets its services via an in-house sales team and agreements with associations and software companies. There are no known reviews stating that LawPay uses misleading sales practices.

Best Solutions for Specific Business Types

Different business types have specific needs. One payment services provider may be a better overall choice.  

When Payment Depot is a better choice:

• Businesses with high processing volumes
• Merchants who desire a no-contract option
• Merchants who want non-dedicated, reprogrammable hardware

When LawPay is a better choice:

• Law firms that process eChecks and card payments
• Law firms that desire online payment and QR code payment capabilities
• Law firms that seek other software integrations

Factors Merchants Should Consider in Their Decision

When selecting a payment services provider, businesses (including law firms) should consider multiple factors. They should make the decision that best supports their company’s growth.

• Range of customer payment options
• Overall ease of functionality
• Internal software and external third-party app integrations
• Affordable pricing structure
• Robust data security features
• Customer support resources and availability

Final Verdict

Finding the right payment processing solution can drive a business’s success. For many companies, Payment Depot’s full-featured services offer one-stop payment processing, analytics, and software integrations. In addition, the company’s customer support is unmatched in the industry.

Payment Depot’s detailed “Beginner’s Guide” answers many common FAQs. To learn more about how you can save hundreds of dollars in credit card processing every month, contact the Payment Depot team today.