top 10 credit card processing companies
I was looking for something and came upon this site that has the top ten reviews for credit card processing and a lot of other subjects. The site makes it’s money from advertising, including linking to the companies it reviews.
http://credit-card-processing-review.toptenreviews.com/
They don’t claim to be impartial. The information is probably accurate with respect to costs. But the underlying thought when I first got there is these are reviews for the top ten processors. Indeed, this is the google listing: Credit Card Processing Review 2008
Credit Card Processing – Top Credit Card Processing Reviewed, 2008.
When you read it quick, the mind can play tricks.
So what do I think of this page? I love the layout. A quick comment that applies to all reviews. They include statements such as “…discount rate is 2.33% discount rate”. Anyone who reads my blog knows that merchants do not pay one flat rate. Of course, it’s impossible to know what an individual companies actual effective rate might be, but this could be solved by having merchants write in. Hmm, maybe I should post a survey on this! Great future idea.
But here’s a different type of ranking which may be what you are looking for. The Ten Largest U.S. Merchant Acquirers in 2004, Excluding Partnerships and Alliances
The Ten Largest U.S. Merchant Acquirers in 2004, Excluding Partnerships and Alliances, RANKING by TRANSACTION VOLUME
1. First Data
2. BA Merchant Services
3. Chase Merchant Services
4. Paymentech
5. Fifth Third Bank
6. Global Payments
7. Nova Information Systems
8. Wells Fargo
9. Alliance Data Systems
10. Heartland Payment Systems
The Ten Largest U.S. Merchant Acquirers in 2004, Excluding Partnerships and Alliances, RANKING by DOLLAR VOLUME
1. Chase Merchant Services
2. BA Merchant Services
3. First Data
4. Paymentech
5. Nova Information Systems
6. Fifth Third Bank
7. Global Payments
8. Wells Fargo
9. First National Merchant Solutions
10. Heartland Payment Systems
Merchant acquirers holding at least 1 percent of U.S. market share in 2004
The Ten Largest U.S. Merchant Acquirers in 2004, INCLUDING Partnerships and Alliances, RANKING by DOLLAR VOLUME
1. First Data (including Chase Merchant Services, Paymentech, Wells Fargo, SunTrust, and PNC)
2. BA Merchant Services
3. Nova Information Systems (including KeyCorp)
4. Fifth Third Bank
5. Global Payments
6. First National Merchant Solutions
7. Heartland Payment Systems
8. TransFirst
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta
I have intimate knowledge of each of their typical plans, including pros and cons and will write about them at a later date.
Tags: credit card processing, largest merchant processors, merchant account, top 10, top ten
August 13th, 2010 at 10:57 am
I am using Merchant Services for my credit card processing. They are horrible! They overcharged me on debit swipes for the first year and refuse to reimburse me. I am a small business and am looking for a processing co. that will be honest and fair. Wo do you recommend? Thanks for the info. Paul Cason dba A-1 Hobby.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:34 am
How small is your small business? I’ve written about the options for very small businesses, such as under $50,000 a year. In those cases, try your local wholesale club.
Personally, I can set you up on First Data or Paymentech platforms through an ISO, that’s independent Service Organization. Call the hotline at the top of the page and lets talk.^ Christine
October 27th, 2010 at 9:17 am
I have been using First Data as my credit card processor at my business. The experience has been poor at best. Inability to receive competent support, phone numbers not made available, sales reps who don’t return calls are the norm. This company has no sense of what the term “customer service” means. They are completely out of touch with the needs of merchants and they don’t care. I have spent over 6 hours trying to get help and I am placed on perpetual hold. Rude attitude and ignorance towards their service are the main requirements for a job at First Data. In these times of a down economy, I would have thought a company like this would embrace new business not drive it away. I guess was wrong.
October 27th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
HI Ken
I’m sorry you’ve had such a bad experience with them. Here’s where I differentiate my services. I can provide you the support level that you need, mainly helping you with a problem when one comes up by being available. You’ll have a 24 hotline to call, plus my own phone number and email. Additionally, I work in teams. So if I’m going to be out for an extended period, like vacation, you’ll get a response to that effect with someone else’s contact information. Just because First Data is the underlying platform for your processing, doesn’t mean you have to go through that type of experience.
I won’t kid you. My customers are encouraged to call the related toll free support number for their account once they are running smoothly. Your support number and team would not be the same as now regardless of where I placed you. Why do I have them do this first? Because if you need immediate help and I’m in the middle of a demo, I won’t even get your message for an hour, when in most cases the support team would have already helped you within 10 minutes. I’ve never had a customer leave me for lack of support- ever. ^ Christine
August 9th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
Never, I repeat never…. use an ISO just another middle man in the process. Use a company that’s authorized by the Fed to do front end and back end processing Ex: Heartland Payment Systems. ISO’s have ruined our industry. We all start with the same inter-change numbers – set by the Fed. if you have a bank and a ISO or two in the process they all have to get paid. Unless they are willing to lose money there is NO way for them to save you money. ISO’s promise the world and deliver a shell game. You dont have to be a Phi Beta Kappa to realize the more middle men you have to pay the likely-hood of them saving you $$ is impossible. With Heartland it’s you and the processor – that’s it and they are 100% turn-key, not to mention you will be PCI compliant – not so with an ISO!! Don’t be fooled. Call a Heartland RM and get real – transparent results!! Contact me: Patrick Smith RM-TN / HPS
Have a great day!
August 12th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
HI Patrick, Thanks for your input.
If ISO’s couldn’t offer value to merchants, they wouldn’t exist. Instead they exploded over the last decade. Why? Because direct acquirers, including Heartland, had HUGE mark-ups, even over 100% for large corporations. So if ISO’s ruined the industry by creating competition, transparency, and eliminating HUGE mark-ups, let the destrruction continue.
ISO/MSPs create value for the client in two fronts: 1) reducing core-processing costs while helping the client fight fraud at the point of sale, and 2) selling additional value-add services. Profit mark-ups are much more level between acquirers and ISO’s now than in the past, and margins are much smaller. Merchants now must look to improve interchange qualification to further reduce their processing costs. Merchant need automated solutions to reduce risk and improve interchange qualification.
I could work direct for any of the large processors. I choose not to. The corporate culture moves too slowly and is frequently reactive instead of proactive. The acquirers we’ve met with say they are YEARS behind in developing anything like the technology switch we offer our customers. As to Heartland and PCI specifically…c’mon. Merchants are required to be PCI compliant, regardless of who their processor is. Given that Heartland may forever hold the title for largest payments data breach in US history, you might want to be a little less disparaging to an entire industry, most of whom have never had a breach.
BTW, I offer payment processing via ISO’s for 5 of the top 10 providers. Why not just one? Because there are pro’s and con’s for every service provider. By matching merchant needs to just the right provider, the merchant benefits in more ways than just dollars. At Heartland you offer one solution- yours- and it might not be the best one for every merchant, but it’s all you have to offer. See the beauty of being in my position?
Christine
3D Merchant Services
September 12th, 2011 at 10:39 am
A few updates for you. Nova was acquired and reported previously.
Are you with a top 10 company now? What kind of help are they giving you to reduce costs? Another “rate drop”? Folks, this is not the way to lower your effective rate in 2011 and beyond. If you’re a mid-size business and want to improve EBITDA, you need a lot more than ‘cost cuts’. We are transforming the way merchants accept and process payments with the most advanced, user friendly system on the planet. Read more here http://3dmerchant.com/about/what-we-do.php