First American Payment Systems Review
Merchant Maverick's Rating: (3.5 out of 5)
Last Updated: July 22nd, 2010.
Overview:
Based out of Forth Worth, Texas and operating since 1990, First American Payment Systems (FAPS) has about two decade's worth of payment processing under its belt. As of now, they do about $10 billion in transactional volume annually, which puts them in the mid to upper tier as far as size is concerned.
When I first started my review of FAPS, I noticed a huge amount of complaints on their BBB profile, and immediately expected to give them a bad review, but looks can be deceiving. It seems FAPS is taking the blame for some of its resellers sales practices, so be sure to read the "Trust Symbols" section below for more info about that.
The 3-year/$495 contract duration and cancellation fee is a bit high by industry standards, but I'm willing to bet that they'll work with you on that.
Moving on, I'd like to see some testimonials or case studies listed on the FAPS site. They don't have either as of now.
How about adding a blog or some other educational resources? The only blog that I found seemed geared more towards their sales agents than their merchants. Which isn't a problem since educated sales reps are just as important as educated merchants, but how about putting out some good resources for us as well?
The Twitter and Facebook accounts are cool. Now we know we can interact with them on a public channel if we ever need to.
With a few changes, FAPS can be sitting at a much higher rating. They can start by letting us know why their BBB profile associates them with so many other alternate names, and why they have so many complaints.
FAPS gets a 3.5 out of 5 for now.
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Date Established:
1990.
Location:
Fort Worth, Texas.
Domain Name(s):
www.first-american.net.
Parent/Partner Company:
FAPS doesn't have a parent company, but they do have some sister companies that handle their supplementary services.
- Merimac Capital (terminal leases).
- Govolution (government payments).
- AdvanceMe (merchant cash advance).
Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.
Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Fifth Third Bank.
Payment Processor(s):
First American Payment Systems is the payment processor.
Payment Gateway(s):
FAPS has their own payment gateway by the name FirstPay.Net 2.0, but they can also set you up with the GoEmerchant payment gateway or Authorize.Net.
Do you need help setting up your payment gateway with your website? Click here.
Trust Symbols:
The First American Payment Systems BBB profile has a "D-" rating as of this review, with 479 complaints in the last 36-months.
At first blush, that looks like a ridiculous amount of complaints, but take a look at the alternate names section of that same BBB profile.
See these?...
AMERICA ONE
APPSTAR FINANCIAL
Eliot Management
FIRST ADVANTAGE
MERIMAC CAPITAL
Summit Merchant Solutions
TMG
Certified Merchant Services
TMS Certified Merchant Services
TMS Merchant Services
TRANS TECH
Transaction Merchant Services
TransTech Merchan Group
TRANSTECH MERCHANT GROUP
Basically, the BBB thinks that FAPS operates under those other business names too, but that's not entirely correct. The truth is that those other names are for sub-ISOs that resell FAPS' services. They are independent entities that contract First American Payment Systems for their services (underwriting, processing etc...), but handle the sales process themselves. They aren't owned by the same guys, so they shouldn't be listed as alternate names of FAPS.
What amazes me is that FAPS doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. If I was them, I would let the BBB know about the mix-up. I would then get rid of those resellers. Why keep them on board? Not only are they dirtying up your name, they're probably costing you some business as well.
I'll tell you right now though, not all resellers of FAPS services are that bad. GoEmerchant received an outstanding review from me, and they are a FAPS reseller. So, this goes to show, that although one company may get the blame, it could be another company (or even person) that's causing all the ruckus. It also adds to the argument that this industry is way too convoluted with way too many players operating under each other. Who's working for who?
Negative Reviews/Complaints:
I'm just going to use RipOffReport for this section, because most of the other complaint sites (i.e. Complaints Board, MeasuredUp etc...) have redundant reports.
If you read through the ROR complaints you'll notice that in addition to calling out FAPS, most of the complaints also include the name of other companies like, "Trans Tech Merchant Group" and "Summit Merchant Solutions."
Those companies are sub-ISOs (resellers) for FAPS, they aren't directly owned by FAPS, so what's happening here is that FAPS is taking the blame for not only their own hiccups, but the mistakes of their resellers as well.
Common Complaints:
If I filter out the complaints that are directed toward the resellers, I don't have much left to work with. First American Payment Systems (corporate) doesn't have that many complaints.
There were a couple merchants that had a bad experience with the FAPS terminal lease contracts (supplied by Merimac Capital), but that's about it. If I was you, I wouldn't lease a terminal to begin with. You can buy a terminal these days for less than $400, so no point in locking yourself into a contract (generally 4-years) that you can't break from.
Verifiable Testimonials/References:
I couldn't find any verifiable testimonials (as of this review) on the FAPS website. Get some good testimonials up guys! Case studies would be even better.
Security/Privacy:
Their website is HTTPS secured, but I'm not sure which company is handling the SSL. It would be nice to see that certificate.
Customer Service:
Have you worked with First American Payment Systems? Feel free to leave us your review. Don't forget to read the user review and comment policy.
Contract Duration:
3-years.
Cancellation Fee:
$495. This is pretty high by industry standards. If I was you, I'd try and get them to lower this for you, or eliminate it completely.
Interchange-Plus Pricing:
Interchange-plus is offered by FAPS, but you will have to qualify for it. Generally, "qualifying" means you process $10k or more per month.
Seasonal Downtime:
Seasonal downtime is also offered by FAPS.
Product/Service Offering:
Retail (Credit/Debit), Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO), EBT, Check Services, Online/e-Commerce Payments, Gift & Loyalty, Online Reporting, ACH, Equipment Leasing, ATM, Merchant Cash Advance, Remote Deposit Capture.
Product/Service Specialty:
None.
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August 18th, 2010 - 06:11
Thank you for reviewing our company! The things you say about the BBB are true, and it is challenging to overcome a bad rating when FAPS is rolled up with so many other companies. We do have a blog at http://www.fapsmarketing.blogspot.com. We also have testimonials on our newer (more targeted) sites, http://www.fapsbanks.com and http://www.faps-sales.com.
August 18th, 2010 - 10:52
Jazell,
Thank you for the comments, and clarity. You guys shouldn’t have any trouble pulling those other ISOs DBA’s off of your profile. I’ve reviewed several companies, and up until your review, the BBB has never rolled a processor and its ISOs all into one profile. They shouldn’t be doing that. Each entity should have their own profile. I’m willing to bet that if you brought this to their attention, they’d clean it up for you.
Regardless, I’m definitely going to revisit your review with this new info. I’ll let you know once it have been updated.
January 4th, 2011 - 14:32
Actually, First American Payment Systems does own every one of the sub ISO companies listed in this article. They are all owned and run by First American. They are not independent ISO’s from First American. I like how Jazell say’s they are all rolled up together and that makes it hard for First American. First American owns all of these companies. Just More deception from First American!!
January 4th, 2011 - 15:07
Hi Bryan,
Would you be able to provide any proof that they are all owned by FAPS? When doing my research, I personally noticed that they are mostly under different ownership, but maybe I missed something. Some evidence would definitely help your cause.
March 14th, 2011 - 15:51
They have a bad BBB rating because they deserve it. We are with them under the Transtech Merchant Group name. They do have a $495 cancellation fee and another $100 if you do debit. They have a 3 year agreements with automatic 1 year renewals. We thought we were canceling after our 3 year agreement but were told we were renewed automatically for another year since we did not notify them in time, had to be 30 days, we did so in 24 days. They have been an absolute pain to deal with. There are much better companies out there with better rates and terms, many that do have a contract. If you are with them, read your contract terms and cancel early as they will not let you out. This company has been a nightmare!
March 28th, 2011 - 11:22
Actually, “MERCHANT MAVERICK” — Bryan is 100% right; FPA does own and operate each ISO… As an example; Certified Merchant Services and Transaction Merchant Services may have at one time been a sponsored ISO; but in 2003 FPA acquired them so that their owner Jon Frankel and brother Craig Frankel could pay the $24,000,000.00 settlement that the FTC sued and won from them. Stay away from ISO’s… The best bet to know exactly what you are getting (even though the rates may not be the same) is to go down to your bank… At least then you know what to expect from them… If you’re not willing to do that; then reach out to other merchants who have been in business and find out who they are doing business with…. Just like with so many other things; there is a difference between what you are told and what you are charged; stick with a company you know you can trust.
March 28th, 2011 - 11:52
Good work “EncorePaymentInfo!”
I went ahead and dug into the Certified Merchant Services FTC issue. See here and here to learn more. It also looks like you’re right about FAPS acquiring Certified Merchant Services. See here. Things aren’t looking good for FAPS.
Thanks again!
March 28th, 2011 - 12:09
no problem, thank you for the response; and don’t let the name “EncorePaymentInfo” throw you off; I am somewhat of an advocate for merchant’s being screwed out of their hard earned money… Encore Payment Systems, aka Prodigy Payment Systems, and Momentum Payment Systems are all one in the same company; and their executive and director level staff with the exception of 2 or three of the director level employees are the “SAME” as those from Certified Merchant Services… Guess what that means… I have also found 2 other ISO’s that have links back to the “PLAYERS” from CMS. People have to be careful about who they do business with; references are ok, but what company is going to hand out a list of customers who are going to complain… That’s why I constantly tell people to either deal with the bank or get personal references from people who they already know doing business with a card processor. There is way too much deception out there.
April 19th, 2011 - 09:22
Does anyone find it entriguing that First American Payment Systems is no longer BBB certified? I’m pretty sure I looked a few weeks ago and was able to find the profile that MerchantMaverick quoted and now its gone. I looked again to find it and it has no rating now. It still has the complaints but no rating. http://www.bbb.org/fort-worth/business-reviews/credit-cards-and-plans/first-american-payment-systems-lp-in-fort-worth-tx-97040065/
Any comments on this?
April 20th, 2011 - 14:00
Interesting observation on this Shannon. I’m not sure why they lost certification, but would be interested to know. I’ll try and look into this.
Thanks!
October 31st, 2011 - 08:14
First american payment services is a scam… they charge you outlandish fees.
. they have conveniently forgot to tell me about my anniversary date of renew…. sony automatically renew you without your permission. Then try to charge you close to a 500 dollar fee to cancel your account… they charge me that much monthly…. I will personally set myself on fire before. i referwill that companyI to someone else for them to rob blind…. now why is it when I wanna cancel you can offer me a better fee… but there isn’t 1 when I want 1…. scam artist…
.
…
November 4th, 2011 - 12:48
First American Payment Systems aka Apex is too be avoided. there are too
many Credit Processor that offer lower fees and no contract, and termination
fees
You have to be smoking something with 479 negative BBB reviews.
Obviously, you do not have first hand experience with this company.
Start with the 25 page contract, crafted to be unintelligible gooby gook. Well
hidden is the $495.00, 3 year contract, and $125.00 annual PCI fee.
The first thing they did to me is charge a monthly fee when I was not yet
hooked up their service to them. they would not credit me for that. They are a
thieving bunch of crooks who charge $36,80 last month fee, when they
cancelled my service on 4th of that billing month. Ho yes, they kept increasing
their monthly fees, they allege the CC companies had increased their fees.
Prove it. If they could reach into my back
pocket, they would take my wallet. There loss prevention department put a
hold on two charges of Corporate customer, I had to cancel the charge and
have the customer pay me direct. Because, they wanted a complete description
of work(was for a legal department and confidential), The charge was $450.00.
As well three months bank statement. I have been at the same location for over
20 years a credit merchant a notary public, licensed with Department of Justice
as a fingerprinter. This idiot could of settled his suspicions with a simple phone
call.
The good news a Credit Processing Co. bought out the remaining contract, of
$495,00 and saved me $600 over my remaining contract.
Run for Apex First American Payment Systems.
December 16th, 2011 - 06:28
Let me add another “shell” name to this deception…Heritage Payment Solutions is another front for First American Payment Systems…they have the exact same physical address. Ditto on previous comments..they want $495 for us to exit their contract. They had to fax me the pages that included that when I told them I never saw that information in the 4 page contract I signed. Their response was that it is my responsibility to ASK them for the additional pages before I signed the contract. Reporting them to the Better Business Bureau today.