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First Data Review
Merchant Maverick's Rating: (4 out of 5)
Last Updated: September 22nd, 2011.
Logo:
Overview:
First Data (FD) is the 800lb. gorilla of the credit card processing industry. They were established in 1969, and according to their stats, they serve over 6 million merchant locations worldwide. That is a HUGE merchant base.
First Data has many offices across the globe, but their U.S. headquarters is in Atlanta, GA. They also have an independent sales wing that is headquartered in Calabasas, CA.
I'm going to focus this review solely on First Data's direct sales channel. As you may know, there are MANY resellers (called ISOs/Agents) of First Data that either contract FD for their processing platform, or act as referral partners for all of FD's services.
Some of those resellers are going to be ethical, and others are not. My advice would be to just go direct with First Data. They have their own in-house sales team, and they can sign you up directly. No need to go through a middle-man, unless that middle-man is going to offer you something above and beyond what FD can give you. Superior customer support or training would be one example. A reseller that adds value is appropriately called a Value-Added Reseller (VAR).
I've broken the remainder of this overview down into two segments; Pros and Cons.
Let's start with the pros:
Pros
First Data is at the top of the food chain. They handle everything in house, which means that you if you sign up directly with First Data, then you deal exclusively with First Data. No middle-men.
They're at the bleeding edge when it comes to payments technology. They offer a ton of resources, tools and complementary services for their merchants. Including tools that help with PCI compliance, transaction data & analytics, fraud prevention, chargeback dispute resolution, and the list goes on and on. And, they just recently partnered with Google Wallet to provide business owners the ability to accept mobile payments. When it comes to add-on services, First Data wins...hands down! Of course, all those extra services don't come cheap (see "Cons").
Cons
By default First Data's fees are pretty high. Probably because they offer so many extras to their customers. All of that technology comes at a cost, so I'm sure they need to recoup some of that expense from their merchant base. They also have an early termination fee that is pretty hefty (see Cancellation Fee). Finally, they are known for using enhanced billback as a billing method, which is not good at all.
All of the above rate and term issues can be fixed pretty easily if you know what rates and fees to ask for. If you don't, then you can contact me, and I'll help you through the process. You can also use a service like FeeFighters as well.
First Data also has a tendency to hold funds or shut accounts down at the drop of a hat. I'm sure the simple thought of having your account shut down or funds withheld is enough to make you shiver, so the best thing you can do is educate yourself on how to prevent it from happening. If you read this article, you should be a-ok!
In conclusion, I think First Data is a good company. I think they'd be the perfect solution for a higher volume business that needs all the bells and whistles. Unless you smaller guys can get signed up with awesome rates, then a First Data account may be a bit too rich for your blood.
You can find First Data on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
I'm giving First Data a 4 out of 5 for now.
Date Established:
1969.
Location:
The First Data headquarters is in Atlanta, Georgia. Their Independent Sales headquarters is in Calabasas, California.
Domain Name(s):
- www.firstdata.com
- www.cardserviceinternational.com
Parent/Partner Company:
Cardservice International, Inc. is a DBA of First Data's. Cardservice also sells merchant services.
Type:
Registered ISO/MSP, Direct Processor.
Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Wells Fargo Bank.
Payment Processor(s):
First Data is the processor.
Payment Gateway(s):
First Data Global Gateway (formerly LinkPoint).
Do you need help setting up your payment gateway? Visit the Payment Gateway Integration page for more info.
Trust Symbols:
You can find the First Data BBB profile here. It has an "A+" rating as of this review, with 215 complaints in the last 36 months.
They also have a TrusLink profile that you can find here.
Negative Reviews:
The best source that I found for complaints was on the Better Business Bureau website. There are plenty of other review and complaint sites like RipOffReport where you can get some good info, but those sites don't do a good job of filtering out irrelevant complaints. Keep in mind, there are many many resellers of First Data's services, and not all of those reseller's have good terms, ethical sales reps, or good customer service. So, FD might be taking the heat for some of their reseller's shady practices. The focus of this review is on First Data directly, so I'm only going to consider the reviews and complaints from people that signed up with First Data directly.
Common Complaints:
- Excessive fees: Most of the complaints revolve around First Data's fees. FD seems to have a fee for everything; PCI compliance, customer service, and even the new IRS reporting fee. They also have a costly cancellation fee (see Cancellation Fee). Granted, they do offer some great services for those fees, so if you're looking for a dirt cheap merchant account, then FD might not be for you. With that said, the best way to avoid overpaying for any merchant account, is to either have me help you, or you can use a service like FeeFighters. If you're the do-it-yourself type, you can negotiate with them on your own too. You just need to know what rates or terms to ask for. At the very least, you definitely want to make sure you have them waive the cancellation fee.
- Withheld Funds and Account Terminations: First Data has been known to be a bit trigger happy when it comes to holding funds or terminating accounts. You're going to want to learn how to avoid holds and minimize chargebacks, if you plan on signing up with FD.
- Enhanced Billback: They're also known for using a billing technique called enhanced billback, which isn't the most transparent billing method. I plan on writing about it in the future, but in the meantime, you can learn about it here.
Verifiable Testimonials/References:
There are plenty of testimonials and customer success stories on the First Data website.
Security/Privacy:
The First Data application is secured by Verisign.
Customer Service:
Surprisingly, their customer service is actually pretty good. Typically, very large companies suffer in that department, but judging from the lack of customer service related complaints, it seems like First Data is in good shape. FD offers 24/7 telephone & email support, including live chat.
Contract Duration:
The contract duration varies. Your sales rep will probably determine it during sign-up, but judging from their terms and conditions, it looks like the default term length is 4-years. Read the "Term and Termination" clause under Article VI, Section 26 for reference.
Cancellation Fee:
The default early termination fee by First Data is brutal. They have something called a "liquidated damages" type termination fee. Basically, that means that they'll charge you your minimum monthly fees multiplied by the remaining months in your contract. That can get VERY expensive. Here's a copy of their agreement by the way. Read section (8) under "Administrative Fees" to see what I'm talking about.
If you decide to go with First Data, ALWAYS ask them to waive the early termination fee. Most sales reps will do it for you. Just make sure that it clearly states so in your contract.
Interchange-Plus Pricing:
Interchange-plus is offered by First Data. Be sure to ask for it. If you don't know the rate/terms to ask for, let me know. I'll tell you. 
Seasonal Downtime:
First Data does offer seasonal downtime, but be sure to work out the terms with your sales rep.
Product Offering:
Worldwide (International) Payments, eCommerce (Online), Payment Gateway, Virtual Terminal, Retail (Credit/Debit), Check Processing, ACH, EBT (Electronic Benefits Tranfer), Gift Reward & Incentive Cards, Terminals, Point-of-Sale (POS), Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO), Mobile Commerce, Payroll & Disbursement, PCI Security & Compliance.
Specialty:
Online Payments (eCommerce).
Don't forget to leave your review and rating in the comment section below.
Note: Please remember, this review is for the direct sales wing of First Data. If you signed up through a First Data reseller, please be sure to include that reseller in your review. Many times it's the reseller that is at fault, yet First Data ends up taking the blame.
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October 31st, 2011 - 11:27
First Data-horrible!I have been dealing with this company for apx. 1 year and 5 months, during which time they have denied that I ever applied to them, ever set up an account with them, etc etc. I have probably spent 60 hours on the phone with non-american people trying to download my credit card machine (at home) driving back and forth.I’ve been repeatedly hung up on,cut-off after waiting on hold for hours and today was the last strraw-I called to try to give them info. they were demanding for the 6th time to become IRS compliant and they again denied that I was the nameholder on the account-even though I was responding to a letter written by them to me and my company.I was assured that I would be transferred to the retaining dept. because they didn’t want to lose my business(at the same time they were denying that I was a business) and was given the run-around again and placed on hold for a huge amount of time 3 seperate times.I have finally given up-they know my number if they were really concerned about saving me as a customer (or not).Not only has this company been incompetent, they have lost me hundreds of dollars for a crashed system that I finally had to settle and lose several sales because I really needed some of my money to go into my bank account.I wouldn’t trust this company. They have done nothing but lie, take my money and waste hours of my time.They are actually jeopardising my restaurant business.I want far, far away from this company.I urge you to stay away also.I guess actually that shouldn’t be too hard since they keep telling me I’m not one of their customers anyway!
January 6th, 2012 - 13:36
Tried to close my account with merchantlane.com It’s been 3 months of BS and it’s still not closed. Of course they continue to charge me 20.00 every month. You email them and maybe you get a response maybe not. If you ahve lot’s of extra time to deal with them and check and double check everything along the way then this is the company for you. But remember if you push them to actually be a responsive company and do the right thing you get the “vibe” instantly that you have crossed the line.
January 23rd, 2012 - 14:54
We figured using Sam’s Club Merchant Service would be a good and safe NOT. Don’t do it, the rep misinformed us, now we are stuck in a terrible 4 year lease, customer service not very helpful. Do your home work before using Sams and First Data.