Global Payments Review

Merchant Maverick's Rating: (4.5 out of 5)

Last Updated: July 30th, 2011.

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Overview:
Global Payments (GPN) is a BIG company. So big in fact, that they have their own Wikipedia page. You don't get a company profile on Wikipedia unless you have some clout, and clout they have.

Global Payments has been around since the 70's when they were called National Data Corporation. Now, they have hundreds of thousands of merchants under their wing, and they process billions (if not trillions) in transactions worldwide. That's right, Global Payments is an international payment processor. They are based in Atlanta, Georgia with offices in Canada, the UK, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

There are many many resellers (called ISOs/Agents) of Global Payments that either contract GPN for their processing platform, or act as referral partners for all of GPN's services.

Some of those resellers are going to be ethical, and others are not. My advice would be to just go direct with GPN. 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 GPN can give you. Superior customer support/training would be one example. That would be considered 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
By going with Global Payments, you're going direct to the source. GPN handles pretty much everything in house, which means that you'll probably be able to negotiate lower rates with them. Including, getting out of any type of long term contract or early termination penalty. Of course, those rates will vary from business to business, so if you need help on what pricing to ask for, let me know.

Speaking of which, Global Payments offers interchange-plus pricing, which is much more transparent than the usual tiered pricing model.

I also like that GPN offers worldwide payment processing. That's an obvious plus for all of you international merchants.

Cons
Because they're such a big company, they might not be able to offer you top notch customer service. They probably won't be able to give you that personal touch that smaller companies can. So, if customer service is the most important issue with you, then you might want to consider going with another provider.

All in all, I like Global Payments. Enough to give them a 4.5 out of 5...for now.

Date Established:
1970.

Location:
They have multiple locations all across the world, but they are headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Domain Name(s):
www.globalpaymentsinc.com.

Parent/Partner Company:
Global Payments is not a subsidiary of any other company. HSBC Merchant Services is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Payments.

Type:
Registered ISO/MSP, Direct Processor, Acquirer.

Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
HSBC Bank.

Payment Processor(s):
Global Payments is the processor.

Payment Gateway(s):
Authorize.Net or Global Transport. Do you need help setting up your payment gateway? Visit the Payment Gateway Integration page for more info.

Trust Symbols:
You can find the Global Payments BBB profile here. It has an "A+" rating as of this review, with 16 complaints in the last 36 months.

Negative Reviews:
There are a few complaints on RipOffReport, but much less than what I would expect from such a large company.

Common Complaints:
None.

Verifiable Testimonials/References:
None found. It'd be nice to see some good testimonials or case studies. In the meantime, ask your Global Payments sales rep for some references. Specifically, for merchants that are in the same industry as you.

Security/Privacy:
No on-site security features (i.e. McAfee, Security Metrics etc...). The security issue really depends on what kind of information the merchant account provider is collecting from you. If they require you to fill out a full digital application with sensitive info like SSN numbers, then they should definitely have some third-party security in place. Sometimes, and in the case of Global Payments, the initial contact form only requires some basic info, then the real application is taken care of by fax or later on through a secure online app.

Customer Service:
Global Payments offers 24/7 support via a toll-free number and email. I personally called them at 3am on a Friday and was able to speak to an actual live human being. They do have an automated menu that I had to traverse through to get to that person, but I wouldn't expect much more from such a large company.

Contract Duration:
The contract term is going to vary depending on which one of Global Payments' resellers you go through. I suggest that you just go direct, and negotiate a "no contract" agreement.

Cancellation Fee:
Same as above, the cancellation fee will vary, but if you go direct to Global Payments, you can probably work out a "no early termination" deal with them. Let me know if you need help with doing so.

Interchange-Plus Pricing:
Interchange-plus is offered by Global Payments, but pricing will vary, so contact me and I'll tell you exactly what rates you should ask for.

Seasonal Downtime:
Global Payments does offer seasonal downtime, but be sure to work out the terms with your sales rep.

Product Offering:
Worldwide (International) Payments, Retail (Credit/Debit), eCommerce (Online), Payment Gateway, Virtual Terminal, Check Processing, ACH, EBT (Electronic Benefits Tranfer), Gift Cards, Stored Value Cards, Point-of-Sale (POS), Money Transfer.

Specialty:
None.

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