iMAX Bancard Network Review

Merchant Maverick's Rating: (2.5 out of 5)

Overview:
iMAX Bancard jumped on my radar when one of my reader's left a less than stellar comment about them in one of my other posts. Me being the Maverick that I am, decided to do a little investigative journalism, and what I uncovered was another below-average company.

They've only been around since 2004, and even though they haven't racked up too many negative reviews on RipOffReport, they do have quite a bit of complaints on their BBB profile. Which is not a good thing considering that BBB complaints are usually from the most disgruntled of customers. You know, the ones that have had such a bad experience, that a simple ROR blast isn't enough.

I think that iMAX could be doing much much more to counter the negative publicity that they're getting. As of now, they're just another corporation hiding behind a veil. It's the companies that come out from behind that veil that are going to gain our trust. I've seen merchant account providers with very high complaint numbers totally redeem themselves just by the way that they respond to that negative feedback. But, you won't get away with doing it, just to say you did it. We can smell bullshit from a mile away. So, if you're not genuinely concerned, then you might as well hide in the shadows.

Another thing that I'm really big on, is education. I think that the provider's that spend the time necessary to educate their merchants, whether it be through blogs, articles, forums etc..., obviously want to build long-term relationships with their clients. One of the biggest problems with the merchant account industry is that it's really hard to find unbiased information. And, if a merchant service provider wants to, they can take full advantage of that. In my opinion, it's the companies that provide you with that info themselves that show you they obviously aren't out to take advantage of you, but rather to educate you.

I'm going to give iMax Bancard a 2.5 out of 5 for now.

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Date Established:
2004.

Location:
Valencia, California.

Domain Name(s):

• www.imaxbancard.com.
• www.imaxinternationalbankard.com.
• www.imaxapp.com.
• www.pcimax.com.

Parent/Partner Company:
Looks like iMAX operates solo. I don't see any other partners or parent companies.

Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.

Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Wells Fargo Bank.

Payment Processor(s):
First Data.

Payment Gateway(s):
Authorize.Net, Skipjack, Network Merchants Inc (NMI), First Data Global Gateway (formerly LinkPoint), 3Delta Systems, Datacap.

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Trust Symbols:
The iMAX Bancard Network BBB profile has a "B" rating as of this review, with about 53 complaints so far (as of this update). Btw, they're part of the TrustLink program which is BBB's version of Yelp, so be sure to leave some reviews there.

Customer Service:
I've personally chatted with someone that had a horrible experience with the iMAX customer service team. Even though I do think that I need more than one person's opinion to sway my judgement on these guys, I am able to put two and two together. When I see 53 complaints (as of this update) on the BBB for a company that's only been around since 2004, I can't imagine their service is that great.

Negative Reviews/Complaints:
Most of the good complaints can be found on RipOffReport and Complaints Board. I didn't find any rebuttals by iMAX to any of those complaints, so I'm assuming they don't actively partake in the management of their online reputation.

Common Complaints:
The most common complaint I read about, was in regards to a "free merchant account" offer that iMAX seems to be running. I wasn't able to dig up that offer, but I'll keep looking.

Either way, the "free" part could have meant one of a hundred things, but as we know, there's nothing for free in this industry. So be sure to read all of the fine print, or you might end up paying for something you thought you could get for nothing.

Verifiable Testimonials/References:
No testimonials listed on the www.imaxbancard.com site, so unfortunately, I wasn't able to contact anyone.

Security/Privacy:
The main iMax site doesn't have any security in place from what I can tell, but their application site (www.imaxapp.com) is HTTPS secured. I'm not sure through which provider it is though (i.e. Verisign, McAfee etc...)

Contract Duration:
3-years.

Cancellation Fee:
$250.

Interchange-Plus Pricing:
I'm not sure if iMAX offers Interchange-plus. I wasn't able to get an answer from their rep. Their website doesn't mention anything about it either. Be sure to ask your rep if you decide to go with iMax.

Seasonal Downtime:
Not sure if they offer seasonal downtime either. Most providers do, so I don't think iMax would deny you, but again, ask your rep.

Product/Service Offering:
Retail (Credit/Debit), Online/e-Commerce Payments, Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO), Wireless, Cash Advance, Gift & Loyalty, Point-Of-Sale (POS), EBT, Check Processing.

Product/Service Specialty:
None in particular.

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