U.S. Merchant Systems Review

Merchant Maverick's Rating: (4 out of 5)

Last Updated: April 13th, 2011.

Logo:

Overview:
U.S. Merchant Systems (USMS) has been in business since 1992. That's plenty of time to establish themselves in the market, and to do business with a number of merchants. It's also plenty of time for us to see how they've been as a merchant service provider.

I think the only major blemish on their record was their supposed relationship with Bankcard Empire, which was recently raided by the Fed. According to a BBB notice that was published on the USMS profile, Bankcard Empire was representing itself as USMS, and running some under-handed business practices causing many merchants to complain to the BBB. Thinking they were dealing with USMS, the merchants unknowingly tarnished the image of the wrong company.

It's an unfortunate situation that I think can easily be cleared up with a very well put together client success story or testimonials page. If I was USMS, I'd be plastering the stories of happy clientele all over my site. They recently added a testimonials section, but be sure to get references as well.

They have a Twitter account, Facebook profile, and LinkedIn account if you want to connect with them online. And, as always, don't forget to tell us about your experience with USMS.

USMS gets a 4 out of 5 for now.

Click Here If You Need Help Choosing a Provider

Date Established:
1992.

Location:
Fremont, California.

Domain Name(s):

• www.usms.com.
• www.merchantsystems.com.

Parent/Partner Company:
No parent or partner companies that I was able to find.

Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.

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

Payment Processor(s):
Unknown.

Payment Gateway(s):
Self-branded payment gateway, but they can also set you up with Authorize.Net.

Do you need help setting up your payment gateway with your website? Click here.

Trust Symbols:
Check out the USMS BBB profile here. They have a "A+" rating as of this review with about 36 complaints filed against them in the last 36 months. Those 36 complaints look pretty bad for USMS, but there's a small disclaimer on BBB worth noting.

On April 4, 2008 the BBB was notified that a company by the name of Bankcard Empire located in Tempe, Arizona is representing themselves as an agent of US Merchant Systems. US Merchant Systems terminated their relationship with Bankcard Empire in August, 2007 and has served the company with a letter to Cease and Desist.

It's not the first time I've seen something like this, and I don't have any reason to believe that it isn't true. Sometimes the larger ISO/MSPs team up with smaller ones, and they end up getting burned because their partner ends up being a bunch of schmuck's.

So half of those complaints for USMS could have been because of their crappy partnership.

Negative Reviews:
You can find some negative reviews on RipOffReport. A couple of those negative reviews are worthless as they are an internal conflict between a sales rep and USMS. The whole thing could possibly be about the Bankcard Empire deal I talked about earlier, or just another in-house beef, so definitely take it with a grain of salt.

Common Complaints:
Both the BBB complaints and the ROR negative reviews are across a wide spectrum of issues, so there aren't many commonalities amongst them.

Verifiable Testimonials/References:
They do have some testimonials on the site, but it would be nice to see the merchant's full name. Maybe they'll give you some references if you ask for them.

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 USMS, the application 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:
USMS is another one of those companies that I haven't dealt with myself, so your comments would be much appreciated.

Contract Duration:
I was told that there isn't any contract term, but a recent ROR complaint suggests otherwise. Make sure you read your entire contract before signing up.

Cancellation Fee:
No cancellation from what USMS told me, but again be sure to check your contract.

Seasonal Downtime:
They said that they do offer seasonal downtime.

Product/Service Offering:
Credit Card Processing, ATM/Debit Card Processing, Gift Cards, Electronic Check Processing, Check Guarantee, POS Equipment, Online Payment Processing (e-Commerce), Internet Storefront Builders, Shopping Carts.

Product/Service Specialty:
None in particular.

Don't forget to leave your review and rating in the comment section.