Meritus Payment Solutions Review
Merchant Maverick's Rating: (3.5 out of 5)
Last Updated: October 28th, 2011.
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Overview:
Meritus Payment Solutions is based out of Irvine, California. They've only been around since 2008, so they don't have much of a historical footprint on the internet. As they grow, I'll keep tabs and update this review accordingly. In the meantime, let's look at what we do know.
Because they're so new, they don't have very much customer feedback, aside from a few reviews on the BBB and right here on Merchant Maverick (see comments). Those reviews have a pretty even mix of good and bad, so they pretty much cancel out.
My biggest issue with Meritus is their cancellation fee (see Cancellation Fee below). Their default contract for any merchant account is 3-years with a "liquidated damages" type early termination fee. For those of you that don't know, a liquidated damages contract basically puts you on the hook for the cost of the remainder of your contract. The way it works is the provider will take your average monthly charges and multiply them by whatever is left in your agreement, which can be brutally expensive for the merchant. There are way too many other providers that offer month-to-month contracts, for me to be comfortable in referring you to Meritus. With that said, Meritus could easily increase their score if they switched to the month-to-month model as well.
You can find Meritus on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Meritus Payment Solutions gets a 3.5 out of 5.
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Date Established:
2008.
Location:
Irvine, California.
Domain Name(s):
www.merituspayment.com.
Parent/Partner Company:
Meritus doesn't have a parent company or any subsidiaries.
Type:
Registered ISO/MSP.
Acquiring Bank(s) (Acquirer):
Wells Fargo Bank.
Payment Processor(s):
First Data.
Payment Gateway(s):
They have their own payment gateway by the name "PaymentXP" and can also sign you up with many of the other, more popular, gateway's as well (i.e. Authorize.Net).
Trust Symbols:
You can find the Meritus Payment Solutions BBB profile here. It has an "A-" rating, with 5 complaints in the last 36 months as of this update.
Negative Reviews:
Meritus has only been around since 2008, so you'll be hard pressed to find very many reviews about them. There are a few reviews on their TrustLink profile, and a few more down in the comments section of this page.
To decrease your odds of signing up "blind," ask them for some references. That way you'll know that they have at least a few happy customers.
Common Complaints:
There aren't enough reviews or complaints to find a common thread. I'll revisit this and update accordingly.
Verifiable Testimonials/References:
You can find a handful of success stories on the Meritus website. Good job!
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 Meritus Payment Solutions, 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:
I haven't had any experience with Meritus' customer service, so if you have, please let us know.
Contract Duration:
The standard contract length on a Meritus merchant account is 3-years. You can probably get that reduced or removed if you negotiate with them.
Cancellation Fee:
The standard early termination fee for a Meritus merchant account is; your average monthly processing fees multiplied by the remaining months on your contract, or $350, whichever is greater (see section 36.3 of the Meritus agreement). They also have a variation of other cancellation fees that they customize based on the situation. You can probably negotiate with them on this.
Interchange-Plus Pricing:
Interchange-plus pricing is offered, but depends on your business profile. Most processors want to be sure you're processing a certain amount per month, usually $50K-$100K, before they'll set you up with it.
Seasonal Downtime:
Seasonal downtime is also offered by Meritus. You'll be charged a $5/month statement fee during those inactive months.
Product/Service Offering:
Retail (Credit/Debit), Gift & Loyalty, eCheck Conversion, EBT (Electronic Benefit Transfer), ACH (Automated Clearing House), Cash Advance.
Product/Service Specialty:
Card-not-present.
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April 22nd, 2010 - 12:08
Terrible Customer service. They are holding our funds for 10 months after we requested a cancellation. It takes a couple and sometimes more days for them to return a phone call or email. And also have not been able to provide us with reports on fees charged. Not Recommended
July 26th, 2011 - 15:51
I was called by a salesman from Meritus Payment Support and after some haggling, he gave me very good prices. Then when I looked at my bank statement today, they took an amount much greater than what they told me, and I haven’t even started my site yet (under construction).
So don’t believe them. They hoodwinked me and I am going to stop. They told me there was no fee for stopping their service, but that may have been another lie.
August 23rd, 2011 - 18:32
I found this website after I got burned from Meritus Payments Solutions. they claim my early termination fee equal to total of my reserve which is $7600. now I have my attorney on this case, I rather have my attorney spend that money than Meritus. Meritus PaymentS Solutions is scam big time. Please stay away from them.