ProMerchant Review

Pros

• No application or account setup fees
• Month-to-month contracts with no early termination fee
• Interchange-plus & zero-cost plans available
• Accepts high-risk businesses & businesses with bad credit
• Free terminal or mobile reader

Cons

• Minimal pricing disclosures
• Some complaints regarding customer service

What Is ProMerchant?

Founded in 2018, Boston-based ProMerchant is the brainchild of several former executives from other merchant account providers. This is a newer company, but we’re highly encouraged by some of the features they offer, such as month-to-month accounts that don’t come with an early termination fee and a choice between interchange-plus and zero-cost (cash discount/credit card surcharge) pricing.

Products & Services

ProMerchant earns high marks from us in this area because of its comprehensive software and hardware offerings.  Even better is that the company offers same-day merchant account approvals (at least, for low-risk businesses) to get you up and going at speed.

Here’s a rundown of what they offer.

ProMerchant Features Overview

ProMerchant Features In Detail

Below are some more details about ProMerchant’s offerings.

Fees & Rates

Most traditional merchant services providers disclose absolutely no information about their processing rates and fees on their websites, so it’s refreshing to see that ProMerchant offers some pricing information. In all, ProMerchant has earned a decent score from us in the area of Fees & Rates, since this processor offers interchange-plus pricing without a long-term contract.

ProMerchant also doesn’t charge a setup fee and claims not to charge additional junk fees. However, some merchants allege that they were charged fees beyond what they originally agreed to.

Pricing Overview

Monthly Plans

ProMerchant offers a choice between an interchange-plus plan, which we feel is the most affordable and transparent option for most merchants who process over $5,000 per month in transactions, and a “zero cost” plan that passes your credit card fees to your customers so you don’t pay a dime (it’s unclear whether ProMerchant offers a cash discount or credit card surcharge plan, but the differences between those two pricing models are minimal).

ProMerchants states that both plans do carry a “low monthly fee” but the exact fee is not disclosed (and probably varies depending on business specifics).

Extra Costs

ProMerchant advertises that they do not charge any account setup or application fees. We consider these fees to be “junk” fees – at least for a traditional, low-risk business – so we’re glad to see that you won’t have to pay them. At the same time, most merchant services providers have dropped these fees in recent years, so you’re not really getting a special deal here.

The company makes no other disclosures regarding account fees, other than the standard claim that they don’t charge “hidden” fees. There’s no information regarding monthly account fees, annual fees, PCI compliance fees, a monthly minimum, or any other types of fees. You’ll want to ask your sales representative about these fees when negotiating the terms of your contract, but don’t accept their verbal assurances as the final word. There are always additional fees, even if they’re just incidental fees that you only occasionally have to pay. These fees will be disclosed (often in very fine print) in your contract documents, so be sure to review them thoroughly before you sign up for an account.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

ProMerchant’s website features an elegant design and a fair amount of information about its products and services. It’s also easy to navigate – primarily because there isn’t all that much information on it. We’re glad to see that they’ve included a discussion of interchange-plus pricing. We’d like it even better if the company included some actual pricing disclosures. Many of our favorite merchant services providers fully disclose their processing rates and account fees right on their websites, and if ProMerchant wants to compete with them, they’re going to have to step up their game in this area.

ProMerchant also does not have much of a social media footprint; they have X and Facebook accounts, but they haven’t posted on FB since 2019!

On the positive side, the company does not use any independent sales agents to market its accounts. This is a very good thing, as the use of independent agents has led to a number of problems within the processing industry, and they have a poor reputation due to inadequate training and supervision. Instead, ProMerchant has a dedicated team of in-house sales representatives to help you set up your account. In-house sales representatives generally receive much better training and will, in most cases, provide much better service to their customers.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

ProMerchant advertises that all their contracts are month-to-month with no early termination fees. This is the best and most flexible arrangement you could hope for, and it’s becoming increasingly common throughout the processing industry. Accordingly, ProMerchant has earned a perfect score from us in this area.

Customer Service & Technical Support

The company employs a dedicated support team, so you’ll be able to reach someone at any hour of the day. However, your primary point of contact will be a dedicated account manager, who’ll be assigned to you when you set up your account. Naturally, we recommend that you try to contact your account manager during business hours, if at all possible.

Though we like to see a dedicated support team, ProMerchant’s overall score in the area of customer service was negatively affected by the company not maintaining an online knowledgebase for self-diagnosing issues, as well as some negative user reviews regarding the company’s customer service (see “User Reviews” below).

User Reviews

There are not a ton of user reviews for ProMerchant online. However, the reviews we could find are mostly positive. Though some users have left negative reviews, the overall complaint volume is low.

Final Verdict

Newer companies usually go out of their way to make a good first impression, and ProMerchant is no exception. We’re impressed that they offer month-to-month contracts as a standard feature and don’t charge early termination fees. We’re also pleased with their use of both interchange-plus and zero-cost processing.

At the same time, we would definitely like to see some more transparency on some issues. We’d like to see the company disclose more information about its actual processing rates, for one thing. We’d also like to see some more transparency regarding account fees. Many of ProMerchant’s competitors freely post this information right on their websites.

Overall, month-to-month billing and interchange-plus pricing put this provider ahead of the competition, though if you’re interested in signing up with ProMerchant, we recommend that you get a quote with some actual pricing information and compare it to what other providers can offer you.

In the meantime, if you’re looking for a merchant account and want to compare some of the best providers, check out our list of the best credit card processing companies for small businesses.