CardFellow Review

Pros

• Automated comparison of processor quotes
• Transparent cost-plus pricing
• Lifetime rate lock
• Rate audits every six months
• No early termination fee
• Excellent customer support
• Excellent website and advertising
• Trusted by merchants

Cons

• Must inquire separately for gateway pricing
• Not ideal for micro-merchants

CardFellow Overview

CardFellow is a comparison shopping engine for merchant accounts. The company lets you pit competing credit card processors against each other in a bid to win your business in a process formally known as a reverse auction. The idea is to save you some haggling and headaches by having CardFellow solicit processor bids on your behalf but then ultimately give you complete control over the final decision.

You can also invite quotes from other processors through the system, but CardFellow’s safeguards will not back these bids. Still, the platform’s power is its ability to compare any quotes side-by-side automatically.

CardFellow only certifies quotes with interchange-plus pricing (a.k.a. pass-through or cost-plus pricing) and no cancellation fee. Merchant Maverick also holds our highest rated payment processors to these standards (among others), so this is a major point in its favor. In fact, a few of our favorite providers are in CardFellow’s certified quote list, which is a good sign.

You can already deduce from our 5-star rating that we think CardFellow is worth a go. Here, we explore CardFellow’s system in more detail, picking apart some important yet subtle nuances to consider. You’ll also learn about our own experience testing out CardFellow.

CardFellow Products & Services

Note that if you are not already familiar with how card processing costs work, I’d suggest reading our complete guide to credit card processing rates and fees first.

Here’s how CardFellow’s matchmaking service works:

1. Sign Up: Create an account and enter a few basic stats about your business. You can return to these forms at any time to adjust your stats, and your processing costs inside the quotes will automatically adjust as well.

2. Quote Comparison: After entering your stats, a comparison dashboard for your four initial quotes appears within seconds. You can always invite more quotes if you’d like. The quote comparisons display handy information (such as whether the processor charges a cancellation fee).  You can also click on the plus sign to see what equipment the processor has.

Cardfellow presents costs using a $10,000 sales volume as an example.

• Wholesale Cost: This is the rate the processor pays in network fees, which is passed on to you. This number should generally be the same for each processor.
• Processor’s Markup: This is the amount the processor charges for using its service.

3. Quote Detail: Clicking on your results’ logos lets you drill down on the details of each quote. You can toggle between the categories of the fees you’ll be charged.

You can scroll down to see contract terms, start-up costs, monthly and annual fees, and transaction fees by card.

4. Choose this Quote: Once you’ve decided, you’re ready for the “Choose this Quote” button. You must relinquish your anonymity at this point, so the processor can contact you directly and begin the application process.

Additional Features & Services

• Statement Analysis: CardFellow advertises an optional comparison of your current processor’s charges to the certified quotes. Simply upload two months of statements within your quote dashboard.
• Processor Messaging System: Anonymously communicate with each processor from within your CardFellow dashboard before making a final decision. Each quote has a private message board where merchants can post questions instantly. All posts are saved in the message board (and monitored by CardFellow to ensure processors provide accurate information) and emailed to the merchant and processor.
• Sample Processing Statements: Many processors have uploaded PDFs of sample statements to the platform. The numbers within the statements aren’t specific to your situation, but it’s still helpful to view how costs will be displayed before deciding.
• Live Chat: This handy service pops up in your dashboard as you view quotes during business hours.
• Merchant Code: Give the code from your dashboard to any sales rep you encounter, and the processing company can submit a bid through CardFellow’s system. It’s a great way to get the rep off your back for the moment, but it also lets you make a thorough comparison of the offer to other quotes within CardFellow’s dashboard at your leisure.
• Lifetime Rate Monitoring: Twice per year over the lifetime of your merchant account, CardFellow performs an audit of your statements, comparing the charges with your original certified quote to ensure there are no discrepancies.
• Processor Directory & Reviews: CardFellow maintains a processor directory with over 200 companies, including the 12 that currently submit certified bids through the marketplace. Each processor has a detailed review written by CardFellow as well as “verified reviews” (merchants who have obtained quotes through CardFellow) and “unverified reviews” (anyone who has not used the processor specifically through CardFellow).
• Product Directory & Reviews: This is a database maintained by both CardFellow and the processors that feature add-on POS systems, credit card machines, mobile readers, PIN pads, gateways, and virtual terminals. A processor may suggest equipment from the directory as part of its quote, or you can add supported products to one or all of your quotes. You can also use the directory to learn about these products, even if you’re not using the marketplace to obtain quotes.
• Online Educational Materials: CardFellow’s blog articles are among the most detailed and informative about the payment processing industry. With years of experience dealing directly with multiple processors and analyzing real statements, the team has lots of inside knowledge.

Fees & Rates

The CardFellow marketplace is free to use, but like any free service, there’s always a built-in cost. In this case, CardFellow receives a small commission as a referral fee from the processor that you choose.

CardFellow requires processors submitting certified quotes to use transparent interchange-plus pricing. Additionally, all quotes are locked in for life and monitored by CardFellow to ensure they don’t increase at any point in time. Those two factors alone are huge advantages when shopping for a merchant account.

Be careful about add-on features from CardFellow’s product directory, especially payment gateways (all eCommerce merchants need one). These often come with a monthly and/or per-transaction fee. As of this review, you must inquire separately about the pricing of most gateways when adding them to your quotes in CardFellow. Gateway costs should be counted into your effective rate, but the system is currently not adding them in automatically. CardFellow is waiting for all the vendors to update these pricing stats.

Here’s another point of caution: The platform is designed to handle practically every business scenario but not drastic adjustments from a single user. You can make small adjustments, but if you need to adjust your stats significantly, you should reach out to CardFellow to reset your profile with a clean slate.

Remember, you can also request and compare more quotes than the initial four. Non-certified quotes may come through CardFellow in interchange-plus form, but it’s quite likely they’ll be in tiered or flat-rate formats.

If you’re going with a non-certified quote, I’d recommend checking our review of that processor first.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

CardFellow’s advertising is straightforward. The website is forthcoming in a number of places about the way the company makes money, and CardFellow claims to earn the same commission regardless of the processor you choose. We aren’t privy to the exact standards CardFellow holds the processors for which it certifies quotes, but we were given the highlights (such as interchange-plus pricing).

Even though CardFellow doesn’t certify or officially “recommend” any processors, the legal agreement with each processor means CardFellow stands behind the certified quote and, at least by extension, the processor itself when operating inside the marketplace. The point is that you’re using a closely monitored sales process.

CardFellow’s oversight should help eliminate most of the pushy and dishonest tactics often used by sales reps in the industry. The worst I experienced was several follow-up sales emails from a processor through the anonymous messaging system — quite benign in the grand scheme of processor badgering.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

Processors placing certified bids within the CardFellow marketplace will not charge you a cancellation fee. In other words, your merchant account will be on a month-to-month agreement. Waiving early termination fees is one of the primary criteria for quote certification in CardFellow’s system. Of course, you should never trust a cancellation fee waiver unless you get it in writing. CardFellow ensures you receive a copy of the waiver.

You also do not have a contract with CardFellow, nor are you obligated to choose a processor through CardFellow if you obtain quotes. You will only be asked to agree to CardFellow’s terms of service when you create an account.

Customer Service & Technical Support

Ongoing support and personalized guidance are hallmarks of CardFellow’s service. Accordingly, I’ve already discussed most of the support services in this review’s Products & Services section.

More than simply a marketplace for quotes, CardFellow will act as your personal consultant and continue to monitor the account you end up with by performing an audit every six months.

Through the certified bid and acceptance process, you should end up with a dedicated account representative from your processor who will be your main point of contact. That said, do examine your potential processor’s customer service details and reputation by conducting some research of your own.

CardFellow Reviews, Complaints, & Testimonials

Negative CardFellow Reviews & Complaints

CardFellow is currently not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, but there aren’t any negative reviews or complaints registered with the watchdog group.

It’s important to remember that the lack of negative feedback about CardFellow does not mean all the processors that provide certified quotes also maintain spotless track records. It does mean that if merchants are upset about their experiences with the processors they signed up for via CardFellow, they are not blaming CardFellow for guidance toward bad decisions.

Positive CardFellow Reviews & Testimonials

If you take a look at the testimonials CardFellow puts on its website, you’ll see a comment, the commenter’s name, and the name of their business. Many of the recurring themes are echoed in the Verified Review sections of the individual processor profiles on the site. Here are the most common points of praise for CardFellow:

• Satisfaction With Processor Choice: Merchants were pleased with the processors they ended up with, some mentioning they’d been with their selections for several years.
• Saved Money: Most merchants providing testimonials confirmed saving money with their new processors, and a few volunteered the actual percentages or dollar amounts saved.
• Smooth Sales Process: Business owners appreciated the process’s speed and ease and were spared aggressive and misleading sales pitches from processors by using the system.
• Great Customer Service: The CardFellow team is praised time and again for their support both during and after using the marketplace to find a processor. Business owners feel CardFellow has acted as an ongoing advocate for their interests. Several also highlighted the personal attention they received from CardFellow founder Ben Dwyer.
• Helpful Articles: Many merchants reported that they’d initially discovered CardFellow through one of its enlightening blog articles on the credit card processing industry and then went on to use the marketplace to find a processor. Others explained how they continue to rely on CardFellow’s published resources when they run into problems.

Most of the external praise for CardFellow is within articles about searching for a good credit card processor. Google reviews have collected a handful of testimonials as well, and you’ll also find positive testimonials in our Comment section.

Final Verdict on CardFellow

CardFellow will likely be a pleasant experience for the average merchant. The signup process is painless and straightforward, the UI is sleek and intuitive, and the quote data is displayed in an understandable way. My impression is that CardFellow really understands the ins and outs of this industry and has set up a fair and valuable system for merchants.

Besides number crunching, you also enjoy the benefits of CardFellow’s personalized expertise and guidance through the gauntlet of choosing a processor. And the best part? The service is free to use. For these reasons and more, I highly recommend creating an account with CardFellow. Users who’ll see the greatest benefit from CardFellow will be those who don’t care to learn much about interchange and pricing models; they just want someone else to help them save money quickly.

If you are already knowledgeable in this area, you can probably negotiate some reasonable rates. Meanwhile, there’s no reason you can’t use Merchant Maverick’s merchant account reviews and CardFellow's number-crunching platform in tandem! I recommend that you check out both.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

CardFellow	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see CardFellow for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

CardFellow	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see CardFellow for yourself.

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