Elavon Review

Pros

• Large, direct processor
• Full range of products and services
• Interchange-plus pricing available upon request
• Flat-rate pricing through U.S. Merchant Services
• No early termination fees

Cons

• Standard three-year contract with an automatic renewal clause
• No pricing disclosed online
• Poor customer support
• Numerous public complaints

What Is Elavon?

Elavon is one of the largest merchant account providers in the United States, currently serving over 2 million customers in over 30 countries. Elavon’s size gives it several advantages, including the ability to process all transactions in-house and provide a full range of quality proprietary products and services.

However, there are also disadvantages to dealing with an organization of Elavon’s size. Search for Elavon reviews, and you’ll see that the company has a rather high volume of complaints filed against it. Now, considering the company’s size, that’s not unusual. However, Elavon’s public reception, which was already shaky, has deteriorated further in recent years.

On the positive side, U.S. Bank Merchant Services uses Elavon as a back-end processor, and you can get affordable, transparent pricing on Elavon processing if you go through U.S. Bank.

Products & Services

Elavon’s product offerings for processing online and in-person sales are on par with many respected merchant account providers, leading to the company’s decent score in this category.

However, Elavon’s features depend partly on how you sign up for processing—directly through Elavon or via another entity such as U.S. Bank Merchant Services, which is aimed at small businesses that want a lightweight, inexpensive plan.

Fees & Rates

Elavon has no pricing disclosures on its main website. Given the increasing transparency in the credit card processing industry as a whole, there’s absolutely no excuse for Elavon not to bother with these increasingly standard disclosures. On the other hand, Elavon earns some points for offering affordable, transparent pricing for plans via its U.S. Bank Merchant Services plans.

Pricing Overview

Elavon provides merchant accounts for businesses of all sizes, but unlike many providers, it has split its pricing options into two separate categories. One category, designed for small businesses, offers flat-rate pricing and low fees.

The other category is intended for larger enterprises and features quote-based pricing. This isn’t explained very well on the website, and the company doesn’t disclose any contract terms or pricing for the large business category.

If you’re not sure which Elavon pricing category will be most economical for your business, you’ll have to crunch the numbers and talk with an Elavon agent to see what specific rates and terms you’re offered.

Monthly Plans

Like most providers offering flat-rate pricing, Elavon’s small business plans, including those offered through U.S. Bank, feature low monthly fees and fixed processing rates. These plans allow you to buy your equipment outright or rent it on a month-to-month basis, which is a big plus.

Although the large business plans aren’t disclosed, you can expect to pay higher monthly and annual fees but have much lower processing rates.

Extra Costs

Regardless of your pricing plan, Elavon claims there are no cancellation fees and no “hidden” fees included with its merchant accounts.

However, should you still be interested in Elavon despite reading this review, you’ll still want to read your contract very carefully before signing up to understand all the possible payment processing fees and to confirm that you’re getting what your sales agent promised you.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

Advertising transparency is another area where Elavon lags behind the times, resulting in many merchants feeling cheated by the company. With its use of independent sales agents and its near-total lack of honest disclosures, we can’t give Elavon a decent score here.

The company scores a few points for not using any of the misleading sales gimmicks that many other processors use on their websites. Its “no hidden fees” claim is a little suspect, though. There are always going to be occasional extra fees for things such as chargebacks, for example.

Again, Elavon uses independent sales agents to market its products and services. Independent agents have a well-deserved bad reputation for failing to disclose important contract terms and using high-pressure tactics to close deals. Naturally, this leads to lots of unhappy merchants.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

Elavon still apparently offers three-year contracts, which is not what we like to see from a merchant account provider in this day and age, to put it mildly. Though these contracts now have no early termination fee, we’ve found numerous reports from merchants who closed their accounts, only to continue to be charged monthly fees long after they thought their accounts had been closed. Therefore, we have to give Elavon poor marks in this category.

If you close your account before your contract term runs out, follow the procedures outlined in your contract very carefully and monitor your account afterward to catch any unauthorized payments.

Also, unlike true month-to-month contracts, Elavon includes an automatic renewal clause for one to two years in its merchant agreements. This clause makes it even more difficult to close your account, as your contract might renew for a new term if you don’t provide adequate notice. We’re not thrilled about this.

Note that terminal leases through Ladco Leasing are under a separate contract — one which usually runs for four years and cannot be canceled without buying out the remaining months of the agreement.

Again, if you purchase an Elavon merchant account through U.S. Bank Merchant Services, you will have a month-to-month contract with no long-term commitment.

Customer Service & Technical Support

Elavon offers 24/7/365 US-based customer support via phone and email. Altogether, the company has support in 30 countries. However, there are simply too many complaints from small business owners regarding the quality of support offered to ignore — hence the company’s mediocre score in this category.

Be aware that if you sign up through a reseller, you’ll get customer support from that ISO and not through Elavon directly. In some cases, this can be an advantage.

If you’ve signed up with Elavon directly, you should also be assigned a dedicated account manager. This isn’t necessarily your sales agent, which is a good thing — turnover among independent sales agents is very high. While it’s generally an advantage to have a dedicated point of contact, your account manager won’t be available 24/7 (they have to sleep, too). Outside of regular business hours, you’ll be talking to a customer support representative.

Many merchants on consumer protection sites like the BBB have expressed dissatisfaction with Elavon’s customer support. Many of these complaints refer to resellers, such as Costco Merchant Services. However, there are also many complaints directed at Elavon itself, mostly from small business owners.

User Reviews

User reviews of Elavon are mixed, but there are more negative reviews than positive ones.

Final Verdict

There was a time when Elavon’s business practices were standard for the merchant account industry, and if you wanted to accept credit card payments, you simply had to deal with the likes of Elavon. We are long past that time.

The most significant advantage Elavon’s has is that you’ll have a full-service merchant account right off the bat, making it easier to transition to interchange-plus pricing when your business grows enough that flat-rate pricing no longer makes business sense. With Square, for example, if you outgrow the service, you’ll have to switch processors to get a full-service merchant account and interchange-plus pricing.

However, the simple fact is that many other providers of full merchant accounts offer vastly better pricing and contract transparency, better sales practices, and better customer service than Elavon in its current iteration. Additionally, Elavon’s has a relatively high complaint volume.

All of that being said, if you sign up for Elavon processing via U.S. Bank Merchant Services, you will receive fairer, more modern terms, which are better aligned with small business needs.

You can check out some more merchant account options in our list of the best merchant account providers for small businesses.

Credit Card Processor Review Methodology

We evaluate and test each payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on certain key characteristics in order to generate our granular ratings for merchant accounts and credit card processors.

For payment processing reviews, we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate the provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.

We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.

Read more about how we rate payment processors.

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Helcim	Visit Site Read our Review

With Helcim, you get everything you need to accept credit card payments online or in-person with a free account, plus high-quality support from real humans. Start For Free.