Elavon Review
- Date Established
- 1991
- Location
- Atlanta, GA
Overview:
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Elavon is one of the largest merchant account providers in the country. Originally launched in 1991 as NOVA Information Systems, the company merged with euroConex in 2008 and re-branded itself as Elavon. As part of U.S. Bank‘s (U.S. Bancorp‘s) Payment Services division, the company currently serves about 1.3 million merchants and processes more than three billion transactions yearly, exceeding $300 billion.
Of course, bigger isn’t always better, especially in the merchant services industry. Elavon’s size gives it several advantages, including the ability to process all transactions in-house without the need to use a third-party processor. The company is also able to offer a full range of its own products and services, and most of them are pretty good.
There are also some notable disadvantages to dealing with an organization of Elavon’s size. The company has a rather high volume of complaints filed against it, although considering the number of merchants it serves, this really isn’t all that unusual. More disturbing is that so many of the complaints cite poor to non-existent customer service and support after the sale. While this is a common issue in the processing industry, customer service seems to be an afterthought at Elavon. Given the company’s vast resources, there’s no excuse for this.
There are hundreds — if not thousands — of independent agents and organizations that resell Elavon’s services. We’ve reviewed some of them, but definitely not all. They go by different brand names, but at the end of the day, your account is probably being underwritten and boarded under the Elavon platform. Costco Merchant Services is a big reseller of Elavon’s merchant services (but not the best). One of our favorite providers, Helcim, also uses Elavon to set up accounts. If you’re thinking about signing on with Elavon, I would highly recommend that you do so through Helcim. They do an amazing job over there, giving you all the resources that Elavon has to offer in the most cost-effective and predictable package.
Elavon has responded in a positive way to recent changes in the processing industry, eliminating its early termination fee (but not providing true month-to-month contracts), and offering a low-cost, flat-rate pricing plan that’s geared towards small businesses. The company’s marketing still has room for improvement – there’s no mention of interchange-plus pricing, for example.
Your experience with Elavon, or any big provider for that matter, will depend mostly on the sales representative who sets you up with your account. Even if you go direct, there are still some sales agents who are more educated and/or ethical than others. Your goal is to find an agent within Elavon that you feel comfortable with. By doing that, you can ensure you’ll get the best experience possible. And, because you’re reading this site, you probably know more than most other business owners already, so you understand what to look for and what to ask. If you feel comfortable, feel free to negotiate your contract yourself. If not, let us know.
Overall, Elavon’s positive features outweigh their negatives – but not by much. At the moment, the company earns a 3.5 out of 5-star rating. If you want a five-star experience and an account set up with Elavon, I really do recommend that you check out Helcim. It has some of the fairest and most honest advertising in the industry, as well as highly competitive rates for businesses of all sizes.
Be sure to read through the rest of this Elavon review for more information, or jump to our comparison chart for more info on our best-rated providers!
Products & Services:
Elavon offers a full range of products and services for just about any business, including the following:
- Merchant accounts. As we’ve noted, Elavon is large enough and has the resources to handle all transaction processing in-house. You won’t have to worry about having to deal with a third party processor.
- Terminal sales and leasing. Elavon offers the Ingenico iCT250 for $499 as part of its small business-focused Terminal Offer pricing plan. While you can find the same terminal online for about half of this price, it’s a much better deal than leasing a terminal. Unfortunately, Elavon continues to set up terminal leases through Ladco Global Leasing Solutions, a company with a truly horrible reputation for expensive, four-year, non-cancellable leasing terms.
- Payment gateway/virtual terminal. Elavon offers their own proprietary payment gateway called Fusebox. If you’d like to use a different gateway (like Authorize.Net), the company can help you integrate it. Pricing is not disclosed for this feature.
- Mobile processing. Elavon supports mobile processing with its Converge Mobile app, which is available for both iOS and Android. The app connects to either the Ingenico iCMP Bluetooth-enabled PIN pad or the Ingenico RP457c card reader, which can connect through either the headphone jack or Bluetooth. Both readers support EMV and NFC payments. Converge Mobile is only available in the United States.
- Tablet-based mobile POS system. Elavon joined forces with Verizon in January 2015 to offer merchant business customers an integrated POS system that operates using mPOS software on Verizon’s 4G LTE network.
- Online reporting. This proprietary service is called Merchant Connect and seems to be pretty high quality compared to other online reporting tools I’ve seen. You can get a demo of it here.
- Gift/loyalty card programs. Called Fanfare, this loyalty program helps you provide incentives to customers. It’s free for your customers, and they can join with as little as a phone number. It also includes advanced reporting tools for you.
Big, established companies aren’t always the bastions of innovation, but it’s nice to see Elavon at least keeping pace with the latest developments in the industry. Two big recent rollouts are the company’s Commerce SDK (software development kit), which includes support for Apple Pay and paves the way for merchants to more easily accept EMV. Elavon also offers support for EMV and Apple Pay in Canada as well.
Rates & Fees:
Before diving into the numbers, let’s clear up a possible point of confusion. Elavon provides merchant accounts for businesses of all sizes, but unlike many providers, they’ve split their pricing options into two separate categories. One category, designed for small businesses, offers flat-rate pricing and low fees. This category is fully disclosed on their website. The other category is designed for larger businesses. Unfortunately, this isn’t explained very well on their website, and they don’t disclose any contract terms or pricing for the large business category.
If you’re not sure which 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 he or she can offer you. Like most providers that offer flat-rate pricing, Elavon’s small business plans feature low monthly fees, but high, fixed processing rates. These plans also allow you to buy your equipment outright, 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. There’s no indication of whether Elavon uses tiered or interchange-plus pricing or a combination of both. Be sure to request interchange-plus pricing. With the large business plans, you’ll have to either buy your own terminals or lease them from Elavon. You’ll definitely want to buy your own equipment, as Elavon provides their terminals through a partnership with Ladco Leasing, a company whose leases cannot be canceled without buying out the remaining months on your contract.
Elavon’s small business packages include a choice between a Terminal Offer and a Mobile Offer. Here are the terms for both of these options:
Terminal Offer
- Card-present transactions: 2.65% + $0.19 per transaction
- Card-not-present transactions: 3.5% + $0.19 per transaction
- $10.00 monthly account fee
- One Ingenico iCT250 terminal ($499.00)
Mobile Offer
- Card-present transactions: 2.65% + $0.19 per transaction
- Card-not-present transactions: 3.5% + $0.19 per transaction
- $10 monthly account fee
- One Magtek aDynamo mobile card reader ($24.99)
Either one of these offers will provide everything a small business needs to start accepting credit cards quickly. Note that while the price for the Magtek card reader is much lower than what you’ll find online, it can only read magstripe cards. There’s no EMV or NFC capability, meaning that the reader will soon be obsolete. The Ingenico terminal, on the other hand, supports both EMV and NFC. Unfortunately, you can buy this terminal online for about half of what Elavon is charging. You’ll have to pay to have your terminal re-programmed to work with Elavon’s merchant accounts, but there should still be significant savings over what Elavon is asking for their terminal.
Both offers claim that there are no cancellation fees and no “hidden” fees included with these accounts. While that’s probably true in a general sense, you’ll still want to examine your contract very carefully before signing up.
If you need more info on how credit card processing fees work, check out this article or our infographic.
Contract Length & Early Termination Fee:
Up until a few years ago, Elavon offered a standard contract that ran for three years and included an early termination fee. Unlike most merchant account providers, there was some proration of the ETF. If a merchant canceled their account within the first year, they would be charged the full early cancellation fee of $295. Cancellations within the second or third year of the contract were “only” charged $195.
Today, Elavon offers contracts with no early termination fee. However, they still include a three-year term. In other words, these are not truly month-to-month contracts. A true month-to-month contract essentially runs for 30 days at a time, and you’re free to close your account at any time, with no penalty. That’s not the case with Elavon. 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. If you decide to close your account before your contract term runs out, be sure to follow the procedures outlined in your contract very carefully.
Also note that, unlike true month-to-month contracts, Elavon also includes an automatic renewal clause for one to two years in their contracts. This 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.
While it’s good to see that Elavon is following the growing trend in the processing industry by eliminating their early termination fees, I’d like to see them eliminate the three-year terms as well and offer true month-to-month contracts. If you’ve been with Elavon for a long time, you might want to review your contract, as it might still have the old ETF clause in it. Re-negotiating your contract to eliminate this clause would be a good idea, just in case you ever need to close your account. Also, 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 on the contract.
Sales & Advertising Transparency:
Elavon’s elimination of their early termination fee and the introduction of flat-rate pricing for small merchants indicates that they are responding in a positive way to some of the emerging trends within the processing industry. At the same time, the company seems to be continuing some of the disliked practices that have given the industry such a bad reputation.
Advertising transparency, or rather the lack thereof, is one area where the company still needs to catch up. On one hand, the company deserves credit for disclosing their flat-rate pricing plans for small businesses. Flat-rate pricing isn’t for everyone, though. For a large business, the relatively high processing rates of the flat-rate plans would cost you much more in the long run than whatever you would save with the lower account fees. Elavon offers other pricing models, but they don’t mention anything about them on their website. Even a simple blurb mentioning that they offer interchange-plus pricing would be an improvement.
The company also scores a few points for not using any of the misleading sales gimmicks that so many other processors use on their websites. Their “no hidden fees” claim is a little suspect, though. There are always going to be occasional extra fees for things like chargebacks, for example.
One thing to be aware of is that 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 a high-pressure sales approach in order to close a deal. Naturally, this has led to a lot of complaints from merchants. Don’t allow yourself to be pressured into signing a contract until you’ve had a chance to review it thoroughly.
For a company as large as Elavon, it’s surprising to see how limited their social media presence is. They don’t have an official Facebook page, although you will find a very unofficial page where people have left reviews (mostly negative) of the company. Elavon is on Twitter, and their account appears to be frequently updated. They also have a YouTube channel that features testimonials and educational videos about the company’s products.
Customer Service & Technical Support:
Elavon offers 24/7/365 US-based customer support (assuming you’re a US-based merchant, that is) via telephone and email. Altogether, the company has support in 13 countries. I had a brief interaction with a support rep who seemed intelligent and well-trained, but I can’t speak for their ability to handle complex, long-term or sensitive issues. You should also be aware that if you sign up through a reseller, you might get customer support from that ISO and not through Elavon directly.
If you’ve signed up with Elavon directly, you should also be assigned a dedicated account manager. Note that this isn’t necessarily your sales agent. That’s a good thing because turnover among independent sales agents is very high. While it’s generally an advantage to have a dedicated point of contact for your account, be aware that your account manager won’t be available 24/7 (they have to sleep, too). Outside of normal business hours, you’ll be talking to a customer support representative.
Many merchants in both our Comments section and on consumer protection sites like the BBB have expressed dissatisfaction with Elavon’s customer support. However, many of these complaints seem to come through resellers like Costco Merchant Services.
For self-help, Elavon now includes a fairly extensive knowledge base in the Welcome Center section of their website. Here, you’ll find equipment manuals and brief articles explaining how credit card processing works. Overall, it’s an above-average resource, and something many processors don’t provide at all.
Negative Reviews & Complaints:
Elavon has been accredited by the BBB since 2009, and, currently, has an A+ rating. The company presently shows 185 complaints filed against it within the past three years, 49 of which were filed within the past twelve months. This complaint volume is has gone down slightly since our last review. While this might seem like a lot of complaints, remember that Elavon serves 1.3 million merchants. With that large of a customer base, complaints are inevitable. Elavon has responded to each and every complaint, which is part of why it has an A+ rating.
Ripoff Report also has 49 complaints filed against Elavon, mostly alleging the same issues as the BBB complaints. The number of complaints is about the same as it was at the time of our last review update. This is actually a good trend because Ripoff Reports never deletes complaints.
These are the most common issues you’ll see in complaints against Elavon:
- Withholding of funds/termination of accounts: This is a trend in payment processing, especially among companies that offer instant approval. These companies accept a certain amount of risk for taking on a merchant. If that merchant starts conducting business outside of the agreed-upon terms, then the company has a right to investigate. That said, there is a big difference between protecting the company and arbitrarily freezing accounts for even the slightest suspicion, and it’s something we give a lot of weight to in our ratings. There are several reasons why Elavon might put a red flag on your account, but you can learn how to avoid them here. If you are a high-risk merchant, you might want to look for a specialist in high-risk accounts, like Payline Data or Durango Merchant Services.
- Over-priced terminal leases: While Elavon’s Terminal Offer and Mobile Offer pricing plans for small businesses allow you to buy your equipment outright, the company continues to partner with Ladco Leasing to lease terminals to larger businesses. Ladco Leasing has an absolutely terrible reputation in the industry, with non-cancellable four-year leasing terms that will cost you thousands of dollars over the life of the lease. Many merchants complain about having to buy out the remaining months of their lease, even after returning their terminals and closing their accounts.
- PCI compliance fee: There are still a number of older complaints regarding Elavon’s PCI compliance fee. While the amount seemed to vary from one merchant to another, it clearly was much higher than the industry average (about $99 per year). These complaints seem to have dwindled now that Elavon apparently no longer charges for PCI compliance (at least under their Terminal Offer and Mobile Offer plans).
Positive Reviews & Testimonials:
Testimonials from Elavon aren’t as numerous as complaints, but they do come up occasionally. There are three on Elavon’s Customer Stories page. Beyond that, there are a few case studies on Elavon’s security and information regarding its reliability, as well as a glowing statement from MasterCard concerning EMV compliance. If you know of any other testimonials or case studies, please share them in the Comments section of this post.
Positive aspects of Elavon’s service include the following:
- Website design and online sales copy: Elavon’s website is clean, professional looking, and includes a lot of useful information for both prospective and existing customers.
- Disclosure of some fees and rates: Flat-rate pricing doesn’t make sense for everyone, but it can be a really good deal for a small or newly established business. A large company like Elavon doesn’t have to cater to small businesses. The fact that they do sets them apart from other processors (like North American Bancard), who clearly have no idea how to market to small businesses.
- No early termination fee: While Elavon doesn’t provide true month-to-month contracts, dropping their early termination fee puts them ahead of other traditional processors who still charge an ETF.
Final Verdict on Elavon:
If you’re a small business owner and you’ve been shopping around, reading merchant account reviews, you’ve probably noticed that Elavon’s flat-rate Mobile Offer is pretty similar to merchant account reviews, you’ve probably noticed that Elavon’s flat-rate Mobile Offer is pretty similar to Square. The processing rates are nearly identical, although the Mobile Offer is a little more expensive due to the $10.00 monthly account fee and the fact that you have to buy your magstripe card reader. The biggest advantage Elavon’s Mobile Offer has is that it will be much easier to transition to a full merchant account through Elavon when your business grows enough that flat-rate pricing doesn’t make sense for you anymore. With Square, if you outgrow their service, you’ll have to switch processors in order to get a full-service merchant account and interchange-plus pricing.
While Elavon has struggled with its reputation, these days I really have no problem recommending the company as a viable payment processor — at the corporate level, at least. When you start dealing with independent resellers, all bets are off. Like many big providers, Elavon suffers from a lack of consistency across the numerous ISOs using its name. This makes it very difficult to provide you with an overarching rating. If you want to get the best deal possible through Elavon, make sure you contact corporate sales directly and feel out your agent.
Better yet, I recommend that anyone interested in Elavon should sign up with Helcim. This will provide you with all of the benefits of using a big processor like Elavon without any of the pitfalls. Helcim uses interchange-plus pricing exclusively. It also has low monthly fees, fair equipment prices, and true month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees. Check them out – or check out our finder tool to find a company that best fits you.
For such a large, traditional processor, Elavon offers a few advantages. They deserve credit for eliminating their early termination fees and disclosing their flat-rate pricing plans. While they still generate a fair number of complaints from merchants, their overall complaint volume seems pretty stable. At the same time, they lose a few points for not disclosing the availability of interchange-plus pricing and for inconsistent customer service and support. Heavy reliance on independent sales agents and their continuing partnership with Ladco Leasing for terminal leases also lowers their score significantly. Overall, Elavon gets 3.5 out of 5 stars. While this isn’t a bad score, it’s not great, either.
Want to see what it takes to get five stars here at Merchant Maverick? Take a look at our handy comparison chart. Again, for Canadian merchants, I can’t recommend Helcim highly enough. Do you have first-hand experiences with Elavon? Leave us a comment about it, good or bad.
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102 Comments
The customer service here is absolutely terrible. The first person I talked to gave me some information I was looking for, but I had lots of questions and emailed them back to her. She never responded. I sent a follow up email a few days later and still heard nothing. I then called her extension and left a voicemail and she still never responded to either my emails or phone call. I then called back and spoke to a different person who was incredibly rude. The only reason I stayed on the phone with him was because he had given me more information than the first person. I then had further questions for him and we left a voicemail on his extension. Never called back. Needless to say, we are done with this company and have chosen someone else to work with.
This is a company that invests very little in it's field representatives and customer service phone staff. Technology is moving fast and this company is lacking in the training in the updating and general functionality of their machines. My deli staff knows more about updating parameters, TID and operations than most of the Elavon representatives. I process $750,000 per year in credit cards, you'd think I wouldn't have to suffer long phone wait times to spend time correcting mistakes Elavon has caused. Even their field representatives have long phone wait times; the company doesn't provide a "back door" problem solving phone line for them.Very disheartened with the company and currently seeking another after only 3 years.
Elavon are pure evil . Do not use them ever for credit card processing. They do not support small businesses but instead bully them .and harass them with a team of nerds that have no idea about running anything. After One year of having the account I was forced to give my financial statements when they wanTed them and then bullied on a conference call , discussing every aspect of my statements and all kinds of intruding questions about my business . Don't use them.
Alert Stay Away……
Elavon D.B. A classic.converge pay.com, for small business this merchant account was assign to us by Regions Bank for our small sales company http://www.yellowhelper.info
first batch was without a problem and the second, then the nightmare started, first they we got an e mail from Elavon did not know they are the same company stating that the charges are not correct information was missing so they held on to the next weeks of useless e-mails from (Sara Miller) sara.miller@elavon.com (Investigative Analyst) claiming, 1) she can not access our website 2) Information from the clients is incorrect, 3) Explanations on how & what we sell to our clients bla bla, and I say this because it was all useless, our IT department send screen shots of everything to do with our business pictures of the office, direct links to our website etc and Nothing worked. Confirmation from our clients vie e-mail, doc sign agreement and to the point to ask them to call her line directly because she was not satisfied with the info we provided even to the point to ask the client on what year they apply to their cc, our clients took their time to call her directly and no luck she made us look like we were stealing and Embarrassed, our company to the point that have more personal information from our clients than is necessary in order to prove her the purchase was legal now for one how will our clients purchase from us if they don’t see our site on line only one that was or did not follow up on that was her, 2 they call her direct line to give her their personal info in order to clarified the miss understanding and on top of that was not enough e-mails where send at the end of the day so I take it this lady before she left without following up on our business just send an is not good enough and after all she just said sorry your account is closed we will be holding on to your money for 90 days you not good enough for us, so if you are a small business and think about dealing with them STAY AWAY READ MY STORY that is not a story is a nightmare for my start up…
We have used this service for a number of years and until we switched to the ingenico cc processing machine a few months ago we had been quite pleased. Then the wheels fell off.On the few occasions we tried to use the new processing device it wouldn't sink with the apple cell phone used for the data import. When we contacted tech support we had to re-program the phone app due to software updates that had wiped out the previous settings. To get this done we had to supply customer account #, user ID, password and finally our federal ID tax number. This was inconvenient enough when done in an office environment with all those items available but impossible to provide when we were at a mobile site ready to process payments only to find the device would sink with the phone.On Monday at an event it happened again and we were able to give all the appropriate ID's to the tech rep until he asked for our Fed ID. Not exactly a number we carry with us everyday. Without that he couldn't do anything to help and informed me that they were having constant problems due to the model I-phone we were using. Tuesday we called our rep to see if there was a solution to this perpetual problem and never received a call back. On Wednesday we made another call and sent an email to our rep telling her we wanted to cancel our account. She responded she wasn't in the office but we could cancel our account by calling customer service and she would call us on Thursday. On Thursday we called customer service to cancel our account and to request a refund for the cc reader that had not worked more than it did work. They said there wouldn't be any problem canceling our account and they would check to see if they could refund us the cost of the device.What a surprise that neither our customer rep or the supervisor at customer service made any attempt to save our account. Instead they politely said they would process the cancellation.Thank goodness we had a back-up service called Pay Pal that handled our cc processing the day of our event.
If I could give it a negative star review ("minus 50 stars), I would. I NEVER told that I would have to spend two HOURS signing up with the ridiculously overburdensome PCI manager process, which of course keeps sending me messages saying I'm not yet complete even though m sales rep guaranteed me, after the two hours we spent together on a blustery afternoon, that I was completely finished. I was also never told that, instead of simply being able to pull up an app and choose which account I would put money into from a transaction, I have to go in and out of the stupid slow app to sign on and off with various passwords do so. The receipts are terrible - you can't save them, you can't send them, you can't text them. You can print them, which is totally worthless and just wastes paper. The online experience isn't any better. Not only do you have to put in a number, and a user name, and a password, then you have to remember which of the tiny-print screen options to choose once you're in the system. Oh - and never ever try to go back to a previous screen under any conditions. Why? Because you get the fun opportunity to sign on again with all the same information you just put in.I am a one-girl shop. I didn't need fifty thousand hoops to jump through to allow people to pay from their credit cards. NOT WORTH IT AT ALL, no matter how much money it is (allegedly) saving me. I have spent at least a half a day of time trying to finish all the items they deem necessary in order to begin accepting payments. I will be cancelling this service at the very first opportunity that I have to do so.I will never recommend this service to anyone.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Elavon seemed fairly easy to set up in a US Bank. But transaction fees weren't as cheap as advertised. Then came the fraudulent hidden fees.The worst are their hidden fees. PCI compliant fees come without warning, so you get PCI compliant. When I opened two accounts one was charged immediately even after I told them I wanted the month to month to be the active one.Then came 2017 with bogus location fees, again without warning.Tech support said to check your email , then your regular mail; but nothing came. Instead customer service told me I have to go on and create an online account with their site. I don't want a stupid online account just to look at notices. This is fraud. Not only do you have to create an online account to process online (www.myvirtualmerchant.com ) you have to create a separate statement account (www.merchantconnect.com) just to look at your statements. I assume they do this intentionally hoping people only set up a processing account online.Result, this year I was charged $49.99 for this new "location fee" without warning. They say they can't refund it and that the credit card companies are the ones that charge it. Typical corporate fraud taking advantage of small businesses.Not worth the time to have to babysit a Merchant service account because changes will happen without warning.I'm not only cancelling my Elavon account, I'm cancelling my US Bank Account who also fraudulently charge my bank account for "nonuse". Hello, if I'm not using it, it's not costing them anything to keep it open!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
When I originally commented I appear to have
clicked on the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and from now on whenever a comment is added I receive
four emails with the exact same comment. There has to be an easy method you are
able to remove me from that service? Cheers!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Wolfgang,
Thank you for reaching out. The 4 comments is a bug that should be fixed by now. You should be able to unsubscribe from the notifications within the email alert. I hope this helps and if you have further questions please let me know.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
http://sunfrogus.net
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a
comment is added I get several emails with the same comment.
Is there any way you can remove me from that service?
Thanks!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hello,
Thank you for reaching out. The multiple email notifications is a bug that should be fixed by now. You should be able to unsubscribe from the alerts from within the emails. I hope this helps but if you have further questions please let me know.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I thought I had ceased business with Elavon, I bought out my contract and returned the card machine,gave 30 days notice.ceased the direct debit..and yet I continue to receive further bills, I certainly would not recommend this company,they could definitely contribute to putting a small company out of business,due to there extortionate business practices. Keep well clear,you've been warned !
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Elavon and Ladco Leasing. Please be aware that these two entities are subsidiary and are under the same umbrella. If there is a problem these two will send a merchant back and forth claiming the other can only solve the problem.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Buyer beware. Look over statements carefully and continually. Any errors need to be brought to their attention within 45 days or merchant is left without recourse.
Review 75 page Terms of Service, recomend a lawyer if needed so merchant is fully educated on charge backs and other issues. Ask for detailed list of fees up front in writing. Keep copy of terms and contract. Advise Do not lease or rent any terminals.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
What a bunch of disorganized thieves! They were referred through my bank and I just assumed my bank had done some due diligence on these guys. We have almost no charge backs, well one client who had worked with us for over 2 years decided that he would dispute 6 months of charges, $1000 per month for six months. He claimed he did not order the TV advertising time. I sent a letter to each request along with the signed contract to Elavon and they decided on 5 of the 6 invoices that they would credit back the money that they charged back when he filed the claim, keep in mind that all six invoices were for the same ads based on the same contract. I then get a call from "Revenue protection lady" who asks me if "I have the money to cover if there is a charge back", I explain to her that there had been only one charge back for $1000. She told me do avoid fees that I should "credit back $5000", I protested and said I did not want to do that. So I check my bank statement a few days later and these scum had drained my account $400 at a time, like a street criminal does on a credit card fraud or debit card fraud, so that they could get as much as possible without "bouncing" the request, in all they took $8000 before the they hit "uncollected fund" which cost me bank fees. So they have $8000 of my money for a very weak claim for chargeback of $5000 and no one can give me a straight answer as to why $8000 and more importantly are they going to be taking more money from my account without my permission. Real pieces of dirt. Do not use this company, they are crooked.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
In fairness processors really have nothing to do whether you win or lose charge backs. When a customer disputes a charge, the issuing bank of that card contacts the processor, in this case Elavon, and tell them what they need for the chargeback. Elavon then contacts you to let you know about the chargeback and are basically passing on info from that issuing bank. Elavon really has nothing to do in regards to you winning or losing, it’s the issuing bank making the decision based on the info you provided. A LOT of merchants don’t understand this process and blame the processor. Understand I’m not a fan of Elavon as they are a competitor but I do like educating people about the industry. Even with this info many will still want to blame the processor but again, that’s due to not understanding the process. Hope this helps.
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I would never recommend this company. They make it nearly impossible to close your account. We had no problem with the initial signing on or their service, but we found we just weren't using it as all our customers are now on N 30 accounts. I have emailed, called, etc. They just don't respond. When I call I get put on hold and no live person ever comes back. I have sent several emails and get weird responses, such as :MSP- please assist this is an MSP account, but I am not contacted by anyone. This has been gong on for several months now. It's quite frustrating. Today, I emailed through the website stating if I did not get a response, I would file a complaint through the BBB. This company is not transparent and has dishonest business practices. Frankly, I am surprised they are allowed to continue to operate. I checked the BBB and they don't have a good reputation. There are many complaints filed for the same reason, cancellation takes several months and only happens after repeated contact and filing of complaints. It's their business strategy to stretch it out for as long as they can.
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I would never recommend or use this service. I was signed up by a third party claiming he worked for Elavon. He got me into a five year contract I am unable to cancel. After paying $50 dollars a month for two years (on a machine that costs under $700) I decided to use a different service. I tried to cancel and they told me I had to pay $1500 dollars to get out of the lease or continue to pay for the service. It gets worse. I asked what we could do about at least upgrading the machine as the rules have changed in Canada. They said they would not upgrade my machine unless I resigned a longer lease. My sales reps name was Alex. I will leave out his last name but if this guy comes into pitch you a sale……… RUN. Overall, ripped off and left helpless is how I feel. Thanks for nothing Elavon
Jorden
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This month, $53.80 in fees on $90.00 in sales. Elavon takes advantage of you, constantly increases the costs and fees. It should be illegal to charge as much as they do.
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How is that possible ? I am just curious ..what did they have to say about it.
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I wish to terminate my association with Elavon, please direct , thank you
Theresa
201-656-9449
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Hi Theresa,
You’ll have to contact Elavon directly. They will let you know how to submit the paperwork. Let us know if you need help finding a replacement.
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I wanted to rate this company with no stars. They are rubish, over charging, liars who have no interest in customer service. Our terminal was down for almost 4 weeks, nobody cares or tried to help but Slavonic keep taking the minimum payment that we were never told about. You try to speak to ladco, they then claim to be elavon when you try to call or complain. Staff then tell you to speak withXLN, who blame Spire? Confused so are we! We have been misled and lied to. Do not trust or use any of these companies.
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I have been using Elavon for more than 10 years. Everything was great when they had a local representative. He closed shop an moved to Florida. Elavon never notified me about it. My Equinox card processing machine had an error message making it unusable. I tried to get help from their support services. I had one voice mail and return the call. Nobody called me again even after several email and attempts to talk to somebody on the telephone. I waited sometimes for more than an hour. When I was finally able to talk to someone, they told me that they no longer had a local representation and referred me to their regional representative. I called that office several times and left messages but nobody returned my call. After 3 weeks of being unable to process any cc, I decided to call Flagship. I am delighted by their prompt response and good rates. Now I am facing with the problem of closing my account with Elavon! Stay away from this company.
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I own a small bakery had a machine of these people it worked three times kept freezing. My staff spent hours trying to get help from them but none was given. In the end I wrote a letter of complaint and eventually got a phone call he agreed to send me a different type of machine This one didn’t work at all. Again numerous phone calls emails. Nothing no response at all apart from taking double the amount from my bank each month. I stopped payments after 6 months of paying for nothing at all and guess what. Two months later. Not a word from this lot. That tells me a lot about this company. They don’t even ask for their machines back but then they took enough money of me to pay for the duds
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I cannot get support from the company. My card machine is down and I have been on hold for 45 minutes waiting for support , this time. I am about to give up. I have tried at different times of the day and cannot get a live person each time. I have not been able to take a credit card payment for three days now.
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Elavon was fairly OK until early this year (2015). I had some trouble with the credit card machine. I tried to contact Elavon customer service three times. Each time, I was placed on hold 45-40 minutes and still did not get to the customer agent. I gave up and started to look for another credit card service.
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Never had a problem with Elavon until this week. All hypercoms 4200 crashed…are you one of those? and why is this an industry hush hush? No matter what the instructions, can’t get the machine to take the reboot. Spend 45 minutes get all the way to end and refuses. Get server Training error. I’m pretty good with technology. Elavon’s customer service on this horrendous. I haven’t been able to process in a week. Phone tag with customer service or put on hold for 45 minutes.
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I recently left Elavon at which they do not know this yet because you can't get them on the phone. I've called and emailed a rep. and he won't return my call or email. Both my wife and I have tried 4 times and waited on hold for nearly 30 minutes each time.Currently I'm investigating a debit from my bank account for $49.95 monthly that is from a company they gave my bank account number to back in 2011. Beware of UMG Merchant Technical Solutions! They are connected to Merchant Services (Elavon) and will claim you authorized their service for software support or something technical. Hundreds if not thousands have been scammed by them! I give them zero stars!
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I have a small restaurant and i am Elavon's customer over 10 years. Today, they cook me to dead by putting my machine out of date without notification. Before i had asked the sale rep Gary Bell if it is ok for me to keep the old machine; his answer is "Elavon is not guarantee for any tpye of fraud" but he did not mention about the new program to push my machine out of date. I am a little bit mad with Elavon right now, because i am losing a lot of business and getting frustrated, i decide to switch the account to other company today. If you guy are new customer, don't sign up with Elavon because you will be cooked like me in one day and they try to get your money. Good luck.
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I’ve been with this company for over 14 years and up until now have been satisfied with customer service. I’ve had several veri -phone terminals over the years and had only a few problems( cost me $600) but the new chip reader terminal(ingenico something or other) has been a nightmare and the customer service dept basically has said we can’t help you, we don’t know why all chip charges are declined , it has to be every bank in the worlds fault, not us or that new machine we just sold you. I am being forced to find a new provider ,they have been NO help and I have spent hours and hours on the phone and two machines and still can’t process chip charges and it’s the new law. Stay away from these guys, that guy Desimone must be getting his palms greased somehow.
no
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This is the worst credit card processing company ever. I was knocked off the sight and it told me to call a phone # which I did and was on hold 23 minutes. While waiting my customer left and came back 4 times and was very angry. I called another # and they switched me back to the the same place have been on hold again for 10 minutes and 38 seconds. How do you stay in business like this?
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SCAM for sure!!! I, too, has falsely led into believing I would say money w Elavon. Not only did I not SAVE money, but I'm now paying TWICE as my old merchant services company (Heartland ~ to whom I wish I could return) BUT, I was told that I would have to pay a thousands of dollars to leave Elavon... making it impossible for me, a small business, to afford to leave. I was promised the moon by the sales rep who initially contacted me to with over to Elevon. I am now paying w Elavon:1) a swipe fee from Elavon, from the CC company, AND Elavon forwards all the fees the CC company assesses them, AND2) $.10 per swipe, AND3) .01% extra fee per swipe, AND4) $7 compliance fee, AND5) $35 minimum monthly fee, AND6) $thirty-something per year to have access to my statement onlineThe customer service has been terrible to horrible. LIES AND HORRIFIC SERVICE!!I would not recommend this company to ANYone. In fact, I take every opportunity I can to tell my clients just how much US Bank/Elavon is screwing me EVERYwhere!DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY AS A MERCHANT SERVICE PROVIDER! It is costing me twice what my previous merchant services provider was charging me....
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I've been with Costco/Elavon card processing since '03. I purchased An Ingenico wireless terminal through them this spring ('15) for $600.00. This machine wouldn't work in any of the rural areas I work. I sent the machine back for refund a couple months ago and still do not have my money back. Every rep I talk to (after being on hold forever) said 7 to 10 days for processing, heard that three times now. When I tried to have them hook my old machine back up they said the programming is no longer valid and I have to pitch it. So we updated to the i-pad version which actually works well at a much lower cost. But I still don't have my money back. Apparently there is no one in their office who can help me and according to the "manager" I talked with there is no one above her that exists to help me. They get my money from me instantly when they need it, why can't I get my money (that they have) in a timely fashion?
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They ding you hard for pci compliance and you almost have to be a computer guru to comply!! Pretty shady! Also their customer service SUCKS!! Their idea of fixing something is call in front of a customers house, wait on hold for a half hour during a supper rush, then be ignorant to you, make you do stupid things like pull the battery out for a half hour while sitting in front of the customers house. I will be done usi g them in a month and will never use them again!
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Elavon does not inform customers that when you update to accept chip cards, most debit cards are only ran as credit cards - debit is a service not allowed. They told me today they were not rolling that out until October (when they are required to have it rolled out).
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Sorry. I didn't realized the "Rating" is for the company "Elavon Merchant Services". Of course, I give them the worst possible rating. I thought the rating was for the replied post.Many thanks, R.
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I work with a small non-profit organization that helps at risk kids. We are 100% volunteer organization. We went with elavon to process donations. After our first major funding drive in March 2015 all of our funds have been held in a "security reserve". We are contacting them at least on a weekly basis and being asked to jump through 1,000 hoops. It is now late June and we are still waiting for the funds with just promises of we are reviewing etc. What kind of organization takes funds for children at risk???Definitely recommend never to use this service.
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They have worst customer service, they lie in order to get customers! Just the worst. do not join them as you will be very disappointed and you will pay a lot more than what they promise.
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I got their service through Digitech. Basically I feel lied to by pushy salesman who promised me savings in the $100/year and after 2 month of use I was paying more than with the company I came from before. For all you folks who's strong suit is not math, here is how you calculate what % you are paying...no ifs ands or buts!! Forget all the brain baffling nonsense they try and hook you in with over the phone. The % they charge you they say is not what you end up paying after all the extra fees they tack on! For example, if you run through $4500/mth of charges and their invoice takes $200 from you (basically the average my old company took) you are actually losing 200/4500 = 4.44% of your sales to merchant fees! My old company charged 1.75% on VISA and Master Card...but that is not what you end up paying!! Do this calculation on your merchant services invoices and get the real answer of how much you loose every time a customer pulls out their credit card!!!
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Beware of the false promises Elavon makes when you sign up. I was switching from First Data last October and doing some research trying to find a new payment processing company. Basically they all have you by the …..
I was searching for a company that would take one payment and provide me with an effective rate which would incorporate all of their fees. This fee would also include the card association fees…which they told me was no problem because Elavon works directly with mastercard and Visa and they could control those rates. Monex Group told me that this was impossible that Elavon could absolutely not do this. Bringing this to the attention of my Elavon salesman [Name Removed] he again assured me that they could control these fees. I have a copy of the email. I also did some hypothetical examples of U.S. Cards being used and got him to verify that the fee I calculated. He assured me that this was correct.. When I got my very first statement..I was shocked when I was charged card processing fees which increased my fee by 16% Well now I have spent the time setting this up paid my set up fee and paid for a new machine ….[the sales rep] is telling me that he never told me that and that they cannot control these fees. So [the sales rep] is portraying me now to be a client that couldn’t possibly have understood the actual concept of all of these fees we discussed initially. Well guess what ..I did. And I have copies of the emails. These people know it is painful and an interruption of business for merchants to switch companies. Plus they know that most companies don’t have time to actually verify their statements and figure out their effective rates once they have them signed up. A note to business owners…look at your statements and do the math..your bookkeeper probably hasn’t or can’t figure out all of these charges. Plus their rates will keep going up. So…[the sales rep] took one day to process my application when I decided to go with Elavon but now since I have complained it is going to take two weeks to bring this to the attention of management. if I have to change companies it will cost me my set up fee and the cost of my machine which is not right! Do NOT believe these people. Once they get you in the door…you will find undisclosed minimum charges added to your bill. A business friend and aqua instance who also deals with Elavon…did a spreadsheet incorporating all of the fees Elavon charges…the result she paid $86.50 per month just to process if she had NO TRANSACTIONS BECAUSE OF ALL OF HER FEES. She pays a PCI compliance fee, a service contract fee, minimum monthly billing fee for debit transactions, terminal maintainance fee, card association fees , monthly statement fees.
Can you believe this people? Well believe it …check your statements and do the math.
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3/19/2015BEWARE. SCAM ALERT.1. This company (Elavon Merchant Services) will charge you 7.78% (unqualified rate as of March 2015) processing fees. Practically anything will bump you to unqualified. All in All, for the year 2014, our business paid to Elavon in processing fees, PCI compliance fees, transaction fees, non-use fees (when I finally got rid of them late last year I had a couple of months of low activity where they would charge me $35/month for under usage) and 4 other fees for over 10% in total processing fees to Elavon. Next year they'll probably be at 11-12%! That's Outrageous. A few years ago after many phone discussions; they lead me to believe I was just paying 2.75-3.75% and no more, they said never any more than that.2. I was told in 2011 on the phone by customer service that my rate was 3.75% (unqualified) when actually it was 6.75 (maybe they’re trained to lie!). Currently they are at 7.78% + per transaction fees. Most of my transactions for last year were unqualified for on reason and one reason only according to their supervisor; because of the type of credit card my customer was using! (i.e. Business to business, international, Corporate, World, Visa Signature Preferred etc. are all unqualified). And on top of that the Elavon supervisors blamed the high rates on VISA and MC when SQUARE INC can somehow do it for 3.5% (see below).3. Customer care supervisors seem shady and WILL NOT answer many questions.4. I cancelled Elavon (I’ve been duped long enough) and currently I am with SQUARE INC. and am paying no more than 3.5% unqualified for manually keyed (verified; 2.75% qualified w/card swiped) with no per transaction fees. No additional fees for i.e. Business to business cards, international, Corporate cards, World, Visa Signature Preferred cards etc. These rates were verified by an easy phone call to Square and easy to read daily statements in my email. This is thousands of $ per year in savings! GO FOR SQUARE!Additionally:1. Elavon requires you to request rate reviews to keep your rates down. And who wants to be constantly requesting rate reviews in order to not be ripped off! (In other words: Everyone has a different rate). They are not going to tell you that you should request a rate review, you will find out after you’ve been ripped off.2. The company is (probably purposely) confusing, and a total rip-off.3. Final complaint: All the different stories I got from each different supervisor just added to the confusion.I’m tired of getting ripped off and decided to start fighting back with on-line reviews. I was delaying a couple weeks in submitting this review because the Elavon Supervisor said that they would look into everything and get back to me. Of course they didn’t.Best regards,Philip C. (a Very Unhappy Customer)My Chauffeur Transportation Co.Portland Oregon
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
With a small, net-based business, I don't use a terminal, but telephone the card info daily. Until a couple of months ago, I would have given Elavon 4 or 5 stars. However, they recently raised their monthly fee by $6 to provide "better service." As of a few days ago, the "better service" consisted of outsourcing their customer service from Knoxville to South Asia (probably India), where poorly trained reps with phony American names have me jumping through hoops to complete the processing of overseas charges.It looks like arbitrarily raising fees and throwing Americans out of work is their idea of "better service." I guess the executive bonuses weren't high enough.I'm now actively looking for another processor.
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I have to give them five stars. I have been with them since 1989 and haven't had any of these problems mentioned in this discussion. Although I will say that I refused the offer or suggestion to upgrade my dinosaur of a terminal that only cost me 250.00 in 1989. I just switched to using their internet processing, there is a fee of 150.00 (one time). I Won't know for sure until it posts in Feb.I did terminate with them in Sept to switch to TransFirst which turned into a nightmare very quickly, undisclosed tier pricing, triple the fees, undisclosed 500.00 termination fee, promises, promises, promises. Now a threat from their CService department of legal action if I don't verbally agree to a reduced 200.00 cancellation fee. No accountability for the unfullfilled promise of low rates.
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I terminated early and was hounded by a subsidiary of theirs claiming that I owed them thousands of dollars for the equipment that was leased, even though I returned it to Elavon. I must have been called at least 25 times by various collection agents making threats against my companies credit history etc, all of which of course never did happen.Now, two years later I am called every second day by cash advance companies that claim to have been given my info from Elavon. These telemarketers know my name, daily gross sales, position in the company and more. This all leads me to think Elavon is a disgusting company that will squeeze as much as they can out of you.
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They DO charge an early termination fee. That is false. They suckered me in with a promise of lower fees, then proceeded NOT to save me any money. When I switched, they continued to debit my account and refused to stop doing so unless I paid a $195 early termination fee. Unscrupulous and corrupt. DO NOT use Elavaon.
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worse merchant processor ever they owe me money and i am not going to get to collect.
salesperson from us bank won’t return my phone calls, didn’t fully disclose or totally mislead all details regarding fees. don’t ever consider using. they don’t even rate a 1 star
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Elavon is a scam - they skim credit card transactions made abroad, by defaulting option to pay in "home" currency and charging 3.5% for that. Credit card company provides this service for free already, so this is just stealing money.
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This is completely true. I have just been stolen the infamous 3.50% commission. I think it is ever higher: they have charged me 8.70 EUR for 5.89 GBP. According to VISA webpage ( http://www.visaeurope.com/making-payments/exchange-rates ), this is a 4.60% commission over VISA exchange rates (I should have been charged 8.32 EUR if the commission were 0%).
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so now there taking money right out of my account I don't even have the terminal these scam artist are horrible do not use there services im having such a hard time dealing with these crooks
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Our experiencoe with Elavon has been horrible. They raised their fees which in Canada allows you to get out of your contract. However Elavon has a 2nd contract on your POS terminal that you can't get out of. So you wind up paying $50/month for years for a terminal worth $200. Even better is that you have to send them written notice to cancel this contract or it auto renews and they won't accept the written notice too early. This way you have a very small window and they can keep dinging you. Terrible business practices.
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they signed me up took over 2 months to get me my machine. so I told them I no longer need the service and there trying to tell me I owe them 1400 no matter what and its my fault. complete scam.
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After inquiring with my Elavon rep today about upgrading my terminal, she responded with a $650 price for a verifone VX520. They are on sale online for $159-$250. Can you buy one of these and have Elavon program it? $650 seems ridiculous.
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Hi David,
Elavon is capable of reprograming and absolutely should do this for you free of charge. Terminal reprograming is common. That said, I would confirm with your rep that they agree to this before you purchase. I have heard reports of processors refusing to reprogram in the past, and while I believe that the protocol at Elavon is currently to do free reprograming – it’s definitely worth confirming with your rep for the most up to date info.
Good luck, and let us know how it goes. It’s insane how much of a markup processors put on hardware…
-Tom
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We have been using Elavon for 15 years. Great service. Discount and transaction fees have continued to decline for the last several years. About two years ago they instituted a special program for small merchants that have an average ticket size under $15.00. We qualify and our total cost including discount and transaction fees is now running just over 3.0%. We are quite pleased.
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I run a consulting company and sell subscriptions to a newsletter and do an annual conference: everything processed on our web site. I have a quote from Elavon that includes a “$499 One Time fee to rights for Gateway”. Do they think I just fell off the pumpkin truck or is this a legit fee?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Tom,
Gateway setup fees are common, but $500 is awfully steep in my experience. Usually gateway setup fees range from $99-150 for an Authorize.Net gateway. In many cases, payments providers will be able to waive this fee if you negotiate. In fact a lot of providers will automatically waive this fee. I’m having a hard time imagining why Elavon would be charging you $500 for gateway setup. If you want to use Elavon, I’d suggest that you tell them you’ve talked to other companies who are willing to waive your gateway setup fee. Or – better yet – I’d suggest you get quotes from other companies so you can bring these official quotes to the bargaining table. Any of our higher rated providers would make good starting points.
Let me know how this turns out!
Good luck,
Tom DeSimone
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This company Screwed me out of nearly $12000.00. Put my money in a unclaimed funds Account. Then told me it was My bank. My bank went to bat for me, and found that elavon was the screw up. I have nsf checks all over and elavon said they aint paying the fees. They said my funds should be released but would take 7-10 days to get them. What B.S. This is there screw up and I should have my money Now.
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You may want to read up on how much more expensive “flat rate pricing” is before you support it. You do want to remain reputable, correct? Do a little reading and you’ll see where flat rate is terrible unless you process roughly $25,000 or less, annually. Just like in banking where a business owner should bank with a banker, not a bank, merchants need to find a merchant rep they can trust and do business with him or her, not the processor. Otherwise, they will see rate hikes over the years with Visa/MC Spring and Fall releases and additional ancillary fees.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Clay,
We encourage most of our readers to seek out interchange-plus pricing instead of flat rate or tiered pricing. This review should not be taken as an all-encompassing endorsement for this pricing model.
As the card networks increase interchange rates and network fees, merchants will see increases in their rates regardless of the pricing model used. If they do not see an increase in what they pay as cost of service increases, this means that they were paying too much to begin with.
If you read the review, you’d have seen this line in the introduction:
So I absolutely agree with you that the importance of working with a great account rep cannot be overstated.
Best,
Tom
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I can only say that Elavon is the worst company to process credit/debit cards transactions. They never paid the money they took from my customers on their credit/debit cards and they "lost" 1 transaction. So just in 1 hour i lost 212$.Trying to solve the problems it s impossible people are so rude there. If you want to be ripped off/scammed just sign with them. I think only people having no problems until now are happy but if things goes bad.....good luck!
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Elavon’s contract indicates that the contract auto-terminates after 90-180 days of no transactions.
LES.NET signed up to use Elavon years ago, but never implemented their services because we have an alternate provider.
The contract did not auto-cancel itself.
Elavon has charged us nearly $1000/year for a service we don’t use.
We have been trying for 3 months to cancel the account, have numerous tracking and confirmation numbers that the account is cancelled, but we are still being charged for the account.
https://knoxville.app.bbb.org/complaint/new/4468
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Hi Leslie, I am having the same problem have you had any resolve?? I would love to chat with you.
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And despite what may have been posted in the review above dated 17 August, there are early termination fees. I have been charged 195.00 for early termination. Just one more reason to AVOID Elavon and go with a better provider.
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Credit card payments not processed or deposited to operating account. Elevon arbitrarily withheld payment transactions (thousands $) without notification or disclosure to Merchant. Merchant notified when Bank called re overdraft (one week after transaction settlement dates). Bank contacted Elevon who stated a six-month hold would be placed on Merchant's future credit card transactions. Merchant contacted Elevon who stated a 10-day hold would be placed on future credit card transactions.No reply when Elevon contacted and asked when funds would be released and deposited into Merchant account. Isn't there a law/regulation about notification or disclosure on this? Can Elevon arbitrarily withhold Merchant payment transactions without notifying Merchant? If there is no law or regulation, there should be. This plus other complaints posted are ripe for class action lawsuit.
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Wish i had never signed up to Elavon lost count of the number of times we have phoned terminal helpdesk only been using the mobile device since august feel they should pay me for the wasted time,nearly every time i drive to another location i have to restart the device i feel like a second rate seller and apologise before i try and take payment in case it doesnt work first time will cancel contract when it expires got any idea as to a more reliable merchant service for august this year?
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Hi Andrew,
That sounds really frustrating. It’s disappointing that Elavon wouldn’t just set you up with a different wireless terminal, since the problem you describe seems to stem from the device more so than the actual payment processor. You can avoid wireless fees by using a smartphone card reader. Both CDGcommerce and Dharma Merchant Services would gladly set you up with a very reliable merchant account and a low-cost or free reader for your phone. If you’d prefer to use a wireless terminal, both of these providers can also set you up with that service, although it will cost more.
Make sure to cancel your contract in writing with enough advanced notice (60+ days), in accordance with your contract terms. Otherwise, it will auto-renew and you’ll be stuck paying the early termination fee. Check your merchant agreement for your unique terms.
Good luck!
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Elavon is a horrible company. I have been with them for about three years now and have continually seen rate increases and misc charges for crap I don’t want or even care about. They add charges to your bill and do not tell you what they are for. I just received a bill that contained a $12.99 charge under the heading of RSPACKAGE. When I called to find out what that was, the rep said it was a NEW monthly charge to help pay for customer service costs. I don’t need their customer service unless THEY screw something up. Time to find a new provider.
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One of the least trustworthy companies I ever had privilege of working with. I'm not sure where the term "transparency" comes from, but this business does not know the definition of it. Nickel and dime fees left and right, along with variable rates based on cards accepted. This is not what I signed up for when I went into my bank and requested credit card processing service for my business. The $195 service cancellation fee was a nice gesture on their part as well. I have not been this upset with a company's business ethics. I
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Hello, stay away from Elavon, they wont release me from a expired cosigned contrant and I havent worked fo UberRoofing in 6 months and they are blaming me for [edited: name removed] debt of 8000$. I have done everything to say cancel and repeated harrassment. I just dont know what to do! no one wants to help. stay away.
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Elavon, in collusion with McDevitt Car Sales of Mill Road in Dungaloe, Co. Donegal, Ireland, attempted to extort a 3.5% commission from me on a tank of petrol. The service station converted my purchase into US Dollars without my consent, charging the fee on top of the purchase. When I complained, saying I was paying in Euros and did not need their high-priced currency exchange (thank you very much), they refused to refund my money. Fortunately, I had not yet endorsed the "consent by signing" sales receipt. My complaint to my U.S. card issuer triggered an immediate refund. I feel it was dishonest not to offer me a choice of paying in Euros, and reprehensible to refuse to _voluntarily_ refund my money. I expect they earn a fortune scamming inattentive, gullible tourists.
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This company just steals for small businesses just charge me %5.95 of large transaction, $5000.00 charges, when I called them and told them my rate is %1.67 and why do you charge me %5.95.They never told me they can charge this much, this is Highway robbery. I am going to take them to small claim court.
The rating for this company should be F–
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We switched to Elavon because of the low rates and we were getting raped by our chartered bank merchant services. We had no idea what was coming our way. At least the bank just charged really high fees. They took their fees and went on their way and built skyscrapers in Toronto.
Elavon is a whole different animal. I returned a damage deposit through the phone system for $600. Elavon took $1200 out of our account. I was sick and called them to fix the problem. They said I ran it through twice. Um – no I didn’t. The first time it was declined. The second time it went through. They do not provide confirmation numbers so you have no reference number. I was told I could call the bank in China if I wanted to. So I stopped accepting credit cards in my business and Elavon charged me for the change in volume – back dipping into my account for providing no service. I put a stop payment on them but they are forever scanning my account.
Last week I received a notice from them saying I was seriously delinquent in my account for $23. How could this be? I had never received a bill from them? You can’t pay a bill you don’t know you have. They continue to scan my acoount and the bank debits my account a $10 stop payment fee every time. So I went to the bank and said STOP! This week I received another letter from Elavon saying they would ruin by ability to ever accept credit cards again if I didn’t pay $23. Is that not extortion? I have sent them a letter advising them I will happily pay my account with an invoice for a legitimate service. I offered that they can email it for faster turnaround. It will be interesting to see if there is a legitimate reason for the amount. DO NOT get involved with this company! The dipping into your bank account for unexplained reasons will never stop. They work by theft and extortion. It is worse than having a loan shark.
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I have worked with various credit card companies. An elevon representative made all sorts of promises and offered all of these great rates if I signed a 3 year contract. After 2 months or so, the changed the rates. They then added about 300$ in extra fees throughout the year. When I complained, they told me that It was in the fine print that I would have to pay any extra fees. Yet they couldn't explain what exactly the fees were for. After 2 years, I decided to cancel early. It is a 14$ a month charge not counting any fees, and I could use intuit or square for free. I called the company and asked to be removed. They agreed. Then 3 months later I noticed they were still taking out fees. I called again but they couldnt find my account and suggested I call the bank because they werent the ones taking out the fees. I call my bank, it's elevon. It takes me a couple months to find the time to call them and sit on the phone and hold for over an hour. I try and cancel again. This time, they finally find my account, then tell me I had to fill out paperwork and fax it to them. I ask why I wasnt told this before? They treat me like I'm lying. I ask if I can have the fees removed, they say no. I fill out the paperwork and fax it. They receive it, send me an accepted fax.... YET! I am STILL having money taken out of my account. Worst company ever. Thieves and liars.
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We had to go to the bank and stop payment to get them to stop sucking over-charges from our account every 5-10 days. For 3 years I called, asking for details of the charges. I was constantly told someone would call me back. Nobody ever did. And they haven't given us a statement in 3 years either..When they updated our machine, they cut our old one off first without telling us, causing us a very stressful week of waiting for a new one. The new one didn't work and it took a few more days to "configure" We had purchased ours so I asked if there was a charge to upgrade. They said of course not.Then as soon as the new machine was installed, $200 sucked from our account again. When I called, I was told it was for the upgrade.I had enough, put a stop payment on my account and then quess what. Those people who wouldn't call for 3 years, started calling EVERY DAY.One sided-classless, horrible, stressful, unfair, illegal operation this is. You will regret it for all time.
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Elavon continued to bill me for 4 months after I called in and closed the account & sent in the POS machines. It was only after repeated calls & sending in an "account closure form" that they stopped monthly billing of my credit card. Poor service!!
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SAME problem with me. Only Ive sent in the forms and they are STILL billing me. I have fought with them on the phone various times and theyre rude. ITs been 6 months of billing me!!
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My experience with Elavon is a nightmare. They sent me a terminal that did not work. After several hours on the phone, trying to get it fixed, the representative declared that the equipment must be broken. He offered to send another. However, I told him not to, because I needed it for that three day weekend. I lost sales because I did not have a credit card reader. The following week, Ireceived a second machine (even though I said not to send one because it would not arrive on time). I called and spoke with [edited: name removed].. She said to return both machines. Later, I saw that Elavon took money out of my account for these two machines. I asked the bank to fix that problem. The bank is still trying to resolve that. The next month, they took another withdrawal from my account. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. The issue still has not been resolved. The bank said I will have to close my account to stop the company from taking more money out of my account. This is fraud. They did not have my permission to take money out of my account for nothing. They did have my permission to take money out for the service and equipment -- the they never provided the service and equipment. This is blatant Fraud. Three people in the company knew that the equipment did not work. I am rating them a one star only because they don't have the option for no star (without being assumed that no star means no rating. This is a nighmare! And it still is not resolved.
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My experience with Elavon (via Costco) is turning into a nightmare. They sent me a terminal that did not have an ethernet connector like it was supposed to have. We were able to hook it up to the only phone jack after unplugging our wireless phone base at the back of the store then we discovered that debit was not configured. Two service calls later after about 30 to 60 minutes wait each we had a new terminal on order and the debit issue resolved but we still had to swap phone/terminal at each transaction and walk to the back of the store. Four days later the new terminal arrives (after the weekend) and it works fine except for debit. After a couple of hours on the phone it was not resolved and we were informed that only the day shift had the resources to fix the problem. A total cluster fail. If it weren’t for the low rates I would dump them in a heartbeat.
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I too have become a victim of this companies unsportsmanlike tactics.
We tried to leave our present credit card processor but would not let us out of the contract so we tried to contact Elavon to cancel, not happening. The first month they took out 147.00 from my account and did not do one thing give me any equipment or provide any service except for releaving me of my money, but that does cost.
Right now [edited: name removed] is working on the problem and may get some resolution. They will cancel me for 200.00, lets figure this out they have taken the first 147 and now want 200.
However it may be a deal since I do not want to ever see this name again.
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As of September 2012, Elavon no longer has an Early Termination Fee. The philosophy is to maintain clients with outstanding service and competitive pricing and not a prisoner due to penalty for early termination. As an Elavon Account Executive, this speaks volumes to Elavons’ reputation.
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That's not true. I just spoke to them on the phone and they said that my termination fee is $250. then they didnt cancel it and kept charging me a monthly fee. That speaks volumes about this company.
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It’s true for new customers as of that point. It’s based on the contract that you signed. If the application you signed had a contract with a cancellation penalty for a certain duration then it remains in effect. If you sign a contract after the date when they quit doing such penalties then you don’t have penalties. I would think that would make sense. Some people have other expectations I guess.
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As of September 2015, I was quoted THOUSANDS of dollars in order to get out this HORRIBLE four year contract..... Someone earlier claimed Elavon to be LIARS & THIEVES. I completely agree!
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Don't use Elavon I had them for many years when then they started to raise my rate. When I called about it they told me I was considered high risk and they couldn't lower my rates. I have NEVER had a charge back. I am a small company and when they first raised my rates I started to encourage my clients to pay with check or cash. When my volume dropped off they raised it again. I called again and was told they couldn't lower my rate.Then I found a new Merchant account with a much lower rate, and a much lower monthly fee. After trying the new company out for a while and being satisfied I called to cancel my account. I was told they would send me the cancellation form to fill out and send back. It never arrived. I looked on their website and couldn't see it. I called back and they said they would send it again. IT NEVER ARRIVED. I received another statement though. Finally I found the form another customer had posted online. I filled it out and sent it back. The account is still open and they say they haven't recieved the form to close the account.This time it is going out certified mail.AGAIN DO NOT USE ELAVON
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I have tried to send mine in twice so far and have spoken on the phone with them various times. I guess the deal with them is that they refuse to cancel accounts and just keep stealing from us forever. WORST COMPANY!
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NEVER lease a terminal from LADCO!!! 4 year auto-renewing lease, during the first term of which you will pay easily 10 times the cost of purchasing your own equipment! Just buy a new, up-to-date POS outright (Make certain that it is a model of equipment supported by them or whatever processor you choose before you buy). Elavon is as good as any large processor I know, but the sales channel/rep you choose or happen to get can make or break the whole deal. COSTCO offers a lot of value for a low price. Most bank reps gouge their merchants on pricing and offer little to no added value or support for the extra $. If the Elavon customer service rep you get is not knowledgeable or helpful, you can ask for their supervisor to get more qualified assistance with more authority to make things happen … Last reported Elavon direct PCI fees were annual $55 for dial-up POS & $175 for anything processing via internet or IP phone lines; noncompliance will run you $25-$30/month, so make sure to stay compliant! That’s my input from several yrs in the processing biz with some internal & external exposure to Elavon …
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I’ve had nothing but a nightmare experience with Elevon & Ladco! Still living on a hope and a prayer that they don’t destroy my small business.
To start with, Elevon couldn’t get my account number right in their system and had my company name wrong in their database. They had two weeks to get this straightened out – not enough time? This is my wallet we’re talking about.
This was enough to creep my out and search for another merchant service provider.
That’s when Ladco proudly stepped in with their unethical practices and thievery. They’ve obviously got my account number right as they greedily helped themselves to charges and ficticious fees from my account. (Keep in mind that their equipment has been sitting in its original packaging next to my desk waiting to be picked up for over a month. Never, not once, plugged in.)
I’ve never signed a contract with either company (although I’ve endured Ladco’s unique customer service tactics of screaming that I did when I called).
I was hooked up with these two companies by USBancorp’s Private Client Group Division. Nothing has been achieved as yet but a lot of a lot of shoulder shrugging and passing the buck at my begging and pleading to please make these parasites go away.
I can’t stop them. I can’t get out from under them. I can’t make them go away. I owe them nothing. They’re like a nasty rash that no medicine will cure.
If you’re in dealings with them, best of luck to you and please pray for me as well.
The worse part is what they do is “Legal”!
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Costco Elavon is the best!! I’ve had great experiences. Honest, in my opinion!! Don’t understand why your having this problem, but I love my rep. They don’t bill you an arm and leg for early termination anyways. And if your saving money who cares about the 2 year agreement anyways. $95 is ninety-five!! Bottom line its a savings!!
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we were running new wires under our desk when we unplugged the terminal we did our thing and we plugged the terminel back in and a tampering screen came on now we had black out s and we had to reset no problems thier but why did the system read tampering for down time was 1/2 hr tops of corce it was on a weekend the guy after asking 4 times ,told us we need a new terminal i say , no no no just from unplugging it ,159.00 for unplugging an plugging it back in excuse was it happens sometimes 300.00 new unit 159.00 refurbished for unplugging only in america i tell ya we now do cash only if thats how they want it its there product that failed an we own it , not to happy here in florida
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Rate reviews are easy to get. Just call your customer service number and ask for one. You can probably get your rates lowered just by asking.
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You’re kidding me, right? Eleavon has an A+ business rating but they are the owners of Ladco Leasin, which is a predatory, villainous “company” that preys on the trust rlationship between merchants and their own banks. I personally wanted to take credit cards in my business and Key Bank here in Pawling, NY sent me a merchant services rep who slick-talked me into signing a contract that I thought was legit. A week later I get the terminal and a letter from Ladco Leasing that I am in a 4-year lease for a credit-card terminal that’s worth 1/10th the cost of the lease. There’s no breakdown of the lease at all, no interest rate or anything that shows me the details of this so-called lease. Doing a search for “Ladco Leasing” brought up hundreds of complaints against this ratbag company for exactly the same thing: Merchants trust their bank, so they sign the contract usually without question. Ladco needs for this exact scenario to happen so they can then attack the merchant’s bank account with ACH withdrawals. Trying to cancel the “lease”, even within the first 30 days, is fruitless, as they now have your routing and account numbers and can withdraw at will. I am still in the process of trying to get away from these clowns, and simply because I signed a piece of papaer that my bank rep told me was ok, I am going crazy trying to get away from these predators. The only reason the BBB hasn’t done anything to them is because they fly under the wing of Elavon which has a good rating and somehow it extends to them. There are literally thousands of complaints against Ladco but no one seems to want to do anything to them for this travesty. However, I have heard that there is a large class-action lawsuit being drawn up for fraudulent business practices and misleading conduct on the part of the bank reps. I have the feeling their ship is about to take a cannonball to the stern very soon and I certainly hope so.
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Here’s the cold hard truth. I’m one of those guys who actually sets these accounts up, so I know exactly what the paperwork looks like. HOWEVER, I was also a branch manager for a bank that referred customers to reps that set my customers up with accounts and I had customers feel the same way you do – that they weren’t aware of what they had gotten stuck with. Now, as I sign customers up, I make sure they are aware of exactly what they’re signing. BUT, here are the facts. Elavon gives the option for people to have their existing terminal reprogrammed, a new one purchased, a lease done for a new one, or a bundle set up which includes other products and/or services packaged together and considered a lease in that package. Ultimately the best deal for many businesses would be to reprogram their machine or buy a new one but there are times that it’s not the best option. The question is what makes the most sense for the customer. There are cases for each option being the best for different customers. The sad thing is that all too often the wrong option is sold to the wrong business for the wrong reason. This IS NOT just an Elavon thing. As a sales rep I see this a lot more often with customers whose business I am trying to get away from competitors than when I am reviewing the accounts of actual Elavon customers. Elavon does strongly push for ethical sales tactics. Elavon’s applications at least today include a place where customers have to initial acknowledging that they are aware that they are accepting a NON-CANCELABLE lease for “X” months at “X” price per month. If that same clause is on an application that anyone is disputing or complaining about then I’d be a bit concerned about what other things they may have signed throughout their lives. I’m sorry you had this horrible experience, I really am. Keep in mind that in an industry that seems like it’s full of used car salesmen types, Elavon does try to stay above that level but I’m not naive enough to think that there are not those among us that do indeed do things they should not. We try to get rid of those as soon as we find the issues. I’d say your experience is more of a bad salesperson experience and now being held accountable for what you signed than it is a bad experience with the company. That’s my cold hard fact opinion that’s hard to accept probably but it’s probably true.
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I will never do business with them again as soon as I can get switched! They have pulled unauthorized charges out of my account for 3 months in a row. All related to the PCI fee. They are “having system problems” that are to blame and yet no one can seem to fix it. If I can ever get the account straight I am going to switch. Terrible accounting on their part and terrible customer service in keeping it straight.
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Elavon charges me 5.32 % for processing the unqualified credit card charges. I think that is very high and I am looking for a different company to process my charges.
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Request a rate review. You can have one every six months but you have to ask for it. If you have an offer from a competitor you can submit this with your request to see if it can be met or beat.
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It seems like it’s just part of their “co-branded merchant program” as outlined here:
http://www.elavon.com/acquiring/channels/financial-merchant.aspx
As opposed to their “white label merchant program” which many other ISO’s use. One easy way to find the while label ISO’s is to just do a Google search for “Accepted by Elavon, Inc” (include the quotes) to find any website that has a link to a merchant application with Elavon as the acquirer. Since Google even searches within PDF’s and Word Doc’s, you’ll actually get decent number of results.
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Nice review.
As an FYI, Elavon’s Costco program doesn’t currently have a fee for PCI compliance.
Not sure how long that will last, but it looks like Costco is helping out their members on that for a while.
http://www.elavon.com/acquiring/costco/
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I’m not really sure why the link to Elavon was deleted since this review is ABOUT Elavon.
But if you are a Costco Member, they have a great program for us. Just Google Costco and Elavon and the site will come up.
I wasn’t spamming with a competitive site. I was actually saying, I agree that Elavon is a very good company and has an additional program that could be of benefit.
This may be edited too, but whatever, it’s your site.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Mike,
I re-added your link for now, but keep an eye out for an explanation of why I removed it in the first place.
I appreciate your understanding.
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Mike,
Generally reseller’s of merchant services would be considered separate entities especially if they have their own sales/customer service departments. It seems that Costco’s relationship with Elavon isn’t setup that way. So long as Costco doesn’t handle any of the sales and customer service aspects of the business, then yes, Costco’s merchants services can be considered synonymous with Elavon’s. I’m going to look into this a bit more, and see it that’s the case.
I’ll be in touch.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.