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Join For FreeUS Bank has been around since 1863. But have its merchant services stayed current with the times?
Total Rating | 4.4 |
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Fees & Rates4.5 | |
Products & Services4.1 | |
Contract4.6 | |
Sales & Advertising Transparency4.6 | |
Customer Service4.4 | |
User Reviews3.7 |
Table of Contents
US Bank Merchant Services is the payment processing arm of US Bank, a longstanding nationwide bank used for business and personal banking. US Bank Merchant Services provides various merchant account services to small businesses, supporting payments at brick-and-mortar businesses, as well as online payments and mobile POS.
Fees & Rates4.5 |
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Pricing 5.0 |
Affordability 4.0 |
Historically, we have not recommended large nationwide banks for merchant services due to their association with long-term contracts, outdated processing hardware, and impersonal customer service. However, in recent years, providers like US Bank and Chase have seemingly become more attuned to the needs of small businesses, offering products and services on par with those available from the best small business credit card processing companies.
US Bank offers processing solutions suitable for even the smallest merchants, complete with flat-rate pricing, mobile processing, and month-to-month contracts with a quick, online signup process. The features themselves are quite comprehensive, and best suited for small, mobile or brick-and-mortar businesses that may or may not have some online component, such as an online ordering website.
Here are some of the features you’ll get with US Bank Merchant Services:
Products & Services4.1 |
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Software & Services 4.0 |
Hardware & Equipment 4.2 |
US Bank offers flat-rate credit card processing with month-to-month contracts, a pricing model we always like to see, as it’s affordable for smaller merchants and doesn’t lock you into a long-term contract.
US Bank is pretty transparent with its fees, putting most (though not all) of them front and center on its website. On the downside, it doesn’t disclose eCommerce plan pricing or POS hardware pricing, and you may be charged a setup fee and a monthly hardware rental fee.
Fortunately, US Bank offers a completely free POS plan with a free mobile card reader, and you have the option to purchase your POS hardware outright instead of renting.
US Bank does not charge an early termination fee (ETF) or account closure fee, as you can leave your contract at any time for any reason.
The following are some different types of fees you can expect to pay with US Bank Merchant Services.
Sales & Advertising Transparency4.6 |
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Sales Practices 5.0 |
Web Presence 4.0 |
Though they don’t necessarily disclose every single fee, US Bank actually offers a lot more pricing and contract information than the typical large nationwide bank provides regarding their merchant services. Services and pricing are generally quite transparent, even if the website doesn’t list the price of every hardware option or add-on the way a PSP like Shopify or PayPal might.
From what we can tell, US Bank does not use independent sales agents to sell their merchant services.
Contract4.6 |
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Commitment 5.0 |
ETF & Other Fees 4.2 |
US Bank has month-to-month contracts with no early termination fee or account closure fee.
If you are renting a terminal or other POS equipment from US Bank, you can simply return it and will not have to pay any penalty fee.
Merchants using talech POS via US Bank will also have contracts with talech, but fortunately, talech contracts are also month-to-month, allowing you to stop using it at any time without incurring any type of fee or penalty.
Customer Service4.4 |
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Personal Support 4.4 |
Self-Service 4.4 |
US Bank Merchant Services boasts 24/7 phone and email support at no additional cost. They also offer some self-help support resources, including an online knowledgebase.
US Bank Merchant Services Customer Service | Availability |
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Phone Support | |
Email Support | |
Support Tickets | |
Live Chat | |
Dedicated Support Representative | |
Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
Videos & Tutorials | Some talech POS tutorials on YouTube |
Company Blog | |
Social Media | Social media accounts for US Bank, not merchant services specifically |
Best of all, merchants who sign up for US Bank Merchant Services will receive a dedicated account manager they can turn to when they have an issue.
You can find numerous talech tutorial videos on YouTube in case you need help setting up or troubleshooting with your POS equipment. However, some customers in user reviews complain about having technical problems with talech and say they have not received adequate support from talech to resolve these issues (See User Reviews section below).
User Reviews3.7 |
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Customer Feedback 3.0 |
Review Site Aggregate 4.0 |
It’s not difficult to find user reviews for US Bank, and these reviews, as a whole, are not very positive. On Trustpilot, the bank earned 1.3/5 stars, with 1,051 reviews total, and on the Better Business Bureau website, they earned a B rating, with an average of 1.1/5 stars, and 608 reviews total. However, user reviews for US Bank’s merchant services, specifically, are scarce, while fellow review websites actually rate US Bank Merchant Services quite positively.
Reviews for US Bank’s POS provider, talech, and its backend processor, Elavon. Reviews of talech are mixed (we rate talech 3.6/5 stars, which is slightly above average and happens to also be the same score we give US Bank’s Business Banking Account), and reviews for US Bank’s payment processor Elavon, are downright bad—Elavon has only 2.3/5 Merchant Maverick stars.
Here are some things customers frequently have to say online about US Bank Merchant Services, Elavon, and talech.
US Bank Merchant services offer a solid array of credit card processing solutions, including a full merchant account with a dedicated support representative, flat-rate pricing with a free plan option and month-to-month contract, same-day funding for US Bank business banking customers, and thousands of physical branches across the company.
That being said, there are complaints about its POS partner, talech, and especially about its backend processor, Elavon.
All in all, I would feel confident recommending US Bank Merchant Services to small businesses that need core processing services such as mobile processing, online invoicing, and the ability to accept Zelle payments. US Bank’s flat-rate pricing model is especially geared toward lower-volume businesses, including those looking for a Square alternative.
Though there aren’t enough user reviews to gain a clear enough picture of US Bank Merchant Services to recommend this provider to every type of small business, the good thing is that there is no commitment or long-term contract so if you don’t like their processing services, you can easily switch to another provider—check out our best free merchant accounts for some similar options.
We evaluate and test each payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on certain key characteristics in order to generate our granular ratings for merchant accounts and credit card processors.
For payment processing reviews, we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate the provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.
We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.
Read more about how we rate payment processors.
Credit Card Processing With Superior Support
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With Helcim, you get everything you need to accept credit card payments online or in-person with a free account, plus high-quality support from real humans. Start For Free.
Credit Card Processing With Superior Support
Helcim |
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With Helcim, you get everything you need to accept credit card payments online or in-person with a free account, plus high-quality support from real humans. Start For Free.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
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