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6 Best Clover Merchant Services Providers For 2024 (And 6 To Avoid)

Our favorite Clover resellers offer fair rates, transparency, no long-term contracts, and the option to buy the hardware outright.

    Shannon Vissers
  • Last updated onUpdated

  • Matt Sherman
  • REVIEWED BY

    Matt Sherman

    Lead Staff Writer

Our content reflects the editorial opinions of our experts. While our site makes money through referral partnerships, we only partner with companies that meet our standards for quality, as outlined in our independent rating and scoring system.

Good Clover merchant services providers are hard to find. There are a lot of unethical, exploitative Clover POS resellers that sell this popular POS system with a predatory merchant services contract that can have you on the hook for years. Your Clover merchant services provider can truly make or break your business financially, so it’s important to know what to look for in a merchant agreement and which companies to steer clear of.

Fortunately, there are a lot of high-quality Clover providers as well. To help you find the best Clover merchant services for your business, we researched the leading Clover credit card processing companies based on pricing, contract terms, feature set, and whether they offer extra products like a cash discount program.

We also found some popular Clover payment processing providers that you should avoid if you want transparent pricing and shorter merchant services contracts.

Learn More About Our Top Picks

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  • Best for higher-volume businesses
  • Flat-rate & interchange-plus pricing
  • Plans start at $12/month (+ Clover fees)
  • Best for higher-volume businesses
  • Flat-rate & interchange-plus pricing
  • Plans start at $12/month (+ Clover fees)

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  • Best for low-risk businesses
  • Interchange-plus pricing
  • Plans starting at $15/month (+ Clover fees)
  • Best for low-risk businesses
  • Interchange-plus pricing
  • Plans starting at $15/month (+ Clover fees)

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  • Best for low-volume businesses
  • Cash discount, hybrid, & interchange-plus processing plans
  • Plans start at $15/month (+ Clover software fees)
  • Best for low-volume businesses
  • Cash discount, hybrid, & interchange-plus processing plans
  • Plans start at $15/month (+ Clover software fees)

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  • Best for businesses with small average ticket size
  • Interchange-plus pricing
  • Plans start at $14.99/month (+ Clover fees)
  • Best for businesses with small average ticket size
  • Interchange-plus pricing
  • Plans start at $14.99/month (+ Clover fees)

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  • Best for high-risk businesses
  • Custom high-risk payment processing rate
  • Plans starting at $25/month (+ Clover fees)
  • Best for high-risk businesses
  • Custom high-risk payment processing rate
  • Plans starting at $25/month (+ Clover fees)

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  • Best for larger businesses
  • Membership & interchange-plus plans
  • Memberships start at $99/month
  • Best for larger businesses
  • Membership & interchange-plus plans
  • Memberships start at $99/month

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Read more below to learn why we chose these options.

Table of Contents

Why Do You Need A Clover Merchant Services Provider?

Businesses need a merchant account to take payments using a Clover POS system. Many different merchant services providers sell Clover systems along with a Clover/Fiserv merchant account. However, Clover merchant services contracts can vary wildly in terms of their fees, contract length, hardware pricing, and customer service. That’s why it’s so important to choose carefully which company you buy your Clover POS from.

What Makes A Good Clover Merchant Account?

A good Clover merchant account can be very hard to find. These are the basics of a good Clover merchant account:

  • Month-to-month contracts, not predatory multi-year agreements
  • No early termination fees or penalties
  • Clover hardware purchasing option (leasing hardware is more expensive in the long run)
  • Transparent payment processing structure, specifically interchange-plus pricing, which is the most cost-efficient pricing model in most cases
  • No hidden fees built into monthly statements
  • Good customer service availability and reviews
  • High standard of credit card information security

A good merchant account for your business understands your business industry, offers reasonable payment processing rates for your particular sales volume and average transaction size, and has the custom payment/security features you need (e.g. B2B level PCI compliance, eCommerce transaction payments, high-risk industry support).

6 Best Clover Merchant Services Providers In 2024

The best Clover merchant services provider for your business will depend on your processing volume, risk profile, industry, and other factors. Here are the top Clover POS resellers for different types of businesses, based on our extensive research:

How The Best Clover Resellers Compare

Processing Model Month-to-Month Contract Accepts High-Risk Businesses
National Processing Interchange-plus & flat rate (with competitor quote)
Dharma Merchant Services Interchange-plus
VizyPay Interchange plus & cash discount
Host Merchant Services Interchange-plus & cash discount
PaymentCloud Interchange-plus & tiered
Clearly Payments Interchange-plus & membership

National Processing: Best For Higher-Volume Businesses

National Processing

Total Rating 4.6
Fees & Rates4.8

Products & Services5.0

Contract4.6

Sales & Advertising Transparency4.4

Customer Service4.1

User Reviews4.4



Get a free Clover Go card reader from National Processing when you sign up. Claim your card reader.

Pros

  • Good rates for low-risk & high-risk businesses
  • Interchange-plus & flat-rate plans
  • Excellent public reputation
  • Plans for any business size & type

Cons

  • Interchange-plus pricing only offered to higher-volume businesses
  • Early termination fee charged in some cases
  • 2-3 year contract length in some cases

Why We Chose National Processing For Higher-Volume Business

We believe that National Processing is a great service for businesses that want low rates from a reliable company. Affordable processing combined with low-cost monthly plans means you'll potentially save money using your Clover with National Processing. This is especially true if you have a midsize or larger business processing at least $30K/month --- these businesses qualify for custom interchange-plus rates.

National Processing Features

National Processing is a great merchant services provider for small to midsize businesses, with monthly processing plans for retail, restaurant, eCommerce, and subscription-based businesses. The company also offers eCheck processing, MOTO (mail order/telephone order), and cash discounting services (cash discounting is free!). If you have a high-risk business, National Processing does offer high-risk merchant accounts, as well.

You can integrate National Processing with eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, or Ecwid. Note that BigCommerce and Ecwid integrations come at no extra cost, but integrating with Shopify will incur an extra fee (which is charged by Shopify, not National Processing). There’s also a QuickBooks accounting integration, and you can build a custom integration with National Processing’s API.

National Processing Pricing

National Processing plans start at $12/month, which is charged on top of Clover’s monthly software fees.

National Processing’s flat-rate processing fees start at 2.5% + $0.10 for small to medium businesses and can be as low as 0% + $0.05 over interchange for larger plans (businesses processing at least $30K/month). Since you can get lower flat rates by purchasing your system through Clover directly, National Processing really only makes sense as an interchange-plus option for higher-volume businesses or for high-risk businesses that can’t get approved by Clover.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

In some cases, National Processing may charge an early termination fee of $495 or $595 (depending on which bank is backing your merchant account.) However, if you present National Processing (in writing) a competitor merchant account quote that has no early termination fee, or your business is sold/closed, National Processing will waive your early termination fee.

National Processing’s contracts are typically 2-3 years, but if you present the company with a competitor quote offering monthly pricing, National Processing should match that contract length.

Before signing a contract, make sure you get a monthly contract and that any early termination fee is waived. If this means you have to shop around for a better quote and ask National Processing to match or beat those competitor terms, do it.

National Processing Is Best For Businesses That ...

  • Process at least $30K/month
  • Belong to a high-risk industry
  • Want to process subscription payments, MOTO payments, and/or or eChecks

Get Started With National Processing

Read our in-depth review

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Dharma Merchant Services: Best For Low-Risk Businesses

Dharma Merchant Services

Total Rating 5.0
Fees & Rates5.0

Products & Services5.0

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service4.8

User Reviews4.5



Pros

  • Interchange-plus pricing offered exclusively
  • Month-to-month billing
  • No annual fee or monthly minimum
  • Discounted pricing for qualified nonprofits

Cons

  • Not recommended for very low-volume businesses processing less than $10,000/month
  • No support for high-risk or international merchants

Why We Chose Dharma Merchant Services For Low-Risk Businesses

We believe that Dharma Merchant Services is among the finest and most ethical Fiserv/Clover resellers we know of for low-risk businesses. In fact, the company gives the fairest and most transparent contract terms out of all Clover merchant account providers. Transparent interchange-plus pricing is offered to all accounts---even lower-volume businesses---and there are affordable solutions for a range of (low-risk) industries.

Dharma Merchant Services Features

Dharma Merchant Services is a socially conscious company that strives to provide excellent merchant account services to small/midsize businesses while remaining committed to its environmental and community-building mission.

With Dharma, you can take payments in person and online, over the phone, using a payment link or virtual terminal, and through invoices (which you can email to customers or businesses).

Merchants all have access to Dharma’s MX Merchant app, which allows you to store customer cards on file, search through transactions, and add on payments features like recurring auto-billing, an account updater that automatically updates expiration dates for card on file, and the MX B2B App.

B2B businesses using the MX B2B App automatically qualify for higher PCI compliance levels, resulting in reduced credit card processing rates (and hundreds of dollars in savings).

Dharma Merchant Services Pricing

Dharma charges excellent in-person processing rates of 0.15% + $0.08/transaction over interchange for most business types processing less than 100K/month (at that point, you’ll get a special lower rate).

Nonprofits are charged 0.10% + $0.08/transaction over interchange, which is just one of many reasons Dharma is one of the best nonprofit credit card processors.

While payment processing, a virtual terminal, card on file, and business reporting, you may add the following services:

  • ACH/eCheck Processing: $25/month
  • Invoicing/Recurring Billing: $10/month
  • B2B Payment Processing: $20/month
  • Account Updater: $25/month

Dharma charges a $15/month fee for its interchange-plus Clover payment processing.

Dharma charges the following one-time fees for Clover hardware:

  • Clover Station: $1,649; full countertop register, receipt printer, integrated card reader, and cash drawer
  • Clover Mini: $899; mini countertop payment device with integrated receipt printer and card reader
  • Clover Flex: $649; handheld mobile POS device with integrated card reader and receipt printer

This pricing does not include monthly Clover software subscription fees, which range from $14.95/month to $49.95/month.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Dharma provides a wealth of information about terms and fees for Clover POS systems on its website. Dharma does offer Clover leases, but it’s very clear about the terms, and you are under no obligation to lease your equipment if you don’t want to.

If you request to have your account closed, you are charged $49. This is set because Dharma still has to maintain your account for six months after closure in case one of your customers disputes a transaction (and maintaining your account after closure costs Dharma roughly $8/month).

It is not a penalty for canceling your monthly contract early.

Dharma Merchant Services Is Best For Businesses That ...

  • Belong to a low-risk industry
  • Want to use Clover without entering a long-term contract
  • Want interchange-plus pricing
  • Process at least $10K/month

Get Started With Dharma Merchant Services

Read our in-depth review

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VizyPay: Best For Low-Volume Businesses

Total Rating 4.6
Fees & Rates4.7

Products & Services4.1

Contract4.4

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service4.5

User Reviews4.9



Pros

  • Cash discounting plans for low-volume businesses
  • No long-term contract
  • Interchange-plus, cash discount, and hybrid plans
  • Good customer support

Cons

  • Not ideal for high-volume merchants
  • Somewhat high Clover software fees

Why We Chose VizyPay For Low-Volume Businesses

Small, low-volume businesses will get a simple, straightforward service with VizyPay without having to pay for features that other larger businesses may need. We like that VizyPay differentiates itself from the competition with its alternative Clover pricing model, which includes multiple cash discounting options as well as a traditional interchange-plus processing plan. Cash discounting is great for low-volume businesses that do not want to sink money into payment processing fees, such as small restaurants or kiosk stands.

VizyPay Features

VizyPay is a good option for lower-volume businesses that want to use Clover and want cash discounting. Cash discounting is a payment processing model in which your credit card fees are passed along to the customer.

VizyPay offers three subscription plans: Cash Discount, Traditional, and Hybrid. The Cash Discount plan allows you to pass all credit and debit payment processing costs to your customers, which means that you’ll pay nothing for payment processing. The Hybrid program passes through credit card processing costs to credit card users, and the Traditional program does not employ cash discounting at all.

You can use cash discounting for virtual terminal payments if you’d like. With a virtual terminal, you can invoice customers, save customer information for recurring billing, send text/email receipts, and export sales reports to QuickBooks.

VizyPay Pricing

VizyPay offers the following Cash Discount plans:

  • Mini: $25/month; for businesses processing up to $5K/month
  • Core: $50/month; for business processing between $5K/month and $10K/month
  • Prime: $99/month; for business processing over $10K/month

The Hybrid plan costs $25/month. Under this plan, VizyPay charges the customer for credit card processing (3%) unless they pay with debit, in which case the merchant pays a fee of 1.5% – 3.5% + $0.25.

VizyPay additionally has a $15/month “Traditional” interchange-plus plan with fixed margins of 0.35% + $0.10 per transaction + interchange.

VizyPay hardware and software pricing for Clover (charged in addition to the processing plan fee) is as follows:

  • Clover Station Duo: $2,125 + $69.90/month
  • Clover Station Solo: $1,850 + $69.90/month
  • Clover Mini: $975 + $24.90/month
  • Clover Flex: $695 + $24.90/month

These plans come with a one-year warranty.

VizyPay has expanded its hardware offering to also include the Samsung Kiosk, a standalone self-ordering restaurant kiosk that includes a built-in Clover Flex so customers may pay at the kiosk. This kiosk is great for fast food restaurants, bubble tea shops, gas stations that sell made-to-order food, and any other business that may want to incorporate self-ordering stations.

The kiosk hardware costs $4,199 plus $123.90/month for the software that needs to be installed on kiosks to sync with your Clover ecosystem.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

You can buy your Clover hardware from VizyPay outright, though it also offers leases (which we don’t recommend). Plans are month-to-month with no early termination fee unless specified otherwise. Always verify your contract terms before signing to make sure you’re getting monthly pricing and no penalties for cancellation.

VizyPay Is Best For Businesses That ...

  • Have low sales volumes (even <$5K/month is OK)
  • Want to use Clover with a cash discount plan
  • Want to use Clover without entering a long-term contract

Get Started With VizyPay

Read our in-depth review

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Host Merchant Services: Best For Businesses With Small Average Ticket Size

Host Merchant Services

Total Rating 4.9
Fees & Rates5.0

Products & Services5.0

Contract5.0

Sales & Advertising Transparency4.7

Customer Service4.6

User Reviews4.8



Pros

  • No monthly minimum or long-term contract
  • Transparent interchange-plus pricing
  • Small ticket program
  • Excellent customer support

Cons

  • Clover monthly fees are custom-quoted
  • Clover hardware pricing not disclosed online

Why We Chose Host For Businesses With Small Average Ticket Size

We like that Host Merchant Services is well-known for its excellent customer service and merchant-focused attitude. Businesses with a small average ticket size (laundromats, car washes, small theatres, etc.) should consider applying for Host Merchant Service's small ticket program, while businesses such as grocery and convenience stores should take advantage of the company's easy EBT transaction onboarding program.

Host Merchant Services Features

Host Merchant Services offers merchant accounts for businesses in a variety of industries, including medical services, hotel/lodging/rental businesses, and high-risk businesses such as firearms sales.

The company offers a small ticket program, which allows businesses with a small ticket size (less than $15 on average) to save money on payment processing. You can also incorporate cash discounting if you like, and the provider has an EBT/SNAP transaction program that makes taking food stamps easy.

eCommerce sellers, subscription-based sellers, and most service-based businesses will appreciate Host Merchant Service’s virtual terminal offering. This virtual terminal is supplied as a link to a hosted, branded online checkout page that supports one-time and recurring payments. You can also take ACH payments and even receive images of checks using Host Merchant Service’s secure terminal.

Host Merchant Services Pricing

Host Merchant Services charges a very reasonable $14.99/month for interchange-plus plans and charges the following interchange rates depending on your industry:

  • Retail: Interchange + 0.25% + $0.10
  • Restaurant: Interchange + 0.20% + $0.09
  • eCommerce: Interchange + 0.35% + $0.10

The company’s cash discounting plan is free to businesses processing more than $5K/month and incurs a $20/month fee for businesses processing less than $5K/month. Host notes that the cash discount plan is only available to businesses that don’t need to use the tip-adjust option when processing transactions.

Unfortunately, Host Merchant Services does not list its hardware or monthly software pricing for Clover POS devices on its website.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Host Merchant Services has month-to-month contracts and includes an early termination fee waiver with your merchant agreement. Your payment processing rates given at the time of signing your merchant agreement will never increase due to any pricing increases on the part of Host Merchant Services.

If you are already signed on with a merchant account provider and face early termination fees when switching, you can ask Host Merchant Services if they’ll help cover any of those fees. The company has agreed to pay up to $250 in owed early termination fees for referred clients and $500 if that referral client processes over $50,000 per month. While this deal may only apply in a referral situation, it never hurts to ask!

Host Merchant Services Is Best For Businesses That ...

  • Have a small average ticket size ($15 or less)
  • Want to use Clover without entering a long-term contract
  • Want to accept EBT payments

Get Started With Host Merchant Services

Read our in-depth review

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PaymentCloud: Best For High-Risk Businesses

Total Rating 4.1
Fees & Rates4.3

Products & Services5.0

Contract2.8

Sales & Advertising Transparency3.9

Customer Service4.2

User Reviews4.0



Exclusive Promo: PaymentCloud will give you $200 if they can't beat your current rate. Get Your Quote

Pros

  • Specializes in high-risk industries
  • High likelihood of account approval
  • No long-term contract or early termination fee
  • Chargeback and fraud protection

Cons

  • No pricing disclosures
  • Very high-risk merchants may get tiered pricing plan

Why We Chose PaymentCloud For High-Risk Businesses

PaymentCloud is one of our best high-risk merchant account providers specifically because of its excellent industry knowledge, great customer service, and the fact that its large network of acquiring banks and payment processors allows the company to find the best payment processing deal given your business's information. This company is dedicated to seeing your high-risk business flourish, and that starts with helping you get approved for a merchant account with good contract terms.

PaymentCloud Features

PaymentCloud specializes in a number of high-risk industries and works with several banking institutions to find the best payment processing rate for your merchant account.

With PaymentCloud, a dedicated support representative will walk you through the application process. This representative will also “scrub” your application, social media presence, and website to increase the likelihood of your application approval. Your PaymentCloud support representative ensures your business is PCI compliant (without charging a PCI compliance fee), and actively advocates for your best interests with the banking institution and payment processors you work with.

PaymentCloud also offers chargeback protection and fraud detection tools and has industry knowledge of several high-risk business types, so high-risk business owners can rest assured that PaymentCloud will understand their needs and how to avoid common high-risk business pitfalls.

As with other Clover merchant services providers, PaymentCloud offers a virtual terminal for taking invoice, phone, and mail order payments, eCheck processing, and even cryptocurrency.

You can also integrate PaymentCloud with a number of eCommerce platforms including Shopify, BigCommerce, and ShiftShop, as well as customer relationship management systems and industry-specific software.

PaymentCloud Pricing

Like most high-risk merchant account providers, PaymentCloud does not disclose pricing information online. This is mostly because high-risk merchant accounts are highly personalized based on the business as well as the trustworthiness of the business owner.

You will probably pay at least $25/month to maintain your high-risk merchant account. You’ll most likely be required to have a rolling reserve account, and if your business is considered very high-risk, you may be required to use a tiered pricing model, rather than interchange-plus. Tiered pricing is the most expensive, but at some point, you have to take what you can get.

PaymentCloud will actively seek out the best payment processing terms for you and help with your account application to mitigate the riskiness of your business (on paper, anyway).

Contract Requirements/Warnings

PaymentCloud offers month-to-month contracts with no early termination fees whenever possible.

While PaymentCloud works with its network of acquiring banks to find the best contract terms, some high-risk business owners may end up needing to sign the high-risk industry-standard two-year contract. In most cases, PaymentCloud can get the early termination fee waived.

PaymentCloud offers a “free” POS terminal to new merchants, but it’s more of a loaner. If you cancel your account, you have to ship the hardware back to PaymentCloud immediately to avoid being charged full price for the Clover terminal you decide to use.

PaymentCloud Is Best For Businesses That ...

  • Belong to a high-risk industry
  • Want a high-risk merchant account with a month-to-month contract
  • Don't want to pay upfront for a Clover terminal
  • Need a merchant account that can process payments online, over the phone, or using other alternative channels such as mail order, eCheck, or crypto.

Get Started With PaymentCloud

Read our in-depth review

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Clearly Payments: Best For Larger Businesses

Clearly Payments

Total Rating 4.7
Fees & Rates5.0

Products & Services4.6

Contract4.8

Sales & Advertising Transparency5.0

Customer Service3.6

User Reviews4.8



Pros

  • Membership plans remove markup percentage pricing
  • Built-in payment page, subscription, and invoice builders
  • Merchant accounts in US and Canada, and transactions in several currencies available
  • Very flexible merchant account option

Cons

  • Clover pricing not disclosed online

Why We Chose Clearly Payments For Larger Businesses

We appreciate that Clearly Payments, which works with business owners in Canada and recently also the US, offers both interchange-plus and membership-based credit card processing. Membership-based pricing is an excellent merchant account model that can reduce overall fees for midsize to larger businesses. With a membership, you'll be charged a monthly flat-rate subscription and get to avoid a percentage markup, plus your flat-rate per-transaction fee is much lower than most competitors offer.

Clearly Payments Features

There are multiple built-in features that Clearly Payments offers for several business types.

For example, you may build an online hosted payment page, which essentially works like PayPal. You place a “buy now” button on your website or other online presence, a customer clicks it and is redirected to a Clearly Payments payment page, then once they enter their information (which is safely stored on Clearly Payments’ servers), they’re redirected to a “thank you” page.

You may also:

  • Build custom invoice templates and track the status of invoices
  • Create recurring payment plans to embed in your website, app, or other software platform
  • Use a virtual terminal to take payments over the phone or send one-time payment requests to customers
  • Design your own custom receipts
  • Integrate Clearly Payments with popular accounting software, website builders, or subscription billing apps, or make use of the open API to develop your own integrations

Clearly Payments works in 65 different currencies (with the currency changing dynamically depending on your customer’s location) and multiple languages, so you can use this Clover payment processing provider internationally.

Clearly Payments Pricing

Clearly Payments offers the following membership plans:

  • Basic: $99/month + $0.08/transaction; for businesses processing up to $50K/month
  • Pro: $189/month + $0.06/transaction; for businesses processing between $50K/month and $250K/month
  • Custom: Custom pricing; for businesses processing over $250K/month

With a membership plan, you’ll pay wholesale interchange pricing, meaning that you won’t pay the markup percentage that you typically do with other merchant accounts.

The company also offers your standard interchange-plus payment processing, but Clearly Payments does not beat competitors like Dharma Merchant Services until you start processing so much money per month that it makes more sense to get a membership-based merchant account.

The website does not list pricing for Clover devices or accompanying software. Clearly Payments offers Clover machines as part of a terminal rental program. Your rental contract is month-to-month, and you may cancel it at any time.

Contract Requirements/Warnings

Clearly Payments offers monthly contracts with no setup or cancellation fees. You may also cancel your Clover terminal rental at any point without facing any penalties.

Clearly Payments Is Best For Businesses That ...

  • Are midsize or larger
  • Are based in Canada (but US-based is also OK)
  • Sell online and in-person
  • Want to rent (vs. purchase) a Clover system

Get Started With Clearly Payments

Read our in-depth review

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Payment Processing Rating Methodology

Merchant Maverick has been researching the payment processing industry since 2009. Our writers have reviewed hundreds of credit card processors, merchant account services, and mobile payment apps, evaluating each provider carefully on several different metrics.

Weighted Rating Breakdown

Fees & Rates 35%
Contract 20%
Products & Services 15%
Sales & Advertising Transparency 15%
Customer Service 10%
User Reviews 5%

When comparing different payment processing companies and applications to one another, we consider numerous data points. Our experts start by comparing credit card processing rates, the presence of additional fees, contract length, sales practices, and the presence or absence of additional features and services, like point of sale software. Each provider is judged on its own merits and how well it stacks up to industry standards; then it is weighed against the other providers on the list.

We spend an average of 10-15 hours researching and updating each one of our lists, making sure every company or application included meets our internal standards for quality and reputation. Any list of recommended payment processors on our site might contain a mix of standard merchant accounts, third-party payment processors, mobile payment devices, and high-risk payment processors, depending on what our expert feels is the best fit for certain scenarios or business types.

For additional details about Merchant Maverick’s review and rating processes, please refer to any or all of the following methodology pages:

15

Years reviewing payment processors

100+

Providers evaluated

25

Attributes and features assessed per vendor

40+

Years combined experience


Why We Don't Recommend These 6 Clover Credit Card Processor Options

The following are some Clover resellers that are best to avoid. Not all of them are completely terrible, but better options are available.

Leaders Merchant Services

Leaders Merchant Services is a classic Clover POS/First Data (Fiserv) reseller. Unfortunately, it’s known for deceptive advertising and sales tactics. You can expect a three-year contract with an ETF and lots of hidden fees with this company.

The only good thing about Leaders Merchant Services is that it caters to high-risk businesses, so it could be an option if you are in a high-risk industry and want to use Clover. Just make sure you have a crystal-clear understanding of your contract’s fees and terms before signing a merchant services agreement with this company.

Note that Leaders Merchant Services is owned by iPayment, which also owns another Clover reseller called Flagship Merchant Services. (Flagship is not great but not as bad as Leaders Merchant Services.)

First Data/Fiserv

You have the option to get your Clover with a traditional First Data/Fiserv merchant services account, but we wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a little confusing since all Clover resellers ultimately use a First Data/Fiserv merchant account for Clover payment processing. But again, it all comes down to the terms of your merchant services contract, and First Data does not have the best.

Fiserv contracts are typically 36-48 months, vary widely in terms of payment processing rates and processing structures, and have steep early termination fees. Many Fiserv representatives are not transparent about contracts, not responsive when you need help, and the company has poor customer service ratings in general.

Clover

If you purchase your Clover hardware and merchant services from Clover.com, you will have similar contract terms and a similar customer experience as you would if you got a contract through Fiserv, Clover’s parent company.

Sam's Club Merchant Services

In addition to flat screens and 24-packs of Pringles, Sam’s Club also sells Clover using First Data’s merchant services. Aside from its brand name, Sam’s Club doesn’t provide any additional value to First Data’s merchant services offering. Its products and fees are the same as Fiserv.

Wells Fargo Merchant Services

Wells Fargo Merchant Services is another major Clover POS system reseller/First Data merchant account reseller. Some things you can expect with this company include hefty processing fees, an early termination fee (if you break your four-year merchant services contract), and costly terminal leases. Please never lease a POS system; it’s always better to scrounge up the thousand-some bucks to buy it outright, even if you need to borrow the money.

Merchant One

Merchant One is yet another Clover reseller and a Registered ISO of Wells Fargo. There’s not a whole lot to say because it doesn’t disclose rates or fees on its website, but from what we can determine, it charges a lot of hidden fees and uses tiered pricing by default.

Merchant One also pushes noncancelable Clover leases through First Data Global Leasing and requires a three-year contract with a monthly minimum. Merchant One has a friendly-seeming website, but when you get down to it, its terms for Clover are neither transparent nor fairly priced.

How To Spot A Bad Clover Credit Card Processing Company

Here are some common problems we see in subpar POS resellers, including many Clover vendors:

  • Terrible merchant agreements (e.g. multi-year service plans with early termination fees)
  • Hardware leases
  • Poor customer service
  • Excessively high fees
  • Lack of transparency about terms and prices

Historically, Clover terminals were leased on three to four-year non-cancelable agreements that ended up costing as much as three times the value of the hardware.

In addition to being more expensive, leases also keep you locked into processing with that company, even if you are not happy with their services. If you’re considering a lease, make sure you read our post on why you should never lease your credit card machine.

How To Negotiate A Good Clover Merchant Agreement

To negotiate a good Clover merchant agreement, you first have to understand every part of your merchant account application and the proposed merchant agreement you are (potentially) about to sign.

Look out for information like early termination fees and penalties, contract lengths (the “standard” is three years, but there are several merchant services providers that offer shorter contracts), hidden fees, and account closure instructions.

Get quotes from several providers and ask your preferred provider to match lower credit card rates, waive early termination fees, and match term lengths. Get all custom contract agreements in writing, or they may not be honored later on. 

Read our full guide on how to negotiate a merchant agreement for more on how to get the best Clover merchant account possible.

How To Get Out Of A Bad Clover Payment Processing Contract

To get out of a bad Clover payment processing contract:

  • Find your merchant agreement
  • Determine when you need to cancel to avoid an automatic renewal
  • Send notice and return any POS equipment if needed (make sure to get a delivery receipt so the account provider can’t claim they didn’t receive the equipment)
  • Try to avoid an early cancellation fee
  • Monitor your account for any additional (unauthorized) charges

If a company is charging you after you’ve canceled your account, send proof of your account cancellation and ask to be refunded for any incorrect charges.

Read our post on how to cancel a Fiserv contract if you’re trying to cancel a Fiserv merchant account.

Which Clover Merchant Account Provider Is Right For Your Business?

Hundreds of banks and Clover merchant account providers sell Clover credit card machines, but the institution you buy it from matters a lot. You’re also buying an accompanying merchant services contract from that Clover vendor. Be sure to read the fine print when purchasing Clover and the associated merchant account contract that comes with it.

If you’re open to using a POS system other than Clover, you might want to take a look at some Clover alternatives that could work better for you.

FAQs: Clover Merchant Services

Is Clover a merchant account?

Clover is not a merchant account itself, despite being owned by Fiserv, a company that does offer merchant accounts. Clover is just a company that produces POS software and hardware.

However, you can get a merchant account directly through Clover.com or through another merchant services company that is compatible with Clover.

How much does Clover take per transaction?

If you buy your POS directly through Clover, you’ll be charged a flat fee of 2.3% or 2.6% + $0.10 for all in-person transactions. However, Clover resellers may offer various payment processing fee models, such as interchange-plus, tiered pricing, or cash discount processing.

Does Clover require a contract?

Clover systems require a contract with an official Clover partner. With a contract, you’ll get Clover hardware, software, and credit card processing from one merchant services provider.

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Shannon Vissers

Shannon Vissers

Lead Staff Writer at Merchant Maverick
Shannon has been writing for Merchant Maverick about small business software and financing since 2015. She started writing professionally about business topics in 2005. Shannon has been featured in the Washington Post, Reader's Digest, US News, MSN, Yahoo Finance, Business Insider, and other publications. She has a bachelor's degree in English from San Diego State University and currently resides in San Diego, California.
Shannon Vissers
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