Our bank First Federal told us to use Intergrated Merchant Alliance who was the banks credit card processor. So we did. Only to find out a short time later that IMA was just a broker that used First Data. So in reality, the bank was getting a kick back, IMA was getting a kick back and First Data was doing all the work and I am sure they were getting paid as well. All off our little business. So we went directly to First Data and cut our cost by over 30% !
Wait, it gets better. This company IMA that was recommended to us by First Federal of Charleston has been operating in South Carolina for years without any business license, which is a serious violation of South Carolina Department of Revenue laws as well as local laws concerning cities and counties. Every business needs to be licenced in each and every county of South Carolina they do business in. You would think that First Federal would have done there homework much more carefully. This is truly incredible !