Complaint Review: Transtech Merchant Group. First American Payment System. Summit Risk. - Fort Worth Texas

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have been misled. It is often a lack of understanding about how merchant processing services are priced that leads merchants to make poor decisions about their processor based solely on perceived costs instead of on areas where there are actualyy important differences - like service, support and education. In a nutshell, the only way you will realize big savings on your merchant processing statements is if you are currently being ripped off. Visa and MasterCard, the card associations, receive the majority of the fees that merchants pay for their processing services. The remainder of the fees, or the margin, is what the merchant processor receives. The card associations have designated over 240 different card categories that each merchant processor must recognize and process. Every merchant processor, no matter how big or small, is charged the same rates and fees by the card associations and every merchant processor differentiates each card category utilizing exactly the same card category name as designated by the card associations. The card categories are designated in the following manner: 1.) Industry Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Government, Utility, Service Industry, Gas Station, Supermarket, etc. 2.) Type of Card Personal Visa or MasterCard, Visa or MasterCard Debit, Visa Rewards, MasterCard World, Commercial Visa, Corporate MasterCard, etc. 3.) Method of Processing Face-to-Face (swipe), Mail Order/Telephone Order, Key Entered, E-Commerce, etc. 4.) Processing Efficiency Address Verification, Authorization/Settle Match, Timeliness of Settlement, etc. These categories are as diverse as they seem. If a cardholder uses the same card to buy something from a retail establishment, lunch at a restaurant and pay their electric bill, all three of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. If a retail establishment accepts two different types of cards (ex. - a Visa Debit Card and a Visa Rewards Card) for a purchase of the exact same amount, both of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. The same is true for a Face-to-Face transaction as opposed to a telephone order. Furthermore, if a merchant does take a telephone order and doesn't enter the required cardholder information, the transaction will be downgraded to a higher priced card and rate category than a properly executed telephone order. So what does all of this mean to you? For many merchants, the hardest thing to do is accept the fact that the merchant processing system, to some extent, simply is what it is. There really are that many card categories. There really are that many different rates and fees. Your merchant processor deals with and manages this system they do not have the power to change it. Any merchant processor who claims to be dealing with a better or more advantageous system than other processors isn't being honest. Sure, some merchant processors offer a simplified statement format with bundled categories, but only to keep from disclosing individual rates. The simpler the statement format the less a merchant knows about what their true credit card processing costs are or should be. A simple statement also makes it very difficult to perform an accurate comparison to other programs. For many merchant processors, their most successful customer retention tool is their customer's complete inability to understand their services. Every merchant should insist that their merchant processor identify and define the rate category of every type of card they receive so that there is a better understanding of what fees are being paid, why the fees are paid, whether their processing can be done more efficiently and if their processor offers truly competitive services. Any processor that will not assist a merchant in achieving these goals either has something to hide or is not able to offer the services that any customer has the right to expect.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have been misled. It is often a lack of understanding about how merchant processing services are priced that leads merchants to make poor decisions about their processor based solely on perceived costs instead of on areas where there are actualyy important differences - like service, support and education. In a nutshell, the only way you will realize big savings on your merchant processing statements is if you are currently being ripped off. Visa and MasterCard, the card associations, receive the majority of the fees that merchants pay for their processing services. The remainder of the fees, or the margin, is what the merchant processor receives. The card associations have designated over 240 different card categories that each merchant processor must recognize and process. Every merchant processor, no matter how big or small, is charged the same rates and fees by the card associations and every merchant processor differentiates each card category utilizing exactly the same card category name as designated by the card associations. The card categories are designated in the following manner: 1.) Industry Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Government, Utility, Service Industry, Gas Station, Supermarket, etc. 2.) Type of Card Personal Visa or MasterCard, Visa or MasterCard Debit, Visa Rewards, MasterCard World, Commercial Visa, Corporate MasterCard, etc. 3.) Method of Processing Face-to-Face (swipe), Mail Order/Telephone Order, Key Entered, E-Commerce, etc. 4.) Processing Efficiency Address Verification, Authorization/Settle Match, Timeliness of Settlement, etc. These categories are as diverse as they seem. If a cardholder uses the same card to buy something from a retail establishment, lunch at a restaurant and pay their electric bill, all three of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. If a retail establishment accepts two different types of cards (ex. - a Visa Debit Card and a Visa Rewards Card) for a purchase of the exact same amount, both of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. The same is true for a Face-to-Face transaction as opposed to a telephone order. Furthermore, if a merchant does take a telephone order and doesn't enter the required cardholder information, the transaction will be downgraded to a higher priced card and rate category than a properly executed telephone order. So what does all of this mean to you? For many merchants, the hardest thing to do is accept the fact that the merchant processing system, to some extent, simply is what it is. There really are that many card categories. There really are that many different rates and fees. Your merchant processor deals with and manages this system they do not have the power to change it. Any merchant processor who claims to be dealing with a better or more advantageous system than other processors isn't being honest. Sure, some merchant processors offer a simplified statement format with bundled categories, but only to keep from disclosing individual rates. The simpler the statement format the less a merchant knows about what their true credit card processing costs are or should be. A simple statement also makes it very difficult to perform an accurate comparison to other programs. For many merchant processors, their most successful customer retention tool is their customer's complete inability to understand their services. Every merchant should insist that their merchant processor identify and define the rate category of every type of card they receive so that there is a better understanding of what fees are being paid, why the fees are paid, whether their processing can be done more efficiently and if their processor offers truly competitive services. Any processor that will not assist a merchant in achieving these goals either has something to hide or is not able to offer the services that any customer has the right to expect.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have been misled. It is often a lack of understanding about how merchant processing services are priced that leads merchants to make poor decisions about their processor based solely on perceived costs instead of on areas where there are actualyy important differences - like service, support and education. In a nutshell, the only way you will realize big savings on your merchant processing statements is if you are currently being ripped off. Visa and MasterCard, the card associations, receive the majority of the fees that merchants pay for their processing services. The remainder of the fees, or the margin, is what the merchant processor receives. The card associations have designated over 240 different card categories that each merchant processor must recognize and process. Every merchant processor, no matter how big or small, is charged the same rates and fees by the card associations and every merchant processor differentiates each card category utilizing exactly the same card category name as designated by the card associations. The card categories are designated in the following manner: 1.) Industry Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Government, Utility, Service Industry, Gas Station, Supermarket, etc. 2.) Type of Card Personal Visa or MasterCard, Visa or MasterCard Debit, Visa Rewards, MasterCard World, Commercial Visa, Corporate MasterCard, etc. 3.) Method of Processing Face-to-Face (swipe), Mail Order/Telephone Order, Key Entered, E-Commerce, etc. 4.) Processing Efficiency Address Verification, Authorization/Settle Match, Timeliness of Settlement, etc. These categories are as diverse as they seem. If a cardholder uses the same card to buy something from a retail establishment, lunch at a restaurant and pay their electric bill, all three of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. If a retail establishment accepts two different types of cards (ex. - a Visa Debit Card and a Visa Rewards Card) for a purchase of the exact same amount, both of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. The same is true for a Face-to-Face transaction as opposed to a telephone order. Furthermore, if a merchant does take a telephone order and doesn't enter the required cardholder information, the transaction will be downgraded to a higher priced card and rate category than a properly executed telephone order. So what does all of this mean to you? For many merchants, the hardest thing to do is accept the fact that the merchant processing system, to some extent, simply is what it is. There really are that many card categories. There really are that many different rates and fees. Your merchant processor deals with and manages this system they do not have the power to change it. Any merchant processor who claims to be dealing with a better or more advantageous system than other processors isn't being honest. Sure, some merchant processors offer a simplified statement format with bundled categories, but only to keep from disclosing individual rates. The simpler the statement format the less a merchant knows about what their true credit card processing costs are or should be. A simple statement also makes it very difficult to perform an accurate comparison to other programs. For many merchant processors, their most successful customer retention tool is their customer's complete inability to understand their services. Every merchant should insist that their merchant processor identify and define the rate category of every type of card they receive so that there is a better understanding of what fees are being paid, why the fees are paid, whether their processing can be done more efficiently and if their processor offers truly competitive services. Any processor that will not assist a merchant in achieving these goals either has something to hide or is not able to offer the services that any customer has the right to expect.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you have been misled. It is often a lack of understanding about how merchant processing services are priced that leads merchants to make poor decisions about their processor based solely on perceived costs instead of on areas where there are actualyy important differences - like service, support and education. In a nutshell, the only way you will realize big savings on your merchant processing statements is if you are currently being ripped off. Visa and MasterCard, the card associations, receive the majority of the fees that merchants pay for their processing services. The remainder of the fees, or the margin, is what the merchant processor receives. The card associations have designated over 240 different card categories that each merchant processor must recognize and process. Every merchant processor, no matter how big or small, is charged the same rates and fees by the card associations and every merchant processor differentiates each card category utilizing exactly the same card category name as designated by the card associations. The card categories are designated in the following manner: 1.) Industry Retail, Restaurant, Hotel, Government, Utility, Service Industry, Gas Station, Supermarket, etc. 2.) Type of Card Personal Visa or MasterCard, Visa or MasterCard Debit, Visa Rewards, MasterCard World, Commercial Visa, Corporate MasterCard, etc. 3.) Method of Processing Face-to-Face (swipe), Mail Order/Telephone Order, Key Entered, E-Commerce, etc. 4.) Processing Efficiency Address Verification, Authorization/Settle Match, Timeliness of Settlement, etc. These categories are as diverse as they seem. If a cardholder uses the same card to buy something from a retail establishment, lunch at a restaurant and pay their electric bill, all three of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. If a retail establishment accepts two different types of cards (ex. - a Visa Debit Card and a Visa Rewards Card) for a purchase of the exact same amount, both of these transactions will be designated as a separate card and rate category. The same is true for a Face-to-Face transaction as opposed to a telephone order. Furthermore, if a merchant does take a telephone order and doesn't enter the required cardholder information, the transaction will be downgraded to a higher priced card and rate category than a properly executed telephone order. So what does all of this mean to you? For many merchants, the hardest thing to do is accept the fact that the merchant processing system, to some extent, simply is what it is. There really are that many card categories. There really are that many different rates and fees. Your merchant processor deals with and manages this system they do not have the power to change it. Any merchant processor who claims to be dealing with a better or more advantageous system than other processors isn't being honest. Sure, some merchant processors offer a simplified statement format with bundled categories, but only to keep from disclosing individual rates. The simpler the statement format the less a merchant knows about what their true credit card processing costs are or should be. A simple statement also makes it very difficult to perform an accurate comparison to other programs. For many merchant processors, their most successful customer retention tool is their customer's complete inability to understand their services. Every merchant should insist that their merchant processor identify and define the rate category of every type of card they receive so that there is a better understanding of what fees are being paid, why the fees are paid, whether their processing can be done more efficiently and if their processor offers truly competitive services. Any processor that will not assist a merchant in achieving these goals either has something to hide or is not able to offer the services that any customer has the right to expect.