I am currently shopping around for a credit card processor. 1st National has pretty good rates/fees and looks good on paper. When google-ing their name though, one of the first results is ripoffreport.com- which is never good :P If you currently use 1st national, would you recommend them to a friend? Has your experiences with them been positive? Thanks, Matt.
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My experience has not been good with their payment processor-Ipayment. First, I went online and found the PCI forms, downloaded them, completed them and sent them to IPayment, only to be told that I had no choice but to use their website, answer the very same questions and pay them 129.00. Okay, I lost that one, as I knew I would from others on this site. I canceled my contract after the 1 year term, last May, and thought I was done with them. On December 28, 2011, they withdrew from my account another 129.00 PCI fee...even thought I had not used their service in 2011. I disputed the charge with my bank, Wells Fargo, which, after 30 days, surprise, surprise, found the withdrawal was authorized. (IPayment is a subsidiary of Wells Fargo). So now I have to jump thru the hoops and hope a supervisor will determine that I am due a refund. Meanwhile, IPayment has had my funds for over a month. Others have had good luck with them, but I would stay away from them. There are too many other ways to accept credit cards. I now use the Square and love it.
I have used first national for 2 years. I was happywith them until I noticed a recurring $30 month payment. I did not call right away and have been paying $30 per month because I had not yet filled out the pci compliance form. You go online fill it out and before you can do this,agree to let them take the fees out of your account. So it is $30 a month if you dont fill it out, before you answere the questions online you must agree to have the fees taken out of your account which in my case turned out to be $120. I get the concept of compliance, I am frustrated by the fees, not sure what I am actually paying for.
They are passing on their overhead to manage the process to you. Do they make money on these fees? Who knows. Some merchant providers will sock it to you in other ways. You must read the fine print on your statement every month, and pay attention to what they are asking. It is the only communication you will get in some cases.
I've found them to be very helpful when I've had tech issues. Their fees are reasonable, for a hardware/wireless solution, and having store and forward has helped me on more than one occasion. They are not the cheapest, but they are among the most honest. YMMV.
Thanks... passing on their overhead is a logical explanation, which also helps explain why it is irritating. I get the sense while filling out the questionair that it was only making me more liable. Could they be passing on not only the cost but the liablility?
Yes. You are responsible for keeping your own records secure. The compliance form is essentially a disclaimer that limits their liability.
I've been using 1st National for several years. Their tech support is very helpful, and if they can't solve the problem, they will get second tier support for your machine on the line until the problem is solved.
Their fees are not outrageous. They are very upfront about what is being charged and why. PCI compliance fee is charged in increments - three or four months in a row I think. It's an industry-wide issue, and most card processors will charge you for it one way or another.
I would recommend them for their outstanding service and availability. I use an Exadigm machine, which has been good. It has wireless connectivity and can do store and forward if there are issues at a show. I have two or three shows that are problematic for whatever reason every year, connectivity or server issues. Crosby Gardens can be iffy. St. James Court always has network issues. And Wells St./Old Town can be a problem. It is usually server overload, not the processors fault.
I like to gather customer information at the time of sale. It gets written on the COA/Invoice, not the credit card slip. I will ask the customer if they mind furnishing a phone number and an email address. They can decline, and some do. But most don't have a problem with it. I don't share any info with third-parties - info is for my contact list only.
I used Chase/Paymentech before I moved to 1NB. They were more expensive, and I used a knucklebuster. When I changed processors, I did quite a bit of research. 1NB won over a couple of the cheaper providers based on the answers they gave to the questions I had. They were the most honest I could find in an industry full of shylocks.
I have been using 1st National for about 4 years now and have always been pleased with their service. They give you the facts and let you make the decision. My monthly fee is $8.00 a month, they offer hold services to put your account on hold if you choose not to do business during down months, charge minimal fees for cc. processing, and have wonderful customers service 24/7 with real people. Even the owner is happy to talk to you anytime. They even allow you to try their machines before you purchase them as well as have rent to own options. The PCI thing is something everyone will have to deal with - since cc companies are hurting with people not paying their debt they are putting it off to the credit card processing companies, let alone fraud and other issues too. When it comes to reviews take them with a grain of salt, most of the things they say is out of emotion and not fact. Most of the people who complain about a service is because they have high expectations, didn't do what the company asked them to do to fix the problem, or haven't read the fine print and then feel they are not responsible for whatever they are complaining about. Do review the history of discussion about this topic on this board and others regarding who people are using and their experience. I do recommend 1st Nat. to anyone thinking about taking cc transactions, they are FOR the artist (the little guys) and do whatever they can to help us little folks succeed.
Michelle
www.bythebaybotanicals.com
www.quickcraftartisttips.blogspot.com
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