Merchant One Review 2024 (2024)

• Merchant One At a Glance
• Other Benefits
• Fine Print
• How Merchant One Stacks Up
• Is Merchant One Right for You or Your Business?
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Merchant One is one of Forbes Advisor’s top 10 credit card processing companies, and they are based in Miami Beach, Florida. The company claims to have a lenient approval policy for new customers. However, beyond that, there are multiple points of caution to consider if you’re interested in signing up for credit card processing with Merchant One.

According to the website, the monthly cost to become a customer with Merchant One starts at $6.95. However, you can receive an individualized and more accurate quote when you provide the company with more information about your business.

The credit card processing fees are as follows:

The qualified swipe rate, when a customer is swiping their credit card through a portal, is 0.29% to 1.55% per transaction. The rate for qualified keyed transactions, when you manually enter the customer’s credit card information, is 0.29% to 1.99% per transaction.

Merchant One claims to have an easy approval process for customers with “less-than-perfect” credit scores. The company will process applications within 24 hours and has a 98% approval rate.

Merchant One claims there is no early termination fee. However, there’s also the following disclaimer, “Rates above are for qualifying rates. For full rates, fees, and terms please refer to your merchant processing agreement. Executed merchant processing agreement overrides above fee table.”

Many Better Business Bureau (BBB) reviewers complained they were locked into three-year contracts with termination fees of up to $750. Multiple reviewers said there was no mention of the three-year contract during the sign-up process. Merchant One’s website is limited and does not have further information about their contract terms besides the above disclaimer.

Although Merchant One claims to have 24/7 phone support, Forbes Advisor made a couple attempts to speak with a representative over the phone and was not successful. Both times we were told the wait would be over 10 minutes long, but the call then dropped after a few minutes.

To compare the credit card processing fees for each company, you will need an estimate of how much money you plan to spend. Although Square and Intuit QuickBooks Payments charge a higher rate, it is difficult to evaluate the true cost without understanding the individual business structure, payment methods and other fees associated with each transaction.

Merchant One offers phone support but does not provide a live chat option, knowledge base or blog. On the other hand, Square offers a live chat option, phone support, a knowledge base and blog, while Intuit QuickBooks Payments offers their customers the same forms of customer assistance without phone support.

Although many credit card processing companies make their payment structure opaque or difficult to understand, given the particularly deceptive pricing and our experience with Merchant One’s customer service, it may be best to consider another processing company.

There are dozens of reviews on the Better Business Bureau, and the company has a total rating of three out of five stars (with most rated either one or five). Most of the customers who gave Merchant One a one-star review complained about unknown hidden fees and being locked into a three-year contract without their knowledge. For example, one reviewer wrote that after being offered the initial 1.9% fee, they were later charged more. Though these are individual anecdotes, there is a general trend among the reviews.