Braintree Payment Solutions
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Braintree Payment Solutions Overview
Braintree Payment Solutions Logo
Braintree Payment Solutions is a merchant account provider based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2007, the company is still fairly young to the credit card processing industry but is showing a lot of promise. Braintree targets its services primarily at e-commerce merchants, subscription based businesses, and merchants that type in all of their credit card transactions. The company does this with its own payment gateway and transaction processing system.
Braintree’s payment gateway is very similar to that of PayJunction’s Trinity System and offers virtually automatic PCI Compliance to merchants by storing the credit card data off the merchants systems and on their own. Additionally, customers’ cards are securely stored in a “vault” that allows them to be re-charged or refunded without re-entering the card information. This information storage also allows merchants to set up recurring charges for subscriptions and periodic billing.
Braintree also allows U.S. based merchants to accept international payments in 134 local currencies with settlement in 21 different currencies, making it a great option for global companies.
Braintree uses First Data for its card processing network but merchants appear to deal with Braintree exclusively for the service of their accounts. The company’s acquiring bank is Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, CA.
Braintree Payment Solutions Sales & Marketing Strategy | A+
Braintree does not use any deceptive advertising, price quoting or sales tactics that are apparent to this reviewer. The company appears to market is services primarily online and through strategic partnerships.
Braintree Payment Solutions Fees, Costs & Contract Terms | B
Braintree’s pricing and contract terms are mostly positive in nature, but do have a couple drawbacks. On the positive side, the company offers month-to-month service that allows merchants to cancel anytime without a cancellation fee. The company’s pricing is simple, transparent and does not hide any fees. Additionally, Braintree does not charge a PCI Compliance fee where most of its competitors charge an annual fee of $79 to $150.
The drawbacks are that Braintree is slightly expensive compared to many similar competitors. First, this provider charges a one-time $99 setup fee where other providers usually charge between $0 and $49. Next, merchants will pay a $35 per month service fee which is also slightly on the high side. Add to this a $75 monthly minimum processing fee (industry average is $25) and the base cost of a Braintree account in the first year totals $1,419, which does not include any actual processing fees. If a merchant wishes to use the “vault” service, which is usually included for free with most providers that have it, Braintree adds an additional monthly fee of $20 plus one (1) cent for each account stored in the vault.
Braintree’s pricing may indicate that it is targeting mid-to-high volume merchants that want predictable pricing. Low volume and seasonal merchants would probably be better suited with a different provider.
As of this review, here are Braintree’s fees:
| Visa/MasterCard/Discover | |
|---|---|
| Qualifed | 2.29% + $.30 |
| Non-Qualified | 2.89% + $.30 |
| International | 0.5% |
| Chargeback | $15 |
| American Express | |
| 2.89% + $.30 | |
| Other Fees | |
| Monthly Fee | $35 |
| Monthly Minimum | $75 |
| Setup | $99 |
| Gateway | $0 |
| PCI Compliance | $0 |
| Vault | $20/mo. + $.01/card/mo. |
| Recurring Billing | $.10 per subscription billed |
Braintree Payment Solutions Complaints & Service | A+
Braintree does not have any complaints filed online in the usual forums, which is a very positive sign of the company’s service.
Braintree Payment Solutions Better Business Bureau Report | B+
As of this review, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) is not showing Braintree as accredited, which likely only indicates only that Braintree has not paid the BBB’s enrollment fees. More evidence of this can be found with the BBB assigning a “B+” rating based upon one complaint filed in the last 36 months. The complaint was regarding billing and the BBB was unable to resolve it because it could not locate the business. The BBB rating will not be weighed heavily for Braintree’s overall rating in this review.
Bottom Line
Braintree Payment Solutions is not for every business but will suit certain higher volume ($10K+/mo.) merchant perfectly. The company has an easy to use payment gateway that is PCI Compliant and a reputation for great service. The company could improve its rating by reducing its monthly minimum, setup fee, and monthly fee in order to reduce its somewhat high base cost.
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