Cardservice International Review

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2.5
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How did they treat you? ▼

Updated 2/11/2019: The former Cardservice International website (cardserviceinternational.com) was previously registered to a Doug Olsen of Spanish Fork, Utah, but Doug Olsen has informed us that he is not the owner of Cardservice International. Instead, Cardservice International appears to be a sales arm of First Data, which is supported by the fact that Cardservice International's original web address redirected to a website for First Data Independent Sales for a period of time.

The same Doug Olsen also appears to have registered a merchant services company in Utah called mTech Payments (mtechpayments.com, cardservicewbs.com). Doug Olsen informed us that Cardservice International has been rebranded as Ignite Payments, which has since become CardConnect. Merchants should therefore note that Cardservice International, First Data Independent Sales, Ignite Payments, CardConnect, and mTech Payments are all related, if not all active enterprises. Merchants who are looking for information about Cardservice International should consult our CardConnect review.

Cardservice International (cardserviceinternational.com) appears to be a sales arm of First Data’s independent sales division. The company’s website states that First Data’s Independent Sales Agent Program is operated by Cardservice International; however, it is not clear if the company is a subsidiary of First Data, an alternate DBA, or a wholly independent reseller. In addition to providing credit and debit card processing services, Cardservice International also supplies processing equipment and a variety of other electronic payment services. The company claims to have begun operating in 1988.

Cardservice International does not appear to have a dedicated Better Business Bureau (BBB) profile for the company itself; however, there are a few profiles that look like sub-ISOs or independent offices located in different parts of the United States. For the purposes of this review, we will not include ratings of sub-ISOs since most operate independently.

Outside of the BBB, Cardservice International (mostly alongside First Data) is named in approximately 100 merchant complaints. On a positive note, it appears that far fewer complaints have been filed in 2011 and 2012 versus years prior, and many of the complaints appear to have a response by the company. The common types of complaints reported are poor communication, poor sales management and fund holding due to risk mitigation.

Cardservice international may also operate under several aliases including Card Service International, Card Service Intl, Cardservice Intl, Cardservice Slc, and possibly others. If you have further information, please leave it in the comment section below.

Cardservice International Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

See our Ignite Payments review.

Cardservice International Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

See our Ignite Payments review.

Cardservice International Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

See our Ignite Payments review.

Cardservice International Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

See our Ignite Payments review.

Our Cardservice International Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

See our Ignite Payments review.

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Which is Most Important for You?

If you had to pick one, which quality would you say will be the most important with your next credit card processor? Tap or click your selection to register your vote:

  1. Low Transaction Fees
  2. No Monthly Fees
  3. No Contract
  4. Reliable Customer Support
  5. Quick Signup

Testimonials & Complaints

How Did Cardservice International Treat You?

14 User Reviews

  • Tom

    Anonymous libel (absolutely insane fantasy story undeservedly calling me a “criminal” that “never shipped the order”) allegedly posted on the internet against me (their now former customer) by allegedly FirstData staff in order to damage my one person business after I disclosed how CARDSERVICE INTERNATIONAL / FIRSTDATA create obstacles to prevent merchants to comply with PCI standards and requirements, so they can keep on charging exorbitant fees and charges, and how rude some of their staff is and how their “discount” fees and charges creep up to over 5% levels etc. That criminal libel allegedly posted by FirstData / Cardservice International staff member is magically non-removable by US standards and laws… Only God knows how a shady “consumer reports” website owner (Ed Magedson) is allowed to accept absolutely insane incriminating fantasy vengeance stories allegedly written by corporations as “real” and even with the lack of any proof and refusing to provide any proof or contact the original poster is allowed to keep the absolutely insane libel “story” on their shady website?

  • Tom

    I quit CARDSERVICE INTERNATIONAL (FIRSTDATA) and their merchant account after I had enough of all the fees and shady PCI “compliance” practices charging you more and more fees and charges and trickstery preventing you from complying with PCI. Also their “discount” fees would creep up unannounced, up to 5% or more! I would have to fight them every 6 months if I wanted to keep my business competitive and that was a lot of extra unnecessary work and paperwork. I will not get into details now. Finally I had a conflict with Doug Olsen (webmaster, perhaps an owner as well) while requesting a copy of my merchant agreement, while he was rude to me I posted a report on hm and he allegedly retaliated, but in a nasty manner by allegedly posting anonymous cowardly libel about me potentially damaging my business. They use a wide array of websites and business names further confusing merchants and they also known as FirstData (First Data).

  • Jerald Coffey

    My complaint is that even if you are PCI compliant and you have to pay for that if you don’t want a monthly service fee for not being compliant, you still have to pay them a yearly fee of 119.00 service fee because you are compliant. This is BS. Do not use this company for any reason exept to whipe your ass. If all businesses would just not accept credit cards for a month we will put these types of businesses out of business. but we all know that this will never happen. I am seriously thinking about not taking credit cards, checks and cash only.

    • Tom

      I absolutely agree. I quit them and a merchant account after I had enough of all the fees and shady PCI “compliance” practices charging you more and more fees and charges and trickstery preventing you from complying with PCI. Also their “discount” fees would creep up unannounced, up to 5% or more! I would have to fight them every 6 months if I wanted to keep my business competitive and that was a lot of extra unnecessary work and paperwork. I will not get into details now. Finally I had a conflict with Doug Olsen (webmaster, perhaps an owner as well) while requesting a copy of my merchant agreement, while he was rude to me I posted a report on hm and he allegedly retaliated, but in a nasty manner by allegedly posting anonymous cowardly libel about me potentially damaging my business. They use a wide array of websites and business names further confusing merchants and they also known as FirstData (First Data).

    • Rosa

      Anonymous LLC

      Card Service international is a scam! It should be immediately closed down and all merchants who were placed on terminated list as a result of this fraudulent company should be given high reparations amount for their theft of money and for placing merchant on a tmf list for 5 years!

  • Sarah Emerson

    Card Service International is a scam. After my husband and I paid them to give us access to the service, they stole 100% of our income after they promised to only take a small fee per transaction. Then, after 3 months and over $63,000 in income where we did not see any money deposited into our account, we asked to cancel the service because it was not as promised and that we wanted our $63,000, they said we could not cancel because we signed a multi-year contract. Then we later found out, they filed a lien IN CALIFORNIA even though we live in Massachusetts, and they never informed us they were requested to attach a lien against our home. So then they attached a lien for over $25,000+ to our home. Even though the contract was signed in Massachusetts, how were they able to take our case to court on the other side of the United States and not serve us so we have a chance to get the case transferred to our state. They clearly have a scam where they file for liens in different states so the victims can’t defend themselves against additional theft through liens against their homes. So, not only did they steal $63,000 plus the start up fee without giving us even 1 penny, now they have unethically stolen an additional $25,000+ in our home’s equity. We are shocked that they can get away with any of this!

    • Samuel Conway

      If Doug Olsen has your money, it’s going to take some effort to get it back. I recently had to sue him to get the money he took from me and refused to return, when he was operating as “Utouch POS.” It was an easy win since he didn’t bother to show up for the hearing, but then I had to pursue collection. I recommend that you contact attorney Kurt Laird at Anderson-Hinkins (Jordan, Utah) at 801-930-0290. He’s very familiar with Mr. Olsen and his business practices, and was very helpful in getting my money back.

    • Rosa

      Anonymous LLC

      Card service is a total scam! They also place people on TMF list to get money out of them. It is mafia! They need to be shut down and pay high reparations to merchants that they placed on tmf list to steal their money!

  • Kenneth Splitstone

    I signed up for service and my very first transaction was deposited into my bank, after that zero payments have been deposited, but every transaction I have made on my machine has resulted in a withdrawal the next day every time for the companies fees. After contacting Doug numerous times over a few days he could not give me any answers, so I told him to close my account since they had breached the deal and that I was going to tell my customers I have not been paid and take this to court. His only answer was that I had a 3 year contract and I would be billed for it. He insisted on emailing me over and over again no matter how many times I told him I would call the police if he contacted me again.

  • Jaden

    Cardservice International is the WORST company I have ever dealt with. They get you into these contracts that auto-renew every year, and if you don’t cancel within a small time window, you’ll get charged a $300 early termination fee. Plus they don’t give you a chance to contest chargebacks. BUYER BEWARE – THIS COMPANY IS TERRIBLE! Never, ever, under any circumstance, do business with them.

  • Ian Seidler

    Abso;utely the WORST company we have ever done business with. They sold us a card swipe terminal and have never been able to activate it and for 2 YEARS have given me the runaround as to how to return it.
    899$ and no action!!!!!!!!!! Do not do business with then for any reason. Contact me directly for the whole story.
    Now tryin to get BBB involved.
    Ian Seidler

  • Andrew

    LinkPoint (CardService International) charged me $500 set up fee and screwed my application up badly. That was almost 10 years ago. FirstData now charges 5% for non-qual transactions and 3,2% for qual. TRheir PCI Non-compliance yearly fee is $120 and an additional PCI non-compliance fee is $28 every month, plus Visa charges $7 every month, some new lawsuit payback fee and a gazillion other fees, charges etc. If that’s what you can afford, go for it…. And I’m gonna go back to ALL CASH business! No cards, no checks, only wire transfers, Western Union and good old cash. Bye-bye Visa, bye-bye MasterCard, bye-bye Banks! Well, except wires.

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