First American Payment Systems
Rating Criteria | Find a Processor | Get Instant Rate Quotes | Write a Review
First American Payment Systems Overview
First American Payment Systems Logo
First American Payment Systems (first-american.net) is a direct processor based on Fort Worth, Texas and claims to have been in business since 1990. As a direct processor, First American Payment Systems supplies processing services to other merchant account providers and Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs). The company is a registered ISO/MSP of Fifth Third Bank.
First American Sales & Marketing Tactics | D
First American Payment Systems has earned a “D” rating in this section because of its marketing strategy. Although the company does not utilize abnormal strategies for this industry, First American Payment Systems is associated with several poorly rated companies because of how it markets and manages its sales strategy.
Like many direct processors, First American Payment Systems’ strategy is to partner with ISOs and independently contracted outside sales people. This strategy would normally earn a processor a “C” rating in this section because it is a common strategy that ultimately results in a somewhat high-to-average number of complaints from merchants. The rating for First American Payment Systems’ drops to a “D” in this section because it appears to supply processing services, and continues to do so, to some of the poorest rated providers reviewed on CardPaymentOptions.com. The company could raise its rating by doing a better job of cutting off entities that blatantly use misleading sales tactics and have high complaint ratios. Below are some of the companies that have scored poorly in our reviews that appear to be sub-ISOs (resellers), or companies owned by First American Payment Systems:
- Trans Tech Merchant Group
- Summit Merchant Solutions
- Eliot Management Group
- Apex Merchant Group
- Appstar Financial
It should be noted that the above is a list of only poorly performing resellers. There may likely be many other resellers that perform well and would receive high ratings in our reviews. If you know of any, please let us know in the comment section below which other companies we need to review.
First American Payment Systems Fees, Costs & Contract | C-
Resellers of First American Payment Systems can often adjust pricing, rates, fees and contract terms within certain guidelines set by the processor. Therefore, the cost and terms may vary by agent, sub-ISO, and merchant. With that said, it appears that the standard service agreement for First American Payment Systems is 3 years with a $495 early termination fee. The length of the agreement and the cost of the cancellation fee are higher than average in comparison to most merchant account agreements and dropped the rating in this section for First American Payment Systems from a “C” to a “C-“ rating.
First American Payment Systems Complaints & Service | D
First American Payment Systems has a fairly high number of complaints filed on various websites and forums online. Most of the complaints tie First American Payment Systems to the poorly rated resellers mentioned earlier in this review. Although an exact number of complaints was difficult to establish, there are at least 150+ separate complaints naming First American Payment Systems and there could be many more.
The majority of the complaints revolve around merchants reporting deceptive sales practices on behalf of independent agents and resellers, hidden and surprise fees, unauthorized debits from accounts, and non-disclosure of the service agreement length and cancellation fee. There are also numerous complaints filed against the reseller organization by former employees and agents describing deceptive and misleading hire practices.
First American Payment Systems BBB Report | C-
This was an interesting section to review while researching this processor. It appears that First American Payment Systems has been actively combating its report on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website because the report has changed dramatically over the last couple of years. As of this review, the site BBB is reporting a “No Rating” because the “information is being reviewed and/or updated.” However, this review was able to locate a version of the page from August 12, 2011 that reported a “C-“ rating with 113 complaints filed against First American Payment Systems in the previous 36 months. Of the 113 complaints, the majority centered on problems with the service or billing and collections issues. Since this was the most recent report that could be located, the “C-“ rating will be used for this section. Additionally, a few older reviews of First American Payment Systems reported complaint counts on the BBB website that exceeded 400 and 500 complaints.
Bottom Line
First American Payment Systems is a processor that mainly utilizes independent sales agents and organizations to resell its processing services. It may also be possible that First American Payment Systems owns many of these sales organizations outright, but this fact is unclear. The company could improve its rating by eliminating the poorly performing resellers from its portfolio. As always, merchants are advised to carefully read and understand your merchant account agreement before signing with First American Payment Systems or any other provider.
Leave your review of First American Payment Systems is the comment section below.
Featured Provider:
Merchant Warehouse (866) 460-5538
Review | Website
- Check Our Recommended Processors
- Compare Processor Rates & Fees
- How to Avoid Scams, High Fees and Long Contracts
- Merchant Services Jobs
Copyright © CardPaymentOptions.com (Digital Fingerprint: 0d38c6720f0d78a701b74d58653af608)
4 comments
Biba
April 26, 2012 at 7:56 pm (UTC -7)
About 2 years ago a salesman came to the Salon Studios where I worked at in baton Rouge. He was selling Trans Tech Credit Card machines. He was persistent in selling me one, even after I insisted that I wasn’t interested. The other salons in the building purchased machines. I was out of work for 2 weeks and I receive a letter from First American Payment. I called them to let them know there was a mistake I did not have a machine. They told me FED EX delivered it to me on prior date. I called Fed Ex and they told me that a guy signed for the package and he also had called several times checking to see when it would arrive. I called the company and told them the situation. They told me to send them a statement along with a copy of ID. I did so thinking that they were on my side. I received a higher bill, demanding machine back and a Non cancellation Lease with a forged signature on it. I called FED EX and they gave me a statement stating that a young man called and received package and a printout of him forging my signature. One of the stylist in a studio told me that she was there that day and saw the guy with a machine activating it in another stylist studio but she did not think anything of it, she saw it was straight out of a box. The other Stylist denied it because they were friends and he was the one trying to get the guy some business, until he received a huge bill from First American then he stepped up! The people that worked there were rude, liars and very unprofessional. First American kept saying they were not affiliated with Trans Tech Merchant Group yet I see them on my credit report in collections with Fidelity. When I tried to warn Fidelity about the shady practices of First American Systems, they became rude and I found out later that they all are working together. I thought it was illegal to sign for and open and activate someone’s package without there consent or knowledge. I also thought it was illegal to forge someone’s signature on a contract. Maybe I am wrong, maybe we can terrorize who we want to in this country by lying, stealing and ripping them off!
Richard
April 13, 2012 at 1:19 pm (UTC -7)
I just got of the phone with Kevin Hinkle collections specialist with First American. The company charged me $525 dollars for a malfunctioning Merchant Pro 4500. After returning the damaged/lost credit card machine to First American via FedEx I was told that the company cancelled both my accounts for early cancellation. That’s right they cancelled me – I did not close the account. Then I was told that I owed them $1200 dollars in ealry cancellation fees. They would settle with me by no negative credit reporting, keep the previously lost malfunctioning machine and they keep the $525 charges. I was not told why I was cancelled, and was willing to continue the three year contract! They are definitely NOT into customer satisfaction. They are clearly dishonest and deceptive and need to be avoided.
LeAnne S
April 9, 2012 at 11:52 am (UTC -7)
One of the most horrible situations to be in with this company.. It was never ending. They raise the rates, held money for 2 weeks, and trying to cancell them is horrible. All I can say is never again.
Jason F
April 8, 2012 at 7:15 pm (UTC -7)
This company has very dishonest business practices. They will unknowingly lock you into a 3 year contract and continue to rasie your rates and fees, on top of adding annual “compliance” fees to the tune of hundreds of dollars. Stear way clear of this company unless you like being taken advantage of.