Mercury Payment Systems Review

Mercury Payment Systems Logo
2.6/5
full star idicating a 2.6 out of 5 star rating full star idicating a 2.6 out of 5 star rating empty star indicating a 2.6 out of 5 star rating empty star indicating a 2.6 out of 5 star rating empty star indicating a 2.6 out of 5 star rating

How did they treat you? ▼

Updated 2/11/2019: Mercury Payment Systems and Element Payment Services have been acquired by Vantiv and merged to create Vantiv Integrated Payments, which is now called Worldpay Integrated Payments following Vantiv’s merger with Worldpay. This means that Mercury Payment Systems is no longer an active, independent company, and we will accordingly cease to update this review. For current information about this company, see our Worldpay review.

Based in Durango, Colorado, Mercury Payment Systems (mercurypay.com) is a merchant account provider and independent sales organization that began operations in 2001. The company also has a Canadian headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. Mercury Payment Systems once existed as a sales channel for the direct processor Global Payments; however, the company was acquired by Vantiv in May 2014 and may now be an exclusive reseller of that processor. Mercury has recently managed to secure the role of backend processor for a number of industry-oriented POS systems, most notably SalesVu.

On January 30, 2014, Heartland Payment Systems announced that it was filing a federal lawsuit against Mercury Payment Systems for false advertising, unfair competition, intentional interference with contractual relations, and intentional interference with prospective economic advantage. In the case, Heartland alleges that Mercury intentionally misrepresented interchange rates in order to convince Heartland customers to switch their service to Mercury. According to Heartland, Mercury would add its own markup to the interchange rates assigned by card networks without informing merchants, and then the company would falsely demonstrate that its markup above interchange was lower than that offered by Heartland. This case is unusual within the industry, as it involves one company suing another over deceptive sales tactics. Although this issue is far from being resolved, it bears mentioning so that merchants can monitor its progress.

Mercury Payment Systems is sponsored by HSBC Bank of Buffalo, New York, as its Acquiring Bank. Matt Taylor is listed as the company's integrated payment president.

Mercury Payment Systems Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 60+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees

Mercury Payment Systems has a moderate volume of complaints filed online for its size and time in business, some of which accuse the company of being a ripoff. The majority of problems appear to originate with agents and resellers who failed to verbally disclose important terms of the merchant account agreement prior to setting up the account. Nearly all complainants report nondisclosure of the $295 cancellation fee, $150 annual PCI Compliance fee, or other additional fees. Many of these fees appear to be buried in the fine print of the contract, but Mercury Payment Systems is quick to point out the fact that they were technically disclosed in its public rebuttals.

Other common complaints that merchants have reported are of sudden rate increases without notice, deceptive rate quotes by agents, and hidden fees. Several reports indicate that agents regularly quote the Qualified Discount Rate without also stating the Downgrade Fees. Mercury’s grade has been lowered to a “C” in this section due to both the content and quantity of complaints. You can learn everything you need to know about rates and fees in “Fee Sweep.”

Mercury Payment Systems Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints 21
Billing & Collection Complaints 49
Advertising & Sales Complaints 3
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints 0
Delivery Complaints 0

Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.

As of this update, the Better Business Bureau has awarded Mercury Payment Systems BBB accreditation as of December 2012. The BBB is giving the company an “A+” rating despite 73 complaints filed in the last 36 months, which is up from 54 complaints as of our last update. Of the total, 21 are regarding problems with service, 49 are due to billing and collection disputes, and three with advertising or sales issues. Twenty-seven of these complaints were resolved to the satisfaction of the merchant, while 46 either were not resolved to the merchant’s satisfaction or did not receive a final response from the merchant. In many of the unresolved complaints, Mercury has responded by quoting terms and conditions of the merchant account contract. Given the company’s complaint count and resolution efforts, we are adjusting its rating to a “B-” for the purposes of this review.

Mercury Payment Systems Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Cost & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate Variable
Keyed-in Rate Variable
Early Termination Fee $295-$495+
PCI Compliance Fee $150 Per Year
Equipment Lease Terms Variable

Rates and fees of a Mercury Payment Systems merchant account will vary based on a merchant’s business type, processing volume, and the agent setting up the account. The company’s standard service agreement (available below) is a one- to three-year term that requires merchants to give 30 days’ notice before ceasing processing or switching to a new processor. Merchants who fail to abide by this requirement may be subject to an Early Termination Fee ranging from $295 to $495; however, a few complaints report cancellation fees of up to $900. These higher termination fees are likely to have been set by independent agents or by Mercury’s software partners. The company also charges an annual PCI Compliance fee reported to be $150, which is well above average. Several merchants have complained about experiencing other unexpected fees, so businesses considering Mercury Payment Systems are strongly encouraged to read and understand their merchant account agreements before signing any documents. See the Mercury Payment Systems Terms and Conditions.

Mercury Payment Systems Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

Jobs & Marketing Summary
Employs Independent Resellers Yes
Advertises Deceptive Rates No
Discloses All Important Terms No

The reviewer found no uses of misleading advertising or rate quoting by Mercury Payment Systems. The company does, however, market its services heavily through the use of independent resellers/sales agents. This marketing practice often results in merchant complaints because it is hard to control the sales tactics of the resellers. In the case of Mercury Payment Systems, the majority of its complaints (covered below) can be traced back to the sales agent or reseller that set up the merchant account. However, in some cases, Mercury Payment Systems appears to enforce the terms of its agreement even when merchants report that an agent misrepresented the conditions of the contract.

These complaints, in addition to the allegations set forth by Heartland Payment Systems, have lowered Mercury’s grade to a “C” in this category.

Our Mercury Payment Systems Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

Overall, Mercury Payment Systems scores as an average merchant services provider. The company can improve its rating in this review by drastically lowering or eliminating its PCI Compliance fee, eliminating its cancellation fee, and preventing future complaints about hidden and undisclosed fees.

If you found this article helpful, please share it!

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 Mercury Payment Systems Treat You?

50 User Reviews

  • Christie Bishop

    I fulfilled my contract with Mercury and went to my local bank. 2 yrs later, a customer came in with a Mercury gift card from when we were with them. When I went to Mercurys site to validate and check the amount of the gift card, I got an error msg. I called Mercury and was disconnected twice. Finally got to the gift card area only to be told my acct was shut off. I asked how that happened, that it seemed shady to not allow customers access to their own gift card, i was told I had to sign a new 2 year contract with them if I wanted to check the balances of any outstanding gift cards. This seems completely unfair to the customer who spent money and now cannot use it. The gift card gives a Q code on back but it was useless. Customer is the only one who loses here.

  • Charles Davis

    Every payment I’ve sent in has been held in their account for a week making them money on the intrest before they credit it to my account.
    Called to ask why.
    They only have one response.
    Worst card company I have ever dealt with.
    Customer Service is useless unless you want a parrot telling you “That is how we do it” over and over again.


    This post will help: Why Credit Card Processors Hold Funds

    -Phillip

  • Tony M

    The worst credit card company ever I repeat the worst credit card company ever !!!! Every month they charge me a late fee Wtf even paid 3 weeks before due date and there it is again “late fee” so its another annoying conversation with these sob ! to top it off they don’t know why this happens smh its called robbery!!!! Oh and it gets worst they’ll randomly charge your bank acct that’s on file and I don’t have auto pay ! It happened twice last year … I destroyed the card with a few payments left and I’m done with these fraudulent mother efers! Wish I had 4 hands so I can give them 4thumbs down and 4 middle fingers up!!

    This post will help: Find and Eliminate Hidden Fees In Your Monthly Statement

    -Phillip

  • Steve

    NEGATIVE!!! I’ve been trying and trying to cancel Mercury as our Merchant but cannot get ahold of anyone! I’ve left messages and chatted but to no avail. I’m convinced they see me calling and put me on hold for extended periods of time. We are already using another merchant for 3 months yet they continue to debit over $200 each month from our bank account.

  • Steve

    I’m done with Mercury. They are a deceptive company that baits and then switches what you have purchased. We are a small repair shop that decided to go with Mercury because they were suggested by Repair Shopr, our online repair tracking firm. It was clearly stated that there were no additional fees. After several months with Mercury deducting the agreed upon fees from our account, a new firm called ‘Vantiv’ was suddenly deducting enormous fees from our account. Turns out Vantiv had bought Mercury several years ago. One Vantiv took over the fee deductions they started adding a $79 PCI fee. This is about 4x the amount of our normal fees. We contacted Mercury / Vantiv 3 different times, eventually receiving 3 reference numbers and three referalls to their account managers, leaving three different messages. After several months we have still failed to receive a reply. They have also failed to explain what we need to do to avoid the PCI fee. We are done.

  • GH

    wonder if a lawyer is interested in chasing an unregulated industry with Mercury being the worst of the worst and a class action with the 40+ folks that have responded? The charged us the cancellation fees that was conveyed their would not be one, continue to take money out of accounts after the cancellation fee and charges almost 10% to process the last transactions. NEVER use Mercury or its new owners Vantiv! The CC processing industry really needs an enema and some regulation..

  • Cherie

    I have used Mercury for over a year with countless problems. We had several card readers that needed replaced, multiple double transactions which cost us not only loss in product and sale but also a tarnished reputation, as well as many “hidden fees” and extremely long waits on the phone technical support.
    I waited until my year was out to leave this company, attempting to avoid the $300 termination fee, only to find out today they took it from my account anyway. I would not recommend this credit card service at this point in time.


    Are you with Mercury Payment Systems? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • DJ Armstrong

    I have used Mercury for over a year with countless problems. We had several card readers that needed replaced, multiple double transactions which cost us not only loss in product and sale but also a tarnished reputation, as well as many “hidden fees” and extremely long waits on the phone technical support.
    I waited until my year was out to leave this company, attempting to avoid the $300 termination fee, only to find out today they took it from my account anyway. I would not recommend this credit card service at this point in time.


    Are you with Mercury Payment Systems? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Professional Choice Uniform Corp

    Unfortunately our point-of-sale system called Vision Core came with Mercury payments built-in. We also use Chase paymentech for our credit card and debit processing.Far cheaper than Mercury Payments.

    When signing up with Mercury systems they promised to match Chases discount rates. It quickly came apparent that they were charging more. We discussed with Mercury payments about the overcharging but

    they never did match Chase payment rates.

    After 5.5 years we decided to cancel Mercury payments. I submitted by cancellation request and received confirmation October 25, 2015. I received a statement in November which was expected and an unexpected statement in
    December. Called and request they close the account Jan 20, 2016. Mercury emailed an invoice for $440 for account cancellation fee. There was NO cancellation fee in any paperwork from Mercury in 2010. Since 2010 Mercury has changed owners a few times.

    We looked my contract three years and three-year renewal automatically without any notice. Apart from the initial paperwork almost 6 years ago I’ve never signed or been contacted for contract renewals.

    I have six months left on my contract which would be $240 cancellation. Theives.

    Our review is almost exactly the same as the others on this site.


    Are you with Mercury? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Tim Glavin

    I was a customer of Mercury since 2009. Never had any serious issues until late 2015 during the whole emv changeover. For one they offered no solutions for this besides telling me it’s not a big deal and don’t worry about it. I was referred to use these guys because of their proficiency with Microsoft RMS, but when they had to really step it up they didn’t at all. No solution was offered. That to me is a breach of their contract.
    Then one day in October, our current swipe terminals purchased through Mercury, simply stopped working. It took me two days to find out from Mercury that the terminals were no longer considered secure. The manufacturer went out of business and they will never work again. I spent the next two week, doing ALL of my transactions manually over the internet. I had no card swipe machines and Mercury never even bothered to call or offer a solution. In the mean time I was so upset I researched and set-up another provider. Finally after two weeks I get a notice from Fed EX that a package was trying to be delivered to the wrong address in an ex-employees name from Mercury. I can assume it was a terminal. Really! after 2 weeks! What did they think I was having to do in the mean time! Mercury cost me significant time and money due to a complete lack of service failure on their part. Still, never a call from anyone from Mercury for any kind of customer support. Needless to say I sent a request to cancel services. Again no call from Mercury. Just the basic cancellation contract.
    I did read the cancellation fee part but here it was it says:
    If you entered into a one (1) year **initial** term card services agreement **and**
    fail to provide at least thirty (30) days written notice before the requested termination/closure date, you **may** be subject to an early termination fee of
    $295.00 pursuant to the terms and conditions of your card services agreement.

    Notice the part about “initial”. This was my 6th year with Mercury. Not my initial first year. As I read it , I do not qualify for the ETF as I am not an initial first year customer. Long story short , they still try and charge the ETF. I had already sent an email disputing the charge and not authorizing them to take the money from my account. They did it anyways without authorization. The good part is my bank was able to reverse the charge, so Mercury has no money from me and I certainly won’t mail them a check…Right! I also called and talked to a woman named Amira Vigil – Merchant Liaison. Tried to explain my situation and issue, but she would hear nothing and pretty much called me stupid like several other posts have mentioned happening to them.
    Bottom line. Do not sign with Mercury Payment Systems. They are an unethical company and are more comfortable trying to steal your money rather than earn it. I assume since Vantiv took them over and nothing changed that Vantiv is just as bad. Association does matter.


    Are you with Mercury Payment Systems? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Denise

    I would never recommend this company. Every time we try to contact the service/tech department, however, “due to high call volume” the wait is hours long. We leave a phone number for a return call, wait hours and then finally assume they will not be calling. Their customer service has to improve or we will be looking to leave this company. Forget if there’s an immediate issue trying to process a card. Totally unexceptable!!

  • Erin

    Mercury is the worst payment processing company I have ever had the unfortunate opportunity to do business with. I think I put fire to the phone line between our office and their technical support. In two weeks, we had more problems than I have ever had in 18 years of operating my business. I am in the process of closing my account. Luckily they said they are going to close down the account without any fees because of all the continuous problems. Out of two stand-alone terminals, at least one or the other has been non-functioning. I started getting error messages from the first day they were set up. My most current headache is the large number of debit transactions that were declined, but then put through and debited form my customer’s accounts — however, the monies were never credited to our business account. I am now in the position of having customers banging down my door for refunds when I have none of their funds to return to them. Mercury is passing the buck, saying that it is beyond their control, and that this could take up to 6 weeks for the issue to get resolved. I would tell you to run as FAR AWAY from Mercury as possible. A terrible company with client service associates who are trained to give excuses for the many mistakes.

  • Jennifer Clements

    I called today 9/2/15 to find out the process of closing out our accounts. We switched to a new POS program, which required we use their credit card processor to eliminate the need for extra accounting steps. About 2 weeks after we purchased the new software and started the training my father (a patriarch of our small family owned business) became terminally ill. Since the switch to the new system was going to be a difficult transition, and unsure of what was going to happen with my father, I decided to leave our account with Mercury open in case we had to abandon the new software and return to the old. During my months of absence (due to my father’s illness and death), my employees were able to make the transition to the new POS system. Upon my return to work I determined that we have operated safely for a couple of months with the new system, so it’s time to close out our accounts with Mercury. When I called to find out the process I was told we were past the three year agreement, on a month to month basis, but because we had not given 30 days notice that “we were going to stop processing with Mercury”, so we were getting hit with a termination fine ($295.00 x 2, one for each of our 2 stores). We were told to try to get the new processor to pay these fees. This is ridiculous—and nothing short of a rip off! It is a poor way to treat a long term customer particularly considering the extenuating circumstances. We would have stayed with Mercury if we had been able to, but the new software required we switch. We couldn’t give notice that we weren’t going to be processing through Mercury, because we didn’t know if we were going to be able to stay with the new program. I am beyond disgusted with how this has been handled. We have worked through difficulties before with Mercury. This takes the cake! My rating of Mercury is a D. My recommendation anywhere I can put it on the internet is: Don’t do business with Mercury Payment Systems!

  • L Brett Wells

    I moved my credit card processing carrier over to another company a few months ago because of all of the hidden fees that I was noticing with mercury. Once I stopped using them I noticed after a few months I continued to get charged fees of around $50/ month for NOT USING THEM??? Then once I completed their formal letter to cancel their service I get hit with a $295 cancellation fee. This absolutely isn’t right and sounds illegal. STAY AWAY FROM MERCURY. They are crooked. Thank god I didn’t switch my other 2 companies over to Mercury like the sales guy so strongly pushed for. I would be out nearly a thousand dollars in cancellation fees!

  • Julie Pittman

    Very unethical company. On top of continously charging new fees, they do not refund fees for services not received. We were charged an annual fee of $169 on our June invoice, closed our business and they refuse to refund that fee that which was to cover June 2015 to June 2016; then they tried to tell me that was a monthly fee because the full 169 was charged on one month’s invoice. Yet I was charged the same 169 one time for the whole past year in June of last year. In addition, when we tried to close our account we were on hold for over an hour, got the run around and contradicting information on the process to close the account.
    Basically, they can come up with any fee they want to and add it on your invoice anytime they want. Read the contract very carefully.
    We increased our credit card transactions and they added a 10.95 monthly maintenance fee because they said they weren’t making enough money off our business, yet we were large enough to sign us up.
    After our total monthly costs increased drastically they offered to lower my rates if I signed up for another contract term, yet with the same clause so they could increase fees again however and whenever they wanted.

  • Kalpesh

    Giant fee charge from Mercury…
    horrible customer service…
    I called them today to find out about batch settlement fund deposit into my bank account….
    over the phone they had put me on hold about four hours (4 Hours) to answer my question, and my answer came out less then a minute…and he were hurry to answer my question…why????… I did’t had my lunch and pee, to get answer for my question….
    they not deposit the same amount of the batch settlement, they seprate all transaction like credit, debit , ebt…. so you can’t find how much exactly they transfer into your bank…and the customer rep told me that Mercury Payment System, can’t do anything….
    so if you wants to figure it out total batch settlement with your bank you will need an hour everyday….who knows they transfer all of your close batch fund everyday or not….there is ton of other hidden fees….

  • Industry Dude

    A really big/deceptive point that should have been pointed out is there’s not a lot of processors that mess with interchange or some of the components of interchange but I’ve been seeing Mercury do just that. Example, all processors, whether they show it or not, charge a NABU fee on MC and a Visa APF fee. The fee for both is .0195% However, instead of just passing it through as they should, they’re actually marking it up to .0595% for both which for a lot of merchants is a huge difference and the merchants aren’t being told about this. This is very deceptive and more merchants need to look out for this.

  • clint

    HUGE WARNING!
    I have been a customer with mercury for almost 2 years now. for the past few days I have not been able to check anything in my account. Every time I would try to check -anything- their website would throw up an error message. Finally after days of this I had enough and contacted customer support. Then, and ONLY THEN was I informed that their portal was no longer compatible with firefox. Their suggestion was to (obviously) use a different browser. There were several problems with this.

    1. I was NEVER informed of this prior to my contacting them. That left me, and probably thousands of others, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

    2. There was never any kind of notification, message, warning, nothing, when logged into the portal. There is a message section in your portal, for important messages. For whatever reason, mercury felt that this crippling error was not worth even mentioning to their customers.

    3. The customer support agent was rude and gave me the impression that it was perfectly acceptable that there was no warning or notification about this crippling error ANYWHERE in the portal, or via message, or anything.

    I had read that mercury got bought out some months ago, I am starting to wonder if this is a sign of how they plan on continuing their business going forward. As it is, I am absolutely disappointed in how mercury has handled this situation.

  • Kelly Rees

    Same story. Ridiculous fees for hundreds of dollars to prepare the 1099 form, PCI fees and data security fees. They are thieves and scammers. Charged me $495 to cancel my contract after being with them nearly 3 years and getting tired of their garbage. It was cheaper to pay $495 than to stay with them another 10 months until the contract was up.

  • Bethany Wyatt

    We have experienced the same cancellation issues, as well as undisclosed fees as everyone above has stated. Every month a new message appears on statement about rate ‘changes’, which translates to increases. Systems Solutions RMS recommended Mercury Pay, as they said they were great to work with. Biggest mistake ever. We have switched back to a local processor, and are much happier. We do feel we were mislead by the sales team about underlying fees and other charges. Suddenly, when we are in our last 30 days, there are additional fees, because we are no longer ‘under contract’. Very unscrupulous company.

  • kenny

    Mercury has hidden fees and charges $15 a month for a printed out statement. Theu also remove negative post to there facebook account. And why should I pay you $169 a year for security itsnt that your job. Also always trying to help you by asking for a 3yr commitment. I was told one pricing on the phone then when I recived the digital agrement things were changed and they wouldn’t give me the rates I was told unless I signed for 3yrs

  • Kerri

    Mercury Pay and Revel systems has been a nightmare and a two headed monster for our small food truck business here in Charlotte, NC. We are still missing $2600 in sales from weeks ago they keep you on the phone for 11 plus hours going back and forth between Mercury and Revel with No resolution. We are about to make a You Tube video expressing how upset we are with our revel and mercury service. We will be taking this to every single place on the internet until we receive our money. Internet reviews, better business bureau, you tube and social media outlets and lawyers. 72 hours is our deadline for you to pay us from October 10th and 11th or we and every friend and family member will be in board with our new hashtag we created just for revel #reveldown#mercurydown #twoheadedmonster #dontuserevelormercury #justgettingstarted #revelreviews #revelipos #revelsystems #restaurantpos #franchise #letsgetrealreviews#donotusethem #trustus #mercurypaysucks

  • Jay

    I’ve been with Mercury Payment systems for about a year and half and one thing I’ve come to realize is that this company will nickel and dime you to death. There has been nothing but fees on top of fees. I run a small restaurant in a very competitive tourist/college area so it’s tough and these fees really add up. We haven’t had any problems with the credit card processing but it’s hard to make a profit when fees are piling up. On our most recent statement the additional junk fees were higher than the actually processing fees. Every time I contact Mercury to get these junk fees removed they always tell me the same thing: “We can remove the fees if you extend your contract.” This seems to be their strategy. Unfortunately you’ll be stuck in a never ending cycle of them adding additional fees and you constantly renewing your contract to get rid of said fees. Very, very shady business. Avoid them at all costs!!

  • Archer Bagley

    Mercury Payment System is an organization of Professional Thieves. Do not do business with Mercury Payment Systems. Mercury will not honor their own contract and will overcharge you all sorts of fees that were never disclosed. Mercury stole over $600 from Archers BBQ over a 1 year period.

  • Joel C.

    Mercury Payment Systems apparently has no trouble calling you back rapidly when you are ready to set up a new account, however, after canceling my account, I find a month later that they have billed for a monthly maintenance fee and monthly statement fee along with some other minor charge.
    When calling in to question why I am still being billed monthly fees, they claim that a 30 day notice is required and monthly fees continue for that additional 30 days even though the account has been closed.
    It would make sense to pay the final statement fee, but NOT a monthly maintenance fee. After 3 phone calls and one email, nobody called back. On the fourth phone call, I finally got a person on the phone that was not only rude, but when I asked to speak to someone in management, I was bluntly informed that nobody in management would tell me anything different, and they were in charge of my account.
    As president of my company, I feel that requesting to speak with management was not unreasonable, yet I felt like I was belittled.
    I would not recommend Mercury Payment Systems to anyone that doesn’t like hidden fees or rude customer service representatives. Very unprofessional.
    Service during the time we were with them was satisfactory, albeit high fees and unexpected costs associated with their services.

  • glarson

    Has anyone heard that Mercury guarantees online ordering charges? There is an online ordering site that integrates with mercury. Mercury is saying that if the restaurant takes an order with a stolen card, Mercury will guarantee that the restaurant still gets paid. I’m sure that they find a way to get their money anyway, but I’m wondering if anyone has ever heard of this?

    Thanks!

  • Jessica Litton

    I am very dissapointed with the customer service the we have been given from Mercury. We haven’t processed a payment through them for about 7 months because we found a simpler, less expensive way to process them…(I won’t say which service because I don’t want people to assume that I am advertising someone else, this is purely a review). We were charged about $37 a month for not using them (which is on us since we didn’t cancel sooner). Then when we called to cancel we were told that we would be charged over $200 to cancel our service if we didn’t send them written notice one month in advance. SO, we sent in written notice and cancelled a month later. In the meantime our monthly service fee for that month went up to $106 and the following month we were charged an “annual service fee” of $222. This was nowhere in our service agreement with them. We called to get reimbursed, were on hold for nearly an hour and then sent to a voicemail which was never returned. RIDICULOUSLY SLIMY!!!!!

  • Sarah Piccinini

    I used MPS for almost a year for my Esthetics business and found it very useful to take payments through my phone. Stupid me I should of just stuck with the SQUARE which had no hidden fees every month. But I did like the Sales Vu app which kept better track of my business. So I decided to switch. Wow stupidest mistake EVER. Now that I am no longer using the card swiper on a regular basis I decided to go ahead and cancel the service. Well I called and gave them the 30 plus days notice they required, talked in length with some guy named Beau that assured me that as long as I gave them the 30 days notice and did not use any other system to process my payments that the $295 fee would be waived. I was happy with that answer and went about the cancellation process, which he also said that the 30days wouldn’t start until they received a faxed form with my signature, which I did not send until a couple of weeks later. Well low and behold I get a letter from my bank 1 week later stating that they tried to collect the $295 before the 30 days was even up. So I had to pay insufficient funds charges to my bank. MPS was not able to collect money from me at that point. I called MPS and spoke with Beau again and oh my how the tables had turned! He was not the nice, helpful rep I had spoke with a couple of weeks prior. He told me how stupid I was for not reading the contract and lied about the conversation we had prior. Saying he never said any of those things to me and I was stupid for not understanding what he was saying. I have NO intentions of paying these people. I did everything they asked and they are still trying to collect this fee. I do not recommend MPS to anyone! It is not small business friendly. Their fees are exorbitant for a small business owner. And very unprofessional when dealing with customers that want to cancel due to changes and fluctuations in your business.

  • Ed

    I switch to Mercury three weeks ago since the software in my service vehicles supports them. On Friday January 24th 2014 they had a problem where merchants did not get funded. So here I sit without my funds for visa’s I processed. When I call the information they tell me is they are working on it but do not have a ETA. I would not switch to this company. Worst part is I am stuck with them due to the software I use.

  • James D

    The car wash equipment company I purchased only had MPS as the provider for their equipment, UNITEC. So I had no choice in using them believing in the fact that if one uses their equipment then the provider should be fair…NOT!
    THESE CROOKS KEPT ADDING ADDITIONAL CHARGES EVERY MONTH! And I am talking $195 PCI fee, $99 maintenance fee, $14.95 statement fee along with all the other fees associated! Upon calling them to figure out what the fees were, they had trouble telling me any explanations.
    Finally after so many complaints to UNITEC, they changed how they do processing so I changed gladly and was able to make my own choice for a processor.
    I was paying over 10% plus fees for using this provider. Every month new fees…CROOKS! I was actually glad to pay the $295 cancellation fee just to get rid of them. My new provider paid me $250 to switch, BB&T. So I lost $45, which would have been less than a month of fees. Hope I just save one person in going through the hell I did with them.

  • Laura G

    I was a customer of Mercury’s for over four years. Their cancellation policy, along with a multitude of fees, was hidden in the contract. They sent me a credit card swiper machine that wasn’t the correct machine for my cash register. They sent the correct swiper, called a Twin Tran, and the incorrect one was sent back to their equipment company, Data Cap. This was in 2010. Fast forward to August of 2013, and we closed our business. We were told that we would be charged $295 for cancelling our account, even though we argued with this because, as I said earlier, this tiny little clause was never disclosed and was hidden in the contract. Then they sent me an invoice for $380 for non return of equipment – the Twin Tran device, which we hadn’t yet returned. I spoke with at least five customer service reps and two managers, and was informed that the $380 would not be taken out of my account as long as I provided them with tracking information for the return of the Twin Tran. Two days later, they took the $380 out of my bank account without my knowledge or consent. I disputed this and they said that they would reimburse me for the $380 once they received the tracking information. I sent them the tracking information proving that the Twin Tran had been returned and received by Data Cap. Then Mercury Payment reps called me back and said that they still had in their notes the fact that I had THREE Twin Tran devices and they could not refund the money that they owed me. I informed the two reps and one manager that I spoke with that I’ve never had more than one Twin Tran since I’ve only ever had one cash register, and why would they have sent me another Twin Tran in 2011 and then another in 2012 without having received any payment for the original Twin Tran that I received in 2010? It makes no sense. They are erroneously charging their customers and when you speak with the reps on the phone, they literally laugh at you, they sigh these big sighs, they get enjoyment out of the fact that they know they have you and there’s very little you can do about it. I am now complaining to every outlet available to me because I think their business practices are absolutely disgusting.

  • Randy Reed

    I have been with Mercury since May 2008 and I can say that when you call in for customer service to have a charge reversed the representatives have always been polite and helpful. However, the issue that i dealt with on a regular basis was regarding the fees the company charges. I monitor my net cost and watch the trend each month to ensure that I am paying in line from the month prior. Every few months, the rate would slowing go higher by at least a half a percentage to as high on as three quarters of a percentage. The highest was just short of a one percent increase when I advised the retention department that I was over the ongoing issue of their rates slowly increasing month after month.
    The last time that I called in to deal with this and to ultimately advise them that I would be canceling my account, the representative advised me that he could not lower my rates and understood that I would be going somewhere else.
    I found a new processing company with our first month under our belts and the savings is 1.1% lower then the net charges that Mercury was charging.
    Today, I received notice from Mercury that I am responsible for a $295.00 cancellation charge. I was on the phone with Joel for forty-five minutes attempting to have this fee removed since I called in and was advised to go elsewhere if I could find lower fees. With nothing from Joel but NO, NO, NO, you have to pay the $295 to cancel the agreement. I was upset and i am still upset.
    Very frustrating and I would not recommend Mercury and/or Global for your merchant processing as it got to the point that using Square, the little attachment to your iPhone and/or iPad was charging less then Mercury. Ugh!
    Anyway, great customer service representatives, horrible company practices to collect and charge as much as they possibly can from their clients. Run, Run, Run from this company.
    Cheers,
    Randy Reed

  • Charles

    These guys will bend over backwards to get your business and expedite requests as long as it serves to keep money flowing into their company. As soon as you mention you want to suspend or cancel your account due to seasonality or renovations, they will stall and give you the run around. Hidden charges are plentiful too, do not use these guys. NOT RECOMMENDED.

  • Thomas

    After I returned my card processing machine to Mercury Payment Systems and canceled my services with them, I was further charged for three months of services that I did not receive totaling $329.77. The account was never actually closed on their system and I was still being charged every month unknowingly.

    The Account Closure Manager, Joel Chambers informed me that I need to submit another request for account closure because the account is STILL active and that I should be happy that he is not charging me a $295 cancellation fee on top of that and that we are “meeting in the middle” so-to-speak.

    CUSTOMERS BEWARE. YOU ARE DEALING WITH THE KING OF ALL CROOKS. STEER AWAY FROM THIS MERCHANT SERVICES PROVIDER AT ALL COSTS.
    **Tip: Once you cancel their services, make sure that you close your bank account that you had attached to the credit card machine because they will continue to debit fees each month following account closure. Open a new account so that they have no access to your money without your authorization.**

    I will gladly be a part of a class action lawsuit if we can put one together. Please contact me at [email protected].

    -Thomas

    • Kristen

      Thomas –

      We are in the same boat. We notified Mercury Payment Systems that we were terminating our contract with them on March 30 with a cancellation date of May 31, 2012 (more than 60 days’ notice). We actually switched over to our new processor on May 3, and not more activity occurred on MPS equipment past May 4. We returned all equipment to MPS well before the May 31 cancellation date. I received the statements for our 5 locations for May charges in June…no problem. That should have been the last batch of statements. However, in July I received 5 statements, charging each location between $97 and $118 in miscellaneous charges! And we’re no longer a customer!

      I called the toll-free number and spoke with two different people, including someone who was to notify Joel Chambers. I emailed James Russell after the charges weren’t reversed, as he was my contact during our cancellation. NO RESPONSE FROM ANYONE.

      And this is all after they resorted to extortion-like scare tactics when we announced we were leaving, telling us it would cost almost $8,000 in “gift card conversion assistance” to keep our active gift card balances valid. (FALSE. The balances and active card numbers were all easily accessible & everything works fine on the new processor. NO GLITCHES.) They tried to scare us into staying.

      Since these July charges occurred, I contacted my bank to de-authorize any and all future ACH debits/credits from Mercury Payments and Global Payments, as we would consider them “Theft by False Pretenses.” I’m not sure if we will ever re-coup the ~$500 in unauthorized charges they stole from us in July, but I can assure you we won’t allow a penny more to go their way.

      I can’t even begin to describe the horrors of Dec 20, 2011 – Jan 6, 2012 in which all credit refunds of $100+ took 3-4 weeks to post to customer accounts due to “infrastructure upgrades” at the Global Payments level. Yes, customers returning Christmas presents were not seeing refund post for FOUR WEEKS as Mercury/Global Payments were having to re-enter refund transactions manually, one-by-one. It took 2 weeks of that mess before Mercury sent us a bulletin announcing the “slight delay”. Needless to say our customers were not satisfied with Mercury’s “response.”

      So in addition to gross negligence/incompetence in with the refund delays they are just plain crooks, and we would recommend any retailer considering them to RUN AWAY.

      • Chris Lanno

        Hi Kristen,

        I am sorry to hear about your issues with Mercury. I have a client in the same situation with the gift card “extortion” policy, yet they are having trouble accessing the full gift card numbers we need for a conversion.

        Can you help by telling me how you were able to get the gift card data?

        This client has completed the terms of their agreement, but now they are being told it will cost them $17k to get gift card data.

        Thank you in advance for any assistance.

        Best,

        • JulieP.

          Hi Chris,

          I wanted to see if you or your merchant were ever able to find a way of getting a hold of the Mercury gift card balance report for conversion without it costing them an arm and a leg. I have a merchant that is wanting to get away from them as soon as possible. Anything you could share would be helpful.

          Thanks!
          Julie

      • Justin BRink

        Kristen,
        I’m trying to switch from Mercury as well. I’m having problems with getting the gift cards converted to the new processor though. Is their gift cards proprietary? I’m not quite sure how to use the pre existing cards with active balances, etc. Do we know the back end company? First Data (ValueLink) perhaps?

        I’m lost. Please advise.

        Thanks

  • David

    You must be kidding Me
    Now they are adding giant fees anytime they have compliance issues….last Year We had a $99.00 annual and a $150.00 compliance and they started this year (only 6 months after their $150) with a $42.25 annual data security and a $99.00 maintenance fee. As a small retailer (< 20K on cards) they are billing Us at a rate exceeding 17%…and They have nothing with Our signature authorizing new fees….thanks to congress for fixing the credit card fees…now they can go after thr retailers for more money!!! Time to contact Our State banking Commisioners…any Ideas, I have none other than Pleading and dropping the credit card sales, Unfortunatly sales will be affected.

  • Rishi

    They stole the cancellation fee from me as well. I tried to give 30 days notice to cancel, as is stated in their contract, and they said the cancellation fee will still exist. They do have monthly minimums and tons of other hidden fees. Please don’t use these guys!

  • Lola f.

    If you would like to join in a consumer lawsuit against this company and would like them to sink their ship then start posting your problems with them here.

    The issue is regarding their thirty day notice and $295 fee. They will take that fee from you no matter how many hoops you jump through.

    This company is fraudulent in their business practices.

    If we can get enough interest we can sue them.

  • SUSAN FREY

    I CURRENTLY USE MERCURY. I WAS NOT AWARE OF THE CANCELLATION FEE. I WAS ONLY GIVEN PART OF THE CONTRACT TO SIGN. I WAS ALSO TOLD THERE WERE NO HIDDEN FEES. MY STATEMENT IS FULL OF HIDDEN FEES. WHEN I REQUESTED INFO ON THE HIDDEN FEES I GOT NO ANSWER. I AM MOVING TO ANOTHER COMPANY AND WILL FIGHT THE CANCELLATION FEE.

Tell Us How They Treated You

Sharing your experience influences our rating and helps other business owners make informed decisions. Please take a moment to tell us if they are serving you well. Your email address will never be published, shared or sold. We only use it to authenticate that you are a real person and, if you select the option for it, to let you know if someone replies to your comment. Required fields are marked *

Comments must contain details about your experience. Please do not use ALL CAPS. Self-promotion, marketing content, or contact information of any kind will not be published. By submitting a comment, you are agreeing to our Comment Policy

Copyright

Copyright © 2024 CardPaymentOptions.com, Inc. (Digital Fingerprint: 0d38c6720f0d78a701b74d58653af608). Getting paid to re-write this page? Click here to earn a reward.

Any unauthorized copying and reproduction of the content of this page, including all meta data and computer code, is strictly prohibited. While the information in the above article is believed to be accurate as of its publish date, the author and publisher make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the contents. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable to any party for any direct, indirect, punitive, special, incidental or other consequential damages arising directly or indirectly from any use of this material, which is provided “as is,” and without warranties. Any and all use of trade names and/or marks are for identification purposes only and shall not be construed as a claim of affiliation, or otherwise, with CardPaymentOptions.com, Inc. ("CPO") in any form. The sole purpose of the material presented herein is to alert, educate, and inform readers. It is not intended as legal or financial advice. We may earn revenue if you obtain services from a provider that we recommend. See this page to learn how we support our operations.