1st Americard Review

Name: 1st AmeriCard
Item: 1st AmeriCard
Rating: 3.6
Author: Phillip Parker

By Phillip Parker

Last Updated: March 5, 2019

5 User Comments

1st AmeriCard Rating

3.6/5

Agree with our rating?
Leave a comment below

UPDATED 3/5/2019: The 1st Americard website is no longer active, and the company appears to have been acquired by a larger entity (possibly iPayment). If you have any knowledge of 1st Americard’s fate or its possible rebranding, please share that information in the comment section below this review.

1st Americard (www.1stamericard.com) is a small merchant account provider that was founded in 1999. Following reports of an owners’ dispute in 2009, it is unclear whether the company is still an independent, fully operational entity. One comment beneath this review claims that 1st Americard sold its entire portfolio to iPayment and only processes merchant cash advances at this point. We are unable to independently verify this report, so we will treat the company as a functioning enterprise for the purposes of this review.

1st Americard is located in Charlotte, North Carolina, at 6100 Fairview Road Suite 300, and is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, California. Kelly Grainger is the company’s president, while Greg Grainger serves as its CEO.

1st AmeriCard Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Key Points
Total Online Complaints	<10
Live Customer Support	Yes
Most Common Complaint	N/A

For a processor of its size and time in business, 1st Americard has a lower-than-expected complaint rate. We were only able to locate three 1st Americard reviews outside of the BBB, all of which are in the comment section of this review. These complaints cite undisclosed cancellation terms, unauthorized debiting of accounts as a penalty for lowered sales volume, and an inability to resolve chargebacks. The 1st Americard website offers two dedicated support phone lines, with one for general support and one for fraud and chargebacks.

1st AmeriCard Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints	1
Billing & Collection Complaints	1
Advertising & Sales Complaints	2
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.

The Better Business Bureau is currently showing an “A+” rating for 1st Americard with no accreditation. The company has received four complaints in the last 36 months. Of these complaints, one had to do with billing and collection, one was related to the products or service, and two were due to advertising and sales. The majority of these complaints reported unauthorized debiting of penalty fees from merchants’ bank accounts. One of these complaints was resolved to the merchants’ satisfaction, the remaining three either were resolved to the merchant’s dissatisfaction or did not receive a final response from the merchant. In light of this information, we are adjusting the BBB’s rating to a “B.”

1st AmeriCard Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Key Points
Swiped Rate	Variable
Keyed-in Rate	Variable
Early Termination Fee	Variable
PCI Compliance Fee	Variable
Equipment Lease Terms	Variable

There is very little publicly available information about 1st Americard’s contract terms. 1st Americard is possibly an iPayment reseller, which means that its standard contract may closely resemble the standard iPayment contract. The company also appears to provide processing for certain high-risk business types, but its rates and fees may vary significantly depending on a business’s sales volume and chargeback rate.

Most complaints about the company cite unauthorized withdrawals of wildly varying amounts that were taken from the merchant’s bank account following a large drop in sales volume by the merchant. One such complaint (found below this review) states that 1st Americard “closed my account, withdrew $1800.00 from my checking account as a penalty” because “my charge volume had dropped.”

1st Americard’s policy seems to be that a major loss of sales volume without proper notification in advance is a breach of contract, and is therefore subject to penalty fees. 1st Americard’s specific fees and terms are not available online, but according to reports, the company appears to offer a long-term agreement with an early termination fee in its standard contract. If you have any specific knowledge of 1st Americard’s standard contract, please leave that information in the comment section of this review.

1st AmeriCard Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

Key Points
Employs Independent Resellers	Yes
Advertises Deceptive Rates	No
Discloses All Important Terms	No

1st Americard appears to hire independent sales agents to market its services. The use of independent sales agents is a widespread practice in the credit card processing industry, and it often produces sales teams comprised of poorly trained, unregulated, paid-by-commission agents. In this case, there is only one 1st Americard negative review regarding deceptive sales tactics, and this complaint can be found in the comment section of this review. Additionally, the company does not appear to engage in any deceptive advertising. We therefore award it an “A-” rating at this time.

Our 1st AmeriCard Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

1st Americard rates as an above average merchant account provider according to our rating system. The company shows very few complaints outside of the BBB for its size and time in business, although its active BBB complaints page lowered its overall rating to some extent. It appears that 1st Americard is no longer an active business.

If you found this article helpful, please share it!

About The Author

Phillip Parker

Phillip Parker is an independent card payment expert specializing U.S. and Canadian point-of-sale, e-commerce, and mobile payment acceptance. He has nearly two decades of experience in credit card processing as a journalist and consultant. Phillip is the creator of this website and has written over 1,500 articles covering numerous payment acceptance topics. He has also published critical reviews about most merchant services providers currently in operation.

Expert Guidance

Phillip has consulted businesses of all sizes from mom-and-pop shops processing $10K per month to enterprise level organizations processing in excess of $300MM annually. His specialties include:

– Merchant Account Statement Auditing
– Rate & Fee Negotiation
– Processor & POS Selection
– Software Integrations
– Risk Assessment
– Fraud Prevention
– General Processing Advice

Schedule a Consultation Here

Phillip’s Top Picks

Phillip has researched and reviewed over 1,000 merchant services providers over the last 15 years. He also owns multiple businesses that accept credit card payments. If you are looking for an ethical credit card processor that doesn’t hide fees or lock you into expensive contracts, see Phillip’s merchant account picks here.

In The Media

In addition his contributions on CPO, Phillip has also been quoted in several major publications such as The Los Angeles Times, INC Magazine, Miami Herald, Computer World, and numerous others. If you would like to interview Phillip for your story or podcast, please reach out here.

Follow Phillip Parker

Your Comments & Reviews

How Did 1st AmeriCard Treat You?

5 Responses

Credit

January 31, 2017

https://www.pacermonitor.com/public/case/7767336/Ipayment,_Inc_v_1st_Americard,_Inc_et_al

Reply
Credit

February 21, 2014

1stAmericard sold their entire portfolio to Ipayment..they are only doing cash advances

Reply
Chris Musacchio

September 19, 2013

Be leery. We called to cancel toward the end of three years and they, specifically John Brackenbush, told us it had to be in writing by 60 days of the end of the contract. The contract said 90 and I missed it so now I’m stuck for another 3 years. My fault, but deceptive on his part if you ask me.

Reply
Allen Greenlee

June 27, 2012

Please don’t make the mistake that I made. Do not sign with 1st AmeriCard! This predatory company closed my account, withdrew $1800.00 from my checking account as a penalty. My “offense” was that my charge volume had dropped. I had even advised the salesman that this would be occurring, but 1st Americard told me they were not responsible for anything their sales Rep. said or did! Not a company you want to do business with.

Reply
brad yanda

April 19, 2012

Poor service. I called 4/16, 4/18 and 4/19 regarding a charge-back. Owners wife Kelly is responsible for charge-backs and is never in the office. I’ve left messages, sent e-mails and NO RESPONSE. It is my opinion to take your business elsewhere……

Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

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.

FTC Advertising Disclosure

We take great pride in providing one of the only objective an unbiased merchant account review websites on the internet. To support this responsibility, we may in some cases, but not all, earn revenue if you choose a service provider that we have fully researched and vetted. We only recommend providers that we have determined to be safe for our readers. We do not accept payment, gifts, or any other bribes in exchange for postive reviews or ratings. We care about doing right by our readers.

Show disclosure

We are committed to ensuring the accountability of credit card processors by bringing transparency to their business practices. Our primary objective is to to expose unscrupulous processors that impose substantial rate markups, unjustifiable fees, and exploitative contracts that result in substantial losses for small business owners.

We have been in operation since 2009, diligently conducting comprehensive research, publishing extensive reviews, and monitoring more than 1,000 payment processors. Our expertise in the merchant services industry has garnered recognition from esteemed publications such as the Los Angeles Times, INC Magazine, The Atlantic, and the Miami Herald, among others.

Popular Merchant Account Research