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Beacon Payments Review

Phillip Parker
Phillip Parker

I was tired of watching unethical merchant services companies take advantage of unsuspecting business owners, so I built this website and wrote hundreds of reviews to expose their shady business practices. I've since appeared in INC Magazine, The Atlantic, The Los Angeles Times, Detroit Free Press, Computer World Magazine, and several others. Contact me if you want help getting their hands out of your pockets.

 

 

Beacon Payments Overview

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Rating

4.8/5
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Website
(877) 986-4445

Most Recent Comment

  • Chris Capuano:
    "Fantastic honest company. Very transparent with their prices unlike some other processors I’ve dealt with.
    Reply Leave Your Own Comment
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Rating:
4.8/5
Beacon Payments Logo
View Rates & Fees
(877) 986-4445

Most Recent Comment

  • Chris Capuano:
    "Fantastic honest company. Very transparent with their prices unlike some other processors I’ve dealt with.
    Reply Leave Your Own Comment
Tell us if they rock!

An ISO of First Data

Beacon Payments is a merchant account provider that serves small, medium, and large businesses based in the United States. The company is a reseller of First Data’s products and services and is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, California.

Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts

Founded in 1998, Beacon Payments can be found at 25 Temple Place Suite 2L, Boston, Massachusetts 02111. David Selenow is listed as the principal of Beacon Payments and Gerald Kadish is the company’s current CEO.

Beacon Payments Review Table of Contents

  • Costs & Contract: Beacon Payments offers interchange-plus pricing via a three-year contract through First Data with a $495 early termination fee.
  • Complaints & Service: Beacon Payments has received fewer than 10 public complaints.
  • BBB Rating: Beacon Payments has an “A+” rating and has received 1 complaint and 0 reviews in the past 3 years. The company has been accredited by the Better Business Bureau since 2011.
  • Sales & Marketing: Beacon Payments hires independent sales agents and has received a few complaints about its sales practices.
  • Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Beacon Payments
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Beacon Payments Rates, Fees, and Costs

Beacon Payments Rates, Fees, and Costs

Cost Summary

Swiped Rate Interchange + 0.05% + $0.22
Keyed-in Rate Interchange + 0.05% + $0.22
Virtual Terminal Rate Interchange + 0.05% + $0.22
Payment Gateway Fee Undisclosed
Annual Fee $49 Per Year
Monthly Service Fee $10 Per Month
Monthly Minimum Fee $30 Per Month
Early Termination Fee $495
PCI Compliance Fee $79 Per Year
Equipment Lease Terms $99 Deposit

Three-Year Contract

Beacon Payments is straightforward about its ability to offer Interchange-plus pricing to merchants. According to the company’s website, its rates are interchange plus 0.05% plus $0.22 per transaction. The transparency of the company’s pricing structure appears to have kept merchant complaints to a minimum, as there are only a few complaints about the company’s standard contract. This document describes a three-year agreement through First Data with a $495 early termination fee or Liquidated Damages, whichever is greater and an annual PCI compliance fee of $79. The company does not lease equipment but offers merchants the choice between purchasing it outright or placing a $99 deposit refunded upon the return of the terminal.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Beacon Payments also dedicates a portion of its website that advertises its virtual terminal and payment gateway services. According to the company’s website, its interchange-plus rates apply to its e-commerce platform. Additional  fees, including gateway fees, technical support fees, and batch fees may apply to these e-commerce services.

Beacon Payments Fees

The only negative reviews of Beacon’s contract terms mention the company’s monthly minimum fees, which is $30 if merchants do not process at least $1,500 in a given month. In addition, there is a $10 monthly fee that may be applied to some accounts regardless of processing volume. Beacon Payments’ pricing is not competitive with cheapest merchant accounts at this time. If you have any knowledge about the standard Beacon Payments contract, please leave that information in the comment section of this review.

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Beacon Payments BBB Rating Summary

BBB Summary

Product & Service Complaints 0
Billing & Collection Complaints 1
Advertising & Sales Complaints 0
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints 0
Delivery Complaints 0

Under 5 Complaints

Beacon has been an accredited business of the Better Business Bureau since 2011 and currently holds an “A+” rating. At this time of review, Beacon Payments is showing 1 BBB complaints in the last 36 months, which was related to billing and collection. The lone complaint has been answered by Beacon Payments, but has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the merchant.

What Merchants Say

In addition to the 1 complaint, the company has also received 0 informal reviews in the last 36 months. Before that period we documented 2 negative reviews and 1 positive. The last negative review described difficulties resolving fees charges after an account cancellation:

THE absolute worst cc processing company I have dealt with in 10 years. I should’ve known from the start when their account rep Kevin P***** came into my business to install service prior to us agreeing on terms of the account and then having to literally argue with him about it for 10 minutes in the middle of a business day. Now spending months trying to get my $250 cancellation fee refunded per my contract. Nobody has been helpful here whatsoever and it has only been a headache.

Merchants who find themselves in this situation may benefit from taking the proper steps to cancel their merchant account without paying a fee.

An “A” Performance Overall

There are also four informal reviews posted to the company’s profile, all but one of which are negative in tone. Due to Beacon Payments’ low complaint volume and diligence in responding to all complaints it receives, we agree with the BBB’s overall rating.

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Truth In Marketing & Advertising

Key Points

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

Independent Sales Agents

Beacon Payments appears to hire independently contracted sales agents to market its services. As a general rule, this practice makes it difficult for any company to monitor and regulate its sales team’s behavior, which in turn tends to result in elevated complaint rates among merchants. Beacon Payments, however, does not appear to receive many complaints related to its sales force.

Sales Approach Complaints

We have located a few Beacon Payments complaints that criticize the company’s sales approach. In one complaint, a merchant was contacted by a sales representative, asked to sign a “merchant account application” that was actually a contract, and then was unable to reach the agent after that point. The merchant was surprised to see that they were being billed for a service they hadn’t received. Beacon Payments responded by issuing a full refund, and the merchant expressed satisfaction with the response and suggested that they had perhaps been too hasty filing a complaint. Some current and former sales agents with the company also state that Beacon Payments expects its agents to do a lot of door-to-door selling, which can be aggravating for both agents and merchants.

Transparent Pricing

The Beacon Payments website actively promotes Interchange-plus pricing, which is the most transparent rate structure available. This is a positive indicator that the company does not condone deceptive sales tactics, but the company’s overall rating does suffer from the few complaints available about its sales team. If you suspect that Beacon Payments is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden costs.

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Sales & Marketing Example

Our Opinion Of Beacon Payments

Beacon Payments Logo

Solid Option for Most Standard-Risk Merchants

Beacon Payments rates as a reliable merchant services provider by our standards. The company appears to actively promote Interchange-plus pricing, and its low complaint rate is indicative of forthright sales tactics and competitive contract terms. Factors that lowered the company’s rating are its use of independent sales agents and complaints regarding its monthly fees. Even when dealing with credit card processors that rate highly by our standards, we encourage merchants to carefully examine the terms of any contract they are given and to compare its pricing to the top overall providers.

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Why I'm Qualified to Write About Credit Card Processing

I’m a small business owner who previously worked in the credit card processing industry. I started this blog in 2009 to help other business owners by exposing credit card processors that engage in unethical marketing, rate and fee trickery, and fine-print-contract schemes. Over the last decade, I’ve reviewed hundreds of merchant services providers which has helped to educate over 5 million businesses on the nuances of credit and debit card acceptance. I’ve appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Inc. Magazine and a host of other publications to offer insight on the subject of card acceptance. 

I offer merchant account and credit card processing consultation for the following needs:

  • Selecting the right credit card processing services for your business.
  • Reducing credit card processing fees with your current merchant account provider.
  • Negotiating credit card processing fees when changing merchant accounts.
  • Strategies for reducing and recovering funding holds and chargebacks.

 

Schedule a call with me today!

 

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Leave Your Review For Beacon Payments

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Fantastic honest company. Very transparent with their prices unlike some other processors I’ve dealt with.

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Hi Chris,

Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!

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I signed up with this company this year because of lower fees. Receiving any help or getting replies after signing up from my rep Kevin Pheley is a struggle. It’s really not worth it in my opinion and I wouldn’t recommend them to other businesses. Getting my cancel fee from my previous company is like pulling teeth. AVOID

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The way the minimum fee is described is wrong. There is a 10 dollar monthly fee which is variable and a 30 dollar minimum fee. The minimum one must process is 1,500 dollars per month, if a client does over this only the 10 dollar monthly fee is charged.

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