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.

Low Complaint Volume

At the time of this update, there are only a few negative Beacon Payments reviews outside of the BBB, indicating that the company is not a ripoff or a scam. The available complaints describe difficulty cancelling service, aggressive sales tactics, and dissatisfaction with the company’s monthly fees.

Beacon Payments Lawsuits

We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against Beacon Payments. Dissatisfied merchants who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

Beacon Payments Customer Support Options

Beacon Payments offers a dedicated 24/7 phone support number on its website, although it’s unclear whether this number is serviced by Beacon Payments or by First Data. Although Beacon Payments is not considered to be one of the top-rated customer service payment processors, the company’s overall complaint rate is low enough to warrant an “A” rating for the purposes of this review.

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 2 BBB complaints in the last 36 months, 1 of which related to billing and collection and 1 which was related to problems with product or services. Both complaints were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchants.

What Merchants Say

In addition to those 3 complaints, the company has also received 3 informal reviews. 2 of those reviews are negative while only 1 is positive. The most recent negative review describes 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.

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.

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.