Beanstream Review

Beanstream Logo
Overall Score
5
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UPDATE 12/19/2018: Beanstream has changed its name to “Bambora.” As a result, we will no longer update this review. See our Bambora review for up-to-date information about this company.

Beanstream Internet Commerce Corp. (beanstream.com) is a merchant account provider based in British Columbia, Canada, that specializes in online payment processing. Launched in 2000, the company was acquired by Digital River in 2013 and subsequently sold to Bambora Group, a Swedish payment services company, in October 2015. Beanstream serves businesses in Canada, the U.S., and the UK. Beanstream Internet Commerce Corp. is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank’s Canadian branch in Toronto, Ontario, and has offices located at 2659 Douglas Street, #302, Victoria, BC V8T 4M1 and 125 North Market Street, Suite 925, Wichita, Kansas 67202. Craig Thomson is the president and CEO of Beanstream.

Beanstream Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints <10
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint N/A

We are currently able to locate roughly seven Beanstream complaints, but only one of these accuses the company of being a scam or a ripoff. This complaint cites unexpected fees, fund holds, and poor customer service as the primary issues, while the other complaints have to do with poorly designed software, excessive paperwork, poor customer service, and insufficient fraud prevention measures extended to UK merchants. Bambora is a rapidly growing company that operates a number of international payment services, so we will not factor any Bambora complaints into Beanstream’s review. Overall, Beanstream’s very low complaint total indicates a responsive and available customer support team, and we are therefore inclined to award the company an “A” in this category.

Beanstream Customer Satisfaction Ratings

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

Beanstream/Digital River Inc. is not an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau. As of this review, the company holds an “A+” rating with the BBB and has had one complaint filed against it related to a product or service issue. This complaint was successfully resolved with BBB assistance. Although it is our philosophy that “A+” ratings should generally be reserved for companies with zero complaints, the company’s successful resolution to this complaint inclines us to agree with the BBB’s rating.

Beanstream Fees, Rates & Contract

Rates & Fees Summary
EMV Rate 2.25%
Keyed-in Rate 2.8% + $0.15 (CAN) or 2.9% + $0.30 (U.S.)
Early Termination Fee None
PCI Compliance Fee Variable
Equipment Lease Terms Variable

Beanstream advertises month-to-month agreements with no early termination fees, statement fees, or monthly minimum fees, and these claims appear to be consistent with its merchant agreement, found in part below. For Canadian merchants, Beanstream charges 2.25% per EMV transaction through its sproutPOS card reader (only available in Canada) and 2.8% plus $0.15 per keyed-in transaction. The sproutPOS reader costs either $9 per month or a one-time purchase price of $299. For U.S. merchants, Beanstream charges an industry-average 2.9% plus $0.30 for all keyed-in transactions. We are currently unable to locate any mentions of a PCI Compliance fee in the company’s standard contract. Overall, these terms range from average to competitive, and the company’s use of flat rate pricing reduces the risk of misleading rate quotes by Beanstream representatives. See the Beanstream Terms and Conditions

Beanstream Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

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

Beanstream appears to primarily market itself through its website and through various referral partnerships. There is no evidence at this time that the company hires independently contracted sales agents, and we are unable to locate any negative Beanstream reviews that mention the company’s sales team. The Beanstream website quotes specific flat rates for swiped and keyed transactions, and there is no indication at this time that these rate quotes are misleading.

Beanstream Review Summary

Beanstream rates as a reliable merchant services provider according to our standards. The company is showing very few complaints online and appears to offer competitive pricing options for both Canadian and U.S. merchants. Even when dealing with highly rated credit card processors, merchants are advised to carefully read any contract they are given.

Top Performing Beanstream Competitors

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HMS

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Helcim

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1.83% + $0.18

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CDG

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Please note that we only suggest providers that adhere to strict ethical standards and offer top performing support at extremely competitive pricing. We may earn revenue if choose one of our recommendations.

Reader Comments, Testimonials & Complaints

2 User Reviews

  • Retail Operations

    Would not trust Beanstream as far as I would throw them. First their sales people dont know what they talking about and you will get 5 different people giving you 5 different rate quotes as much as 2x the other person. Then when you go to their website and enter your social security number and bank account, their website goes down, wondering were is your personal and financial information gone to. Like others said and it happened to us, you go through 1000 pages of paperwork just to get turned down for no reason. They asked for every single piece of information you could image just short of your blood type. Had 35k of transactions perhaps more in 3 months worth of merchant statements and ZERO chargebacks and these SOBs still turned us down and wouldnt give us a reason. We asked for a fraction about 7k a month of processing volume because we were not going to trust this company. When we called to find out why, they gave us the run around, contacted the sales person another scumbag used car sales man Jay Haddow, he would not bother return calls or emails. Found out that their primary bank is Wells Fargo, another con artist company that got sued recently for fraud and put the blame on 20,000 employees, when they knew it was upper management that did all the illegal practices. The second I found out Wells Fargo was their bank, I started looking elsewhere. And guess what, despite BeanStreams BS, we got approved with their competitors the very next day, the same exact information to. So Jay, Beanstreams, Wells Fargo you know were you can stick it!

  • mark hughes

    As a UK user the fraud protection side has no teeth.
    The following are not checked as standard during the gateway transaction.

    Address Verification (AVS) – Not working in the UK
    Name not checked
    Sex not checked
    Country not checked
    IP not crosschecked

    In fact the only verification I can see is that the money is in the bank account of somebody somewhere.
    It is difficult to imagine a less useful fraud prevention system.
    The team are friendly, the backend is ok but you are at massive risk of UK fraud.

    This may improve in 2015/16 but currently you need to stay well clear.

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