Blackbaud Merchant Services Review

Since Blackbaud Merchant Services is an optional service within the Blackbaud suite of products, it is primarily marketed to interested or prospective Blackbaud customers. This means that the company does not utilize independent sales agents or engage in “hiring mill” policies that typically plague the credit card processing industry. As a result, we have found no Blackbaud negative reviews that accuse the company’s sales staff of misrepresentation or nondisclosure.

The Blackbaud website does not disclose the pricing of many of its products and services, but it also does not promote any deceptive rates or fees. We will therefore award it an “A” in this category for the time being.

Blackbaud Merchant Services charges a flat fee of 2.598% plus $0.26 for all card transactions, regardless of the card brand or method of acceptance. The company advertises that there are no other monthly minimum fees, annual fees, setup fees, gateway fees, PCI compliance fees, or long-term contracts. Blackbaud’s promotional materials do not directly address whether the company charges an early termination fee, but a company representative has stated in the comment section of this review that users are free to cancel service without facing any termination penalties. This is also confirmed in the company’s contract terms and conditions (available below).

Blackbaud’s flat per-transaction rate alone is not especially competitive for the industry, as it is equivalent to most mid-qualified or non-qualified transactions. However, the fact that the company charges no other fees whatsoever for its processing service makes it an affordable option overall for most organizations. The overwhelming drawback cited by Blackbaud reviewers is the company’s rigid insistence on keeping organizations within its suite of software solutions, which limits charities’ ability to competitively shop for third-party donor relationship management, web hosting, analytics, marketing, and so on. For this reason, organizations will want to be sure that they are interested in all relevant Blackbaud software options before signing up for Blackbaud’s payment processing solution. See the Blackbaud Terms & Conditions.

We are able to locate only a handful of negative Blackbaud reviews, none of which accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam. One very detailed negative review states that while Blackbaud is a very robust solution with many useful features and a strong sales staff, it is ultimately overpriced for the value it delivers and it also comes with a steep learning curve. This review is representative of most positive and negative Blackbaud reviews, with the consensus being that Blackbaud is a reliable all-in-one solution for moderately sized-to-large non-profit organizations. Very small charities or very large charities may find themselves frustrated with a lack of third-party support or expensive add-on features.

The Better Business Bureau currently assigns an “A-” rating to Blackbaud and does not show that the company is accredited. Blackbaud’s BBB profile has received four complaints in the past three years, three of which were related to billing or collection issues and one of which had to do with and advertising or sales problem. One complaint received no response whatsoever, while the other three either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. The BBB cites the unaddressed complaint as the major factor lowering Blackbaud’s grade. In light of this information, we agree with the BBB’s rating at this time.