Overview
Capital Bankcard (capitalbankcard.com) is a merchant account provider that serves most standard-risk business types in the U.S. There may be some confusion about this processor because there is an independent reseller that goes by the name of “First Capital Bankcard.” Capital Bankcard has an independent reseller/agent program that allows other companies and individuals to resell its services, and First Capital Bankcard is one of those resellers. “First Capital Bankcard” is not a processor, but is actually a company called the “Greengold Consulting Corp” which markets Capital Bankcard credit card processing with the domain name of firstcapitalbankcard.com.
Capital Bankcard is an outside sales branch of Cayan. The company is a registered ISO and MSP with Visa and MasterCard and is also able to set up Discover Card and American Express processing, which merchants usually have to do in a separate application. Capital Bankcard has been in business since 1998 and boasts that it manages over 80,000 merchant accounts, processes over 7 million transactions per month, and has over 170 dedicated employees. Capital Bankcard uses First Data for the actual processing of the card transactions, but First Data plays a minimal role beyond that. Customer service is provided and the accounts are managed by Capital Bankcard’s in-house team. Capital Bankcard is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and Henry Helgeson is listed as the CEO of Cayan/Capital Bankcard.
Key Points
- Sales & Marketing: Capital Bankcard appears to hire independent sales representatives but has not received any merchant complaints about its sales team.
- Costs & Contract: Capital Bankcard appears to offer variable contract terms through First Data.
- Complaints & Service: Capital Bankcard has received fewer than 10 public complaints.
- BBB Rating: Capital Bankcard has an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 13 complaints in the past three years.
- Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Capital Bankcard
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Capital Bankcard Bottom Line
Capital Bankcard rates as one of the better merchant account providers in the credit card processing industry according to our criteria. The company does a great job of managing its resellers to avoid problems and encourage fair pricing and fair contracts. Aside from cost, Capital Bankcard does an excellent job of servicing its merchant customers and working to resolve problems before they turn into complaints filed elsewhere. The only word of caution regarding Capital Bankcard is to be sure to deal with an agent you trust because each agent has control of many contract terms, including rate, monthly fees, and cancellation fees.
About Phillip Parker
Hi, I’m Phillip and I’m disgusted by the state of credit card processing in the U.S. and abroad. I believe that the industry has been overrun by people who engage in fraud and deception in order to steal money from hard working business owners. I’ve made it my mission to expose the companies and individuals who engage in predatory marketing, pricing, and contracts, or just provide terrible service. Along with uncovering the bad guys, I’ve also discovered the good guys who do stand out from the status quo. CPO is a website where you will find ratings and reviews of these companies along with advice on how to save money and which service providers consider. Together we can move the industry in a positive direction. If you would like to help support my work, please checkout “Fee Sweep” my eGuide to getting the lowest possible fees when accepting card payments. If you haven’t heard of “interchange” this advice will save you hundreds, even thousands, in processing fees.
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Chris Kile with Capital Bankcard is very responsive, easy to work with, and is genuinely interested in helping you improve the point of service experience. He is knowledgeable and has helped us and our clients greatly.
This is a follow up to my previous comment. For anybody dealing with the 1st level of customer service that answers, good luck to you. Luckily I had to resubmit the application process, which sent me to the customer service team in Boston. The process was taken over by a gentleman named Kyle, that has been excellent. This process would have been much easier and far less painful had I reached this team of folks first. Anybody banging your head against a wall with the first line of customer service, maybe see if you can get transferred to the Boston location, even Kyle had to wait a couple days, and said he couldnt get ahold of the person that started the process (from the 1st team of reps.)
As a small business owner I am shocked. I purchased an existing business that has been using Capital Bankcard/ Cayan. Heres my experience so far…
This started 6 weeks ago. OK, I tried to switch the bank account (since our bank was taken over by another), should be easy right? Well, they still had the old doctor on the account. Ok, no problem lets switch it. They send me a form to fill out. I fill it out, get a call saying they sent the wrong form, here is the correct form, ok. Fillout new form, and send it in. They call, “we need the articles of incorporation.” Ok, call my accountant, he sends me those articles, I fill out the form and send the paperwork, via fax, as it says at the bottom of the form. 3 days later I get an email (that you cant respond to) saying they closed the case because they didnt receive paperwork! Ok, I stepped away from it for a month becuase, well I value the glass windows at my office.
Enter today. Call to start again. Lady tells me they need article of incorporation with my name on it. Call accountant, no such form exists, because I simply purchased the stock of an existing corporation, no new articles of incorporation needed. Call back, they tell me that they had been sending me the wrong form and would call me back. They call back and say they will transfer me to proper dept = on hold for 30 mins, only for the lady to get back on and tell me that dept is busy and is not answering, and they will call me back.
I dont know where this “in house” customer service center is as, most have such thick accents that I can only understand half of the 10 people Ive talked to so far. One of the worst customer service experiences of my life and that’s saying alot. Im waiting for them to call me, they said 2 days, let’s just say Im skeptic.
I don’t do many transactions a month with this merchant account but in the first couple months everything was working fine. Ever since then, every single time I need to use my mobile billing, I have to make a phone call and a series of password resets, uninstall and reinstall apps to no avail. Always resorting to going onto the computer to charge cards.. Now that isn’t even working anymore and I have spent the last two phone calls only to be on an automated hold for twenty minutes each, and still cant charge a card. After a good at least five months of this, I have to look for another merchant account if I want to keep any sanity left in me..
This place is a bit of a joke! You can never get any help or speak with anyone beyond a 9-5 business hours. If you want to cancel their services because of their incredibly high fee structure you are told you have to speak with your ‘agent’ who is never going to call you back. You have to try for a week to get a hold of him and then call them back and say you did not get them and then THEY have to try and contact him., So the whole cancel process can take 2 weeks just so that they can get their fees!
Stick with a PayPal as they are way better than this outfit.
I’ve been working with Capital Bank Card for over three and half years and I feel this is a company that truly cares about both it’s agents and merchants. Outstanding customer service, agent support, and training. My merchants love it, I love it, outstanding!!
I have been working as an agent with Capital Bancard for about a year now.
I can honestly say they are a they are a great company to work with!
They have a wonderful support team, the merchants are always very happy with the help they get if they need it. This is a company that really seems to care about their agents and it’s merchants!