Fattmerchant Review

Fattmerchant appears to utilize conventional advertising and an in-house sales team to market its services. There is no evidence that Fattmerchant is a typical industry “hiring mill,” and we cannot find any Fattmerchant complaints that accuse the company’s sales reps of unethical conduct. Fattmerchant provides a link to its contract terms on its website, and it lists its full pricing details for anyone to review. There is no indication that these fees are quoted in a misleading way. Fattmerchant’s commitment to transparency is uncommon within the industry and has earned it an “A” in this category.

The standard Fattmerchant contract (available in part below) is a three-year agreement through NPC with automatic renewal for two-year terms and a Liquidated Damages early termination fee. A company representative has informed us that the company’s early termination fee is actually $0, and that this is specified on the company’s merchant application. The Fattmerchant website also states that the company provides a month-to-month contract with no cancellation penalty. Due to the punitive terms in the company’s boilerplate contract, merchants should ensure that their supplementary documentation lists an early termination fee of $0 or otherwise negates the language of the NPC contract. The Fattmerchant website also states that the company does not charge statement fees, PCI compliance fees, annual fees, batch fees, or monthly minimum fees.

Fattmerchant offers three pricing plans: a flat rate plan with no monthly fee, a $79/month subscription-style plan, and a $99/month subscription-style plan. The flat rate plan charges 2.9% plus $0.15 per transaction and is intended for new or small businesses. This plan includes a virtual terminal, mobile processing, and a payments API. The $79/month plan charges interchange plus $0.15 per transaction and includes an online shopping cart and a virtual terminal. The $99/month plan charges interchange plus $0.05 per transaction. It is intended for retail merchants but does not include free equipment. Merchants who typically process a low number of high-ticket transactions will benefit most from Fattmerchant’s pricing structure, but the savings under each plan will vary depending on each merchant’s credit card processing profile.

We cannot find only one complaint about Fattmerchant’s rates and fees, and this merchant describes pricing that is exactly consistent with the company’s advertised pricing. In general, it appears that most of the company’s merchants are satisfied with their pricing. We have accordingly assigned it an “A” rating in this section for the time being. See the Fattmerchant Merchant Agreement.

We can find only a few negative Fattmerchant reviews, and there is no indication that the company is a scam or a ripoff. Fattmerchant provides phone and email contact information on its website, and a company representative has informed us that Fattmerchant offers its own in-house after-hours support. Fattmerchant hasn’t been in the industry for very long, so it may start accumulating complaints over time. However, its clean complaint record over its first three years is impressive enough to warrant an “A” in this category for now.

Fattmerchant currently has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been BBB-accredited since August 2015. The company has received one complaint since its BBB profile was created, and this complaint was related to a product or service issue. The lone complaint either was resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. Fattmerchant also has received four positive reviews, although it should be noted that these reviews are not subject to authentication by the BBB. Given the fact that there is only one complaint filed against Fattmerchant, we agree with the BBB’s rating at this time.