Overview
Heartland Payment Systems (heartlandpaymentsystems.com) is a very large merchant account provider based out of Princeton, New Jersey. The company was founded in 1997 and, according to several reports, ranks as the fifth-largest processor in the United States and processes over $80 billion in credit card transactions annually. Heartland was acquired by Global Payments in December 2015.
The company made national headlines in 2008 when Heartland’s computer systems were infiltrated by a computer hacker named Albert Gonzalez, who subsequently stole the data of more than 130 million credit cards. While this could have spelled doom for such a prominent company, Heartland responded very quickly to repair the damages and prevent future security breaches. Heartland now regularly updates its security systems and, understandably, takes data security very seriously. Additionally, Heartland seems to have a strongly embedded philosophy of educating merchants about payment processing, even going so far as to dedicating an entire website dubbed the “Merchant Bill of Rights” to fulfilling this purpose.
Heartland also appears to be one of the very few merchant account providers that is actively passing Durbin Amendment savings on to merchants. For those who are unaware, the Durbin Amendment is a flawed bill that forced banks to reduce debit card interchange fees but did nothing about requiring third-party processors and sales organizations to pass the savings on to the merchant, which most do not. Heartland Payment Systems Inc. is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, California, and The Bancorp Bank, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company’s headquarters are located at 90 Nassau St Fl 2, Princeton, New Jersey 08542. The chairman and CEO of Heartland is Robert Carr.
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Heartland Payment Systems Bottom Line
Among the largest processors in the United States, Heartland is one of the most positively reviewed and rated providers. Despite the data breach it experienced in 2008, the company has thrived and become an advocate for data security and merchant education. The company could improve its rating in this review by lowering its three-year service agreement to a shorter term, or by giving all merchants the ability to cancel service any time without a penalty.
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About Phillip Parker
Phillip Parker is a former merchant services agent turned small business advocate and the author of "Fee Sweep," which teaches merchants how to dramatically lower their processing rates, eliminate junk fees, and avoid fine-print scams. He founded CardPaymentOptions.com to help merchants enact positive change in the credit card processing industry. Schedule a Consultation with Phillip
Schedule a Consultation with Phillip
I bought a used POS system, Cash Register Express/PC America, owned by Heartland, and so they were the natural choice for processing. I did check with two other processors but thought it would be great to have an integrated credit card processing with my POS, which Heartland does, so I submitted my application, had a very personable Heartland rep, and was pleased with the initial contact. However, almost two months after submitting my application, I was still not “approved”. On numerous occasions through this time period, I was asked to submit photos of my inventory, copy of my paid storefront signage contract, etc… to verify I was going to have a legitimate storefront. No problem with that. But after a delay getting into my store space, (the two month wait) I was anxious to get the credit card processing buttoned up, so that when I did get in, I would be ready to open ASAP. Contacting my rep, again and again, no approval yet. BUT as I began to set up my store, they asked for MORE photos of inventory, even wanted a photo of my “help wanted” sign in the window. I mean, come on people! Seriously? I sent them my Craigslist ad for help. Still no approval. The “Underwriters” were still deciding. I told them, we aren’t a good fit, perhaps I was too small a store. The morning I emailed my rep (she had started avoiding my phone calls) I had to look for another processor, lo and behold, they approved me! But then I couldn’t get a straight answer as to WHEN I would get my equipment! I was literally ready to open my doors at this point, so I opted for other processor, which I had everything in place in ONE day, and all is well now.
I purchased a new Liquor POS system from a local merchant. Heartland owns liquor POS. I was lied to by the merchant who told me that I could process EMV and be off of an out dated CC processor within a few weeks of installing the new system. I was lied to by Heartland and the merchant. it is 7 months later and I am processing on an outdated software that has no technical support that can go down at any time. I have contacted heartland many times and have been ignored by Kathryn Hollis, and Jeremy Grunzweig, It closing stay as far away from Heartland as you can.
I know many people here are from the merchant side but as a consumer, I am extremely disappointed in Heartland’s loan servicing payment system. They’ve recently acquired CampusConnections, the lender of my student loan, and now charge a fee (up to $12), for every payment. Its unreasonable and unfair that I have to pay a fee for being proactive in paying my student loan, especially considering I am paying directly from my bank account. In the age of technology, I should not have to buy a special order of checks and envelopes/stamps to mail, when I’ve been faithfully paying my student loans online since 2012 without any issues. I understand that they want to maximize profits but it shouldn’t be off the backs of students who are just trying to be responsible. This banking ‘convenience’ fee is waived for people that sign up for the autopay function but as my loan does not yet have a due date (I’m still a student so the loan is in deferment), I’m not eligible. Students that are just trying to plan for the future and be proactive in paying their loans should not be penalized. Heartland needs to work with its customers and either give us the option to sign up for recurring payments via autopay or waive the fee for individual monthly payments. “There’s nothing I can do for you’ should not be an option.
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“The company does not appear to charge an annual PCI Compliance fee but, based on merchant reports, it may be disguising the fee under another name and charging it on a monthly basis as a $25 “regulatory fee.”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Phillip, we don’t ‘disguise anything. We’re a full disclosure transparent company. One of only a handful in the industry. We don’t sugarcoat or BS – anything. We don’t charge PCI or any other “junk fees” for that matter, so you might wanna correct that.
The $25 month service fee is actually that — for service. We make no apologies for it. It includes 24/7/365 support with no vmail trees that lead no where fast NOR infamous 15-30 minute wait times this industry is known for to reach a live person. They answer within 3 rings, which is normally under 10 seconds. that has a value. Don’t believe me?
Try it.
888.963.3600 — all you gotta do is put in a zip code and watch your timer.
It also includes the merchant’s monthly statement PLUS the rep’s TIME – when they need a live body for support (again something else MOST processors aren’t interested in providing)) I’ve been in this industry for 21 years.,. Here with HPS for 8 years. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that HPS exists as a beacon of light in a sea of scumbags,. Can you find a few “incidentals” to quibble about here or there? Sure you can.. Every rep autonomously manages his/her own portfolio here and some fall short of company ideals, but you’ll never find a company more committed to doing right by merchants and embodying integrity and the highest standards this industry has to offer. That’s from our CEO down to the janitors that clean the budding in our service center- and everyone in between.
Believe that.
Mike, let’s b not forget that when the economy took a dive and merchants all over America were quite down in sales, What did HPS do? They raised the pricing on MANY merchants that were no longer hitting the volumes they were before everything crashed, some only off by 10%. At a time when merchants needed the most help, HPS hit them where it hurt. In my book that’s not standing by your merchants. Are they better than a lot of companies out there? Yes but they are far from the knights in shining armor employees like to play them off as. I was there longer than you but obviously am no more, note are all most ALL the veterans that helped build the company and the reasons are simple….there are a LOT of companies out there that pay better, have FAR LESS micromanaging, betting pricing and are also transparent, of course HPS won’t let any of their reps know this this but trust me, it’s a fact.
Once A Believer, In regards to raising rates on merchants who fell short of their projected processing volumes…being that you were in the industry as long as you were, you should know that all pricing is based on volumes. If a merchant’s volume greatly decreases over time, their pricing must be adjusted accordingly to maintain a certain level of profitibility. However, you conveniently leave out the fact that Heartland does not for the most part ever raise pricing on merchants who are consisitently in the balpark to their projected volumes. Working as a client manager, I have seen merchants who have been with HPS for 15+ years and have never once seen a rate increase. This isn’t an isolated occurance I am speaking of, but is the precedent set forth by our CEO. do rate increases happen? Sure, but they are rate and only at a need be basis. As a Client manager, I review competitor’s billing statements all day long, and I assure you that no other processors lay out the exact interchange rates and costs like Heartland does. Nobody does it quite like HPS does, and I am speaking from the experience of someone that has reviewed hundreds of other processor’s statements.
I’m not a fan of tooting the company horn simply because they employ me, but in this instance it is justified and deserved. I get to see on a daily basis how merchants are lied to and manipulated by other processors to get them to switch. I have never worked for a company as moral as HPS, and it makes me proud to be employed by them. It sounds like you didn’t enjoy your experience as a sales person, and are using that frustration to overexaggerate some of the things you view as negatives. But if you truly worked for HPS as long as you say you did, then you know how HPS tries to do the right thing in almost every situation. How many other processors out there assign a dedicated client manager to their merchants to assist with billing/pricing/customer service concerns? ZERO. HPS continues to be an industry leader in both morality and personal attention to it’s merchants. If I were a business owner there wouldn’t be any question as to who I would trust my processing with. And as an employee of HPS, I can tell you that not many companies out there treat their employees as well as you get treated here. Just my two cents…
ETL, my comments have absolutely nothing to do with “not enjoying my experience as a sales person” with HPS, I actually quite loved it up until they went public and it then became all about the shareholders and no longer about the reps. I can give you a list as long as my arm with names of big producing reps that have left over the past 5-6 years because of finally realizing there’s other processors just as good and even better with better comp plans too. As for pricing, I agree that if a merchants pricing drops GREATLY over time there may need to be adjustments made but there were a LOT of merchant who’s volume did NOT drop greatly and still their pricing was raised, some raised significantly. Also when a lot of these merchants started increasing their sales back to pre-crash days, did HPS put the same effort into bringing their pricing back down as they did with increasing it? Nope. Also, to say that “no other processor lays out the exact interchange rates and cost like Heartland does” is simply and completely not true. The company I’m with lays it out JUST as clearly as HPS does and yes, HPS does have great statements, but MANY companies do. Not to mention I don’t have to charge $20-$25 Compliance/service fee and extra basis points for monthly billing. Now this is where a HPS rep will say they don’t have to charge those things either because you can elect not too and just eat it on your commission, but the fact HPS has those fees to begin with shows they have their share of garbage too. When a merchants asks me about HPS I always say they are for sure one of the better companies out there because they are. However, they are not as good as a lot of employees think they are and the ones that do think the company is the end-all the the processing world have usually only been there a year or two tops.
Heartland is our strongest competitor. Most of their customers are unusually loyal. Their overall integrity is superior to any processor in the industry, INCLUDING OUR OWN. Heartland’s pricing is usually very competitive but within “marketplace range”. We now can now compete with them by introducing MSP generated/creative differentials. We win and we lose. It is often hard to get enough differential to persuade merchants to switch but Heartland statements are easy to read and pricing comparisons easy to develop.
I prefer early termination fees based on lost profits, say .20%+- for projected processing income over remaining term. (That’s $2000 for a one million dollar merchant for one year.) However our processor won’t
allow us to charge that kind of fee. If I’m bound with a three year contract, so should the merchant be bound!?
I do suggest that Heartland make their termination fee more prominent (page 1)if not currently so.
WE WOULD HAVE MORE ABUSE IN THE INDUSTRY IF IT WEREN’T FOR HEARTLAND! I WISH ALL COMPETITORS WERE AS FORTHRIGHT.
Karen Lamb of Minnesota assisted our non-profit group that raises money for culinary scholarships for Minnesota students at UW Stout or any culinary/hospitality program in Minnesota. She was more than knowledgable, guided us down the right path with Heartland Payment Systems! She was a partner and presented her knowings as if this was her own non-profit organization!
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It’s not mentioned in the review but HPS also charges 2-5 basis points extra if a merchant wants to have monthly billing instead of daily for which there are no bps added. Some reps build it into the pricing but it is a separate line item on the statement and it’s been there for years now.
Hi Card Guy – that is not exactly true – I waive that with every client and do not build it into the pricing. Also, if reps chose to add for this it is 1 bps as of March 1st which equals .0001 percent of the transaction. The cost would be $2 for a merchant processing $20K per month.
I understand the rep can waive it Karen, I was with HPS for almost 10 years, but just the fact they have it and want reps to charge it is what I have issue with. Most reps don’t waive it because if they do, they eat it on their end, HPS won’t just say ok no prob. Regardless how they justify it to the sales force, it’s a garbage fee, same thing with the $25 “regulatory” fee. I know you/we were taught to believe otherwise but if you know the industry you should know better. Also the whole we’re a “direct” processor schtick means nothing. If you’ve only worked for HPS in this industry they will have you believing it means a ton but ask ANY rep that left there, it might sound good but it means nothing. I’m with an ISO now and I can compete and beat HPS all day long as can pretty much any of your larger ISO’s. Now don’t get me wrong, HPS isn’t a bad company by any means, they’re generally a good company if you’re a merchant, not so much if you’re a rep which is why almost all the high producing reps from years ago are pretty much all gone.
Card Guy
You are correct. Heartland does charge a fee for monthly fees to be taken out. But we fully disclose that as a line item. The merchant can choose to have the fees taken out daily at no additional cost.
We do not add it later or increase it we transparently disclose it.
If a relationship manager chooses to “eat” that for the merchant it comes out of the profit margin of the sales rep.
No shame here, not sure where you were going with this thought of yours ? Heartland is ALWAYS transparent.
Just giving facts Dean, that’s all. Yes a HPS merchant can choose to have daily billing at no cost but we both know 90+% of merchants don’t want daily billing. I never said Heartland isn’t “transparent,” just adding some additional info that was missed in the review that should have been mentioned.
Hi all – I am a Relationship Manager (RM) in North Carolina. Please note – Heartland has an early termination fee of $295 which is much less than others at $495 and $595 or goodness forbid those companies that charge business owners a “Percentage Loss” termination fee. Also, if I, and I can only speak for myself and my business practices, have grossly misrepresented pricing to a merchant – and I haven’t yet – I can have the termination fee waived – we will however attempt to reprice first and look at any proposals you may have received. The RM’s control the pricing outside of the interchange fees. Heartland is Interchange plus pricing so whatever interchange costs are assessed to us vy V/MC/Discover/AMEX are passed through to you the merchant as we are a direct processor. Heartland does NOT engage in padded interchange or surcharges. Our monthly fee of $25 does NOT include any type of PCI compliance. Our servers are PCI complaint and we bear the cost of compliance. It costs Heartland a minimum of $25 in terms of Human Resources to maintain an account. In some instances though the RM can waive the monthly fee.
In this business which in NOT regulated it’s all about the details – anyone can beat “pricing” but you must be a CSI detective to ask the really important questions. It’s also all about who you work with and if/how they have done their due diligence with a business owner and their processing needs.
Hope this helps clarify a few questions that I see on this website.
Said they could offer me a better processing deal, but after I signed up it ended up being more expensive than the company I originally had. Then they charged me $295 for both my accounts when I moved on to another company that actually did give me a lower price.
Heartland charges a $25 per month Regulatory Fee (that’s $300 per year) and 3 basis points for Monthly funding versus daily.
Based on a lot of your other reviews which were “dinged” for their Reg Fee (and most were hit hard for just a $50 or $60 fee) I would expect this will greatly impact this review.
I just went with heartland and was shown that the $25 PCI fee/month was waived with an annual survey submission. Can’t comment on the other fee as I am going with daily deposits/fee withdrawals.
jthmi
I have used Heartland in the past i used it in my business in 7750 okachobee blv W.P.B.
then the service and rates where ok
In January i did sign a contract with Heartland (PAT) i was told that there would be no charging fees for terminating the service , also i was promised new credit card machine
i newer recieved the credit card machine , and right afthet a month or two the RATES START CHANGING, when i called the representative of Haeartland PAT and i asked her how comme my friend who its 3 miles away from me has different rates (in the begining we had same rates) she told me that my friends customers use different credit card ???
whell i was disapointed and not happy because Heartland was changing the rates and i stoped having theyre service, now they are sending me statements for early termination service, which in my knowledge i did not know that i have signed anything regarding that, oraly i was told that i can terminate the service with heartland anytime without terminating fee, so BE CAREFULL FROM HEARTLAND
Kenny,
You must not understand interchange fees set by the bank. You can find these on Visa and MC’s website to educate yourself. These are not optional. Like your cost of pizza ingredients, they are the card companies cost.
I hope this helps. I owned a chain of Mexican food restaurants and we used Heartland for 9 years with no problem and no one could touch their rates. I learned exactly how it worked so I know they are fair.
Good Luck.
Tammy
Tammy,
maybe you had no issues with Heartland rates…but aside from rates they have serious issues with customer service. Like Kenny I also had a problem with them….after my 3 year term , I decided to leave and I was still charged an early termination fee of $295 ? I learned the hard way that Heartland AUTOMATICALLY renews your contract for another 3YEARS. The only way to avaoid this $295 charge is to terminate exactly on the day your 3 years is up. So you cannot cancel on day 364 of year 3 or 1 day after 3 years is up…no matter what you are screwed.
Al, I sold with HPS for quite a few years and I can tell you that no, you will not be charges the $295 if you leave anytime after the first 3 years. Also, the contract does NOT roll over for another 3 years. I believe technically it’s another 12 months but I NEVER saw that enforced so really it’s month to month. NEVER ONCE did I have a merchant that was hit with a cancellation fee if they left after 3 years, never. So I’m not sure what you’re talking about because that just does not line up with them at all and I was there over 8 years.
Chad,
Respectfully speaking… I was charged as I described above. I was with Heartland for almost 5 years…when I tried to cancel Heartland I was told I owed $295 for an early termination fee. I was told my contract was automatically re-newed.? I tried to talk to anyone at Heartland who would listen and was not able to get anywhere. So what I was told by Heartland was that I needed to cancel terminate within 30 days of the end of my 3rd year or something like that .
So I am not sure who you are with Heartland but what happened to me is true and unfair. Even cell phone companies do not re-new you automatically!
Al Michaud
Sweet Meadow farm
Tammy, it seems you are following the same script as the previous Heartland reps in responding to those who have criticized the company. Kenny plainly said Heartland changed his rates after he signed the contract, and then you recommended he educate himself on the subject of interchange fees, which we all know are two different things entirely. Whatever the problem, Heartland always finds a way to suggest it is the customers’ own fault, or they are ignorant, or they are just liars.
Also, you are incorrect in stating no one can touch Heartland’s rates. I saved a lot when I switched from Heartland to another company.
Mike,
I am a Territory Manager and have been with Heartland for 7 years. The only way Heartland EVER changes our profit is when the volume on the application after 90 days of starting is way less than what was written on the agreement. Interchange rates may vary ever April & October but if your volume is within 25% of what was put in the agreement it will not change during the 3 year term. And even after the 3 year agreement it usually doesn’t change either. I have over 400 clients and I can say without a doubt Heartland has never arbitrarily raised our pricing like other processors do.
We have had a bad experience similar to many who have posted here. We signed up with Heartland in August 2013 through a friend of a friend. Our main concern was having a long-term contract and cancellation fees in case we didn’t see any savings compared to our current company. When we asked him about it, he flat out said that there are NO TERMS, and we can cancel the contract at any time if we are not satisfied with their service. He repeated it so many times … trust me, there are no terms, you can do month to month. I’m a manager, you’re good with me. He even gave us a copy of the cancellation form, which says NOTHING about the cancellation fee.
So we signed the contract that apparently had a 3-year term and $295 cancellation fee somewhere. We found out a year later when we wanted to end their services since we were paying more than we were with our old company. Yes, we should’ve read through everything word for word or maybe just hired a lawyer to fully investigate. But it SHOULD BE ILLEGAL for a company representative to verbally tell a customer one thing, and then have them sign a contract that says another. We were tricked. Why would a company have to resort to this level to get customers?
I originally blamed our sales rep, but it seems this has happened to several others so I can only assume the company trains their sales reps to do this or turns a blind eye because it still earns them sales. Whatever the case, we will never recommend Heartland to any of our associates. Any company that is aware of these “bad reps” and does nothing is just as bad as their reps.
I would just like to update this post: The CEO replied to an email I sent that described everything our company went through. I also included some of the complaints here. He said he was unaware of this practice and was glad we brought it to his attention. It’s reassuring to know that the leadership at least cares about the company and is responsive to the customers’ needs. He said we will not be paying the cancellation fee, which we are grateful about not just because of the sum of money, but because of the principle of it all. We’re glad to finally have a good outcome after this horrible experience.
I own a very succesful small business that I started from scratch.Heartland has been my credit card processor for about ten years. Prior to signing on with them I had two unethical processors over an eight year period. I probably call Heartland about twice a year for service or technical problems. They have never let me down. I am in a service oriented business so I know good service when I run into it. Also, their statements are clear and concise. My experience with Heartland has been A+. I think they are ethical and professional. Just giving credit where credit’s due. Keep up the good work.
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Peter and anyone else that feels Heartland is a stand up company.
Ask Heartland their policy on the following, because this is what cost me $295 for switching from them after 5 years….
I choose to switch to another merchant after I had been with Heartland for 5 years. I was told my 3 year term automatically renewed and that I was only on my 2nd year of the new 3 year term. So I was early terminating my second 3 year contract…that is crap. That is not a stand up company in my eyes, the early termination should ONLY apply to the first 3 years.
It seems to me everyone trying to switch will get hit with the early termination fee,,,since they automatically renew you to a 3 year contract???
I pleaded with them to use common sense and refund me $295…but I got nowhere.
Al
Al,
Heartland is a stand up company for sure. I have been with them for 7 years and have over 400 clients. I am not calling you a liar by any means but I can say without a doubt we do not renew for 3 more years. I have copied and pasted that portion from our terms and conditions that states it renews for 12 additional months. But as with an earlier comment in my 7 years Heartland has never enforced that policy. See below:
11. Term: Termination
11.1 This Agreement shall become effective upon acceptance of the !rst Merchant deposit by HPS and shall continue in effect for a term of thirty-six (36) months therefrom (“Term”). Thereafter, the Agreement will automatically renew for additional twelve (12) month periods unless terminated by any party by giving sixty (60) days written notice prior to the end of any Term, except that in case of an Event of Default by Merchant or as required by a Card Scheme, this Agreement may be terminated by HPS immediately and HPS shall give Merchant written notice within ten (10) days thereafter
Mike,
I find it hard to believe that you are a business owner with a previous relationship with Heartland. Given the fact, you have such a vested interest in this thread and have posted 3 separate posts against Heartland going back to 2012. It sounds like you are an ISO that signed a Heartland customer and this led to your ridiculous posts. As a matter of fact, your posts were sent January 2012, July 2012, September 2012 and 2 comments in November 2013. There is not one business owner in my portfoilio that would take time away from building their business to constantly follow a random credit card review site. Not only that, a $295 early termination fee is the lowest I’ve ever seen in my tenure. That’s a pretty easy out in comparison to other contracts that I’ve seen with early termination clauses ranging from $500 to $6,000. For all I know, you are throwing your invalid comments to solicite more information from Heartland Representatives that are in the trenches everyday helping business owners.
If you are truly a former client, I welcome you to contact our support number and leave a confidential message for me personally. I will contact you personally to find resolution to your dissatisfaction.
Mr. Proud Heartland Rep doesn’t think I’m an actual business owner because an actual business owner wouldn’t take the time to post against Heartland as much as I have. I guess the company depends on business owners being too busy to fuss about being deceived and tricked into signing a contract they wouldn’t have signed otherwise, but that strategy obviously doesn’t work on all of us. Mr. Proud Heartland Rep has suggested I contact Heartland’s support number and leave a confidential message for him personally, so he can find a resolution to my dissatisfaction. How can I leave a personal message for him if I don’t know his name? If he is so proud, why doesn’t he give us his name? This anonymity of Heartland reps seems to be the norm. Could there be a reason why the Heartland reps and former reps don’t want to reveal their actual names and phone numbers? The business owners who write glowing reports on Heartland also seem to be publicity shy.
Why doesn’t someone from the corporate office of Heartland rise to defend the company and offer to make things right, instead of depending on reps who most probably don’t have the authority to spend corporate funds? One thing we business owners for sure don’t have time for is a runaround.
Thank you, Mr. Phillip Parker, for providing this forum.
I have been with Heartland for close to two years. Before my career with this company, I was an independent business owner for 5 1/2 years. I have read each of the 44 comments in response to Heartland Payment Systems. As a former Business owner, I took credit cards, I signed contracts and I knew I had to pay a fee for the service. However, not until about 6 months in to my career with Heartland, did I have a clue what “Durbin,” Interchange, ISO, PCI and in no way did I know what “basis points” were. The Small Business Owner that posted in 2011 knew way more than I did when I had my business. My point is, out of these 44 complaints and positive reviews, I have to ask myself how many of these posts are truly reliable in the terms of Due Diligence? However, I encourage every business owner to keep open communication with their Rep or Customer Support Team. Ask to see the entire contract prior to signing and demand to see the final contract that follows in the mail. Ask about the contract legnth and terms and if there are early termination fees. If the Rep tells you there are no early term fees, demand a written document guaranteeing that. For any Business Owner that has been disappointed with their relationship with Heartland, I wish you great prosperity in the future.
If you are a business owner looking to switch to – or from ANY processor, ask for references in your local area that has processed for more than a year with the local rep. Find out what other business like and don’t like.
To Your Prosperity,
Texas Territory Manager
Heartland Payment Systems
You’re preaching to the choir, Tex. The people complaining here about Heartland have already learned these lessons. Apparently you cannot deny Heartland doesn’t provide the full contract terms unless the customer demands them, and even then apparently the company’s practice is to withhold, delay, or obfuscate important information.
When a person is starting up a business or taking over an existing business there are many things to learn and do, and there’s not always enough time to be as diligent as you recommend. People in this situation are easy prey for unethical service providers. Please let us know when Heartland decides to furnish its customers all contract terms and conditions at or before the time of signing, without the customers having to be smart enough to demand them first.
Mike, as someone that is no longer working for HPS but was with them almost 10 years, I can tell you ALL the terms and conditions are supplied to the merchant. It’s absolutely true that a rep can at times forget to give them to the merchant but when a merchant comes on board, they are mailed a copy of their contract AND the terms and conditions. To say “when a person is starting up a business or taking over a business there are many things to do and ot always enough time to be as diligent asTex recommends,” is garbage. If you are signing something it’s YOUR responsibility to READ IT! If you don’t read it and you just sign away, you have no one to blame but yourself. Honestly 90% of complaints I read online about not just Heartland but much companies come from merchants not reading their contracts. On the Heartland contracts there a section the merchant signs acknowledging they received and read the terms and conditions so if they are signing that and not queastioning anything, again it’s 100% their own fault.
Okay, Guy, you’ve pretty much confirmed what Tex said; Heartland’s unhappy customers are responsible for their own mistakes in signing contracts without fully reading them and demanding to receive the missing details. Further, you think Heartland is fully justified in taking advantage of such people by sneakily leaving out some stuff that people should be smart enough to ask about before they sign. We were dumb. We get that.
I wonder where Heartland finds people like you. You know the part about the $295 fee for quitting Heartland, as well as other important terms, are not mentioned in the contract that is handed to merchants to sign. This information is in a separate document incorporated by reference only, which document you’ve stated is sent to the clients after they “come on board.” (Heartland didn’t send this document to me, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway after I signed the contract.) If this practice is not intended by Heartland to deceive and take advantage of naive and trusting clients, then please explain why everything isn’t included in the main part of the contract folks get to see before signing. I doubt you can provide any plausible explanation.
Not here to argue with you Mike, just telling it like it is. Just because it might not fit with your subjective experience doesn’t mean what I’m saying is wrong. So to your question YES, merchants are responsible for their own mistakes in signing contracts without fully reading them and demanding to receive the missing details. Who the heck else would be responsible??? Even if a rep said don’t worry about it I’ll get it to you later, it would still be crazy for anyone to sign a contract that way. You then asked me if I “think Heartland is fully justified in taking advantage of such people by sneakily leaving out some stuff that people should be smart enough to ask about before they sign.” How does HPS take advantage of people by “sneakily” leaving something out??
You are correct about one thing at least, the $295 cancellation fee is not on the contract itself, just as it’s not on most processors contracts which is why almost ALL processors have separate terms and conditions, just like when you buy a car, just like when you get a loan, just like when you get a mortgage etc etc. What other important terms are not on the contract that you you think are board? You said “This information is in a separate document incorporated by reference only, which document you’ve stated is sent to the clients after they “come on board.” Obviously reading comprehension isn’t your strong point so allow me to quote what I actually said. “It’s absolutely true that a rep can at times forget to give them to the merchant but when a merchant comes on board, they are mailed a copy of their contract AND the terms and conditions.” I acknowledged that reps can forget to give the T&C but it’s still sent to the merchant in the mail. Even if Heartland “didn’t send the document to you” it does get sent out and if you were dying to read it a call to the 800# and it would be sent to you in a matter of minutes.
Lastly you asked ” If this practice is not intended by Heartland to deceive and take advantage of naive and trusting clients, then please explain why everything isn’t included in the main part of the contract folks get to see before signing. I doubt you can provide any plausible explanation.” I’ve said the answer a few times now but I’ll do it again for you. Heartland isn’t here holding the reps hand as the reps gets paperwork signed. It’s the responsibility of the rep to give the merchant the T&C and yes, I have no doubt reps can at times forget to do that. There’s NO incentive for a rep not to give the T&C to a merchant because there’s nothing in there that isn’t industry standard stuff. In all my years of being there i NEVER had a merchant that had an issue with the T&E to the point they wouldn’t sign up. Some would question the 3 year contract, again which is standard for a LOT of companies, but if it was that huge of an issue we’d let them do it year to year, pretty scary right? Again, I haven’t worked for Heartland for a while now but I still find it hilarious when “merchants” like you, and I use ” ” because I don’t believe you were really a merchant of theirs, have a bad experience and then you pretend like you just know everything about the company and you have it all figured out. Again, your subjective experience doesn’t mean you have it all figured out because reading your ill informed comments sure prove that.
I can tell you as an employee of Heartland that these terms and conditions are mandatory and are sent to the merchant in the welcome packet with each and every account. No excuses!
A $295.00 cancellation fee is typically BASELINE for the merchant processing industry. What we find is that a merchant will hop around from provider to provider without any commitment while we guarantee your rate for 3 years. It simply discourages them to do so, because in more cases than not, these merchants come back to us.
If you discuss your intent to not be involved in a contract UP FRONT your salesperson CAN sign you without one in most cases.
I am proud to work for Heartland and all it stands for. We continue to be the leader in our industry and continue to do the right thing when no one is looking. It’s simply impossible to please everyone all of the time.
Do not use this merchant company…
I had been with Heartland for 5+ years …I was leaving as a somewhat satisfied customer, but for some reason ( the fine print actually ) my family farm was charged $295.00 for early termination of an account???? 5+ years and still they think that is fair. I was told it was because a year and a half before , my rates were updated and I signed it… which extends my agreement for 3 more years! I did not go to them asking them to change my rates…and I did not complain about my old rates so it should never have been extended. I will never go back to them and I will tell as many as I can that they screwed my family farm out of $295.00
DON’T EVER USE THIS COMPANY! They are frauds!
Peter Galleta sold me the system telling me how bad my previous company was. What a liar. He told me I wouldn’t pay a fee for the machine, I would not pay monthly payment, I would pay Credit, Debit, the same price and nothing was true. They charged me whatever they wanted for monthly payments; for credit and debit they charged me for everything. I’ve been in business for 40 years and I’ve never been lied to so blatantly. I called the company at least 24 times and they refused to call me back or do anything about my payments. Ridiulous service. It costed me more than my previous company. Terrible service.
Al, I’m a Relationship Manager for Heartlands Northeast Division. Please send me your notes and where Heartland charged you $295 for cancellation. Also send me a copy of your contract and cancellation notice.
I will try to get this fixed for you.
[email protected]
I’ve never had an issue like this and wouldn’t want this to happen to me. If you want this corrected, send me your documentation, so I can go to bat for you.
Edward Burris
828.421.7991
Although I am now pleased with Heartland Payment’s services, getting set up was a huge hassle. You’d think for being such a large company they would know how to set up a simple system. They failed to set up the auto settlement for me, although they told me they had, and for two days my payments did not settle causing some overdraft charges for my business.
In addition, I would NEVER recommend using the check system, Cross Check, which Heartland recommends as their preferred check processing company. Cross Check was never able to set up my system successfully, with no real reason provided, except that it had something to do with Comcast’s phone lines. ( I did have a check settlement system prior to trying to use Cross Check that worked just fine so I didn’t think this was an adequate excuse and Cross Check never tried to really figure out what was going on.) As a result I had to return their useless check reader and Cross Check charged me return shipping fees! I complained about that because it was a result of their system not working and they still made me pay the return shipping fees.
For these reasons I give Heartland Systems a C+ and CrossCheck an F.
We are a Heartland customer and I have found their customer service to be excellent. I was having problems accessing the program and it didn’t take very long for the representative to figure out that I was using Internet Explorer 10 and that it wasn’t compatible with Heartland’s program. I removed it and was back in business. I have had other companies say they can save me money, but in the past every time I have changed, the bill remains the same. So far they have been very upfront with the charges and I have no complaints. We have been with them for 2 1/2 years. Also…the representative made it very clear that we were signing a 3 year contract and that there would be a few to cancel early.
Lost $295 after cancelling for better rates with another processing company. The Heartland sales rep told me there was no cancellation fee/penalty. The fee/penalty is not on any document you sign. They give you a book entitled “Merchant processing Agreement” filled with definitions and terms and explanations. In the middle of this 17 page document is hidden the $295 penalty. They have you sign a document stating you have received and read all this. So because I believed Heartland’s representative, only read the pages of contracts I signed and didn’t read all the other legal mumbo-jumbo after 2 years and 3 months of taking my money they stiff me for another $295.
I have used 4 different merchant services companies over the past 8-9 years and I have been solicited by numerous others. I always ask what is the penalty for cancelling. I tell those with a penalty, I’m not interested. If you provide a good service you don’t need to threaten customers with penalties to make them stay!!!
I have had my business for 3 years,and Heartland has processed my credit cards since i opened.We were offered a loan by this company with a letter sympathizing in this economy we understand bull.After filling the requirements we were told that there was a few businesses excluded from getting a lone,Strip clubs,Adult book stores Adult movie theater and consignment stores,are you joking you put me in a category with adult entertainment! I sell new and used furnishings! and have owned a business for three years!I am not going out of business,Not that impressed,and at the end of the month i will be sure to have another company processing my credit cards,Heartland has taken enough out of our account,and the service is good only when they want you to buy or add other services to it.Sorry no more!.
I’m not in the industry any longer b/c I had a new oportunity come up with my family business, but I can truthfully say Heartland is a standup company. They advovate for merchants and really try to put them first. It’s funny how every single third party independant company rates Heartland as one of the most, if not the most, ethical and transparent company in such a highly unregulated industry and then the handful of upset merchants are the ones to post bad reviews. A few nice comments start off this review and then all the ticked off people come out of the woodwork. The thing is, out of 250,000 merchants the 249,000 happy ones aren’t looking online to make a point but the few ticked off ones certainly are and thats what these online forums really are. They are a breeding ground for upset merchants (and former disgruntled ex-employees) to make a stand and voice their opinions because right before they call their local nighlty news. Come on, seriously?
I don’t have anything against online reviews/blogs/forums but lets get real, they are often a breeding ground of negativity. Heartland is a good company.
My experience with Heartland was amongst the worst customer service experiences of my life. At each turn I experienced misleading information, misinformation and out and out lies that costs me thousands over the course of my contract. From rate hikes to hidden fees to just plain bad service, I would NEVER recommend this service to anyone. I don’t mind paying for quality, but this was awful. To give you an example, I was forced to wait until the conclusion of my contract to get out or face a $295 fee. My contract was up on Jan. 5 and the CSR told me I had to fax in an account closing (despite the contract being over) and if it got in 1 minute before midnight, I would still be charged the early termination fee. So i waited and sent it at 1 am 1/5/2013. However, on 1/4/2013 I had used the service, since my contract was not up until 1/5. Well, guess what? That “triggered” the monthly service fee. Even though the CSR had told me any fee would be retroactively refunded, this is not the case. And so, of course, I am on the hook for $65 according to them.
It is duplicitous and underhanded and clearly misleading tactics like this that make Heartland a bad company to work with. I can survive the $65. That is not it. It is the fact that they will stoop to this. This is just the last in a long line of horrendous practices. Don’t do it. Find another processor.
Whenever I am approached for processing I hand the sales man a copy of my most recent statement and say “how much would I have paid for the same service through you?”. I don’t want to discuss fees and other add ons, just what is my bottom line? What is the total? No one had ever done it but Mark (supposedly) did and the # came back much lower then what i was paying so I switched. I asked Mark what I needed to do to cancel my existing service. He told me not to worry, they would handle everything. This is not my first rodeo but for some reason I didn’t question this which came back to haunt me to the tune of about $900. Turns out Heartland’s idea of canceling the service does not include calling to find out the proper procedure (in my case the merchant ONLY could cancel the service) they just stuck a letter in the mail – not certified (and it was never received so I am giving them the benefit of the doubt on that). When I realized my old company was still charging me I called Mark and he said he would handle it. By the time I handled it myself a few months later, I was out $900+. Anyway, as expected I am back to paying the same through them as I had through my last processor and (as expected) when I call Mark he gives the same old tired “fees and blah, blah, blah” crap I have gotten from every processor for the last 15 years.
Heartland has offered more service than any other processer I have worked with in 20 years As a restaurant owner in Utah. The have reduced my fees as my number of restaurants has grown and have never passed a rate increase or charged any random fees or PCI fees like Wells Fargo would regularly charge. I use them for payroll and my gift card/loyaltty program. I had a terminal go down on friday at 3:00 pm and 1 call to our relationship manager we had a terminal 40 minutes later. I have been educated about card processing and now when approached by other processors I have no intrest in hearing Mr Save you money and his empty promises and lack of knowledge. I would strongly recommend Heartland to any business owner.
Best
Dave Law
Hi Dave,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location to verify this testimonial.
Phillip,
It is interesting that you have made a request for a business name and location to verify this testimonial, however, have not for other “reviews”. How many others have a business name/location?
Regards,
Steve Austin
Hi Steve, see this post if to understand why this is done: Why We Verify Testimonials
As a business owner it is difficult to stay up to date and in the know of the processing industry. Just like your plumbing you trust a plumber. You call an electrician to have light! Credit card processing has become a broken industry and mostly because you have a business to run and no extra time to supervise outsourced services too. Fact is, processing is a need and you pay for the service. From years of experience working in processing I will tell you some basics that will save you time and money…
1. Local sales rep so you can hold them accountable-W2 employee only
2. Easy to read statement-ask to see sample
3. Daily deposits without daily discounts-24 hour
4. Interchange plus pricing- go to visa/mc website and print interchange cost to compare
5. Demand NO surcharges, batch header fees, monthly service fees, compliance fees-NO hidden fees
6. Do not LEASE equipment-No but HELL NO!
7. Nothing is for FREE-red flag if offer Free anything
8. Call service center prior to doing business to see call time and level of service
9. Don’t be afraid of a commitment term in exchange for a price guarantee!
10. Never service your own equipment-request a local service manager 24/7!
Get the most out of what you are paying for. Ensure quality within your business and find a true professional within the processing industry you can trust and hold accountable.
I like the list of 10 things a merchant should look out for. Heartland used to abide by those things, not so much anymore. W2 rep means nothing these days. There’s just as many bad ws reapa as there are 1099. Lots of processors are doing next day funds now but the issue with heartland is if you want to be billed monthly, like most businesses, they charge you an extra 2-5 basis points which is total garbage. No business of any side wants daily billing! Heartland also charges a $25 monthly “service” fee, and a monthly regulatory fee which is often marked up. Their service center can be decent assuming you get the right person. As for heartlands price guarantee, kind of laughable. Do the research and you will see they raised their profit on MANY merchants that were just a little off of the projected volume on their contract. When the economy took a dump and a lot of businesses sales started to decrease, instead of heartland taking this into consideration, they raised hundreds of merchants fees and if you don’t believe this once again, do the research. As for their local service manager, that program is all but dead. It use to be a great program but they laid off over 70% of their service managers across the US.
I, too, was shopping around for better rates to also discover the hidden 3 year contract. I say hidden because I asked my rep if there was one – she said there was not and also lied when I asked then if there was a termination fee. The contract you sign says absolutely nothing about this – it is in a booklet, inside a packet given to you after you have signed.
That said, if $295 is what it takes to get away from ridiculous monthly rates and unethical business practices, then it’s money well spent.
September 07, 2012
I am in the process of terminating my contract and was notified by a Heartland Rep that there was an early termination fee. When I signed the document the rep did not mention nor did I see that there was this fee. I will be reporting this to the Attorney General in my state. I will also tell all my business associates about this practice. Its not the 295.00 fee its principal. Heartland may have mave sleazed this fee from me but they are going loose much more money from loss of potential business
I have been using heartland for a wile nowwhen i first signed with them i told my sales rep Bradley Kline that im not shure that i will be keeping the service for a long time. I was in the process of purchacing a pos system which alowes me to process over the internet but at the time the fees were too high. In november i called and talked to Bradley about that i got a better rate on my cc processing through another company and he said thats fine you can end your contract at any time. I am now led to belive that i have $245.00 in charges i called customer service NO HELP!!! She said that there company signed me to a 3 yr contract, i didnt sign no contract to that affect. I asked for a copy you cant give me one for what reason i dont know but i think this is wrong. I plan on talking to some people and finding out whats going on.I dont recomend heartland pmt systems to anyone trying to make a living becuse there crooks.And it seem funny that when i call Bradley Klines home phone he fails to return my calls leeds me to say that somethings wrong with this picture??? They also told me that Bradley no longer works there and that there was a new rep in the area??? I never saw or talked to him!!! So is this how you treat your customers??? I think that you should rethink you stradgy!! when one of my food vendors quit they always interduce me to another person taking there position. If you couldnt tell, im very pissed off right now call me in a few hours and ill still be pissed off.Im not gona stop i know as a person i have rights and im gona use them i have the welcome package and it states nothing about early termanation!!!!
Jack, the price to quit Heartland is $295. I know because I just was charged that amount last week. Don’t expect any mercy from them or waste your time complaining to them. The contract they give you to sign doesn’t mention the $295; it’s contained in a separate document called “Terms and Conditions,” or something like that. The contract you sign says you agree to the terms, which you don’t get to see. Good luck getting a copy of the terms; they wouldn’t give the terms to me despite several requests. It won’t matter if you do get them anyway; when you quit they just send you a letter saying $295 will be deducted from your bank account per the terms of the contract.
Is it legal for Heartland to do business this way? Yes, I think it is.
Is it ethical? No, I don’t think so. I don’t see how they can hold their heads up.
There are companies providing the same services as Heartland, with better rates, and with no penalty for quitting if you are dissatisfied for any reason. Some of the others may even pay you for switching to their companies, which would help to offset the cost of quitting Heartland. Best wishes.
Heartland, you are wasting your time preaching here with Bill M and others. We do over 3 million per restaurant. We were signed slightly over in the 2nd year we dropped past what we were signed at where the first year we went over that amount. The 2nd year on one location we dropped about 15% and after the next went well over again. During year two, we figured out that during the lower period that they added fees on our account by several basis points and pennies for not meeting our volume that year. Statistically all our locations have in the Past met several millions and the bottom line is that the increase is that heartland put on is not remotely competitive with the market on our size of an account. Even if it was, the false advertising of the “Durbin” savings is insane. I’m with a provider now who provides me with the same pass through regulated and non regulated Durbin Interchange Heartland Reps and Management claim that no one else in the industry is giving. My cost has never been better – and service is 2nd to none. I have had Durbin with both, my costs were increased on other fees when Durbin went into effect at HPS. I have many friends who own businesses…all with different credit card companies. All of them with my businesses included are reaping the Durbin benefits! Sorry Heartland, you are not the only game on the block or in town anymore! The only regrets I have are not finding out where my old sales rep is who taught me this industry and the games you all now play! Shame shame!
Can you tell me what company you are currently with?
I’ve been using Heartland since May 2011. When I tried to switch to another processor to save money I was informed of their three-year contract, which I had supposedly signed. I’ve tried to obtain a copy of the three-year contract both from my local rep and from Heartland Customer Service. Both told me they’d furnish a copy but it never came. I’ve also found out Heartland put a password on my terminal which prevents my using it with any other company and the local rep said he can’t give me the password because he’s lost it. Heartland thus has reduced the value of my property (the terminal) without compensation. It will cost me over $200 to replace the terminal if/when I’m ever able to use another company to process payments.
I told this to one of my customers who works for a bank. He said one of his bank customers is a another local business that tried to switch from Heartland to his bank for credit card processing. This owner of this other business also found out about the three-year contract at that point and he, like me, didn’t have a copy of the contract and was unable to get it from Heartland. He decided it wasn’t worth his time to fight with Heartland, so he gave up the idea of switching to the bank.
I could save around $500 per year by switching to another company. When I told this to my local Heartland rep he didn’t dispute it. He just bragged about Heartland’s great service and reputation for customer satisfaction.
Mike, Heartland does not “lock” their terminals so I’m not sure how yours can be locked. We have NEVER sent a terminal out that’s locked and we do not believe in that practice now of the for many years I have been with the company. The 3 year term in right on the paperwork that is signed and it’s right by where you actually sign it. Merchant love blaming processors for this but that info has to be clearly displayed and it’s not the rep or the companies fault if the merchant chose not to read what they were signing.
You have got to be kidding me. I have seen these contracts, they could not be more vague. Yes, the three year term is on the contract, however, the terms and conditions which contains their “cancellation fees” is on another portion of the contract which is never really presented to the signatory. They are like a bad cell phone company, 295 dollar cancellation fee but you don’t get a discount on your service and you don’t get the latest cell phone to show off to your friends. All you get is a big fat bill, 1 time per month. The cancellation fee is in small type on the 14th page of a 20 page addendum to the contract, one which is never signed that and where they include terms in conditions that are much more favorable to them. If at any point you fail to meet your expected annual sales, they can basically change your account percentages and costs to whatever they would like. Trust me when I say stay away from them, even if their customer service reps are friendly.
Thank you Athens. Your experience was the same as mine. One other thing I forgot to mention, is when you quit Heartland be sure to notify them by registered mail, return receipt. If you use regular mail they may deny receiving the notice so they can charge you for another month of service, in addition to the cancelation fee. That happened to me, anyway.
I can attest to the fact that Heartland doesn’t change the password to the terminal to “lock” you out like some other processors.
That being said. If your local rep reprogrammed the terminal for you then he must have either intentionally or accidentally changed the factory password. If he did indeed “lose” the password then I would demand that he supply you with a replacement terminal at his cost. By his own admission: “he lost” the password. Therefore he is responsible to restore your equipment to its original accessible state or supply you with a replacement terminal.
I’ve reprogrammed hundreds of terminals and believe me, passwords don’t change by themselves. Someone had to change it.
Just my 2 cents.
I signed up with Heartland because one of their reps was at a networking meeting, talking about how honest and ethical they were, and how EVERYONE will save money with them. I admit, I should have been watching my statement more closely, but trusted I was getting the best rate. At year’s end, I discovered I paid over $600 more in processing with them over the year than I would have, had I stayed with my previous provider.
The rep told me I wouldn’t be locked into a contract and that I could cancel any time I wanted, if I was unhappy. When I canceled, because they didn’t perform as promised, he said there was a $295 cancellation fee, and waived it by giving me a choice of either signing a document saying I was closing my business, or another document stating I wasn’t going to take credit cards anymore. That’s pretty honest and ethical, now, isn’t it?
I ran into that same rep this morning, who claimed that Heartland has “given $9Billion back to its merchants since the Durbin Act was enacted.” Since that just went into effect on October 1, that claim is false. First: They didn’t “give back” anything, they changed their fee structure as mandated; Second: the rates were mandated by Congress, which means it wasn’t voluntary, so it’s not something special they are doing – all processors are required to charge the lower debit card fee; and Third: This would mean that they processed more that $75Billion in debit card payments 18 days. A quick check on Wikipedia says Heartland processes “more than $120Billion per year”, which would include both credit and debit, so there’s no way the number he claimed is anywhere close to reality.
I don’t believe a word this guy says, and since he speaks for the company, I don’t trust them, either.
Barbara you are very mis informed. Did you read the article? It clearly says that many processors are NOT passing on the new regulated rates in light of the Durbin Amendment. Heartland is passing on 100% of the new rates. Many processors are not passing on the new rates because it is NOT mandated for the processing company to alter the interchange rate, therefore keeping what is rightfully the merchants (yours). The statement of $9billion passon on is ridiculous. You should visit getyourdurbindollars.com. This will clear the air on durbin and your false information. Now out of all these problems did you once call into the customer service center? Did you look at your contract to see “The Term of This Agreement is 3 Years”? Did you read the Terms and Conditions of your agreement? If not then why did you sign off on the document where you agreed to read the Terms and Conditions of the Agreement? I can’t speak for the rep, but as for your comment.. it’s bashing a company that gave you all the tools and information to understand, but you chose not to utilize these tools. I’d suggest actually calling their customer service.
As a representative of Heartland, you are naturally going to give the company line. Everything I said was true. I read the contract, and it did not include the three-year term. The $9 Billion was a direct quote from the representative. When I signed the contract, the representative told me he was my point of contact for anything I needed. When I had issues, I called him, and he passed me on to customer service. I subsequently called customer service several times, and they did not provide the level of service you claim. What you are glossing over completely is the dishonesty of the representative, who has since been rewarded by being promoted to a managerial position.
“Getyourdurbindollars.com” is Heartland propaganda. Heartland pushed hard for Durbin because it made them look good. In reality, small businesses who process small debit transactions are actually paying more for processing than they did before. It’s only large merchants who are seeing a savings. What’s worse, NONE of the merchants who are now benefiting from the Durbin windfall are passing the savings along to their customers. They get the savings, and the consumer pays higher banking fees. After Durbin, the big companies win big, and consumers get the shaft.
The real truth about Durbin, and its effect on consumers can be found here: http://wheresmydebitdiscount.com/ (I am not affiliated with that website)
Barbara, I’ve been with Heartland 9 years and I’ll speak as honetly as you want and will not say something just because I work for the company. Here’s some corrections you need to understand. Yes the cost of debit cards were lowered with the new legislation that went into effect Oct 1 and that reductions went to ALL processors. Where your confusion is, is that processors are NOT mandated that those reductions have to be passed down to their merchants…fact. Depending on the pricing structure you have from the processor will usually dictate if you’re getting the reductions or not. For example if you have tiered pricing, which Heartland will NOT use, you have a qualified, mid qualified and non qualified rate. The vast majority of merchants with that structure are NOT getting some or all of Durbin because that pricing structure does not allow for individual cards to qualify on their own merit. Instead it lumps all the different card type into 3 buckets which is never a good thing. I will say I have no idea where the rep you spoke to got that $9 billion from because that’s not correct. The actual number to date is $86,450,000. Other processors have said publicly that they will not be passing 100% of the cost reductions down so your assumption that processors HAVE to pass it down is just incorrect. You’re also incorrect in saying ONLY big businesses will benefit from Durbin. The savings has NOTHING to do with how big or small your business is. The determining factor if you’ll benefit is your AVERAGE TICKET and this isn’t a “Heartland” thing, this is no matter who you process with. Basically if your average ticket is at least $13 or higher, you WILL benefit from the reductions. There is no maybe about this, it’s fact. So there you have it. I haven’t given you any “company line” and everything I’ve said can be verified. Please feel free to ask any other questions and I’ll be glad to help if I can.
Hi Barbara, It is unfortunate that you had a bad experience with Heartland because of the representative. I sold for Heartland for many years and I can assure you that Heartland had always treated my customers fairly and professionally.
I’m no longer with Heartland so I don’t need to put forth any company line so I’ll just say it like it is. The Heartland representative that you dealt with was obviously untrained and probably unethical. Yes, even the most ethical companies can hire people who turn out to be unethical. In this case, you should have sent a letter of complaint directly to the corporate headquarters regarding this representative. Heartland will terminate unethical representatives.
Now I’ll answer the question your probably wanting to ask. Why did I leave Heartland? I found a better position with another company that better fit my personal goals.
In conclusion: Is Heartland an ethical company? I believe it is. Is Heartland the ONLY ethical company? No, there are many other ethical processors out there – you just need to do your homework.
Hi Ex Heartland Rep.
I have been in real estate sales for several years and then in Mortgage Underwriting for the past two years. I am not considering to go back into sales but really did not want to go with a 100% commission sales. I’m needing advice from a previouse Heartland Red. Is there money to be made and are they competitive in their pricing and programs? Is there a better company out their?
Thank you.
I’m with Christine’s and Eric. I suppose anyone can have a bad exp. but they have been fantastic to me. I finally understand interchange and what my costs are for taking credit cards. They are transparent and fully disclose their profit every month and have simple statrements to read. They also have wonderful online tools to help me see my transactions, statements, ACH’s, etc… Their call center in America is probably the best call center I’ve ever experienced. They pick up the phone immediatly and help! I dont think I’ve ever called another company that picks right up and says how can i help you. Amazing. I hate waiting and then getting transfered once I finally get through.
I also do payroll and marketing with Heartland. I’ve only had one issue with their payroll buit it was resolved quickly and professionaly. The marketing I’m most excited about. My rep helped me pass out some preloaded promotional marketing cards and I had 7 come back in the fisrt week! One person brought a party of 8 and spent $350. The best part is that they had never been in my restaurant and now they are a new customer! In fact, most of the 7 had never been in! Awesome!
CHECK YOUR STATEMENTS! I though they were great also and would have recommended them. When I was set up I was priced at 15 basis points above interchange rates. Without notice (not even on a statement) they raised me to 35 basis points…a 133% increase! This went unotice for some time (shame on me) as it is tucked in the middle of the statement. When I inquired with my rep as to why my monthly average discount was up he suggested it was because we began accepting Amex. As the notice in the earlier post indicates, reps are all notified of rate increases. Since discovering the pricing change and contacting my rep, I have had nothing but stories and excuses and he never follows up. I have had to continually contact him to try to get a resolution. After arguing with them for over 2 months they are willing to price me at 25 basis point even though their price sheet shows I should be at 17 basis points. They’ve overcharged me thousands of dollars and will not reimburse me for the overcharges.
Heartland’s 3 year contract does not say they won’t raise rates, it says that if you change processors before the 3 year term is up, you have to pay a termination fee.
There are plenty of other companies that offer cost plus pricing, and needless to say I won’t be using Heartland any longer. I’m finding much lower rates than what Heartland offers, I’m getting quotes at 6-10 basis pts with rates guarantees and no termination fees.
Heartland’s customer service has always been good and having a local contact has value, but not that much value.
We had several restaurants with Heartland and we naturally had my wife run her clothing business run through them as well. Her business runs about 150,000 per year as opposed to our millions per location that we run. That said, they raised her rates from what she was signed at by not only doubling her fees but also adding a $79.00 monthly service and regulatory mandate fee. Her effective cost tripled and was over 4.50%! Our representative had left the company before this happened so it would be easy to pass blame but they claim it was due to not performing enough volume? Really, in a declining economy, when she is put with our 17 million dollars of business and after the proposed Durbin savings that you have given, you add $10.00 on to each of my businesses as well per month another $120 per year, a hefty junk fee, similar to a PCI fee if you ask me, didn’t your Merchant Bill of Rights claim to preach against this. My sales rep was so great at preaching for you and against these bad practices, I can see why she would have left your company. I have taken all of businesses, all 22 million dollars and taken it to a processor who does not charge “JUNK” fees and will value a relationship a little better and not FALSIFY “DURBIN” savings like you have done on my statements recently. My accountant just went through the last 12 months of statements to analyze the statements of savings to see if what you are claiming is Durbin is indeed accurate and you are GROSSLY inflating your numbers HPS on all of our accounts!!! Do your stockholders and does the media know how you arrive at the “Durbin Dollar” numbers you are arriving at? I was just informed by your customer service when asked that this is a “guesstimate” based on the industry we are in? I guess you didn’t factor in our rate increases.
Bill you are not correct about Durbin being false. It’s a VERY easy number to figure and it can’t be inflated. If you’re a restaurant just look at your statement with Heartland and look for regulated debit. That rate is .05% + $.21 a trans. The rate before Durbin went in effect for restaurants on debit cards was 1.19% and $.10 a trans for Visa and MC no matter who the processor was as this is true cost. This applies to debit cards that were issued from banks with more than $10billion is assets only (regulated debit). So there’s NO WAY your accountant could have accurately figured these numbers out for the past year seeing as how this just went into effect Oct 1st and there’s no way he would have known what cards were the regulated cards and what weren’t. Now it would have been easy for you to figure it out because it shows you on your statement each month how much you saved for that month because your savings it automatically calculated and again, it’s NOT inflated as you can EASILY do the math yourself to see that.
Allow me to help clear up what probably happened. Heartland will NOT just randomly increase someones pricing for no reason and if an increase has to happen you WILL be notified. You yourself said you hadn’t been paying attention to the statements so it’s very possible you missed the notice. The only time Heartland will raise their profit is if the account isn’t producing the volume they either said they were going to do or they suddenly had a large decrease in volume. Think of it this way, if you tell US Foods you’re going to be buying 200lbs of beef so they sell you beef at that price and then realize you’re only buying 100 lbs, they aren’t going to be making any money.
We have been with Heartland since 2009 and I love the company! We have never had any problems with customer service or our processing credit cards, our system has NEVER gone down on us. I have had to call customer service 2 times in that time and once was changing the header script, and the other was the scanner never settled itself. Both calls were handled promptly and professionally.
I would recommend them to anyone, our company has saved several thousands of dollars compared to our previous processing company.
Go on with your bad self!! ; )
I have been with Heartland for 7 years and would not think of changing. I am never “happy” with my credit card bill, but I know I am paying a competitive rate and the few times I had to call the service center I talked to a human being from the United States. I did not wait on hold for eternity and my issue was corrected quickly ( it was not a big issue). Also, no PCI fees or fees that are not understandable.
You need proof Heartland does not raise rates. If your business does not do well Heartland WILL INCREASE YOUR RATES!!!
All:
Historically, we have handled our re-pricing efforts as projects, instead of as a part of our ongoing business practices. Effective immediately, we will be reviewing and re-pricing accounts on a more regular basis. As announced on the October News & Views Call, our next pricing adjustment – for under-performing merchants – will be effective 12/1/10.
Our pricing criteria is as follows:
• Pricing initiatives will include merchants across our portfolio, who are processing at less than 90% of their expected volume/average ticket (as indicated on their initial merchant processing agreement).
• Merchants will be re-priced to the average midpoint of each Gross Margin range for their actual processing activity.
• Pricing changes will include: moving merchants under $50K in actual volume to the SMP model; adding or adjusting the merchant’s fees (i.e., transaction fee, basis points, monthly service fee, etc.); etc.
• Merchants will receive notification of this pricing increase via a message on their processing statement.
RM notifications:
• Active RMs will receive their account portfolio listing via email. The email will provide the pricing specifics for each impacted account, and will provide instructions on how to request exceptions. Please note: Emails for the 12/1/10 initiative will be sent out later this week.
• Terminated RM accounts will be forwarded to the Regional Director for review.
• Pricing changes will be performed systematically, and notes will be added to all re-priced accounts.
We recognize that this may not be a popular step, but it is a necessary one in order to continue to ensure that our merchants are priced fairly for their business volumes.
Thank you –
Executive Director — Service Quality
And? Is Heartland not allowed to make a profit? If you have a special price from your vendor based on how much of that product you’re buying and then the amount you buy drops a lot, why should the vendor take the loss because YOU aren’t buying as much as you were before??? The pricing this this industry is VERY slim so if your pricing is based on numbers you said you are doing and those numbers drop, it’s unfortunate but how or why should a company give you the same pricing when you’re not doing those numbers anymore??
Are you kidding me? Heartland does not raise any rates. Heartland is the only company that has full disclosure and full transparency of their rates and guarantee. Heartland is also the only company that passes through the wholesale rates for all the card brands. Nice try, find some proof and reply. Rates never rise because we give the 3 year rate guarantee that our fee will never be raised or hidden. All other processors have a Surcharge and Summary section to hide the extra fees they charge to increase their profit that has nothing to do with the card brands. Just the greed of unscrupulous processor cheating merchant out of their profits.
Do not deal with this company. They are not ethical. Their rep made many promises–none kept. He took two terminals and a case of thermal paper to sell for me–never received a cent. I had to pay $104 to get rid of this company. RUN if Heartland contacts you. They are crooks.
This sounds like a competitor leaving this comment. Post the name of your company. If you called our customer service, which you did not mention you would have had your complaint resolved.
That makes total sense Jim, you deal with one rep that admittedly doesn’t sound like he did the right thing so the WHOLE company must be bad? If I have one bad meal at a restaurant that means all the food is bad. I get pulled over and have a jerk of a cop then that means all cops are bad? Please use adult reasoning. Even the best of companies can have some bad apples.
BUYER BEWARE!!! Heartland Merchant services is not a reputable company. Their customer service reps (untrained or willingly lie to your face) will lie and tell you anything to get an account. I wasn’t able to use my debit card for 3 days after the initial setup because the rep didn’t know what she was doing. After the first month, I realized the wrong (higher) rates were setup on my account and it took a weekly call for 6 weeks before the rate was changed!!! Are these guys that busy or just plain clueless or scam artists?