Agree with our rating?
Tell us about your experience with Leaders Merchant Services in the comment section below.
(866) 435-9401Company Overview
Established in 2000, Leaders Merchant Services is a merchant account provider that serves businesses of most sizes. The company specializes in retail credit card processing and e-commerce merchant accounts, enabling merchants to process “swiped” card-present transactions as well as “keyed” card-not-present transactions. Leaders was acquired by iPayment (now Paysafe Group) in November 2017. Leaders Merchant Services is a First Data (now Fiserv) reseller.
Leaders Merchant Services Point of Sale
Leaders Merchant Services prominently advertises Clover as a POS solution. The Clover family of products serves most common retail needs, including swipers, mobile solutions, terminals, and virtual terminals. Clover hardware can only be used with First Data/Fiserv merchant accounts.
Payment Acceptance Capabilities of Leaders Merchant Services
A key service offered by Leaders Merchant Services is its capability to process multiple forms of payments. This includes all prominent credit and debit cards, along with eCheck processing. The company also has the technology to handle mobile payment solutions such as Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Mobile Payment Processing Feature
In terms of mobile payment processing, Leaders Merchant Services provides mobile card readers and applications, designed to accommodate transactions in different settings, even outside traditional brick-and-mortar scenarios.
E-Commerce Payment Processing
Leaders Merchant Services also facilitates online businesses through their e-commerce payment processing services. The company provides secure online payment gateways, virtual terminals, and recurring billing features for businesses that have subscription-based models.
Pricing Structure of Leaders Merchant Services
In terms of pricing, Leaders Merchant Services adopts an interchange-plus pricing model. This aims to provide clarity and transparency in fees, helping businesses avoid hidden charges.
Reputation and Ethical Issues
Leaders Merchant Services ranks among the poorest-scoring credit card processors in the merchant account industry. Its acquisition by PaySafe group does not seem to have repaired many of the issues reported by current and former merchant services clients. We encourage readers of this article to pay special attention to the “Reviews and Complaints” section below.
Questionable Marketing Tactics
There are numerous “merchant account review” websites that list Leaders Merchant Services and other Paysafe subsidiaries as industry-leading credit card processors and “best” picks. These review websites appear to be owned by, or heavily influenced by, Paysafe or possibly under the control of Paysafe’s Canadian subsidiary IA Digital Marketing Inc. It appears that Paysafe may also be buying “top ratings” for Leaders Merchant Services on other “pay-to-play review” websites wherein top rankings are sold to the highest bidders, often without disclosure of such activities. Most of these websites appear to saturate the “sponsored” results at the top and bottom of search results pages when researching Paysafe subsidiaries and competitors. The following websites appear to be owned or heavily influenced by Leaders Merchant Services or Paysafe, or offer pay-to-play rankings:
- thetop10sites.com
- idealcomparison.com
- top10.com
- best10creditcardprocessing.com
- compareguroo.com
- toppaymentprocessing.com
- best-ccp.com
- comparisun.com
- websiteplanet.com
- topcreditcardprocessors.com
Sister Companies
Leaders Merchant Services is a subsidiary under the umbrella of Paysafe Group along with the following U.S. merchant services brands, most of which have poor reviews:
- Flagship Merchant Services
- Openbucks Corp.
- Paysafe Merchant Services Corp.
- Paysafe Direct LLC
- Paysafecard.com USA Inc.
- Paysafe Payment Processing Solutions LLC
- Paysafe Capital, LLC
- Skrill USA
Location & Ownership
Leaders is located at 30721 Russell Ranch Rd Ste 200, Westlake Village, CA 91362, and is a registered ISO/MSP of BBVA, an Alabama State Chartered Bank. William Teleau is the Director of Sales Operations of Leaders Merchant Services, and Michael Wolfe is listed in some places as owner.
Video Summary
Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers a three-year contract with an early termination fee of up to $350 and…
- Complaints & Service: Has received more than 250 public complaints regarding…
- BBB Rating: Currently has an “A” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 70 complaints and 29 reviews about…
- Sales & Marketing: Hires independent sales agents and has received a moderate number of complaints about its…
Leaders Merchant Services Pros and Cons
pros
- Approves Most Industries
- Quick Application Approvals
cons
- Hidden Fees
- Junk Fees
- Misleading Marketing
- Expensive Rates
- Numerous Client Complaints
- Cancellation Fees
Leaders Merchant Services Frequently Asked Questions
See details to all of these FAQs in our full review below these questions and answers.
Leaders Merchant Services is a merchant account provider offering a wide array of payment processing services, such as credit card processing, mobile payments, and point-of-sale solutions.
Leaders Merchant Services caters to businesses of all sizes, from small businesses to large corporations, and across multiple sectors, including retail, restaurants, e-commerce, and more.
Leaders offers a variety of payment solutions, including countertop terminals, mobile and wireless processing, online payment gateways, and point-of-sale systems.
You can apply directly on the Leaders Merchant Services website. They’ll ask for details about your business and financials to assess the risk associated with your account.
Yes, like most merchant account providers, Leaders Merchant Services charges various fees including transaction fees, monthly service fees, PCI compliance fees, and potentially others. The specific amounts will depend on the agreement you sign.
The Leaders Edge Tool Suite is a collection of tools provided by Leaders Merchant Services to help manage your business. It includes services like advanced reporting and analytics, online reputation management, and social media management tools.
Yes, Leaders Merchant Services offers a mobile payment solution that allows businesses to accept credit card payments using a smartphone or tablet
Yes, Leaders Merchant Services provides customer support. The availability and quality of this support can vary, so it is recommended to check recent reviews for the most up-to-date information.
Yes, Leaders Merchant Services provides payment gateways for online businesses, which include shopping cart integration, virtual terminals, and more.
Leaders Merchant Services is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, CA, and complies with PCI DSS standards, ensuring that all transactions are handled securely.
Leaders Merchant Services Customer Complaints & Reviews
Here's What Users Think
Complaint Summary
|
Total Online Complaints
250+
|
Live Customer Support
Unknown
|
Most Common Complaint
Hidden Fees
|
|
Recent Lawsuits
Yes
|
High Complaint Total
In the time since this review’s original publication in April 2012, it has received over 200 comments, the overwhelming majority of which are negative Leaders Merchant Services reviews. In addition, we were able to locate over 100 complaints filed against the company on other consumer protection websites. These Leaders Merchant services reviews have been posted with regularity over the past three years. Common themes expressed by complainants include misrepresentation of rates, nondisclosure of fees, unreachable customer service representatives, unauthorized debiting of accounts, and funds held without notification. Even for a large company, this is a higher-than-average complaint rate. If you have your own Leader Merchant Services review to make, please do so in the comments below.
Leaders Merchant Services Lawsuits
Leaders was the defendant in a major lawsuit that was settled with prejudice against the company in July 2021. According to Pacific Coast Business:
The complaint alleged that Leaders violated California laws against unfair competition and misleading advertising when Leaders’ sales personnel didn’t fully disclose the company’s fees while signing customers up for payment card and electronic payment services. Leaders’ sales presentations were made to customers including small to medium-sized businesses and nonprofits throughout the country.
Under the settlement, Leaders is under a permanent injunction banning future violations of the law and must pay $1 million in civil penalties, $250,000 in cost recovery to the District Attorney’s Office and more than $800,000 in restitution to customers. Leaders did not admit guilt in agreeing to the settlement.
Dissatisfied clients who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.
Leaders Merchant Services Customer Support Options
The company’s website lists a dedicated phone line and an email form, although it’s unclear whether the phone number goes to customer support or to sales.
Leaders Merchant Services Customer Service Number
- (866) 436-5589 – Toll-Free General Customer Service
Other Support Options
- Customer support form
Leaders Merchant Services BBB Rating and Report
Our Better Business Bureau Profile Assessment
BBB Summary
|
BBB Reports
99
|
Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.
Over 50 Complaints
As of this most current update, the BBB is showing 70 formal Leaders Merchant Services complaints and awards the company an A rating. Only 9 of these 70 complaints were resolved to the satisfaction of the merchant.
Earlier updates to this Leaders Merchant Services review have listed submissions totaling as high as 213 complaints in the last 36 months.
What Merchants Say
Leaders Merchant Services has also received 29 negative reviews on its profile. A recent negative review describes fund-holds:
We started using Leaders, The Merchant Services Company in May-2021. In those 2 years our account has been under “REVIEW” twice and credit card charges were blocked from being deposited into our bank account. The company that is in charge of the “REVIEW” is called PaySafe Group. The current “REVIEW” started on April 10, 2023 and is ongoing. We have not had any credit card charges deposited into our bank account since the “REVIEW” started. We did not know our account was under review until May 4th, 2023 which was 25 days after the review started. We learned about the “REVIEW” when we received an email from PaySafe Group requesting documentation, which we forwarded on May 5th, 2023. We was told on May 8th the review was complete and the money would be deposited into our account. On May 16th, 2023 We contacted PaySafe Group because the money was still not deposited into our bank account. I spoke to someone named Steve that worked at PaySafe Group (he refused to give me his last name) and was told that my account was still under review and our company would need to forward 3 months of bank statements. When I complained that our money had already been held up for 36 days S**** told me that our company was a liability to Leaders and that PaySafe could hold our funds for up to 6 months. During my conversation with S**** he was curt, rude and unprofessional. The trend that I notice with PaySafe Group is they tell you the review will only take a couple of days and request documentation. When the couple of day has expired PaySafe Group will request more documentation. In this manner PaySafe Group drags the “REVIEW” process out making it take longer than expected. The process could take could take days, weeks or months. When you deal with PaySafe Group expect to be lied to by their employees. Any company dealing with PaySafe Group should expect to as treated as though you are guilty until proven innocent.
Canceling a merchant account could result in exorbitant early termination fees. Businesses facing that issue should research how to cancel their accounts without paying a fee.
A “D” Performance
In light of these figures, we are adjusting the BBB’s rating to a “D” for our scoring purposes.
Leaders Merchant Services Fees and Rates
A Closer Look at the Contract
Cost Summary
|
Processing Rates
Tiered
|
Monthly & Annual Fees
Yes
|
Cancellation Penalties
Yes
|
|
Equipment Leasing
Yes
|
Three-Year Contract
The standard Leaders Merchant Services contract is a three-year agreement with a yearly PCI compliance fee of $129, a monthly service charge of $7.95, a $40 monthly non-compliance charge, and an early termination fee of either $350 or $250 depending on when a client cancels. Some Leaders Merchant Services fees appear to vary—a few businesses report a monthly minimum between $20-$25—but most of these figures are consistent across all complaints. As noted above, clients also report paying higher rates on their swiped transactions than they were originally quoted. While the company advertises rates as low as 0.15% plus $0.18 for transactions, many client complaints reflect those figures as being deceptive and being charged as high as 11%. The company also advertises a multitude of payment processing equipment options, include Clover POS systems. It is not disclosed on their website whether the company sells these terminals or leases them; however, in the 2021 lawsuit against Leaders, it is mentioned that they lease equipment and part of the lawsuit was over undisclosed fees for doing so. It should be noted that most credit card terminals can be purchased for under $500. Non-cancellable, long-term leases mean a business can pay thousands for that same equipment making them a contract term to avoid.
Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing
In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Leaders Merchant Services also dedicates a portion of its website to advertising its virtual terminal and payment gateway services, provided by Authorize.Net. A typical merchant agreement through Authorize.Net includes a transaction rate of 2.90% plus $0.30, a gateway fee of $25 per month, and a batch fee of $0.15. However, as a reseller of its services, Leaders Merchant Services reserves the right to alter these terms and conditions.
Negotiate for Better Pricing
Because the company relies on an independent team of sales agents, it is likely that some contract terms are negotiable depending on the agent servicing the account. Leaders’ standard pricing is about average for the industry, which prevents it from competing with the cheapest merchant accounts. The company also appears to do a poor job of communicating these terms to its clients, so we assign Leaders a “C” in this section. We also encourage business owners to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.
Leaders’ services and contract leave something to be desired
Leaders Merchant Services Jobs and Employment
Hiring Standards and Ethical Marketing Assessment
Key Points
|
Uses Independent Resellers
Yes
|
Telemarketing
Yes
|
Misleading Marketing
Yes
|
|
Discloses All Important Terms
No
|
Outside/Inside Sales Agents
Leaders Merchant Services appears to utilize both telemarketing and independent sales agents. The company likely also maintains an inside sales staff and engages in traditional advertising, but most merchant complaints describe a telemarketing/independent agent approach. This practice seems to have resulted in numerous complaints (on this website and elsewhere) citing nondisclosure of fees and aggressive sales tactics by agents. The primary source of complaints, though, appears to be the use of deceptive rate quoting by agents and in the company’s official marketing materials. This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
Phony Review Websites
As mentioned in the company overview, PaySafe Group appears to have created several phony review websites where it ranks Leaders Merchant Services and a few of its other poorly rated subsidiaries as “top picks.” These review websites often overtake all of the sponsored placements at the top of Google search results when users research the company, its subsidiaries, and competitors. We find this method of marketing to be both deceptive and intentionally misleading. See our PaySafe Review for our most recent list of suspected phony review websites.
Deceptive Rate Quotes
At the time of an earlier update, the home page for Leaders Merchant Services prominently quoted “rates as low as 0.35%.” As of this update, the company is advertising “rates as low as 0.15%” on its rate quote page and in Google search results. These advertisements make no mention of the higher “Mid-Qualified” and “Non-Qualified” rates that clients will pay for the vast majority of their transactions. In addition, the company’s “rates” page previously offered an explanation of Qualified, Mid-Qualified, and Non-Qualified rates and stated that “the rate you should receive most frequently” is the Qualified rate. For most businesses, this is simply not true.
Expensive Statements
We have reviewed several merchant account statements from Leaders Merchant Services clients. In nearly all cases, these clients were being grossly overcharged for credit card processing service. In all cases, the clients were under a “tier pricing” scheme that lack clear transparency and included numerous junk fees.
Tiered Pricing Explained
Tiered pricing is a credit card processing pricing model that groups transactions into different “tiers” or categories, each with its own rate. Typically, there are three tiers: qualified, mid-qualified, and non-qualified.
Qualified transactions are those that meet certain criteria, such as swiping a customer’s card in person. These transactions are charged the lowest rate. Mid-qualified transactions are those that don’t meet all of the criteria for a qualified transaction, such as manually entering a card number. These transactions are charged a higher rate than qualified transactions. Finally, non-qualified transactions are those that are deemed the riskiest or most expensive, such as processing a rewards card or a corporate card. These transactions are charged the highest rate.
The problem with tiered pricing is that it lacks transparency. Processing fees can vary greatly depending on the type of transaction, and it can be difficult to determine which tier a transaction falls under. This can make it challenging for businesses to accurately compare processing costs across different providers or to understand the true cost of each transaction.
Furthermore, because tiered pricing allows processors to charge different rates for different types of transactions, it is nearly always more expensive than other pricing models, such as interchange plus pricing or flat-rate pricing. This is because processors may have an incentive to classify more transactions as non-qualified or mid-qualified, which allows them to charge a higher rate. This can result in businesses paying more in processing fees than they would with a more transparent pricing model. Overall, tiered pricing can be the least transparent and most expensive credit card processing pricing model because it lacks transparency and can result in unpredictable costs for businesses. Our review of Leaders Merchant Service statements indicates that the company may be taking full advantage of the lack of clarity to charge businesses excessive processing fees.
Legal Action Due to Deceptive Rate Quotes
Part of the 2021 lawsuit detailed elsewhere in this review was over deceptive rate quotes given by Leaders’ sales agents. This is a further strike against the company, as we already deemed their sales practices as deceptive even before the lawsuit.
Don’t Blindly Trust Your Agent
We consider this type of rate quoting to be deceptive because it is likely to give merchants an unrealistic expectation of the rates they will actually pay. Many publicly available complaints confirm this to be precisely the case, as clients report their sales agents quoting them the Qualified rate and never mentioning other possible rates before signing. If you suspect that your sales agent snuck extra fees into your account, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden fees.
Suspicious Positive Reviews
Finally, there is some evidence that positive reviews of Leaders Merchant Services have been copied and pasted on this site and elsewhere, possibly by fake accounts or reputation management firms. Business owners are advised to take this into consideration when searching for Leaders Merchant Services reviews.
Leaders Merchant Services Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts and Opinions
Leaders Merchants Services rates as one of the worst credit card processing providers in the industry according to our criteria. The factors that harm its rating include a history of unethical sales and marketing tactics, deceptive promotion via questionable review websites, documented proof of excessive processing fees and other costs, and expensive early termination fees and lease agreements. The company can improve its rating by better regulating its sales agents and by removing deceptive rate quotes from its sales pitches. Additionally, the company could benefit from working to lower its complaint rate. Business owners are advised to carefully examine the complete terms of any Leaders Merchant Services contract they are given, as the company currently ranks among the worst merchant account providers we’ve reviewed.
Related: Comparing The Best Merchant Accounts of 2023
If you found this article helpful, please share it!
Dan
We started using Leaders, The Merchant Services Company in May-2021. In those 2 years our account has been under “REVIEW” twice and credit card charges were blocked from being deposited into our bank account. The company that is in charge of the “REVIEW” is called PaySafe Group. The current “REVIEW” started on April 10, 2023 and is ongoing. We have not had any credit card charges deposited into our bank account since the “REVIEW” started. We did not know our account was under review until May 4th, 2023 which was 25 days after the review started. We learned about the “REVIEW” when we received an email from PaySafe Group requesting documentation, which we forwarded on May 5th, 2023. We was told on May 8th the review was complete and the money would be deposited into our account. On May 16th, 2023 We contacted PaySafe Group because the money was still not deposited into our bank account. I spoke to someone named Steve that worked at PaySafe Group (he refused to give me his last name) and was told that my account was still under review and our company would need to forward 3 months of bank statements. When I complained that our money had already been held up for 36 days Steve told me that our company was a liability to Leaders and that PaySafe could hold our funds for up to 6 months. During my conversation with Steve he was curt, rude and unprofessional.
The trend that I notice with PaySafe Group is they tell you the review will only take a couple of days and request documentation. When the couple of day has expired PaySafe Group will request more documentation. In this manner PaySafe Group drags the “REVIEW” process out making it take longer than expected. The process could take could take days, weeks or months. When you deal with PaySafe Group expect to be lied to by their employees. Any company dealing with PaySafe Group should expect to as treated as though you are guilty until proven innocent.
C Neanover
Leaders merchant services almost caused our business to shut down overnight. We provide products that most payment providers do not want to cover and through research found that we may get approved through a high risk payment provider. We came across leaders and applied, we went through the phone interview and filled out the application with the help of a representative all over the phone. We were completely honest and transparent as can be, they ran our information, checked into our business, combed our website, we went through a full underwriting process and eventually we were approved. The help they said for integration we would receive was non-existent. We hired a company online and their online shopping cart that was custom built never worked right, which is a whole separate issue, and we almost shut down because of that. After finding a platform that already had an integration for authorize.net, which is the gateway leaders connected us with, we were fine for over a year. Our business was bringing in around 1-3 thousand a day so between 30,000 to 90,000 a month. Then without warning payments would not go through. It took , several calls to customer service, chats, it took us two days to find the issue, without anyone notifying us our contract had been given to payroc or ipay or something, I am still unclear or they bought them out, I was never told anything I could understand. They did say one of the reasons was leaders lied about our products and called them something they are not so they could get us approved and when they did a secret shop on us they did not cover our products after all or was choosing to no longer accept payments for them. They LIED on our application, this whole hardship was because they LIED just to get us approved and get the commission. It is sickening out of nowhere they decided they no longer wanted to accept payments for our products and closed down our payment gateway, no warning, no excessive chargebacks, we were above par, no nothing. We were owed almost 6 thousand dollars because they were always 4-5 days behind on payments, we never got it. When called we were told they refunded two days worth of orders we had already shipped out to the customers without reason. However, the customers said they never received a refund and we were out close to 10,000 dollars. This has been just over a year ago and we still have not fully recovered from the damages. That is not to mention the deep mental strain, depression, hardships, and extreme stress this has caused me and my fiance. This is the single worst experience of our lives and almost cost us our home, family, and livelihood.
Jennifer
Watch for the fake “best credit card processors” website — it pays to come up first and ranks Leaders as the best.
I fell for it. The salesman was sunshine and roses. The processing gadget never worked – how funny that they got several percent more from me because I had to key everything in. The salesman “just call me if you have any problems” never returned or answered calls. I wasted hours of my and my customers’ time trying to get the defective swipe thing to work. It never did. They sent me a new one — with no indication that they were going to charge me if I didn’t return the old one, no address where to send it either. The only way I found out was asking.
Phillip CPO
Hi Jennifer, if you can find the website that mislead you, I recommend reporting it to Google. You can do this by clicking three little dots that show up next to the web address after you do your search.
Clinton Stevenson
Hidden fees, poor customer service, raised rates every month.
Beverley Terrelonge
I returned their card reader on January 29, 2022. Card reader cost $42.60. I was told by Drew Copeland, initial contact, that there was no monthly fee. After I closed the account they withdrew $31.25 which was an unauthorized withdrawal and my account was frozen and locked. Spent 2 hours resecuring my account. This company has caused me nothing but grief. Please stay away from them.