Merchant Account Solutions Review: Fees, Complaints & Lawsuits
Also Known As ICS
Founded in 2007, Merchant Account Solutions is a merchant account provider that is simply a DBA of International Card Services and Integrated Card Service. Integrated Card Service is rated as low as some of the worst merchant account providers on CPO. Merchant Account Solutions is located at the same address as Integrated Card Service and resells iPayment/First Data (Fiserv) products and services such as Clover POS. It is also powered by POS Pros, a seller of point-of-sale systems that may simply be a DBA of Merchant Account Solutions. As of our most recent update, the Merchant Account Solutions profile on the BBB website has been renamed to POS Pros and the MAS website is listing the company as “Powered by POS Pros”.
Merchant Account Solutions Point of Sale
Merchant Account Solutions offers extensive point-of-sale solutions. These include Clover tablets, SmartSwipe iOS and Android-based terminals for retail and restaurant businesses, LightSpeed iOS and Mac-based terminals for restaurants and bars, PC America PC-based terminals for restaurants and bars, and Verifone Ruby PC-based terminals for gas stations. They also offer credit card machines (swipers) and mobile swipers from PAX, Ingenico, and Verifone, and the Poynt POS system.
Headquartered in Thousand Oaks
Merchant Account Solutions is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, Concord, CA, and is headquartered at 101 Hodencamp Road, #203, Thousand Oaks, California 91360. Chris Antonsen is the president of Merchant Account Solutions, while John Kennedy is the company's CEO.
Video Summary
Merchant Account Solutions Review Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Offers month-to-month plans with no cancellation fees and…
- Complaints & Service: Has received more than 50 public complaints regarding…
- BBB Rating: The BBB website is under the name POS Pros, and it has an “A+” rating but has received 15 complaints and 51 reviews in regards to its…
- Sales & Marketing: Appears to hire independently contracted agents and has received a moderate-to-high number of complaints about its…
Merchant Account Solutions Customer Reviews
Here's What Their Clients Say
| Total Online Complaints | 50+ |
|---|---|
| Live Customer Support | Yes |
| Most Common Complaint | Hidden Fees |
Moderate Complaint Total
We are currently able to locate over 50 negative Merchant Account Solutions reviews on this and other consumer protection websites, and some of these complaints accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam. We have included reviews posted about Integrated Card Service because there does not appear to be a significant difference between the two entities.
What Merchants Complain About
Common themes found across all complaints include nondisclosure of fees, misrepresentation of rates, excessive cancellation penalties, and poor customer service. These issues are cited so consistently that they most likely stem from the company’s standard policies rather than a few unscrupulous salespeople.
Merchant Account Solutions Lawsuits
We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against Merchant Account Solutions. Dissatisfied merchants who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.
Merchant Account Solutions Customer Service Options
Merchant Account Solutions offers phone and email support, but it does not list its hours of availability.
We have located a single Merchant Account Solutions customer service number:
(800) 457-2507 – Toll-Free General Customer Service
Merchant Account Solutions also offers a customer support form on its website and a customer service email at [email protected].
In any case, the company does not rank as a top merchant account for great customer service at this time. Due to its moderate-to-high complaint total and the content of the available complaints, we have given it a “D” rating in this section.
Merchant Account Solutions Online Ratings
Here's How They Rate Online
| Product & Service Complaints | 3 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 9 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 3 |
| Guarantee & Warranty Complaints | 0 |
| Delivery Complaints | 0 |
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.
15 Complaints
Merchant Account Solutions has a profile under POS Pros and has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since May 2015, currently holding an “A+” rating. The company’s profile is currently showing 15 complaints in the last 36 months. 3 of the complaints were due to a problem with a product or service, 9 were billing or collections issues, and 3 were due to advertising or sales problems. 8 of these 15 complaints were resolved by the company to the satisfaction of the merchant. The remaining 7 were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or received no final response.
What Merchants Say
In addition to those 15 complaints, Merchant Account Solutions has also received 51 informal reviews on its BBB profile. 43 of those reviews are positive while only 8 are negative. However, it should be noted that these reviews are not authenticated by the BBB. Many of the negative reviews are recent, and the most recent details “bait and switch” tactics for pricing:
Awful…buyer beware. Bait and switch with hidden fees but they will tell you otherwise. Nice salespeople to lute you in but they are full of it. Zero stars should be put out of business.
Merchants who are unsatisfied with their current payment solutions should take the proper steps to cancel their merchant account without a cancellation fee.
A “C” Performance Overall
In light of the company’s complaint total and resolution ratio, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C.”
Merchant Account Solutions Fees, Rates & Costs
A Closer Look at The Contract
| Swiped Rate | 1.00% - 4.99% |
|---|---|
| Keyed-in Rate | 1.00% - 4.99% |
| Virtual Terminal Rate | 2.90% + $0.30 |
| Payment Gateway Fee | $25 Per Month |
| Batch Fee | $0.10 |
| Monthly Minimum Fee | $25 |
| Annual Fee | $99 |
| Early Termination Fee | $625 |
Contract-Free Plans
At the time of our last update to this review, the standard Merchant Account Solutions contract appears to be a three-year agreement through iPayment with a monthly minimum fee of $25, an annual fee of $99, and a monthly minimum fee of $4.95. However, the company’s website now advertises month-to-month plans without a contract. It is unclear if the company still utilizes iPayment and if the monthly minimum applies, but it seems the company no longer charges early termination or annual fees.
Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing
In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Merchant Account Solutions also dedicates a portion of its website to advertising its virtual terminal and payment gateway services through Authorize.Net. A standard Authorize.Net agreement charges a rate of 2.90 plus $0.30, a monthly gateway fee of $25, and a batch fee of $0.10. However, as a reseller of these services, Merchant Account Solutions may reserve the right to alter these terms and conditions.
Merchant Dissatisfaction
In general, merchants consistently report that Merchant Account Solutions charges more than advertised for its services and imposes a sizable early termination fee for all accounts. These complaints align with public complaints filed against Integrated Card Service and other iPayment resellers and are compounded by allegations that the company’s terms are inadequately disclosed by sales agents. We have therefore given Merchant Account Solutions a “D” rating in this section, and we do not consider its pricing to be competitive with the cheapest merchant accounts available. We also encourage merchants to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.
Merchant Account Solutions Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs
Should You Work For Them?
| Employs Independent Resellers | Yes |
|---|---|
| Advertises Deceptive Rates | Yes |
| Discloses All Important Terms | No |
Independent Sales Agents
Like Integrated Card Service, Merchant Account Solutions primarily utilizes independent sales agents to market its products. This practice usually results in complaints, and, predictably, we have found a significant number of Merchant Account Solutions complaints related to misrepresentation and nondisclosure of fees. Merchants specifically state that their actual rates are much higher than the rates quoted by sales agents and that a large number of undisclosed fees appear on their monthly statements after they begin processing. These reports are consistent with complaints filed against Integrated Card Service. This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
Incomplete Rate Quotes
The Merchant Account Solutions website currently advertises rates “starting at 0.35%.” This rate is likely the company’s “Qualified” debit rate and does not apply to the “Mid-Qualified” and “Non-Qualified” transactions that make up the majority of payments. We consider this type of selective rate quoting to be deceptive because it could give merchants an unrealistic expectation of the rates they will pay. If you suspect that Merchant Account Solutions is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking an independent, third-party statement audit.
Average Performance
Due to the company’s industry-average sales approach and complaint record across three brand names, we have assigned Merchant Account Solutions the same grade as Integrated Card Service in this category: a “C.”
Our Merchant Account Solutions Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts
A Below-Average Payment Processor
Merchant Account Solutions rates as a substandard merchant services provider according to our rating criteria. The company is simply a DBA of Integrated Card Service (an iPayment reseller with a very low rating on CPO), and the available merchant feedback regarding Merchant Account Solutions suggests that nothing has changed under the new brand. Merchants are advised to request and review all contract terms and to compare them to top-rated options before signing up with any provider.
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Jeanette
Today I finally logged in to my iAccess account to try to understand why I was being charged so much by this service. While reading through the monthly statements and realizing I’ve paid over $500 in fees this year I called their customer service in an attempt to cancel my account. After being on hold for 40 minutes I finally spoke with one person and explained my intentions to discontinue my use of their service. I have now been on hold for 1 hour and 20 minutes and coincidentally in the meantime have been logged out of my iAccess account and cannot log back in, as if they already cancelled me without allowing me the opportunity to question some of the fees. I wish I would have researched them more thoroughly before signing up. I would not recommend this company to anyone.
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Shawn Johnson
🏃Run from this company as soon as possible they are a Fraudulent i have only done 1transaction with them and i would never use them again. Calling my lawyer tomorrow. Do not use them. They cost me 14,000.And my customer is almost being put out of business.
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Debbie watson
I had the unfortunate experience of signing up with this company for my small business cc processing. For 3 years, I felt ripped off and generally abused by them literally taking sums of money out of my account with no prior explanation of what these amounts were for. I would then call and they would say it was a fee. When I signed up, they said there were no fees. Also, I was unaware that I couldn’t back out without a penalty. So I stayed with them for 3 years. By the end of the 3 years I was so pissed off at them, and now I am no longer doing my processing w them and never will again. Terrible handling of business, frustrating situations you can’t do anything about, relief to be finished. Be aware!
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Bob Geers
Never used then yet they are changing me monthly for 3 locations. What a rip off!
Rene Jenkins
Do NOT do business with this company! Hidden fees and lured by a fictions “no contract” ploy. I was just going to accept my conditions BUT, the card reader for POS transactions with my Android works less than half the time. Multiple calls with customer service will fix the problem momentarily until the next month. Inconsistencies continue and I am tired of dealing with the card swiper issues. I am trapped by the contract I unknowingly signed and the exorbitant penalty that’ll ensue to break it. What can I do to get out?!
Brenda
I was looking for a mobile friendly POS system to process credit/debit cards. Found this one and sent the requested info for sign up. I was told there was a $7.95 a month fee plus % swipe fee. I was told by phone that I would have a $2000 daily limit. I processed my first transaction of $1358 and received an email saying processed. A few days later I received another email saying it had been held up. After 2 weeks of holding my customers money, the called and told me they had cancelled my account and refunded her. I had to contact customer and give her a $400 discount in order to get a partial payment. On Mar 2nd, 2017 this company charged my bank $36.46, on Mar 24th 2017 they charged my bank a $350 cancel fee, on Apr 3rd 2017 they charged my bank account $26.47. I have both emailed and called this company to no avail. I have not had the use of this service, I did not cancel, they did. And they cost me the $458 discount I had to give the customer. Added to the $413.20 they have taken, this company has cost me much more than their service would have been worth. I filed a complaint with the BBB. Just received a call from MAS saying that I broke the contract (which by the way I never signed and they keep promising to send me a copy of but don’t) AND if you go to their website the top proclaims in large letters ” No contracts, no cancellation fees”. They are a scam and a ripoff from what I can see.
randy
My experience and the testimonies from others suggest that Merchant Card Services is ripe for a series of lawsuits. In the next week or two I’d like to seek out others willing to pursue legal action and claims against the company for fraud. I have yet to see documentation of a valid 3-year contract which they are attempting to enforce upon my company.
Nguyet
I finally closed out my account with them after 3 months. I did not use their services, but did get charged. It is in their policy they will continue charge- fees just to have it open. My lawyer wrote them a letter regarding deceptive trade practices and no more charges. I closed it out without paying any more fees and the early termination fee was dropped. It took lots of emails and a several calls, but persistence and a lawyer’s letter helped out. I would suggest going to the state attorney’s office to file a complaint with them. Good luck.
Joseph A.Turnbach
Merchant Account Solutions is a about as close to extortion as the law will allow. Fee upon fee with botched transactions due to bad software has stopped me from using their service over a year ago. I am ready to pay the cancellation fee to protect my good credit. This company needs to be investigated for fraud.
terri russell
RUN from this company as fast as you can. Requested a copy of my contract two times and continued to not receive one A friend called and pretended to be an interested future customer. He requested a copy of the contract to review before he choose Merchant Account Solutions(MAS) as his credit card processing service. A contract (57 pages) was sent by email in 4 minutes. I still don’t have mine that they continue to debit fees. MAS has several hidden charges that continue to be debited to my business account. Example: $99 per year fee, $99 per year PCI fee, etc. I was also denied to cancel as I supposedly signed a 3 year contract. I am in year one of that ‘supposed’ contract which I still have not received a copy. Cancellation fee is $545.00 paid only by check and mailed into company with their form they mail you ( no online form) and they have 30 days to process the request to cancel. In the meantime they continue to charge me for the 2nd year of my 3 year contract although I requested to cancel. VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE and you will be transferred to several lines to which, if the person answers, you will be talked over and interrupted. I called my bank to stop future withdrawals and it is not allowed for this company. It is a Wells Fargo corporate scam.
amanda womble
I wish I could say that I had been able to resolve my issues with this deceitful company Merchant Account Solutions, but I cannot. I was deceived and mislead by the sales rep on the phone. When I tried to rectify the situation I was told I was in a contract. I was told that there was a buy out fee and that it would not be prorated. I was never able to use the “free card reader” as it never properly worked. I had one sale the first time I used the service and had to hand enter the number which they charge you more for. I have never used the service since that one time over a year ago. They continue to increase the monthly charges and my latest bill was for $198.11. I have called more than a dozen times and have spent about as many hours waiting on the phone on hold. I never get the same person twice on the line as they “no longer work there.” Especially the managers who have told me they would call me back and never do. One manager even told me that this is a common complaint and that they did settle with someone. She told me she would call me back and let me know the precedence…she never called back. When I called her back, she no longer worked there. They have been unable to provide me with a signed copy of the contract. The early termination form is some four or five pages long. I would have remembered signing a contract that was that long. This company stinks of deceitful business practices. There are hidden charges on every bill. I have paid nearly $900 for a service I used one time over a year ago. I am contacting a lawyer to help me resolve this. If you would like to join me for a class action suit to recoup some of your losses please respond. Merchant Account Solutions are deceptively preying upon small business owners who are strapped for time and money. It is time we stand up for ourselves and fight back!
Keith kapusta
Man they did exact same thing to me I’d love to help
Ken Wilson
This company has provoked me to seek legal action.I was told lie after lie about my monthly fee.I will join anyone with a lawsuit against this worthless company.I seek to destroy them and put them out of business.
Kyle Wilson
I’m ready to sue them – it is imparative that we get all interested parties together – im certain this fraudulent company has wronged enough people/companies.
It is time to put words into action
angel candelario
same
Toni
I’ve had the same problem they’ve been pulling money out of my account for 6 months the terminal never worked on my phone or my tablet so I had to key everything in which led to 7% charge .. how are these companies getting away with trying to charge you for a free card reader that you never paid for and the POS never worked trying to charge you $500 if you don’t return it??? I agree that we need to do something.. when I call the phone company they make notations on my account so that everyone can see.. they’re very disorganized and everyone is correct on this site that they don’t like to return phone calls that’s a sneaky way to retain people
Nguyet
I’ve had the same problem they’ve been pulling money out of my account for 6 months the terminal never worked on my phone or my tablet so I had to key everything in which led to 7% charge .. how are these companies getting away with trying to charge you for a free card reader that you never paid for and the POS never worked trying to charge you $500 if you don’t return it??? I agree that we need to do something.. when I call the phone company they make notations on my account so that everyone can see.. they’re very disorganized and everyone is correct on this site that they don’t like to return phone calls that’s a sneaky way to retain people
Kerry
This company absolutely will not let you out of a canceled contract. They ‘transfer’ you all over the company if you try to call and cancel. I have been sent to the retention department many times, they never answer. I have left voicemails that are never returned. I have sent emails to their customer service that are never answered. It is literally impossible to cancel and we’re being held hostage by this company.
If you can avoid doing business with them, do! We’ve been charged now for almost 2 years for services that we have never used.
RA
Worst business ever. They scam you with lies on the fees and charges and refuse to send me any statements even though it’s been a year since I have received any statements. I have tried fax, email, and phone calls spent hours on the phone with these people. They treat you terribly. The apps and swipers don’t work but they say that this is not included in the contract. This is the whole service I am paying for! Cannot process credit cards and cannot even have my statements. They also will not even send me my contract for another 30 days. My sales representative has also stopped responding to emails and ignores questions and concerns.
Huge scam and horrid people.
CSK
DO NOT use this company. Simple as that. I could write my reasons why, but I have already spent too much of my precious time hearing lies, curt responses, waiting for a call back that never came, earning money to pay return postage for the busted card reader they sent and explaining to my customers why the fees are so high (compaired to other similar companies.)
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Shemeka
Merchant Account Solutions is trying to charge me for service fees for an account that was closed, hours after being opened. I contacted the company 9/15/15 to close an account I wasn’t aware that I had opened. I downloaded an app from the App Store on my iPhone called Cash Register. It was supposed to be a point of sale app. So I called them to cancel and the rep told me they have my application but it hasn’t been processed and that he would cancel it. Three days later I received an email regarding the account. I I’ll called back and explained that the account was supposed to be closed days ago. The rep Anthony Herrera send a closing form and told me to fax it back. I did. Three months later I noticed money coming out of my account from IPayment. I filed a dispute with my bank and then googled IPayment and found out it was merchant account solutions. I called them on 1/21/16, for the third time and spoke to Louie who located the fax from 9/18/15 and said he would close the account and delete the fees. Yesterday, 2/9/16, I get a letter from a collection agency on behalf of merchant account solutions requesting $43. I called the collection agency and was told they have to call the merchant and get a response from them. I then called merchant account solutions back for the fourt time and spoke to Anthony Herrera who advisd me that we spoke back in September. I inquired about fees for the account and he stated that the account wasn’t closed until January 2016 so I owe fees for November and December. We back and for about the account closing date, then he stated that he could go back to the sept closing date but I would have to pay a $500 termination fee. I asked if he was referring to the fees he waived and he said yes or u could pay the $43. I declined both silly options. Asked to speak with a manager and he stated is the manger over sales, retention and disputes. I thanked him and hung up. I’ll be filing a lawsuit against him and the company personally.
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Albert Maier
We fell into the Merchant Account Solution trap early 2015. I have an email from a sales rep, Aaron G. stating the different percentage rates, and the $4.95 per month fee. There were no other fees or rates discussed by phone or by email. Our first bill came with higher charges than expected, and it wasn’t $4.95 taken from our checking, but 3 different charges of $14.95 in ONE DAY. That does not include the higher percentage rates per transaction that we were charged. We called to complain, and were told there were other fees per month. ??And we weren’t informed of this prior to signing up. The same thing happened the following 2 months, and with all the extra fees and charges, we were paying this worthless company more in three months than the amount we processed in card payments.
After we called numerous times, a rep named Courtney FINALLY refunded a few of the extra triple charges received, only to have the same thing happen the following month. At this point we called and said we wanted to cancel the account. They early cancellation amount was nearly $600. We had stopped using the service a couple months before this latest call. We even went as far and having the bank put a stop on payments to them. What happened then? They changed the name/number of the company taking funds by only a letter or digit and they still got more money from our account. We had to change our account info, and then we were getting phone calls for non payment. They never call you back when you leave a message that you are unhappy with the service, but a day after a payment was stopped, they are on the phone to you. We called every five minutes one day trying to get ahold of someone and no returned call. Finally getting ahold of Courtney, and telling her to cancel us, she did say she shut our account off. We thought we were done and rid of this group, and did not receive or hear anything since we were told in Sept 2015 that are account was shut off. But today, several months later, we got a call from a collection agency saying we owed them a balance. We left YET ANOTHER message with Courtney to find out why we are being charged again…we will see if she ever calls back. We have refused payment until we hear from them that our account is actually and officially closed.
Stay away from this so called company! It is a ripoff!
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Nguyet
My sales rep was also Aaron G. and he provides poor customer service.
Corey Glackin
I had received a phone call from merchant account services sales team and was promised a pretty low percentage rate of below 2% to run all my credit cards. after going through the process of setting up and wasn’t told of any long term contracts or termination fees, i was up and running. after my first month i received a statement of that months transactions, to my surprise the average percentage rate was over 5%. I call and complained about and whoever i talked to said they were going to lower a few rates but he didn’t know why i was promised such a low rate before. at that point i just wanted it at least as low as i had before.
the next month i received another statement to find no change was made. i again called and complained a second time in which this time they did lower a few rates. the third months statement came in and i was still well above my old rate, so by this time i had enough and wanted to cancel the account. I called to cancel the account to find out there was a huge termination fee of over $500 to cancel my account. they said it was for the equipment (keep in mind i had received two cell phone card readers). so at this point I’m not a happy person and ask how to avoid this fee, I was told i had to keep the account open for a year while being charged $19 a month until i could close it.
so here i am one month before the one year mark, so i call to see if i could cancel it and was told that there was a three year contract and a $625 fee to terminate. the man on the phone must have thought my unpleasant reaction was funny and began to laugh. I talked to a supervisor after that and got it back down to a year then ask them to send me the contract and info that i never even seen.
Stay as far from this so called business as you can, they’re a joke.
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