NSA Financial Bankcard Services Review

NSA Financial Bankcard Services Overview

NSA Financial Bankcard Services was a merchant account provider headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia. The company operated as a registered ISO/MSP of Fiserv (formerly First Data) and provided credit card processing services to small and mid-sized businesses. The company appears to be no longer in operation.

NSA Financial Bankcard Services offered payment processing solutions through the First Data platform and marketed its services primarily to small business owners in the mid-Atlantic region.

NSA Financial Bankcard Services Products

According to our review, NSA Financial Bankcard Services offered the following payment processing products and services:

Credit and Debit Card Processing: Standard credit and debit card acceptance through the Fiserv (First Data) processing platform.

POS Systems: The company offered point-of-sale terminal solutions for brick-and-mortar merchants.

E-Commerce Solutions: Payment gateway services for e-commerce merchants accepting online payments.

Mobile Payment Processing:Mobile payment processing solutions for businesses requiring portable payment acceptance.

We are currently able to locate four negative NSA Financial Bankcard Services reviews, one of which outright describes the company as a “scam.” Commonly cited issues among merchant complainants include higher-than-quoted rates, undisclosed renewal clauses, difficulty cancelling service, poor customer support, and very high termination fees. Former employees of the company describe an unprofessional work environment, poor employee support, and intentionally deceptive sales tactics. Although NSA’s complaint total is low, the content of the complaints has lowered the company’s score to a “B.” NSA offers e-mail and phone contact information on its website, but it’s unclear whether these lines are dedicated to customer support.

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.

The Better Business Bureau currently maintains a profile for NSA Financial Bankcard Services but does not assign an overall rating. The BBB‘s reason for withholding a rating at this time is that the company has been operating for less than a year.

NSA Financial Bankcard Services has received three BBB complaints in the 10 months that its profile has been active, with two of those complaints related to product or service issues and one due to a billing dispute. One complaint received a response from NSA Financial Bank Card Services, but the BBB determined that the company did not make a good faith effort to resolve the merchant’s concern. The other two complaints either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final evaluation from the merchant. None of the complaints were resolved to the merchant’s satisfaction.

Given the rate at which the company has accumulated BBB complaints and the undesirable resolutions to these complaints, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “B.”

There is very little publicly available information about the standard NSA Financial Bankcard Services contract. The company does not provide its contract terms on its website, and merchant reports are vague when it comes to rates and fees. However, the two available merchant complaints mention issues with automatic contract renewal for three-year terms, inconsistent equipment policies, and exorbitant early termination fees. Both complainants claim that they were not informed of a three-year renewal clause, and that after cancelling the account and sending back their equipment, they were still billed for $1,495 and almost $2,100, respectively. These early termination fees are far larger than standard industry termination fees, but they are similar to equipment lease termination fees. This leaves open the possibility that NSA Financial Bankcard Services sells long-term leases, although it is unclear at this time whether this is the case.

Large early termination fees and automatic renewal for three-year terms are two factors that will lower any processor’s score in our reviews. Until we have more information about the company’s full contract terms, we will assign it an industry-average rating of “C” in this section. If you have any specific knowledge of the standard NSA Financial Bankcard Services merchant agreement (including any PCI compliance fees or monthly minimum fees), please share that information in the comment section below this review.

No Known Legal Actions

We have not identified any significant lawsuits, regulatory actions, or legal complaints directly involving NSA Financial Bankcard Services at the time of this review. As the company appears to be no longer in operation, merchants with unresolved issues should contact their state’s attorney general office or the Better Business Bureau.

NSA Financial Bankcard Services appears to use a combination of traditional advertising and in-house sales agents to market its services. It is unclear at this time whether the company employs independently contracted sales agents. We are currently able to locate a handful of NSA Financial Bankcard Services complaints that describe unethical sales tactics by agents and poor employee support from the company’s managers. Two merchants specifically report higher-than-quoted rates, nondisclosure of an auto-renewal clause in the company’s contract, and an astronomically high early termination fee. Employees have far harsher words for the company:

The contract and prices that the customers are required to initially sign are completely unethical. The prices are subject to change without telling you OR the price listed on the paper given to the customer are not the actual price in the database. [The owner] false advertise the prices as low, but the actual prices in the database are actually higher to lure customers into signing the contract.

[…]

Contract was definitely a “bait and switch” – False advertising. Please be more honest with your customers.

NSA Financial Bankcard Services does not advertise any rate quotes or contractual guarantees on its website. In light of the reports of deceptive sales conduct from merchants and employees, we have lowered the company’s score in this section to a “C.”

NSA Financial Bankcard Services rates as an average merchant services provider according to our rating criteria. The company has received only a few complaints online, but these complaints describe serious issues both with the company’s internal culture and its merchant account contract terms. Our rating may be subject to change as more information becomes available about the company.