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Is this article we'll discuss a company that operates under the business name of "The Card Association" or "The Card Association Merchant Services" based in Scottsdale, Arizona. We'll provide insight on the services that The Card Association offers and how it is choosing to market them. Additionally, we will discuss its ownership, related business ventures, legal issues, and other feedback we have received. If you have any further information that you believe should be added to this review, please leave it in the comment section at the end of this article.
Interim Update 12/4/2024: There have been reports that the operators of The Card Association may also be running another deceptive business under the name "Merchant Support," using the website address "merchantsupport.com." According to third-party reports, sales representatives from this business are allegedly posing as customer support for competing credit card processing companies to mislead business owners into switching their merchant services. If you have received one of these calls or have been switched to a new service without your consent, please share your experience in the comment section below.
About The Card Association Merchant Services
Most publicly available information about the company appears to be intentionally limited or omitted. However, through various methods, we have gathered a few facts that the owners were unable to hide. The Card Association is officially owned by TCA Commerce LLC, which is actually owned by Redfynn Technologies. Redfynn is one of many brands that market the credit card processing services of Paysafe, which operates numerous poorly rated subsidiaries. The Card Association, on the behalf of Redfynn, is engaging in questionable marketing tactics which we will cover below.
Management & Ownership
The people and companies behind The Card Association have been kept deliberately secret in their online presence. Ownership information is missing from the company’s own website and the details regarding the domain registration have been intentionally hidden using a "Domains by Proxy" service. However, we have identified two individuals with direct links to the company and a possible third person who may be involved. These individuals are Richard Miller, Michael Crawford, and Craig Wolman. While their exact roles in The Card Association have not been disclosed, the evidence we gathered suggests some involvement.
Possible Leadership Team:
Michael Crawford: Appears to be a co-founder and the General Manager of the organization.
Richard Miller: Likely in a CFO or accounting roll, but evidence suggests that Miller could be involved as a co-founder.
Craig Wolman: Involvement is unknown; however, Wolman and Miller are partnered in a related business discussed below.
Misleading Address Information
The Card Association website lists an address of 1201 South Alma School Rd., Mesa, AZ but there is no other evidence to support that a company by such a name operates there. We also located another address associated with the company at 5010 E Shea Blvd, Suite 140 Scottsdale, AZ. This address is also used by Miller and Wolman for their accounting and tax service business, Miller Wolman CPAs.
Screen Capture of The Card Association's Hompage
Products & Merchant Services
The Card Association Merchant Services presents itself as a division of the Visa and Mastercard association, claiming to assist business owners in identifying and reducing overbilling in their merchant accounts. This portrayal gives the impression of a direct affiliation with the major credit card networks, lending an air of authority and trustworthiness. By positioning itself this way, the company may be seeking to gain the confidence of business owners who may believe they are working directly with Visa or Mastercard to resolve billing issues.
Bait-and-Switch
In reality, The Card Association appears to be nothing more than a reseller for Redfynn and PaySafe. By marketing themselves under a more official-sounding name, they attempt to obscure their actual intentions of marketing merchant services. This tactic can be misleading to business owners who think they are receiving unbiased advice or services from a reputable credit card association when they are actually being funneled into a sales process for a third-party payment processor.
Customer Reviews & Sentiment
In analyzing feedback from comment section of this article, several concerning patterns have emerged since this review was first published. Commenters have confirmed that The Card Association presents itself as part of the Visa and Mastercard association, misleading businesses about its true role as a reseller. Commenters frequently mention aggressive sales practices, with representatives pushing business owners to submit their financial statements under the guise of reducing billing errors. Many report feeling pressured into signing contracts, only to discover hidden fees and unfavorable terms. Persistent follow-up calls and vague communication about their affiliation with credit card networks left many clients frustrated and wary.
Several customers also noted how the company promised rebates or reductions in processing fees, but these claims often failed to materialize. A common theme is the lack of transparency, with merchants initially believing they were receiving help directly from Visa or Mastercard, only to later realize they were locked into an agreement with Redfynn. This combination of misleading marketing and high-pressure tactics has led to growing dissatisfaction among those who have interacted with the company.
Industry Scores & User Ratings
Online Ratings Summary
Online Ratings:
Validity Questioned
Likely in response to our initial review published about The Card Association Merchant Services, it appears the company has launched an aggressive reputation management campaign. They have flooded several review platforms with overwhelmingly positive feedback. It’s important to note that it’s highly unusual for merchant service resellers to receive a large number of unsolicited glowing reviews. This raises concerns that they may be offering credits, kickbacks, or working with a dubious reputation management firm to fabricate positive testimonials. Such practices create a misleading narrative about the true level of customer satisfaction.
This form of reputation manipulation can distort the perception of a company, making it difficult for potential customers to distinguish genuine experiences from manufactured ones. Merchant services, in particular, rarely garner high volumes of unsolicited praise, as many small businesses only leave reviews when faced with problems. The sudden surge in positive reviews seems less organic and more indicative of a calculated effort to reshape public opinion, effectively “paying” for a better online reputation. This undermines trust and poses ethical concerns for anyone considering the service.
Lastly, it is worth noting that most of the testimonials are the first review published by the author and name TCA Commerce, which has no web presence, public facing marketing, or contact easily obtainable contact information.
Employee Reviews & Sales Practices
Deceptive Marketing
The Card Association is using at least three types marketing strategies that we would consider as predatory scam tactics:
Misleading Brand Association: The use of the term “The Card Association” appears to be an attempt to deceive business owners into believing that the company is somehow a direct arm of the card networks or a regulatory agency.
Deceptive Website: The company’s homepage presents itself as an organization “Backed by the Durbin Amendment” wherein disgruntled business owners can report grievances regarding their current merchant service provider. It further makes statements alluding to readers that they are filing reports with an agency that oversees the processors for which they are reporting.
Telemarketing Misrepresentation: We have received reports indicating that the company is engaging in “slamming”, which is a deceptive telemarketing technique intended to fool victims into believing that they are speaking either with their own credit card processing provider or a regulatory agency. This tactic is intended to mislead victims into believing that the call is not a sales or marketing call, but intended to help them solve a problem. In reality, companies that engage in slamming are attempting to fool unsuspecting businesses into switching their merchant processing services without honestly communicating what is actually happening.
Jobs & Employment
As of this update, we were unable to locate any reports or reviews by current or former employees of The Card Association Merchant Services. It should be noted that recruitment by merchant services companies that utilize deceptive marketing often engage in “agent hiring mill” practices wherein promises of high commissions and residual income are used to entice naive sales people into high-pressure sales positions. These agents are often poorly trained on the details of the services they are selling and encouraged to engage in unethical sales tactics.
If you have worked of The Card Association Merchant Services. Please use the comment section below to tell us about your experience.
The Card Association Competitors
Compare The Card Association to competitors that earned top marks.
The Card Association does not appear to a company that can be trusted, and some reports consider it as a scam operation. We have uncovered evidence showing deliberate efforts to hide ownership as well as its affiliation with Redfynn Technologies. The company also engages in some of the most frowned upon and egregious marketing tactics notorious among the worst companies in the credit card processing industry. We will continually update this review as new facts come to light. If you have any information, including about its leadership, please provide it in the comment section below.
