- Sales & Marketing: TransFirst appears to hire independent sales agents and has received a low-to-moderate number of complaints about its sales practices.
- Costs & Contract: TransFirst appears to offer a three-year contract through TSYS with an early termination fee ranging from $250 to $500.
- Complaints & Service: TransFirst has received more than 120 public complaints.
- BBB Rating: TransFirst has an "A+" rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 107 complaints to its profile in the past three years.
- Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With TransFirst
TransFirst Review
We take our role in providing guidance and education regarding the card payment industry very seriously. At our own expense, we have vigorously defended our right to continue expose unethical and predatory practices in the industry, successfully defeating every attempt to silence us. However, fending off frivolous lawsuits is costly. To sustain these efforts, one of the ways we generate revenue is through affiliate partnerships with ethical providers. This means that some of our outgoing links connect business owners to trustworthy, low-cost payment processors, which is what most of our readers seek. We see this revenue channel as a win-win-win for everyone involved. Business owners find good processors, processors get good clients, and we are able to continue to provide a valuable service to the small business community. We also recommend and link to many services that do not compensate us. Our priority is to guide you to the best solutions for your needs, regardless of potential revenue. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.
All mentions of rate and fee costs are estimations based on publicly available information and client feedback. Actual costs may vary based on a variety of factors unique to your business.
TransFirst
Rating
Customer Reviews & Sentiment
There are a moderate number of TransFirst merchant complaints for a provider of its size and time in business. The common themes in the complaints are merchants reporting unexpected and hidden fees, expensive terminal leases, poor customer service, and that agents failed to verbally disclose important contract terms such as the service length agreement and cancellation fees prior to setting up the account. As mentioned earlier, these are the types of complaints often found with providers that use independent agents and resellers to market their services. However, the ultimate responsibility rests with the company since it sets and enforces the service agreement policies. TransFirst offers phone support to all of its merchants, but it’s possible that its support channels may be reconfigured in the wake of the TSYS acquisition.
Industry Scores & User Ratings
| Product & Service Complaints | 38 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 25 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 26 |
| Guarantee & Warranty Complaints | 3 |
| Delivery Complaints | 15 |
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.
As of this update, the Better Business Bureau is reporting that TransFirst has been “BBB accredited” since 2009 and is awarding the company an “A+” rating despite 107 complaints filed within the last 36 months, which is down from 111 complaints as of our last update. Of the complaints, 38 are due to problems with service, 25 with billing/collection, 26 with advertising and sales issues, and 15 with delivery issues. Forty-one of the complaints were resolved to the merchants’ satisfaction while 66 were not. The company also has 12 negative reviews posted to the BBB, but these reviews are not necessarily subject to verification. It is our philosophy that “A+” ratings should be reserved for companies with zero complaints. Therefore, we have adjusted the rating of this section to a “C” for the purposes of this review.
Processing Rates & Fees
The pricing, rates and contract terms of a TransFirst merchant account will likely vary based on several factors including a merchant’s business type, processing volume, agent setting up the account, and the sub-ISO reselling the account. The standard TransFirst contract is available for review below, but there is no guarantee that the terms outlined therein will be the terms offered by a TransFirst sales rep. It is also possible that TSYS’s acquisition of TransFirst has resulted in alterations to TransFirst’s contract terms, but we have seen no evidence of this to date. The agreement below outlines a 36-month service term that automatically renews for one-year terms unless cancelled at least 90 days prior to the expiration of the initial term. The early termination fee is $250 for merchants who cancel with a year or less remaining in their contract and $500 for merchants who cancel with more than one year remaining. Some merchants also reported what sounds like a “Liquidated Damages” cancellation fee. Normally, a Liquidated Damages clause in combination with an automatically renewing contract would earn a provider an “F” in this section; however, reports of this fee remain unverified, and the fee may only be applicable when dealing with certain ISOs or agents. See the TransFirst Merchant Agreement.
TransFirst Competitors
Compare TransFirst to competitors that earned top marks.
Bottom Line
TransFirst rates as an average merchant account provider in the credit card processing industry. Many of its business practices and policies are common and can be found among several of its competitors. The company can improve its rating by removing policies that allow merchants to be set up in expensive accounts, reducing or removing its cancellation penalty, and eliminating future complaints.
