Transparent Merchant Services Review

Two Plans to Choose From

Transparent Merchant Services offers two pricing plans: Pro and Elite. The Pro plan charges a flat monthly fee of $49.97 and a per-transaction fee of interchange plus $0.19, but it is intended for merchants who process up to 500 transactions per month. The Elite plan comes with a $99.97 monthly fee and a per-transaction fee of interchange plus $0.09 and is designed for merchants who process over 500 transactions per month. For merchants who process over $100,000 per month or $1.2 million per year, the company also offers custom Enterprise merchant account pricing.

Month-to-Month, No Termination Fees

Both pricing plans come with a month-to-month agreement with no early termination fees or setup fees, but the company does charge a $99 annual PCI Compliance fee on the third billing cycle. The company also offers point-of-sale equipment that can be either rented for $9.95 per month, purchased outright for $249, or given for free to businesses that process over 300 transactions per month. Overall, these terms are reasonably competitive for the credit card processing industry and very transparent, although merchants will want to run the numbers based on their transaction volumes and the applicable pricing tiers before signing up.

Clean Complaint Record

We are unable to find any negative Transparent Merchant Services reviews on the usual consumer protection websites, and there are no suggestions online that the company is a ripoff of any kind. This total lack of complaints is a positive indicator that the company provides excellent customer support for its merchants and resolves issues in a timely fashion. Transparent’s affiliated business, Vantage Payments, has a similarly low complaint total despite its focus on high risk merchant accounts.

Quality Customer Service

Transparent Merchant Services offers phone support during business hours as well as chat support and email support for its merchants. It also features a small blog on its website with some useful information for merchants.

No Complaints

Transparent Merchant Services currently has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since June 2014. The company’s BBB profile has only existed since June 2014 as well, but it has not accumulated any formal complaints in that time. There are also no unverified reviews posted about the company in the BBB’s “Reviews” section.

An “A” Performance Overall

Given the company’s clean complaint record, we agree with the BBB’s rating. This strong performance with the BBB is a major reason why we recommend Transparent for dentist merchant accounts, pharmacy merchant accounts, mechanic merchant accounts, and other professional services.

Clean Complaint Record

Transparent Merchant Services appears to utilize traditional advertising methods and in-house, W2-employed sales agents to market its services. This tactic is generally preferable to hiring mill strategies because it ensures a greater degree of control over agents’ conduct. We are currently unable to locate any Transparent Merchant Services negative reviews that accuse the company’s sales staff of deception or nondisclosure, indicating that the company places an emphasis on forthright sales pitches.

Understanding the Rate Calculator

As of this review, the Transparent Merchant Services website features a tool for calculating your potential savings through the company. This tool is useful for merchants who are currently on Interchange-plus pricing because it draws a direct comparison between Transparent’s markup above interchange and a merchant’s existing markup above interchange. Merchants who are on tiered pricing should note that the tool assumes an average interchange rate of 1.6%, which may be more or less than the average interchange rate each merchant typically receives.

True to Its Name

To its credit, the company’s website does not promote any outright deceptive “teaser” quotes. Transparent’s pricing is fully disclosed for anyone to view, which is a major reason why we consider it a top-rated merchant account provider.