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Everything You Should Know About Wells Fargo Merchant Services

Name: Wells Fargo Merchant Services
Item: Wells Fargo Merchant Services
Rating: 2
Author: Phillip Parker

Author: Phillip Parker

Updated: October 1, 2025

Maintained Since: June 21, 2011

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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.

Wells Fargo Merchant Services

Rating

2/5

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Pros

Integrated Solutions

POS Hardware Options

Next-Day Funding

Cons

Poor transparency

Limited product/service variety

Expensive equipment leases.

Three-year contract

Higher processing fees

Overview

In this review of Wells Fargo Merchant Services, we provide a detailed look at this major U.S. merchant account provider, covering its services, fees, and contract terms alongside customer and employee experiences. We examine its POS systems, e-commerce tools, online payment gateways, and business analytics solutions, while also reviewing security measures, compliance protocols, and the advantages offered to Wells Fargo banking clients. Our analysis addresses common concerns such as complaints about fees, sales practices, and the impact of lawsuits and fines, while also considering the company’s marketing strategies and customer support. By breaking down fee structures, contract obligations, and potential issues with long-term leases, this review offers a clear and balanced perspective to help businesses decide whether Wells Fargo Merchant Services is the right fit for their needs.

About Wells Fargo Merchant Services

Screen Capture of Wells Fargo Merchant Services — Wells Fargo Merchant Services Homepage

Wells Fargo Merchant Services, a division of Wells Fargo Bank, is one of the top ten largest merchant account providers in the United States. Although Wells Fargo is an Acquiring Bank based in San Francisco, California, it uses First Data (now Fiserv) as its processor and has been doing so since 1971. It also uses First Data Global Leasing to supply its credit card processing equipment.

Products & Merchant Services

Payment Processing

Wells Fargo Merchant Services handles payment processing for all major credit and debit cards, catering to various types of businesses. Their offerings include POS systems from Fiserv’s Clover brand, EMV readers, e-commerce solutions with virtual terminals and shopping carts, and next-day funding. Reviews commonly cite concerns about fees rather than issues with equipment.

Point-of-Sale (POS) Solutions

Wells Fargo Merchant Services provides a variety of POS solutions, such as traditional countertop terminals, mobile readers, and tablet-based systems.

E-commerce Solutions

Wells Fargo Merchant Services offers e-commerce solutions including payment gateways, shopping cart integrations, and tools for fraud detection and prevention.

Online Payment Gateway

The online payment gateway from Wells Fargo Merchant Services integrates with businesses’ online operations to facilitate credit and debit card transactions.

Business Analytics

Wells Fargo Merchant Services provides business analytics tools to help businesses gain insights from their payment processing data.

Security and Compliance

Security and compliance solutions from Wells Fargo Merchant Services include PCI compliance tools, encryption, and tokenization to protect businesses and their customers against fraud and data breaches.

Faster Deposits for Wells Fargo Banking Customers

Merchants with both a checking account and merchant account at Wells Fargo benefit from quicker deposit of credit card sales funds, typically by the next business day. This is in contrast to the industry standard of a 48-hour delay when using different providers for checking and merchant accounts. While this feature can be beneficial, it should not be the sole consideration for merchants choosing a merchant account provider.

Customer Reviews & Sentiment

Fewer Complaints Than Expected

Considering Wells Fargo’s size, the company surprisingly has relatively few reviews concerning its merchant services division. Nonetheless, common types of customer complaints indicate areas where business owners are likely to encounter problems. If you have your own review of Wells Fargo Merchant Services to share, please do so in the comments below.

Poor Sales Experience

One of the most recurrent complaints involves customers reporting dishonest or deceptive practices by agents regarding terms, conditions, or costs of merchant account agreements, including additional services being signed up without consent. A business owner named Brad shared his negative experience in the comment section below this review.

“Just like many of the people below in this comment section, they offered the 2.2% rate, no fees, no contract, and $50 credit towards the credit card processing machine. The first 3 months went by with Wells Fargo sticking to the agreement…

Other Wells Fargo Complaints

Additional grievances include sudden and prolonged holding of business funds without explanation, nondisclosure of cancellation fees, and undisclosed non-cancellable policies regarding equipment leases. Clients experiencing fund withholding may benefit from consulting a high-risk specialist.

Wells Fargo Merchant Services Customer Support Options

Wells Fargo provides general customer service options via telephone support on its website. However, this falls short of the comprehensive support offered by merchant service providers known for excellent customer service.

Industry Scores & User Ratings

Online Ratings Summary
PaymentPop	1
BBB Rating	N/A
Average Rating	N/A

PaymentPop Rating for Wells Fargo Merchant Services

Negative Feedback

I am an attorney representing a flooring company. Wells Fargo has held my client’s funds for 15 months with zero explanation. I have sent dozens of emails and letters complaining to no avail. I have also had several phone conferences with the Wells merchant legal team pleading with the bank to release my client’s fund. The constant response has been: “Under the Contract, we can hold on to the money as long as we want.” Wells Fargo’s conduct is a disgrace to hard-working small businesses everywhere. Do NOT do business with Wells.

Positive Feedback

There are no positive reviews published about Wells Fargo Merchant Services on the PaymentPop website.

No BBB Profile for Wells Fargo Merchant Services

The Better Business Bureau and other review websites do not have a separate report for Wells Fargo Merchant Services, but there are complaints related to merchant services that have been filed against its general page.

Processing Rates & Fees

Wells Fargo Merchant Services Terms May Vary

The Wells Fargo Program Guide outlines pricing and fees for merchant accounts, indicating that rates may differ based on business type, processing volume, and the representative handling the account setup. According to the company’s website, it offers a swipe rate of 2.60% plus $0.15 and a keyed-in rate of 3.40% plus $0.15. Storefront businesses are charged a monthly fee of $9.95, while e-commerce businesses pay $24.95. However, business owners have consistently reported higher costs with Wells Fargo compared to previous providers, prompting many to switch to more cost-effective alternatives. To secure favorable terms, working with a reliable agent is advised. We recommend consulting our list of the best merchant accounts for businesses.

Three Years, $500 Termination Fee

Wells Fargo’s standard merchant account agreement, available below, entails a 36-month service commitment with an Early Termination Fee (ETF) of either $500 per location (for clients processing under $1,000,000) or $500 per location plus six times the cost of the business’ highest month (for merchants processing over $1,000,000).

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

Wells Fargo mentions online payments in its program guide but does not disclose pricing for its virtual terminal and payment gateway services. Additional rates and fees, including gateway fees, technical support fees, batch fees, and additional transaction rates, are common for these e-commerce services.

Beware Long-Term Leases

Business owners are often encouraged to lease processing equipment through First Data Global Leasing, with non-cancellable lease agreements of up to 48 months. It is uncertain if Wells Fargo charges an annual PCI Compliance Fee, which is standard in the industry. Overall, these terms are less competitive than industry averages, making Wells Fargo less favorable as a low-cost merchant account provider.

Wells Fargo Merchant Services e-commerce solutions — Wells Fargo Merchant Services offers a variety of e-commerce solutions

Lawsuits & Legal History

In August 2017, Wells Fargo faced a class-action lawsuit alleging deceptive practices in merchant processing agreements, resulting in a $40 million settlement in April 2021. A separate class-action suit in July 2021 accused excessive charges, leading to another settlement. In September 2021, Wells Fargo Bank was ordered to pay $250 million for deficiencies in its home lending loss mitigation program.

Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

Advertising to Existing Customers

Wells Fargo primarily markets its merchant services through the use of fully employed outside sales representatives as opposed to independently contracted agents. It also promotes and sells merchant accounts through its numerous banking branches. Negative Wells Fargo Merchant Services reviews have reported uses of deceptive sales tactics, specifically nondisclosure of important contract conditions and fees by the company’s agents. These complaints appear to be related to both the terms of Wells Fargo’s contracts as well as the terms of First Data Global Leasing’s equipment leases. This does not compare favorably to our list of best credit card processors. If you believe you are paying hidden fees from Wells Fargo, you should seek a fee-reduction analysis from an independent third party.

No Deceptive Ads

The company does not appear to utilize any intentionally misleading advertising or rate promotions that are apparent at this time. However, client complaints regarding hidden fees has lowered its rating for the purposes of this review.

Wells Fargo Merchant Services Competitors

Compare Wells Fargo Merchant Services to competitors that earned top marks.

Pricing

Bottom Line

Wells Fargo Merchant Services, a large merchant account and credit card processing provider, has been the subject of customer reviews that cite high fees and a subpar sales experience among other concerns. Processing rates appear to be on the higher side, particularly if clients haven’t negotiated their pricing effectively. Furthermore, the likelihood of a long service agreement, an early termination fee, and a non-cancellable equipment lease all contribute to the company’s less-than-ideal rating.

Given these potential pitfalls, business owners are strongly urged to scrutinize their service agreements before signing any documents or consider choosing from one of the best-rated credit card processors we’ve reviewed. Doing so will help ensure more favorable terms and a better overall experience.

Read Actual User Reviews

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All user reviews have been moved to our partner, PaymentPop.com

Contact Wells Fargo Merchant Services

Contact & Customer Support
CEO	Charles W. Schwarf
Headquarters	420 Montgomery St San Francisco, CA
Toll-Free Customer Service	(800) 451-5817
Sales	(866) 380-9828
Website	wellsfargo.com/biz/merchant

About Us

CardPaymentOptions.com

Established 2009

My name is Phillip Parker, and I started this website back in 2009 as a simple blog to call out shady credit card processors that were taking advantage of small business owners. At the time, I had no idea this side project would grow into a leading voice pushing for transparency and integrity in the payment processing industry. I also didn't anticipate just how far some of these companies' owners would go to try to silence me.

I was recruited out of college for a sales role with a credit card processor. At the time, I didn't realize the “training” was really about tricking me... into selling business owners expensive processing with hidden fees and long-term service agreements. In my first few sales, I unknowingly cost friends and family thousands of dollars after they trusted me to switch their services. When it finally clicked that something was seriously wrong, I was furious. I quit immediately and made a promise to expose that company and any others operating the same way. That promise is what led to the creation of this website.

As I wrote about these processors, their tactics, and the people behind them, the articles started to spread among business owners. News organizations picked up the stories, readers shared them online, and traffic to the blog took off. Unsurprisingly, that also caught the attention of the companies and individuals I was exposing.

Over the last 17 years, I've received several anonymous death threats and defeated four lawsuits meant to intimidate me into taking my blog down. Their efforts to muzzle me only made my determination to expose them even stronger, leading me to work with state authorities to help shutdown some of the worst offenders.

I'm proud to say that of the millions of people who have read my work, thousands have taken the time to write and thank me for helping them narrowly avoid a very costly mistake. This blog has played a small role in pushing the industry toward more ethical practices - but there are still bad actors out there, which means the work isn't done.

If I can offer one piece of advice, it's this: get every promise in writing, and take the time to review contracts carefully. Tools like ChatGPT can help surface red flags and uncover expensive surprises buried in the fine print.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I truly appreciate you being here, and I wish you every success with your business.

Our Research Methodology

Pricing & Fees

We analyze all costs including rate structures (interchange-plus, tiered, flat-rate, etc), monthly fees, equipment costs, early termination fees, and hidden charges. This data is gathered from service agreements, statements and client feedback.

Features & Technology

Evaluation of POS systems, e-commerce integrations, mobile capabilities, reporting tools, recurring billing..., and developer resources. When possible, we directly test services and hardware. Otherwise, we rely on client feedback and public information.

Customer Support

We evaluate availability across phone, email, chat, and social channels. Measuring hold times, night and weekend availability, and client feedback regarding effectiveness, professionalism, and resolution rates.

Contract Terms & Conditions

We review service agreements and equipment contracts for reasonability, transparency, and fairness. We focus on uncovering any predatory clauses, such as unjustified early termination fees, hidden costs, and unclear cancellation policies.

User Experience

We comb the internet and interview current and former clients to evaluate the overall user experience and identify any common pain points that may impact the user experience.

Sales & Marketing Practices

We evaluate sales tactics, marketing materials, and client feedback to determine the level of transparency and ethical nature of the provider's approach. Does the provider publicly disclose pricing? Do they use teaser rates? We score based on these and other factors.

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