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Listen to the Masses About BankCard USA RUN AWAY!

In our ongoing series of posts where we expose the trickery of the credit card processing industry, we contacted BankCard USA (aka Maverick BankCard USA Merchant Services) to request more information about opening an account. Although we could have listened to all the negative reviews online, we just had to see the evidence for ourselves. Before you read what we discovered, check out what the masses are saying

> Better Business Bureau - 76 complaints with BBB in last 3 years and 28 in last 12 months. > Trustlink 8 out of 13 reviewers only gave them 1 star! > Ripoff Report 25 negative reports that are definitely worth reading. > Complaints.com tons and tons of complaints. > ComplaintsBoard.com wanna read even more complaints?

After giving BankCard USA two full days to respond to our online inquiry, we gave up on the waiting and finally gave them a call. We had a quick chat with Ryan who indicated that he had been with the company for over 12 years. He was quite professional and knowledgeable in his presentation. We told him that we were looking for a merchant account that would process transactions through our website, and he promptly offered to email us an agreement to review.

HERE'S WHAT WE DISCOVERED

1. BankCard USA advertises a low rate that youll rarely (if ever) qualify for. This is one of the dirtiest tricks in the industry advertise a low price to uninformed merchants and never educate them on what theyre really going to be charged. We noticed the low rate of .49% on Qualified transactions, and we know that merchants would easily believe that this is a great deal.

We emailed Ryan and asked, What percentage of transactions will be charged the .49%? His response was, The 0.49% rate is for all Visa MasterCard credit/debit sales.

This is a complete and utter lie! If were processing transactions over the Internet, theres no possible way it will qualify for that rate.

So, we emailed him back with, I guess Im a little confused, because I see several rates. Will all our transactions be at the .49% rate? He responded with, Yes, the 0.49% rate is not for all cards. Please call me.

Oh, so now that we ask deeper questions, hes back pedaling on his initial lie. Do you see how this works?

Heres the truth: Credit Card transactions over the Internet NEVER QUALIFY for the lowest rate, but BankCard USA doesnt tell you that. If you sign up with BankCard USA and process credit card transactions over the Internet, youll be charged 2% + the Interchange Rate which is passed along from Visa/Mastercard (Debit Credit Cards .95%, Basic Credit Cards 1.50%, Rewards Cards 1.75%, Corporate Cards  2.00%). That means youll be paying up to 4% on those transactions WAY MORE than they lead you to believe!

2. BankCard USA requires a 3 year contract with a $199 cancellation fee. The 3 year contract isnt shown anywhere on the agreement that was emailed to us. We had to ask twice via email in order to get that information. Wanna know where that is stated by BankCard USA? Its found on page 17 of the 39 page BankCard USA Program Guide and states, The initial term of this Agreement shall commence and shall continue in force for three years after it becomes effective. They finally told us how long the contract was and attached the Program Guide for our benefit. How many merchants sign up without ever asking how long theyll be locked into this agreement?

This is what we discovered simply by reading their agreement and asking a few questions. If you dig around on the sites we listed above, youll find merchants who have experienced

> Freezing accounts and holding funds indefinitely. > Horrible customer service after theyve signed up. > Overpriced terminals. > Deceptive terminal agreements.

Frankly, our blood starts to boil when we read what merchants have endured at the hands of BankCard USA. Listen to the masses and RUN AWAY! Dont ever go near BankCard USA and their deceptive trickery. Theres always a better solution. bank card usa merchant account

AUTHOR RESOURCE BOX: Danny Choi is the Founder CEO of Best Merchant Rates - a merchant account provider that "actually" cares about small businesses. Founded in 2005, Best Merchant Rates exposes the trickery of merchant accounts, educates on the truths of credit card processing, and empowers with transparent pricing.

SUMMARY: BankCard USA lures small businesses in with one low rate, but they are well-known for their deceptive sales practices. We contacted them ourselves to investigate their rate structure and uncover their misleading contract.

KEYWORDS: credit card processing, merchant account, small business

CATEGORIES: small business, business, financial services, credit card processing, merchant account