Heartland Payment Systems

• Multi-Channel Payments
• Fraud Protection
• Customer Support
• Payroll Services 

Multi-Channel Payments 

Heartland’s payment system accepts payments via the web, cash register, phone, mobile device, virtual terminal, and Automated Clearing House (ACH). This translates to a number of business setups: counter, table, kiosk, food truck, website, or the customer’s home. 

Heartland aims to accept all the ways your customers want to pay, including the following methods: 

• EMV chip card
• Credit card
• Debit card
• Apple Pay®
• Google Pay®
• Samsung Pay®
• Gift cards 

We like the fact that Heartland offers a fully integrated mobile, web, social media, and company dashboard ordering system and you can easily integrate everything with your current POS system. The reporting system is complete with recording and bookkeeping software compatible with Quickbooks. And the online reporting site gives your staff real-time transaction information. Being able to monitor your business in real-time will help you identify trends and avoid losses by knowing immediately where the problems are so you can make any necessary adjustments quickly.

Your store includes a domain name (new or existing), design templates, customization, mobile-optimized, a point-and-click product upload wizard, secure shopping cart, online marketing tools, a variety of pricing plans, an abandoned cart saver, point-and-click in-browser editing, email confirmations and notifications, search engine dominance, a PCI-compliant gateway, 24-7 U.S.-based live support and more.

Heartland also has other features and benefits merchants love, such as credit and debit cards, gift cards and electronic check payments, and a loyalty program. Gift cards and loyalty programs can help build your brand and customer loyalty, not to mention the fact that they have been proven to increase the average ticket price. 

Fraud Protection 

Heartland Secure transactions are protected by end-to-end encryption technology and are backed by a comprehensive data breach warranty. 

Your online store has an integrated payment processor with data protection that meets all PCI security standards and single and multi-use tokenization designed to protect your customers' data. The entire system offers a plug-and-play installation so integration is simple and easy and works with many different platforms. 

Heartland Secure will greatly reduce your PCI scope since payment data never enters the network and the tokenization removes sensitive data from the customer's application. Nothing is more important than keeping your customer's data safe, so this is a huge benefit that could significantly lower your chances of fraud and/or financial ruin.

Customer Support 

The company claims to answer customer service calls in less than 30 seconds on average. 

Customer service is completely U.S.-based.

Heartland states they have their own internal staff who have all undergone a background check and that they never outsource any of their products or services to other companies, nor do they use independent contractors, sub-ISOs, or reseller organizations of any kind.

Payroll Services

If you’re looking for services beyond payment systems, Heartland offers a number of business services that can be integrated into your payment system. 

Heartland offers full-service employee payroll services with a dedicated payroll consultant, all-inclusive pricing, and no extra fees or hidden cost. And the company will lock in your rate for three years. Payroll features include HR support with customizable documents and other valuable resources to help keep you up-to-date on current laws and regulations. The online tools allow you to access your payroll records anytime, including schedules, policies, employee files and more.

• Early Termination Fee
• Three-Year Contract
• Additional Fees

Early Termination Fee

The most common complaint in Heartland Payment Systems reviews is the fact that Heartland's contract doesn't disclose its $295 early termination fee if you change processors or cancel for any other reason. While this fee is disclosed in the rather lengthy handbook of user guidelines, it should probably be clearer to prospective clients during the onboarding process. 

Three-Year Contract

Additionally, Heartland does have a three-year contract that will auto-renew if you don't cancel it in writing three months prior to the end of the contract. Therefore, you will need to have some way of noting your contract ending date, in the event you decide to cancel; otherwise, you will end up in a contract for another three years.

Additional Fees

Heartland Payment Systems is PCI compliant with no annual PCI compliance fee; however, they do charge a monthly fee of $25 they call a regulatory fee. Negative reviews include mentions of this regulatory fee as well as other unexpected fees, fair or not. 

Other fees mentioned in reviews include $125 for not taking a survey, $100 for a card reader, $100 for a gift card report, and $125 per month for not following compliance procedures. 

These are technically not "hidden fees" as some reviews claim, but should still probably be made more visible to prospective and current clients.