North American Bancard
Is This Your Business?1.0
2.3
Overall Score
Author: Kaitlyn Short
North American Bancard was founded in 1992 by Marc Gardner, is currently headquartered in Troy, Michigan and is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank in California. North American Bancard employs upwards of 900 people and they have over 3,000 sales partners throughout the U.S. They process more than $34 billion electronic transactions each year for more than 250,000 merchants around the country. North American Bancard offers merchant services for credit cards, debit cards, EBT, check conversions with a guarantee, gift cards, loyalty cards and more, including online payment solutions. Since its inception, North American Bancard has grown to be one of the largest merchant services providers in the U.S. Their processing services are supplied by First Data and Global Payments via their own in-house customer support.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Quick Approval
- Month to Month Service
- Contracts
Quick Approval
North American Bancard's website has limited information available. However, here is what we have been able to conclude so far. North American Bancard has a starting rate of 0.25%+$0.19 per swipe. Please note that this is a starting rate; therefore, their rates do vary and you would probably have to be a pretty large volume business to get that rate. North American Bancard states you can apply in six minutes and be approved within six hours and that your equipment will arrive pre-programmed to your specific business. They also claim they don't charge any cancellation fees and that you won't have any startup costs.
Month to Month Service
North American Bancard also claims to use month to month service agreements and that you can select from the industry's largest selection of free equipment (terminals and mobile app readers). North American Bancard's offerings are pretty much the industry standard, as far as products and services go. However, they do offer terminal leases and sales (yes, their website does state they offer "free" equipment, but it seems nothing is really free), mobile card readers and their app, which is called Phone Swipe, cash advances up to $500K, ATM services, fleet card acceptance, gift cards, and loyalty programs.
Contracts
Even though the North American Bancard's website states there is no contract, according to merchants, their standard contract is a three-year agreement that auto-renews in one-year intervals after that, if you don't provide them with a 90-day written notice of cancellation. Some merchants have noted, however, that they will release you from the contract within 45 days of signing if you return all their equipment. But that remains to be seen. Should you decide to give North American Bancard a try, it will be of the utmost importance that you get all contract waivers in writing.
The Bad
- Undisclosed Terms and Fees
- Sales Agents
Undisclosed Terms And Fees
North American Bancard uses many independent sales reps who oftentimes don't convey the correct information as far as the terms of service go. Therefore, there are numerous complaints about undisclosed terms and fees, such as: the three-year contract, liquidated damages early termination fees that are automatically debited from the merchant's account upon cancellation with the minimum being $295 up to thousands of dollars, PCI compliance fee starting at $79, cancellation fees for lease equipment, the automatic sign-up with MyBizPerks, which is actually only free for 60 days and a variety of other unexpected fees. Many unethical sales agents count on the fact that many merchants won't thoroughly read their contract before signing it; therefore, it's the merchant who is at fault when they learn they've seemingly been duped into paying what they consider "hidden fees." All of this can be avoided if everyone would thoroughly read their contract before signing. This is a good lesson for all. Don't let this be you.
Sales Agents
Oftentimes, how the contract and its terms of service are presented to you are just a matter of who your sales agent is; therefore, if your particular sales agent is telling you something, or seemingly not telling you everything you need to know, you should consider contacting another sales agent to see if what you are being told is the same or similar. Not all independent sales agents use unethical or deceptive tactics to get you to sign the contract; therefore, the burden of proof is up to you. And this may require your digging a little deeper to make sure what you are being told is factual, and that you completely understand all the terms of service exactly as they are stated in your particular contract.
The Bottom Line
North American Bancard does attempt to resolve many of the issues found on the public forums, which is good to see. However, merchants shouldn't have to launch a public complaint before getting North American Bancard's attention. It's extremely disturbing to see the number of recent complaints from merchants on many of the public forums regarding deceptive marketing tactics and the huge number of recent complaints about undisclosed fees and undisclosed terms of service. But this goes back to making sure you thoroughly read the terms of the contract before you sign it. After performing your own due diligence and receiving a customized rate quote from North American Bancard, you might decide they are the best merchant services provider for you. However, if you do, we again want to remind you to read the contract thoroughly and make sure you get a signed waiver for any contract variances you have agreed upon. By doing this, you should be able to avoid any surprises. Unfortunately, with the number of serious recent complaints, the unresponsiveness of customer support and the seemingly overwhelming amount of unethical sales tactics going around, we can't consciously give North American Bancard a very high rating. Even though most of these complaints are due to the actions of their independent resellers. If North American Bancard can't get a better handle on who they allow to represent them, then we feel they don't care enough about who they allow to handle your money. This is a serious enough matter to warrant a heads up to anyone who may be considering North American Bancard for their merchant services provider.
