We’re always amazed by what extent our competitors’ salespeople will go to in order to land a new merchant account, and National Bankcard is no different. Their misleading sales tactics motivate us to continue exposing the lies and trickery of credit card processing companies. We know how difficult it is for small business owners to thrive (or even survive) in the current economy, and companies like National Bankcard aren’t making it any easier.
As we have in the past with Costco, Bank of America, QuickBooks, Chase, Merchant Warehouse, and many others, we simply entered contact information into the “get a quote” form and waited for them to contact us. We immediately received a sales email and a request for a phone conversation.
After articulating that all our business would be conducted online, the sales rep sold us on the fact that we would get 0.39% on qualified, debit card transactions and went ahead and estimated the fees on a $100 transaction. Of course, this would sound great to an unsuspecting merchant who isn’t fully informed about the reality of what was being offered. To give National Bankcard a chance to come clean with the truth, we asked them to email us a quote with the information that was shared over the phone, and this is what we received…
Stationary Terminal ……Authorize.net
Monthly Service fee…….$9.95
Gateway Service. $9.95
Month-Month Agreement
NO TERMINATION FEE
NO SET-Up Fee
Debit rate………………….0.39%
Credit rate (Qualified)….2.19%
Credit rate (MID- Qualified)….2.19%
Authorization fees. 19 Cents
Batch fee- 35 Cents
24 hours 7 days a week customer Service and Tech Support
After several emails back and forth encouraging us to fill out an online application (without seeing their full contract), we finally got the sales rep to email us a pdf copy, and this is what we discovered.
Three Reasons to Avoid National Bankcard and Their Misleading Sales Practices:
- National Bankcard salespeople will MISLEAD you about the rate you’ll be charged.
While the sales rep was quick to sell 0.39% as the qualified, debit card rate over the phone, the TRUTH is that an Internet transaction would NEVER RECEIVE THIS RATE, because the card is not swiped. Click here to download page 10 (out of 11) of their contract to see the real rates you’ll be charged. For a qualified Internet transaction (which doesn’t include any rewards or business cards), you’ll be charged a much higher rate of 2.19% + .19. If a customer uses a card with any type of rewards program, the transaction will be deemed non-qualified, and you’ll receive a surcharge of 1.49% + .10 which equals a total of 3.68% + .29. That’s a far cry from the 0.39% that they were selling us – OUCH!
. - National Bankcard NEGLECTS to tell you about a $79/year PCI fee.
As we’ve noted in the past, PCI compliance is mandatory for all merchants, but many credit card processors don’t want to scare away potential customers with a large yearly fee. National Bankcard simply left it off their initial email quote and it’s no where to be found on the contract. When we emailed the sales rep to inquire, he disclosed that there was a $79 yearly fee, but he wasn’t sure if it was on the contract or not. Don’t you think it’s a little weird that National Bankcard leaves off a $79/year fee off their contract?
. - National Bankcard automatically enrolls you in their UNNECESSARY “My Biz Perks Program” at $11.95/month.
Notice the box on the bottom of page 10 of their contract. It states, “I understand and acknowledge that I will be automatically enrolled in a 60-day free trial of the My Biz Perks Program, which includes custom reporting and alerts, supplies, extended warranty, overnight replacement on equipment, partner discounts, and more!” You can’t opt-out of this in the application…you have to go the extra step to call or email after the 60 day free trial is over. Hoping that you’ll just forget about this fee, National Bankcard is simply taking money out of your pockets each month with little or no service offered in return.
Why would you want to process credit card transactions with a merchant account provider that MISLEADS you from the beginning of your relationship? It just doesn’t make sense. Don’t fall prey to trickery of National Bankcard. There’s always a better option.