by Ben Dwyer It’s likely that if you’ve been looking for a credit card processor, you’ve come across Payment Depot. While it hasn’t been around very long, the company has enjoyed a lot of name recognition as a “membership” style payment processor, offering no percentage markup and instead charging monthly membership and per-transaction fees.
“Membership”-style pricing is a spin on interchange plus. Essentially, you pay a higher monthly or annual “membership” fee but no percentage markup to the processor.
Many businesses think that means there’s no percentage charge at all. It’s important that you understand you’ll still pay percentage-based fees, it’s just that Payment Depot doesn’t keep those fees. We’ll cover this in depth in the rates section of this review.
Note: Payment Depot offers certified quotes through the CardFellow marketplace. You can request an instant quote to review in private through this profile or by creating a free CardFellow account.
- History and Explanations
- What services does Payment Depot offer?
- Rates and Fees
- Equipment
- Is there a contract or cancellation fee with Payment Depot?
- Payment Depot Reviews
History and Explanations
Payment Depot was founded in 2013 in California and offers membership-based credit card processing accounts. The company uses First Data as its processing network and is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank.
Before we get into the rest of the info about Payment Depot, there are a few things that need clarification. The company touts itself as the only processor to offer “wholesale” rates and states it charges “no markup” but neither of those statements is completely accurate.
“Wholesale” Rates
Any processor that offers interchange plus pricing with true pass-through is essentially offering “wholesale” credit card processing. That is not exclusive to Payment Depot. Payment Depot’s membership model works by charging the cost of interchange, the same as other interchange plus processors, and then charging its own fee separately.
When Payment Depot (or any processor) refer to wholesale, they’re talking about two components of processing costs: interchange and assessments. Interchange is the largest component of cost. It goes to the banks that issue cards to your customers, and it’s the same for every processor. Assessments are smaller charges that go to the card brands (Visa, Mastercard) and is also the same for every processor.
Interchange + assessments together are the “wholesale” cost of processing. If you paid only wholesale, a processor would break even, making no money on your account.
Of course, processors are businesses and they need to make money, too. So they charge a markup, or a fee on top of the wholesale costs.
Companies (like Payment Depot) that charge you the “true” wholesale cost (that is, the rates and fees set by the banks and Visa/Mastercard) can truthfully say that they’re offering you “wholesale” pricing.
Companies that “pad” interchange or assessments are not offering you wholesale rates.
With that cleared up, let’s discuss markup – the way that processors make money.
“No Markup”
Every processor charges a markup. As noted above, if a processor only charged you wholesale and no markup, they wouldn’t make money and would quickly be out of business.
What varies is how they charge it. Processors can charge a markup separate from wholesale, or they can bundle it together. It’s more transparent to charge it separately, which Payment Depot does.
While there is a markup, Payment Depot doesn’t charge a percentage of each transaction for their markup. Instead, they charge a flat per-transaction fee. That fee, other monthly fees, and the membership fee all contribute to Payment Depot’s markup.
“Wholesale rates” and “no markup” are basically marketing phrases that aren’t strictly correct, but neither is negative or misleading enough to warrant not working with Payment Depot. The company’s website does explain that there are costs and the company doesn’t publish “teaser” or “starter” rates.
The company does have the ability to offer competitive, transparent pricing and places certified quotes in the CardFellow marketplace. The explanations we’ve provided here are included purely for clarification and educational purposes.
What services does Payment Depot offer?
Payment Depot gives you the ability to accept major credit and debit cards in person, online, or using your mobile phone. For taking cards in person, you can choose to use handheld and countertop terminals, full point-of-sale solutions including tablet-based systems, or mobile readers that connect to your smartphone. Internet orders can be processed by setting up an Authorize.Net payment gateway to allow your customers to make purchases directly through your e-commerce website.
Payment Depot boasts automatic deposit of your funds in 1-2 business days.
Customer service is available 24 hours a day, including Spanish-speaking support. The Payment Depot website also boasts automatic deposit of your funds in 1-2 business days.
Breach Protection
In late 2018, Payment Depot announced that breach protection would be included in annual membership fees. Breach protection comes from North American Data Security RPG, a risk purchasing group and is available to businesses that have not yet had a data breach or security compromise and are not level 1 merchant.
The policy provides up to $100,000 of protection per merchant account, up to a limit of $500,000 for businesses with 5 or more merchant accounts.
Limitations
Payment Depot generally markets itself to traditional retailers and restaurants. The company does not offer high risk merchant accounts.
Additionally, if you’re looking to integrate your credit card processing with QuickBooks, Payment Depot will not be the right fit.
Payment Depot prefers not to handle “specialty” processing scenarios. If you need processing for a business that fits the criteria above, CardFellow can help you locate a good fit at great pricing.
Rates and Fees
Payment Depot charges using membership and per-transaction fees on top of interchange costs, and that’s how they quote through CardFellow. There is no percentage markup when processing with Payment Depot. In the CardFellow marketplace, you’ll still see Payment Depot’s quote broken down so you can easily view all the rates and fees and won’t be hit with hidden expenses.
Payment Depot’s website lists the following plans:
As you can see, the basic plan will cost you $49/month plus 15 cents per transaction, on top of the costs of interchange and assessments. It ranges up to $199 plus 5 cents per transaction on top of the costs of interchange and assessments for the Premier plan. Remember, Payment Depot does not control interchange or assessments, but you’ll still be charged those costs.
Note that pricing may be lower within the CardFellow system. Additionally, getting a Payment Depot quote through CardFellow will provide you with an estimate of the costs of interchange and assessments so you can see what your “all in” rates will be.
Fill out an instant quote request form to see Payment Depot pricing.
Volume Limits
Payment Depot’s membership and transaction charges are based on volume. When you enter your processing details to get a quote from Payment Depot, the correct membership and transaction amount for your particular business will be disclosed in your quote. Yearly memberships range from $199 and $0.25 per transaction for businesses processing less than $10,000/month to $599 and $0.10 per transaction for businesses processing less than $100,000/month. Memberships may be paid monthly instead of yearly, but the costs are higher. Yearly memberships are about 20% less expensive than paying monthly.
You can also change your membership package at any time. If you process more than the allowance for your current plan, you will automatically be moved to the plan with a processing allowance that fits your processing volume when your plan renews annually.
Equipment
For businesses that need equipment, Payment Depot has several options. You can either purchase machines, or use a virtual terminal (included with some membership types) to key in transactions. Payment Depot can also set up Authorize.Net gateways, if you’d rather use that.
If you’re interested in purchasing new equipment, Payment Depot can get you set up with popular brands like Verifone. Since Payment Depot runs on the First Data processing network, they can also support First Data machines including the new Clover terminals.
If you already have equipment, Payment Depot may be able to reprogram it at no cost.
Is there a contract or cancellation fee with Payment Depot?
Remember, if you choose a certified Payment Depot quote through CardFellow, there is never a cancellation fee. We prohibit any early termination fees for all certified quotes in our marketplace.
Additionally, Payment Depot’s 100% Satisfaction Guarantee allows full or partial refund of memberships for cancelled accounts. If you cancel your account within 90 days of when you opened it, Payment Depot will refund your entire annual membership fee. If you cancel after 90 days, Payment Depot will refund a pro-rated amount of your membership fee.
For equipment, you must return the Payment Depot terminal in good working order to receive credit for the terminal. If you do not return the terminal, you will be charged $299, to be deducted from your refund or paid by credit card to Payment Depot.
Payment Depot Reviews
Payment Depot is a fairly young company in the processing industry, but has started garnering a positive reputation, in part because of the marketing statements we discussed in the history and explanations section above.
The company is often praised for transparency and for offering a simpler approach to fees.
Payment Depot at the Better Business Bureau
Accredited since 2015, Payment Depot has an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau, and has had 2 complaints lodged against it. Complaints express frustration getting issues resolved related to fraud and chargebacks, and with payments processed online. In both cases, Payment Depot replied to the complaints, but the businesses were not happy with the proposed resolution in either instance.
Payment Depot according to the Payment Depot Website
For insight from current clients, Payment Depot provides testimonials on their website, which include the company name of the reviewer to lend authenticity to the review. Reviews praise customer service and great pricing.
The company includes video testimonials with customers explaining how they saved money or had positive experiences with customer service staff.
CardFellow’s Experience
Payment Depot places certified quotes in the CardFellow marketplace, meaning it has agreed to play by our rules. CardFellow and Payment Depot have a legal agreement that dictates what can and can’t be done when placing certified quotes. By placing certified quotes in the CardFellow marketplace, Payment Depot agrees to a lifetime rate lock, no cancellation fee, fully disclosed quotes, and more.
While we felt it necessary to add some clarification to how Payment Depot characterizes its pricing on its website and in marketing materials, we do agree with the underlying principle of Payment Depot’s services, which is to offer transparent interchange plus pricing. We find that Payment Depot strives to be upfront about costs and does not engage in the sort of deceptive practices that many tiered pricing processors employ.
CardFellow stands behind all processors that place certified quotes in our marketplace, and that holds true for Payment Depot. When you work with Payment Depot through CardFellow, you’ll have a dedicated rep at Payment Depot and can also contact CardFellow if you have any questions or concerns. This dual customer service approach ensures that you’ll get fast, accurate answers from payment experts.
