Electronic Payments Review

• What processing services can Electronic Payments offer my business?
  • In-Store Payments
  • Ecommerce and Mail/Phone Orders
  • Mobile Payments
• Other Electronic Payments Services
  • Business Funding
  • Gift Cards and Loyalty Program
• What about equipment?
• Electronic Payment Rates, Fees, and Contract Terms
• Electronic Payment Reviews and Online Reputation

What processing services can Electronic Payments offer my business?

With Electronic Payments, you are able to process all major brands of credit and debit cards, though American Express may require separate approval. You can also accept EBT and fleet fuel cards. The company does not offer electronic check acceptance.

The ProCharge platform is an in-house payment gateway that can integrate transactions across different devices and payment methods. Below we discuss the ways Electronic Payments and ProCharge can help process your transactions.

In-Store Payments

Electronic Payments can process card payments for a wide variety of industries. Depending on the equipment you are using, you can accept magstripe cards, EMV chip cards, and contactless payments, ensuring plenty of payment options for your customers.

Electronic Payments offers a variety of equipment options and can also reprogram existing equipment. One review mentions that it is not compatible with some POS systems, so check with the company if you are concerned.

ProCharge can help by streamlining your accounting process and offers QuickBooks integration, as well.

Ecommerce and Mail/Phone Orders

The ProCharge Gateway allows you to accept payments online, but Electronic Payments is also a reseller of payment gateways like the popular Authorize.Net. No matter what ecommerce needs you may have, Electronic Payments boasts it can offer you a solution.

In addition to being a gateway, ProCharge is also a virtual terminal. With a virtual terminal you are able to key-in transactions and set up recurring payments using any internet-connected computer; a good option for call centers and those who accept mail/phone orders.

Mobile Payments

Sometimes you can’t be tied to a stationary terminal. Mobile processing is a great convenience for those who need to take payments while making deliveries, attending tradeshows, performing in-home services, and more. The ProCharge mobile app allows you to use a smartphone or tablet to take card payments. An attachable card reader lets you take swiped transactions and, for those using Apple devices, a mobile receipt printer is offered as well.

Other Electronic Payments Services

Going beyond payment processing, Electronic Payments has some additional services that may benefit your business.

Business Funding

If you find yourself in need of working capital, Electronic Payments offers both a business loan and a merchant cash advance. Both claim to offer easy application and approval processes, and both will extract what you owe from your credit and debit sales. Worth noting; both could also cost you a lot of money.

Electronic Payments’ Business Loan
The business loan amount is determined by your credit and debit sales. You can be eligible for $10,000 to $750,000 to be repaid within the span of 12 months. The fixed fee is 8% of the loan amount. Depending on how this is calculated it might be better to go with a standard business loan.

If the fixed fee means you are paying 8% of the total loan, then with a $10,000 dollar loan you would end up paying $800 in interest. A standard loan with an interest rate of 8% would only cost you $438 in interest if paid back within a year. If you took out a $750,000 and calculated it the same way, you would save over $27,000 by opting for a standard loan at 8% (and you could probably find a better interest rate). It’s worth weighing the advantages of an easier process against, the overall expense.

Merchant Cash Advance
With a merchant cash advance you are basically purchasing an agreed upon amount of money for a fee. The total is paid back by extracting a percentage of your credit and debit card sales until paid in full. Unlike a loan, there is no pre-determined time frame for the merchant cash advance to be repaid. This may seem like an enticing offer, but we typically advise against them as they tend to be very costly options.

Gift Cards and Loyalty Program

Electronic Payments offers fully customizable gift cards and loyalty programs through eGiftSolutions. Every package includes a marketing kit with displays, card sleeves or envelopes, stickers, and other ways of advertising your program.

What about equipment?

With Electronic Payments you can purchase a variety of refurbished or new equipment. In some reviews leasing options are mentioned, but these are best avoided as they can cost you well beyond what the equipment is worth. For more information, read this article on Leasing a Credit Card Machine.

Clover products (like Clover Station, Clover Mini, and Clover Mobile) are featured by Electronic Payments, but other popular brands are offered as well.

Electronic Payment Rates, Fees, and Contract Terms

Pricing information is not published on Electronic Payments website, but some things can be discerned from the business responses on the company’s profile with the Better Business Bureau. The most notable concern is that Electronic Payments has a 3 year contract and charges for liquidated damages if the service is cancelled. The following quote was posted by the business as terms of its contract:

“In the event that Client terminates this Agreement before the end of the Initial or any Renewal Term, you will immediately pay EPI as liquidated damages, an early termination fee equal to the greater of $250, or $35 multiplied by the number of months remaining in the then-current term, in addition to all other amounts you owe.”

So, if you sign the contract and decide a couple months later that the service is too expensive or just not what you expected, you would be paying over $1,000 to terminate the service along with other fees that you may owe.

Another fee mentioned applies to being under the minimum processing amount. According to information in the complaints at the BBB, if you do not process enough volume the fee can range from small charges (under $10) to $90 a month. There may be other fees associated with the service as well and pricing model information for transactions was not found.

If you are interested in fully disclosed pricing information, request an Electronic Payments quote through CardFellow. Our free service is easy to use and allows you to privately compare pricing of any processors you choose. Sign up here!

Electronic Payment Reviews

As you might have guessed, the main complaint people have with Electronic Payments stems from the high early termination costs we discussed above. Not all of the reviews are negative however, and there really are not enough complaints to make a solid judgment against this company.

Electronic Payments has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since 2010. There are only 15 complaints closed in the last 3 years, and while some of them might shock you with the amount people owe the company, Electronic Payments attempts to offer fair resolutions.

Aside from complaints disputing the early termination fees, others allege erroneous charges, misleading sales representatives, verbal promises that were not upheld, and accounts being terminated without the consent of the client yet still being charged for liquidated damages. In most cases refunds were agreed to and accounts were settled.

To counter these complaints; a 5 star review was posted on Google and there is a 4 star review on Yelp. The Google review gives no explanation, but the Yelp review states that the company has fantastic tech support.

If you have worked with this company and can shed some light on its service, we want to hear from you. Leave a review!