Sams Club Review

• About Sam’s Club Merchant Services
• Payment processing services
• Equipment
• Security and fraud prevention
• Sam’s Club Merchant Services rates and fees
• Sam’s Club Merchant Services reviews and reputation

About Sam’s Club Merchant Services

Sam’s Club Merchant Services partners with processor First Data to offer payment processing. First Data is a leader in payment processing, serving millions of customers and processing more than 60 billion transactions each year. Sam’s Club Merchant Services is available to businesses of all sizes and can be used for processing in-person, online, and by mobile device. Sam’s Club Merchant Payment Processing is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank.

Payment Processing Services

When using Sam’s Club for payment processing you can accept a wide range of payment types, including traditional credit cards (such MasterCard, Visa, Discover, and American Express), debit cards, gift cards, and checks. You may also be able to take newer contactless payment technologies.

Payments can be accepted in person, online, with a mobile device, or by phone or mail. Additionally, merchants have access to a secure online portal to view reports in real time. The online portal can be accessed for any internet-connected computer and can be used for easy reconciliation, creating custom reports, and more.

In Person Processing

You can accept payments in-person by utilizing traditional point-of-sale equipment. Sam’s Club offers a range of compliant terminals and devices for in-person processing. Some equipment can process checks and contactless payments in addition to traditional credit and debit cards.

Online Processing

Sam’s Club offers First Data’s Global Gateway for online processing. The global gateway has both hosted checkout and web API options. The hosted checkout seamlessly connects a page hosted with First Data to your business website, allowing customers to enter their information directly to First Data servers for security. The hosted solution works with a variety of popular shopping carts and supports all major credit cards, including Level II cards.

The web service API allows you to fully integrate the Global Gateway and customize payment acceptance. The API is compatible with multiple programming languages and can be integrated with a variety of existing shopping carts. With the web service API, you can customize payment pages to match your existing website’s look. In addition to processing traditional cards, the global gateway API can accept checks and newer forms of payment, such as PayPal, Google Checkout, and Amazon Payments.

Mobile Device Processing

If you need to take payments outside of a traditional store environment, Sam’s Club offers mobile processing with Pogo, a free app that can be downloaded. Pogo offers card readers for sale, allowing you to connect the reader directly to your smartphone or tablet for swiping transactions. Swiped transactions may receive lower processing rates than manually entered transactions.

Phone and Mail Processing

With Sam’s Club Merchant Services, you can also accept payments when the card isn’t present, such as for phone and mail orders. The real-time payment manager is a virtual terminal that allows you to process transactions from any internet-connected computer, eliminating the need for specialized equipment. The virtual terminal can support credit cards, debit cards, and checks, and includes automatic tax calculation, reporting options and fraud prevention tools for security. Additionally, you can set up recurring billing, ideal if you offer goods or services on a recurring payment schedule. You can also customize receipts to include business-specific branding.

Equipment

Sam’s Club Merchant Services offers equipment both for sale and for lease. Features vary by model, but may include options like check acceptance, wireless connectivity, integrated PIN pads, and more. Sam’s Club also offers a selection of accessory devices, including check readers. All of the models offered are First Data brand.

Additionally, Sam’s Club offers the popular Clover Station, a full-featured system designed to simplify business by doing everything in one system. The Clover Station lets you accept payments, track inventory, manage employees, and more. Optional peripherals such as PIN pads can be added to increase payment acceptance functionality.

Reminder: Currently, Clover stations cannot be reprogrammed. This means that if you purchase your Clover through Sam’s Club Merchant Services, you will not be able to continue using it with another processor if you want to switch from Sam’s Club in the future.

Sam’s Club also offers the First Data Restaurant Solution and First Data Retail Solution.

Restaurant Solution

The First Data Restaurant Solution is a full-featured restaurant point-of-sale system available for lease. Built-in payment processing and a touchscreen help process information quickly, keeping your business running smoothly. You can track sales and ordering, create and edit menus and pricing with a menu management option, settle end of shift server reports for each employee, print kitchen tickets, and more. The Restaurant solution is ideal for fine dining, pizzerias, coffee shops, bars, casual restaurants, and even restaurants that are part of another business, such as golf course restaurants, but we do remind you that leasing equipment is not always in your best interest. Be sure to weigh the costs of leasing vs. purchasing carefully when deciding on a system.

Retail Solution

The First Data Retail Solution is a PC-based system designed for retailers, combining a computer, inventory management software, and payment processing. You can create sales and inventory reports, generate purchase orders, and include prompts on-screen to help cashiers upsell. The retail solution features a 3-year warranty and is ideal for general retail stores, convenience stores, liquor stores, and more.

Security and Fraud Prevention

Sam’s Club offers PCI compliant equipment for cardholder and business security. Additionally, you may benefit from First Data’s TransArmor security solution, providing extra security against fraud and suspicious activity. The online processing gateway options utilize industry-standard 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption.

Sam’s Club Merchant Services Rates and Fees

Unfortunately, Sam’s Club Merchant Services rates and fees can be complex and opaque. Take published pricing with a grain of salt.

Sam’s Club offers two rate packages: OneRate and ValueRate.

OneRate

The Sam’s Club OneRate package offers flat-rate processing by charging a monthly fee instead of percentages and fees. The monthly rate varies depending on processing volume and is geared toward low-volume merchants, as follows:

Monthly Processing Volume:
Up to $800: $19/month
$801 - $1,800: $39/month
$1,801 - $3,300: $79/month

Rates apply to valid Visa, MasterCard, and Discover transactions. American Express transactions may be priced at a different rate.

Flat rate pricing may be available for merchants with higher monthly processing volume. Merchants with volume over $3,300 who want to utilize Sam’s Club’s OneRate pricing will need to contact Sam’s Club Merchant Services directly for a quote.

OneRate boasts no monthly minimums, no surcharges or downgrade charges, and no early termination fees, effectively creating a month-to-month agreement. Additional fees may apply.

ValueRate

The Sam’s Club ValueRate package offers pricing by business type, as follows: