Velocity Merchant Services Review

• What payment processing services does Velocity Merchant Services offer?
  • In-Store
  • Mobile
  • Ecommerce or Mail/Phone Orders
• Other Services
• Does VMS offer equipment?
• Velocity Merchant Services Rates, Fees, and Contract Terms
• Velocity Merchant Services Reviews
  • Reviews and Rating with the Better Business Bureau
  • Reviews with Ripoff Report
  • Google Reviews
  • Yelp Reviews

What payment processing services does Velocity Merchant Services offer?

VMS offers basic card payment processing services, allowing you to accept all major brands of credit and debit cards. EBT/SNAP payments, contactless payments, and EMV cards are also acceptable with in-person transactions whether in-store or mobile. If ecommerce or mail/phone order service is what you are interested in, VMS offers a virtual terminal, a payment gateway, and website building tools.

In-Store

If you do business in a traditional brick and mortar location, you probably already know that many customers take card payments for granted. With VMS you won’t have to worry about losing a sale for lack of card processing options. The company also offers terminals and point of sale systems if you are looking for equipment.

Mobile

If you travel from place to place and want a quick, convenient way of taking payments, mobile processing is an excellent option. Velocity Merchant Services offers Clover Go and iCharge. Both are small card readers that attach to your smartphone or tablet and allow you to take card payments.

Clover Go can accept both EMV chip and swipe card payments; iCharge only accepts swipe card payments, but both offer reporting, addition of tips, and the ability to email or text receipts.

VMS also offers Clover Mobile which is a full point of sale system that is can be easily carried. It can accept EMV, contactless, and swiped card payments.

Ecommerce and Mail/Phone Orders

An online store gives your customers 24/7 service wherever they have internet. With Velocity Merchant Services’ cloud-based virtual terminal and gateway, you can accept payments online, either through an ecommerce website, or by entering information into a payment form. Virtual terminals are ideal for businesses who take orders by phone or mail, while the payment gateway enables ecommerce transactions.

If your business offers goods or services on a pre-set recurring basis (such as subscription businesses or monthly clubs), Velocity Merchant Services can also support recurring billing, eliminating the need to manually bill customers every time a payment is due. Also, VMS syncs with QuickBooks for easy order management.

If you are new to ecommerce and wanted to build a website, VMS had in-house web designers and templates you can choose from to get started. The websites are formatted for any device and have many features to choose from.

Other Services

VMS goes beyond payment processing with services that can help enhance your business. Loyalty programs, software for business insights, and business funding are also available.

Perka Loyalty Program

People gravitate to rewards and personalized experiences; with VMS you can incorporate those allures into your business with Perka. The Perka app is an interactive, digital loyalty program that you can customize to offer rewards to repeat customers. You can also connect with customers and make special offers to draw in more business.

Insightics Software

If you wonder about ways to market or expand your business, then knowing things like spending habits of customers and how much business competitors are getting can help inspire new ideas. VMS offers Insightics from First Data, and as the name suggests, the program offers business insights with tools to help analyze a database of customer spending information.

Business Funding

Velocity Merchant Services offers business funding in the form of merchant cash advances. While these tend to be much easier to get approved for than loans, be aware that they are often much more costly.

Does VMS offer equipment?

Yes. Velocity Merchant Services does offer equipment for purchase but not all of the available options are listed on its website. According to some reviews, VMS offers equipment leases through Northern Leasing, a company that we highly suggest not working with due to its questionable business practices. Read more about Northern Leasing lawsuits and practices.

Velocity Merchant Services Rates, Fees, and Contract Terms

Velocity Merchant Services does not publish any rates, fees or contract terms on its website. However, within the terms and conditions you will find that the contract term is listed as being 3 years. Also, it automatically renews for a year every year after the initial term. If you want to end the contract early, you can expect a $695 early termination fee.

Pricing is not given and can vary from business to business. If you are interested in knowing how much VMS would cost your business, you can request a quote through CardFellow. Our free service allows you to privately receive fully disclosed Velocity Merchant Services pricing information and compare it with any other processors you choose. Sign up here!

Velocity Merchant Services Reviews

As mentioned in the introduction, there are quite a few incriminating reviews claiming that Velocity Merchant Services representatives are dishonest and lock people into contracts before disclosing all the details. It is pretty much the number one complaint at the Better Business Bureau and Ripoff Report. There is some redemption from positive reviews, and one that changed its low rating after a personal phone call from the CEO.

Reviews and Rating with the Better Business Bureau

Currently VMS is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau, but does have a profile with an A- rating and 27 complaints closed within the last 3 years. Reviewers claim that they were told there was no contract and they could cancel at any time without penalty. One claims that they were signed up for multiple accounts when they needed only one and told they must pay $1000 in order to cancel. Others say they were not made aware of the contract auto-renewing. Often the reviewers find out about these issues when they try and cancel due to rates that were much higher than promised or outrageous fees associated with leasing equipment and other issues. In most cases the company argues that the contract must be adhered in spite of the allegations.

There are also two negative reviews for Velocity Merchant Services on the BBB website. The reviews complain of complicated account statements, being constantly pressured to sign up, difficulty reaching customer service, and (again) expensive cancellation fees despite being told there was no early termination fee for the service.

Reviews with Ripoff Report

The 18 complaints on Ripoff Report generally declare deceptive practices. The complaints about contract terms and cancellation fees are echoed here. Other reviews claim that the company falsified information. In a couple of reviews ex-employees come forth and allege that the company encouraged aggressive sales tactics, giving false information, misrepresenting the company as Visa MasterCard (also VMC), and for the sales representatives to call themselves “financial advisors.”

Google Reviews

The main complaint in the 26 Google reviews seems to be about harassment from cold callers. Reviewers claim that they made it clear they did not want to be called and were not interested in VMS’ service, but representatives would not stop. Other reviews allege that VMS representatives are liars and con artists, and go so far as to surmise that positive reviews for the company are fake. There are 13 positive reviews that argue Velocity Merchant Services has been extremely helpful with resolving issues and has excellent customer service.  

Yelp Reviews

Lastly, reviews on Yelp continue the claim of deceptive sales tactics and bad customer service. Originally comprised of 4 reviews giving VMS 1 star, one review changed to a 5 star rating after claiming that the CEO reached out to him and fixed his rates to make it worthwhile to stay with the company.

While the outcry of negative reviews can be alarming, remember that not everyone has the same experience even with the same processor and that pricing is specific to individual businesses.

If you have worked with this company and would like to share your experience, leave a review!