Chase Merchant Services is the merchant services subsidiary of mammoth JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
Originally established in 1985 as Chase Paymentech, the company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas. A European office is located in Dublin, Ireland. The company is one of the largest processors in the United States, serving over 480,000 businesses and processing over $1 trillion annually.
Naturally, they function as an acquiring bank, able to establish merchant relationships and process their own transactions. This type of business entity is also known as a direct processor, as you wont have to deal with any middlemen when using your merchant account. For such a large company, Chase has received remarkably few complaints from merchants.
Their current total of 35 complaints with the BBB in the last three years represents a mere 0.007% of their customer base. This remarkably low rate has been consistent throughout our last few review updates and is a good indicator that the company trains their sales force well and generally provides quality customer service after the sale. The main advantage of going with Chase is that you eliminate the middleman and deal directly with the company that will be processing your transactions.
You may be able to negotiate better rates and contract terms, and you wont get the run-around between your merchant account provider and your processor in the event of a chargeback or account freeze. Theyre both the same company. Chase no longer discloses any of its processing rates, but they offer a choice of either flat-rate pricing or interchange-plus.
Their flat-rate pricing plan is designed for small businesses, and the rates are comparable to those charged by Square. Youll have to ask if you want interchange-plus pricing, and youll probably also have to meet a certain (undisclosed) minimum monthly processing volume. Note that the flat-rate pricing plan does not include a monthly account fee, while youll have to pay $10.00 per month for the lower interchange-plus rates.
We also recommend that you avoid dealing with the companys sub-ISOs, if at all possible. Overall, were quite pleased with Chase Merchant Services. The company has a solid reputation and ethical business practices.
While I doubt they can give you the level of personal attention youd get from a smaller processor, the competitive rates, fair contract terms, and state-of-the-art technology might be enough to make up for it, depending on the needs of your business. Chase Merchant Services earns a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating for its excellent terms, solid business practices and up-to-date processing hardware.
