Elavon Merchant Services Review

Rates and Fees
70/100
Truth in Advertising
80/100
Consumer Reviews
60/100
Customer Support
65/100
3.5

Best for

Best suited for businesses in the retail, healthcare, restaurant, and hospitality industries.

Specializes in

Elavon Merchant Services specializes in providing general payment processing for various businesses of many different sizes. It services the public and private sectors. 

Pricing Summary

Setup Fee: $0

Monthly Fee: $10

Swipe Rate: 2.65% + $0.19

Keyed-in Rate: 3.50% + $0.19

Early Termination Fee : $295+

Contract Terms:

3 Years
Visit Elavon Merchant Services

Elavon is one of the largest merchant account providers in the U.S. It employed over 4,000 people and was originally founded in 1991 under the name of NOVA Information Systems. It’s headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It services the public and private sectors, providing processing for the healthcare, retail, restaurant, hospitality, and education industries.

Elavon Merchant Services Overview

 

Elavon Merchant Services started as NOVA Information Systems in 1991. It has grown into a massive credit card processor in the U.S., processing billions of transactions a year to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars processed each year. 

It processes over 100 currencies. Elavon utilizes an interchange-plus pricing model. It has an overall mixed reputation, with many online complaints and very few high-star reviews across many sites. It focuses on a mix of large and small businesses in the private and public sector, processing big industries such as retail, education, and healthcare.

Quick Facts

Head Quarters

Atlanta, GA

Year Founded

1991

CEO

Jamie Walker

Employees

4351

Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance

What We Like

Large, direct processor

Full range of products and services

Interchange-plus pricing available upon request

No early termination fees

What We Don't Like

Standard three-year contract with an automatic renewal clause

No pricing disclosures on the website

Overpriced terminal leases through Ladco Global Leasing Solutions

Industries Served

  • Airlines
  • Clothing & Apparel
  • Convenience Store
  • Education
  • Educational Seminars
  • Electronics
  • Healthcare
  • Medical
  • Moving Companies
  • Personal Service
  • Property Management
  • Restaurant / Bar
  • SAAS
  • SEO & SEM Services
  • Thrift Store
  • Travel

Business Types Served

  • Ecommerce
  • High Volume
  • Low Risk
  • Mobile
  • Mom & Pop
  • MOTO
  • Online
  • Retail / Card Present
  • Small Business
  • Wholesale

Elavon Merchant Services Products & Services

 

Point 1: Debit/Credit Card Processing, POS Systems


 

Elavon Merchant Services provides good, basic processing services, such as the processing of payments from debit and credit cards and POS systems to process those services: whether that’s in-person or online, through a variety of different options. POS systems can take the form of a tablet, smartphone card reader, terminal, or other devices.

Point 2: Mobile Wallets & Payment Gateway


 

Elavon also supports mobile wallets and utilizes a strong, secure payment gateway to make the transfer of funds fast, efficient, and safe so that both the customer as well as the business are protected. Mobile wallets such as Google or Apple Pay are quickly becoming popular, and as such, are a useful feature to have. Payment Gateways are similarly useful as an integral security aspect of nearly any business.

 

Point 3: Multi-Currency Payments & Loyalty Programs


 

More useful around the world than in the U.S., multi-currency payments nonetheless have their place, especially if your industry happens to deal with foreign currencies and monies a lot of the time. Loyalty programs are some of the most efficient customer-retention that’s ever been discovered, usually causing repeat business and creating superior long-term customer engagement of up to 20% more revenue. Both are useful features for merchants.

Elavon Merchant Services Payment Processing

  • Credit Card Processing
  • Credit Card Terminals
  • Debit Card Processing
  • eCheck & ACH Processing
  • Gift Card Management
  • Mobile Payments App
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Gateway
  • POS Equipment
  • Shopping Cart Provided
  • Virtual Terminal

Elavon Merchant Services Billing & Invoicing

  • Mobile Payments
  • Multi-Currency
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Processing
  • Recurring/Subscription Billing

Elavon Merchant Services Advertising & Sales

 
Elavon uses resellers, sub-ISOs, independent sales agents, and various partnerships in order to push its services and its products. The use of independent sales agents is frowned upon in this industry, as it tends to lead to aggressive or deceptive sales reps and can harm a company’s reputation. Elavon has racked up a noticeable amount of complaints from merchants about undisclosed fees and nondisclosure of important contract terms.

Elavon doesn’t seem to engage in any kind of deceptive sales practices in its official advertising and website content. It offers interchange-plus pricing as a model. It is not a known ISO of any bank. Overall, despite the use of independent sales agents and resellers, Elavon doesn’t appear to engage in real deceit with those who use its services.

Truth in Marketing

Discloses All Important Terms

No

Public Pricing Available

No

Elavon Merchant Services Pricing, Rates & Fees

 

Elavon uses interchange-plus as its pricing model. The rates are as follows: 2.65%+$0.19 on swiped transactions, with 3.5%+$0.19 being the rate offered on keyed-in transactions. These rates are fairly industry standard. 

They are not clearly available or disclosed. Other fees include a monthly fee of $10 and a confusing early termination fee that is worded in a way that might confuse the average reader. It states, succinctly put, that the merchant will be responsible for paying whatever is greater: the previous 12 months of transactions or the following 12. This early termination fee could result in possible high charges; merchants are therefore recommended to do careful reading into the exact nature of Elavon’s early termination fee.

Pricing at a Glance

Pricing Model

Interchange PlusTiered Pricing

Swiped Rate

2.65% + $0.19

Keyed-in Rate

3.50% + $0.19

Mobile Payment Rate

Virtual Terminal Rate

Up to #.5% + $0.30

Monthly Fee

$10

Payment Gateway Fee

Up to $25

Batch Fee

Undisclosed

Early Termination Fee

$295+

PCI Compliance Fee

$29 to $59 Per Month

Equipment Lease Terms

48 Month (locked)

Address Verification Service (AVS)

Application Fee

Account Setup Fee

$0

Gateway Setup Fee

Undisclosed

Annual Fee

Monthly Minimum

Undisclosed

Statement Fee

Elavon Merchant Services Contract & Terms

Elavon features a fairly standard three-year agreement, with an early termination fee that can vary depending on how much business the merchant was doing. Other specific terms are not mentioned, and not much more information about the contract is publicly available. Several public complaints about the contract have been made; one merchant even complained about a suspected forgery of his signature being present on the contract. Merchants are recommended to carefully read all agreements with Elavon if using this company for processing.

Contract Length

3 Years

Early Termination Fee

$295+

Elavon Merchant Services Setup & Support

 

Setup Highlights

  • Documentation / Knowledge Base

Support Highlights

  • Domestic Phone Support (Business Hours)

Elavon Merchant Services Complaints, Ratings & Reviews

Elavon has a massive number of online reviews, most of them being negative. On BBB, it’s racked up hundreds of complaints, and while most have been closed, many still remain. Elavon is rated on BBB at a 1 out of 5 based on 20 reviews. 

Many other websites rate them at a 1 out of 5 stars. Yelp has them rated at 1 out of 5 stars based on 50 reviews, and Trustpilot has them rated at 1 out of 5 stars based on 120 reviews.

The most common complaints are poor customer service, nondisclosure of contract terms, and hidden fees. 

Elavon was sued in 2012 by a restaurant named Cisero over PCI Compliance fines. Elavon was involved in this because of its parent bank, U.S. Bank, which was fined by Visa and Mastercard for $90,000 due to noncompliance with PCI security standards. The owners of Cisero countersued, claiming the bank deceives merchants into signing unfair contracts, among other claims. There is no outcome to this suit as of yet.

Ratings

BBB

A+(121 complaints)

Google

2.3 Stars / 44 Reviews

Facebook

No Reviews yet

Yelp

1 Star / 45 Reviews

Reviews

Total Online Reviews

800+

Total Online Complaints

500+

Lawsuits

1

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