Best for
APEX Merchant Group is best for small to mid-sized businesses of different industries.
Specializes in
APEX Merchant Group (APEX) is a merchant account provider for many small and mid-sized businesses in various industries. The company resells payment processing services of First American Payments Systems, a merchant accounts provider with that has its own proprietary payment gateway and virtual terminal solution.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: Undisclosed
Swipe Rate: Variable
Keyed-in Rate: Variable
Early Termination Fee : $495
Contract Terms:
APEX is a reseller of First American Payments Systems merchant account services, payment gateway, and virtual terminal solutions. The company is an ISO/MSP of Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Based on the Better Business Bureau website, APEX started operations in 2008. The company is headquartered in Plano, Texas, and was founded by Andrew Frankel.
APEX was founded in 2008 by Andrew Frankel, the President, and CEO of the company. In April 2015, First American Payments Systems acquired APEX. The consolidation of the acquisition seems to have been disorderly based on numerous unanswered complaints against the company on the BBB website, which the company finally responded to with the statement that APEX email servers had been discontinued.
APEX had offered a tiered pricing plan with a 3-year contract through First American Payment Systems that auto-renews annually unless canceled explicitly within a certain period before renewal. The agreement also carries a hefty early termination fee of $495.
APEX hires independent sales teams only, effectively a sales team hiring mill, resulting in many complaints about its sales tactics.
APEX is not accredited with the BBB and has an A- rating from the bureau. The company had ten complaints in the last three years and eight complaints in the previous 12 months. Although it may seem that the company is improving its compliant record, in fact, APEX is now defunct as the company's website times out as visitors attempt to load the webpage and email servers are discontinued.
Head Quarters
Plano, Texas
Year Founded
2008
CEO
Andrew Frankel
Employees
40
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
Zero setup fee.
Provides merchant account services.
Has a payment gateway.
Virtual terminal solutions are available.
Tailors solutions for small and midsize businesses.
Early termination fee.
Three year contract that automatically renews.
Employs an independent sales team.
Website does not work.
Has a tiered pricing plan.
Payment Processing: APEX has been a reseller of First American Payments Systems payment processing services. The company has tailored its solutions for small and mid-sized businesses of various industries.
Point of Sale (POS) – APEX offered point of sale (POS) terminal leases, although it's unclear which vendor or the duration of those lease contracts.
Tertiary Services
Payment Gateway and Virtual Terminal – APEX offered a payment gateway and API solution from 1stPayGateway, another First American Payments Systems company.
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
No
APEX has offered expensive tiered pricing 3-year contracts, and rates varied depending on the agent merchants interacted with.
Swiped Rate – Variable
Keyed-in Rate – Variable
Contract term – Three years with 1-year subsequent auto-renewals
Early termination fees – $495
PCI compliance fee – $125/year
Annual fee – $95
Monthly Minimum fee – Undisclosed
Pricing Model
Tiered Pricing
Swiped Rate
Variable
Keyed-in Rate
Variable
Mobile Payment Rate
Virtual Terminal Rate
Variable
Monthly Fee
Undisclosed
Payment Gateway Fee
Undisclosed
Batch Fee
Variable
Early Termination Fee
$495
PCI Compliance Fee
$125 Per Year
Equipment Lease Terms
Undisclosed
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Annual Fee
$95
Monthly Minimum
Unsdisclosed
Statement Fee
APEX had offered a tiered pricing plan with a 3-year contract through First American Payment Systems that auto-renews annually unless canceled explicitly within a certain period before renewal. The agreement also carries a hefty early termination fee of $495.
Contract Length
3 Years
Early Termination Fee
$495
APEX isn't accredited with the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and has an A- rating. The company had ten complaints in the 36 months and eight over the last 12 months.
In October 2014, a lawsuit was filed against APEX by the Minnesota Attorney General for fraudulently altering contract terms and using 'bait and switch' trickery to get merchants into higher rates than initially agreed upon. APEX settled the lawsuit and agreed to a fine of $550,000 and a six-year ban on offering merchant services in the state of Minnesota by both Andrew Frankel and Arthur Banks. The company also agreed to release all Minnesota merchant clients from their contractual agreements without an early termination fee.
BBB
A- but is not BBB Accredited. (0 Review; 10 Complaints)
N/A
No Recommendations & Reviews
Yelp
N/A
Total Online Reviews
300+
Total Online Complaints
120+
Lawsuits
1
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