Best for
Businesses that mainly process transactions through the use of a mobile device and that are interested in using Groupon vouchers.
Specializes in
Groupon Payments specializes in a mobile payment processing app that also accepts Groupon vouchers.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: $0
Swipe Rate: 1.99% + $0.15
Keyed-in Rate: 2.49% + $0.15
Early Termination Fee : None
Contract Terms:
Groupon Payments is a payment aggregator, also known as a third-party payment processor. This makes it similar to other payment aggregators such as Stripe, Square, or PayPal. The payment processor it uses is Global Payments.
Groupon Payments used to offer POS systems designed by Breadcrumb, however, they sold Breadcrumb in 2016. At this time they mainly offer payment processing for keyed-in or mobile transactions.
Their mobile app is called Groupon Merchant. This app lets you process all payments and use Groupon vouchers. They also offer a card reader.
Groupon Payments was launched as a competitor to other payment aggregators such as Square and Stripe. As a third-party payment processor, Groupon Payments outsources payment processing to Global Payments.
Groupon Payments used to offer POS systems through Breadcrumb, however, they sold Breadcrumb in 2016. At this time their main offer is their app called Groupon Merchant. The app is mainly used on mobile devices and is mainly used to run Groupon deals and process Groupon vouchers.
It appears at this time you can also process transactions through the app with Groupon Payments. This is done through a card reader that attaches to a mobile device or tablet. Payment information is collected through the card reader or can be keyed in manually.
Groupon Payments offers its lowest transaction rates to companies that run daily deals with Groupon. These rates are quite good, but may not be available to everyone. Thus Groupon Payments is likely the best fit for companies that plan to use Groupon heavily.
Some customers also complain that Groupon takes too much of their money, changes terms without notice, and does not deposit their money at the time advertised.
Head Quarters
Chicago, Illinois
Year Founded
2008
CEO
Aaron Cooper
Employees
6000
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
Hardware and Software
Groupon Payments offers physical card readers that work with their app, Groupon Merchant. The card readers can attach to mobile phones or tablets.
One of the card readers they have provided is the Verifone VS 520.
Value-Added Services
The Groupon Merchant app processes all payments as well as gift cards, and Groupon vouchers, and offers real-time reporting.
Supported Payment Types and Services
The Groupon Merchant app is compatible with all major credit and debit cards including:
Visa
Discover
Mastercard
American Express
In addition to mobile payment through apps like Google Pay and Apple Wallet.
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
No
The Groupon Merchant app is free to download and use to set up Groupon campaigns and process vouchers.
For merchants that want to use the payment processing services, Groupon Payments advertises swiped in rates as low as 1.8% plus $0.15 for Visa, Mastercard, and Discover. Their Amex rates are 3% plus $0.15.
However, these low rates are only available for merchants that run “Daily Deals” with Groupon.
For customers who do not meet that criteria, the swiped rates increase to 2.2% plus $0.15. Their Amex rate is likely higher for this group as well, but they don’t clarify what it increases to.
They advertise no hidden fees, no early termination fees, and no PCI Compliance fees.
At one point they also had an offer of allowing $5,000 worth of transactions for free, but it is unclear if this offer is still available.
Pricing Model
Flat Rate
Swiped Rate
1.99% + $0.15
Keyed-in Rate
2.49% + $0.15
Mobile Payment Rate
Virtual Terminal Rate
Monthly Fee
$0
Payment Gateway Fee
Batch Fee
Early Termination Fee
None
PCI Compliance Fee
None
Equipment Lease Terms
Variable
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Annual Fee
Monthly Minimum
$0
Statement Fee
None
There is no contract required to use Groupon Payments. This means it is essentially a month-to-month service that customers can cancel at any time with no penalty.
Contract Length
No Contract RequiredMonth-to-month
Early Termination Fee
None
Setup is as easy as downloading the Groupon Merchant app. They can then obtain the mobile card reader which will attach to their mobile device. At this point, they are ready to process payments through the mobile app. Businesses can accept payments by typing manually into the app, or by using the card reader.
BBB Rating
There are no Better Business Bureau profiles for either Groupon Payments or Groupon Merchant.
Other Online Reviews
The Groupon Merchant app currently has a rating of 4.0 in the Apple app store. This is out of 336 ratings.
Positive reviews state that it's been a cost-effective way to advertise and get new customers.
There are some online complaints of companies not getting their payments in the time advertised.
There are also complaints of Groupon having poor customer service and their merchants having difficulty canceling their accounts.
BBB
A+ and has been Accredited since 2009.
N/A
1 Star. Based on the opinion of 2 people
Yelp
N/A
Total Online Reviews
200+
Total Online Complaints
25+
Lawsuits
None
If you're in the market for a merchant account provider, be sure to check out our user reviews, our merchant accounts guide and our top popular merchant provider picks