Best for
Cornerstone Payment Systems is suitable for religious organizations, small businesses, online businesses, and eCommerce merchants.
Specializes in
Cornerstone Payment Systems is a faith-based, Christian merchant account provider operating out of Tustin, California. It focuses on reducing rates for merchants and providing them with analytical reports on their current providers’ fees.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: $21
Swipe Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%
Keyed-in Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%
Early Termination Fee : Undisclosed
Contract Terms:
Cornerstone Payment Systems was founded in 2001. There is no published information on its founding members. It is a Christian-focused credit card processing company committed to reducing rates and helping merchants save on their monthly fees. It is a registered ISO of Deutsche Bank, USA, New York, NY. Based on its model, small businesses and religious organizations seem to constitute the majority of its clients. It employs 22 people.
Cornerstone Payment Systems was founded in 2001 and has been in business for twenty years. Its main goal is to reduce both fees and costs for operating merchants. According to its website, it offers a 'full complement of merchant processing services’, and its clients include retail stores, brick-and-mortar shops, and online businesses. Its pricing model is not fully disclosed, but instead presented as having no set rates with solutions specifically catered to each business.
This suggests that the merchant account provider offers customized plans, rates, and contracts on a business-by-business basis. Cornerstone Payment Systems offers free rate analysis for the merchants who choose to use it, which helps reveal high fees from other merchant account providers.
Its overall reputation seems to be on the higher end. There are very few online complaints regarding Cornerstone Payment Systems.
Head Quarters
Tustin, CA
Year Founded
2001
CEO
Nick Logan
Employees
22
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
Zero setup fee.
Reduces rates for merchants and provides analytical reports on their current provider fees.
Tailors solutions for each individual client.
Good for small businesses, religious organizations, ecommerce merchants and online businesses.
Offers EMV chip and NFC technology to merchants.
Public pricing is not available.
Not all terms are disclosed.
There is a monthly fee.
Employs independent sales agents.
Has a PCI compliance fee.
Point 1: Free Rate Analysis, Customized Plans for Merchants
Cornerstone Payment Systems offers a free rate analysis for merchants already using another credit card processing company. Afterwards, it uses this data to advise merchants on how to save money by switching to Cornerstone Payment Systems as their main payment processor. It also offers customized plans for merchants depending on their respective business, which can benefit specific industries depending on the regularity of revenue, risk, volume or size of transactions, and other factors.
Point 2: Full Complement of Merchant Processing Services
Cornerstone Payment Systems offers a variety of merchant processing services. It doesn't provide much detail on said services via its website; however, certain assumptions can be made based on other companies' standard services. Processing debit and credit cards, POS solutions, cash advances, and different types of services are common amongst merchant account providers. Cornerstone Payment Systems also offers these services to its clients.
Point 3: EMV and NFC Technologies for Merchants
Cornerstone Payment Systems offers EMV Chip and NFC technologies for merchants to use. This is increasingly important as it’s now an industry-standard following its 2015 release. NFC is used for contactless payment systems. EMV Chip technology vastly reduces the amount of fraud from debit and credit card transactions by encrypting customer information. Both of these are highly valuable for merchants while operating their business.
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
No
Cornerstone Payment Systems doesn't have a leading rate or any standard numbers to go off of. While the numbers assuredly stay within the industry standard of 1-5%, nothing discusses additional fees or what kind of pricing it is. This includes whether or not it offers interchange-plus tiered pricing or entirely something else. Cornerstone Payment Systems also claims the numbers change based on each business, therefore leaving potential room for more transparency.
One fee that is known is a $50 PCI Compliance Annual fee. This is lower than the industry average.
Pricing Model
Tiered Pricing
Swiped Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Keyed-in Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Mobile Payment Rate
Virtual Terminal Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Monthly Fee
$21
Payment Gateway Fee
Undisclosed
Batch Fee
Undisclosed
Early Termination Fee
Undisclosed
PCI Compliance Fee
$50 Per Year
Equipment Lease Terms
Undisclosed
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Undisclosed
Annual Fee
Monthly Minimum
Undisclosed
Statement Fee
As with its pricing, Cornerstone Payment Systems doesn't disclose much information regarding its contracts either. Terms, cancellation fees, length of the agreement, and other valuable information aren't available to potential clients. However, merchants can take into account that there are few complaints claiming its contracts are scams.
Contract Length
1 Year3 Years
Early Termination Fee
Undisclosed
Cornerstone Payment Systems has minimal complaints online. On BBB, it is not accredited and has 0 reviews and 0 complaints. On the interior side of the company, some employees have complained about management and certain internal practices. Indeed has it rated at 3.3 out of 5 stars, based on six reviews. Most other websites give Cornerstone Payment Systems a positive review, usually with four to five stars.
There are no known lawsuits against Cornerstone Payment Systems. There are no real outstanding complaints or any recurring themes in the reviews written online about Cornerstone Payment Systems. Most merchants seem to be satisfied with Cornerstone Payment Systems' service.
BBB
A+(0 complaints)
N/A
No Reviews yet
Yelp
2.5 Stars / 3 Reviews
Total Online Reviews
10+
Total Online Complaints
Lawsuits
None
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