Best for
Low risk, online, e-commerce, mom and pop, small business.
Specializes in
Merchant Club of America (MCA) is a merchant account provider that mainly processes in the U.S. This company provides payment processing and products revolving around security to merchants in the U.S.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: Undisclosed
Swipe Rate: 0% + $0.39 To 5.00% (Debit); 1.39% + $0.10 To 5.00% (Credit)
Keyed-in Rate: 0% + $0.39 To 5.00% (Debit); 1.39% + $0.10 To 5.00% (Credit)
Early Termination Fee : $500
Contract Terms:
Zaven Tootikian founded MCA in Plano, TX, in 2014. It had around 50 employees at the height of its operations (now that it is no longer regularly operating). MCA mainly serviced small businesses and online stores as part of its regular customer base. MCA was a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, Walnut Creek, California.
MCA was a reasonably regular merchant account provider operating out of the United States that sold security products and offered payment processing to the merchants it did business with. Its website isn't active, and it appears as if the company is now defunct. MCA has a pricing model that was based on interchange-plus and tiered pricing. Its overall reputation was mixed, with a decent amount of negative reviews.
Another critical point to note is that MCA was involved with Payment Systems Corporation, a merchant account provider that many merchants have claimed is outright fraudulent. This relationship is essential and should be kept in mind for the rest of this review. MCA’s industry focus seemed to be on payment processing for several different businesses, mainly smaller and online businesses, and security products for those companies.
Head Quarters
Plano, TX
Year Founded
2014
CEO
Zaven Tootikian
Employees
50
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
Zero setup fee.
Low risk business tolerance.
Domestic telephone support during normal business hours.
Documentation knowledge base available.
Gift and loyalty program.
Three year contract.
Early termination fee.
Variable swipe rate.
Public pricing is not available.
Does not disclose all important terms.
MCA is now defunct, and its website is no longer active. Because of this, a full list and line of the products and services it offered are hard to view. However, based on different information sources and some general knowledge about the industry, below is a list of products and services that MCA most likely offered during the time it did business.
Point 1: Credit and Debit Processing, Cash Advances
MCA offered to process debit and credit cards for the merchants that it worked with. It also most likely offered cash advances, which work out better than business loans for many merchants because the terms are more geared toward business owners than the kinds of terms a bank offers. These two services are the lifeblood of some industries, and most people these days pay with a card when they buy anything. Cash advances help make payroll, pay bills, meeting other expenses, or taking advantage of a business opportunity.
Point 2: POS Systems (Terminals, Card Readers, Mobile Devices)
MCA also offered POS systems. These point-of-sale pieces of equipment were necessary to take cards in person, but many of them were faster and more efficient than merely keying in a debit number. Card readers, mobile device card readers (Bluetooth readers attached to your phone), tablets on tables or at the front counter of an establishment, or any of these options are handy for most merchants to have in their physical store.
Point 3: EMV Chip Technology
EMV Chip Technology is a very secure way for customers to pay with their cards, and businesses immediately began adopting them. The chip technology makes it far harder for any kind of fraud to take place and is safer all along the line: for banks, businesses, and merchants, customers, everyone.
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
No
MCA offered both interchange-plus pricing as well as tiered-pricing. Interchange-plus is the most transparent and honest kind of pricing available for a merchant. It appears that the top rate was 1.39% + $0.10, but this is the company’s most qualified rate. Less highly-accredited cards would receive a much higher quality, and the company did not immediately disclose this to merchants.
Pricing Model
Interchange PlusTiered Pricing
Swiped Rate
0% + $0.39 To 5.00% (Debit); 1.39% + $0.10 To 5.00% (Credit)
Keyed-in Rate
0% + $0.39 To 5.00% (Debit); 1.39% + $0.10 To 5.00% (Credit)
Mobile Payment Rate
Virtual Terminal Rate
0% + $0.39 To 5.00% (Debit); 1.39% + $0.10 To 5.00% (Credit)
Monthly Fee
Undisclosed
Payment Gateway Fee
Undisclosed
Batch Fee
Undisclosed
Early Termination Fee
$500
PCI Compliance Fee
Undisclosed
Equipment Lease Terms
$139 Per Month
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Undisclosed
Annual Fee
Monthly Minimum
Undisclosed
Statement Fee
$10
Information about the MCA contract is scarce, but merchants complain of high equipment lease fees. It is known that the MCA contracts are multi-year extended agreements. There are not many complaints of outstanding cancellation or early termination fees.
Contract Length
3 Years
Early Termination Fee
$500
MCA had a variety of complaints leveled against it. Many merchants complained about misrepresented rates, random fees, and poor customer service. The BBB, where the business is not accredited, had 1 out of 5 stars from 1 review. Glassdoor and Indeed have it rated highly in terms of the employee end, at 3.9 out of 16 votes and 4.2 out of 10 reviews, respectively.
There didn’t seem to be any lawsuits involving MCA, class-action, or otherwise. While not all aspects of this merchant account provider are wrong, there are noticeably negative aspects that make recommending it more difficult than it should be.
BBB
NR
2.6 Stars / 12 Reviews
No Reviews yet
Yelp
N/A
Total Online Reviews
35+
Total Online Complaints
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