Best for
Merchant Lynx Services is suited for online and in-store small to mid-sized businesses in the Retail, MOTO, restaurants, and e-commerce industries.
Specializes in
The company specializes in credit and debit card processing services. Check verification and guarantees are offered by the company to mitigate fraud risk. EMV acceptance, virtual terminals, and electronic payment gateways are also provided by the company, along with a loyalty program, gift cards, POS hardware, and digital check imaging.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: Undisclosed
Swipe Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%
Keyed-in Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%
Early Termination Fee : $495
Contract Terms:
The company offers card processing through iPayment, an ISO of First Data Corporation, and hardware leasing through First Data Global Leasing. Merchant Lynx Services is an ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., in California.
Merchant Lynx Services is headquartered in Palm Beach Garden, Florida, with offices in Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, and Arizona and claims to have been in business since 1994. However, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports it to be in place since 2006.
The company's website does not offer sufficient information about service rates and applicable industry fees. Merchant Lynx is not a standup company and has a reputation for rampant customer complaints on numerous online forums, review sites, and the BBB for poor customer service, deceptive sales tactics, and hidden charges.
Merchant Lynx Services had an investigation launched against it in 2014 by the Florida Attorney General for unfair trade practice violations, which was only closed once the Merchant Lynx agreed to pay state legal fees of more than $40,000.
The company is currently a defendant in a lawsuit that the company may settle for excessive and undisclosed fees.
Head Quarters
Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Year Founded
1994
CEO
John Kucyk
Employees
150
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
No setup fee.
Gift Card program.
Loyalty program.
Check verification and guarantee is offered.
Digital check imaging employed.
Early termination fee.
Monthly fee not disclosed.
Requires a three year contract.
Pricing is not transparent.
Equipment leasing is a forty-eight month period that cannot be canceled.
Merchant Lynx Services offers payment processing services through iPayment, an ISO of First Data, at variable rates in a 3-year contract that auto-renews for one year. The company provides Virtual Terminals and Payment Gateway but does not disclose any pricing for those services.
Equipment leasing is available through a third party, First Data Global Leasing, for a non-cancelable 48-month period with an early termination fee of $495.
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
No
The Company agreement is a three-year contract, followed by an automatically renewed agreement for another year and an early termination fee of $495. Additional fees include;
Keyed-in, Swiped, and Virtual Terminal rates - 1.00% - 4.99%
PCI Compliance fee of $159
Fees for a Payment Gateway or a Virtual Terminal are not available. There may also be other fees that Merchant Lynx Services doesn't disclose, such as a minimum monthly fee, a statement fee, among others.
An application submission fee of $99 is applicable for a non-cancellable equipment lease provided through First Data Global Equipment for 48 months.
Pricing Model
Flat Rate
Swiped Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Keyed-in Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Mobile Payment Rate
N/A
Virtual Terminal Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Monthly Fee
Undisclosed
Payment Gateway Fee
Undisclosed
Batch Fee
Undisclosed
Early Termination Fee
$495
PCI Compliance Fee
$159
Equipment Lease Terms
48 Month (locked)
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Undisclosed
Annual Fee
Monthly Minimum
Variable
Statement Fee
Variable
Merchant Lynx Services offers iPayment with a 3-year agreement with an auto-renewal of one year. The deal carries a very hefty termination fee. The company's equipment leases are a non-cancelable 48 months agreement. There are numerous complaints on various online forums about Merchant Lynx contracts being costly, with multiple charges added in invoices ad-hoc. Some complaints mentioned that the company's independently hired sales agents worked to get merchants to agree on expensive contracts with ambiguous terms and misrepresented charges.
Contract Length
3 Years
Early Termination Fee
$495
Overall, Merchant Lynx Services gets an abysmal score from merchants. Although the BBB rates the company an A-, the Merchant Lynx has 65 complaints in the last 36 months, 22 in the previous twelve months. Merchants have gone as far as labeling the company a scam or a ripoff.
A high portion of merchants view the company negatively, and there has been an investigation and a lawsuit filed against Merchant Lynx Services. In 2014, the Attorney General of Florida alleged that the company "violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act." Although the DA's office ended the investigation, it did so once Merchant Lynx agreed to pay more than $40,000 of fees. Also, Merchant Lynx is currently a defendant in a civil lawsuit that it is about to settle, filed against the company by Liberty Salad, Inc., alleging that the company charged unauthorized fees after Merchant Lynx's sales agent failed to disclose the company's program guide.
BBB
A- (63 Complaints)
3.8 Stars / 119 Reviews
N/A
Yelp
5 Star / 1 Review
Total Online Reviews
150
Total Online Complaints
100
Lawsuits
2
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