In the late 2000s, as a broke college student struggling to make ends meet, I was contacted by a merchant services company after uploading my resume to a job listings website. This company promised substantial commissions and ongoing residual income for simply persuading businesses to accept credit card payments. It seemed straightforward enough—after all, what business doesn’t need to process credit card payments? Following a phone interview with a persuasive “sales director,” I found myself embarking on what I believed would be an easy job that would significantly boost my bank account with reliable monthly income and large sales commissions. However, the lessons I learned would profoundly change my life in ways I could never have imagined.
After completing my sales training, I hit the ground running, eager to make sales. This broke college student was determined to improve his financial situation! My first attempt at a cold call, with no prior appointment, ended with a burly man in his 50s yelling at me to leave, claiming he had been “totally robbed” by someone like me before. As I hastily exited, puzzled and intimidated by his reaction, I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant. Throughout the day, I encountered similar hostility from other business owners, all expressing disdain for the industry I had been so excited to join that morning. Confused and curious, I decided to shift my approach from selling to listening.
I quickly uncovered that the merchant services sector was riddled with unethical practices, including hidden fees, deceptive marketing, fine-print traps, and much more. It dawned on me that I had nearly been tricked by a dubious company into selling overpriced services under contracts with long-term commitments, all without being fully aware of what I was promoting. Outraged, I resigned from that company but learned that there were indeed ethical credit card processing companies that treated their clients fairly. Over the next four years, I worked for one such company, assisting hundreds of businesses in securing cost-effective processing solutions. Yet, I also met many more who had been misled and trapped in onerous service agreements. Determined to help people steer clear of these unscrupulous providers, I launched this website in my spare time, dedicating myself to researching and sharing my findings on every merchant account provider I could investigate.
Gradually, more and more business owners began to discover my articles. As word spread, search engines started to rank my content highly, amplifying its reach. My efforts were making a difference! Eventually, the website garnered enough traffic to enable me to leave my job and focus on it full-time, a journey that has now spanned over a decade. This path has not been without its challenges; unscrupulous company owners have tried to intimidate and sue me into silence on several occasions. Yet, I have stood firm against each threat. Here I am, continuing to publish reviews and articles, hoping to safeguard others from the pitfalls of the credit card processing industry.
If you believe in my mission and wish to contribute, please share my articles on your websites and social media. Thank you for visiting!
richie melendez
First off, would like to thank Mr. Parker for the informative website, and helping the little guy (as well as I’m sure some equally worthy financial giants in waiting) become experts at understanding this convolution.
I have not done credit card processing for over a decade, so I am surely outdated, however how has there not been outrage over these reserves? Or the way we are left in the dark on terms and condition involving reserves? Ten years ago, a reserve killed my business, a very good business and a growing small business that supported my family. It was deemed a chargeback issue, although I was beneath the percentage. 20k taken, with another 30k to be taken that I just did not have at the time (20k was about 19k more than I had ever had in a bank account before that year.) It was NOVA, apparently a huge reseller, and I was told by the rep I talked to two things: 1. I shouldve planned for this, and, conveniently, when asked if the thousands of reserve accounts they possessed were in non interest bearing accounts was told that ‘is not a requirement’ by law.
Today with multiple platforms and heavier competition, the rules and laws seem to favor the little guy a bit more. And please do not get me wrong, I COMPLETELY understand a company’s need to protect against fraud, and upfront policies like rolling seven day reserves seem more than fair, and can be planned for (going to your bank account and seeing in 24 hours a +22k balance go to a -4k balance cannot), however my ramblings lead to this: how can these companies still get away, how is it legal I mean, to have such vague rules and double talk regarding what they can pull, when, and why?! It happens every day to hundreds and hundreds of businesses STILL from the research I have done, not detailed but still.
My prime example is Square, which I have been a member but have not yet used, how is it legal for them to deactivate members accounts, and then claim what they do about the funds that these accounts contain are set to different rules and regulations because they belong to said deactivated accounts??! Also, as with most of these companies for DECADES, these deactivations and terribly unjust reserves are almost entirely arbitrary and in my case was after the biggest month of my professional career, though I would never judge a system on just one case out of millions out of personal bias.
Please write up something on this very informative and helpful site about this as it affects millions of families and businesses, and seems as potential damaging to the US economy as the Prescription Drug stronghold with almost none of the publicity.
sincerely,
R. Melendez