About Merchant Warehouse

For owners of small businesses, keeping track of your finances is a crucial part of your business, but it should not be a hassle. Luckily there are companies out there that help with organizing your financial structure through the use of state-of-the-art credit card machines. A business is only as good as the software products that are on hand and MerchantWarehouse.com has the products and services to help any small business succeed!

Founded in 1998, Merchant Warehouse believes in the principle that businesses should be able to purchase credit card machines, open merchant accounts, and process credit cards at a reasonable cost while not having to receive these benefits at the expense of first-rate customer support. The company retains its corporate headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts and was awarded the ISO of the Year Award in 2009, which is quite the accomplishment in the merchant services industry.

Merchant Warehouse is a critically acclaimed credit card transaction processing company that does something its competitors don’t do. It integrates all transactions via a platform known as Genius. The company’s flagship product, Genius delivers a united platform solution for:

Although Genius is the primary product of the company, there are still other products available such as: standard credit card terminals, mobile apps, wireless terminals, IP terminals, check readers, etc. Merchant Warehouse has been leading the way in the payment solutions industry for nearly two decades and has great success in doing so, helping thousands of businesses get off of their feet. Let’s delve further into some of the key features that make Merchant Warehouse a company worth checking out!

Key Features Of Merchant Warehouse

A strong leader in its industry, Merchant Warehouse really has been able to stand head and shoulders above other competitors in the marketplace. The lack of an early termination fee (ETF) remains one of the major selling points for Merchant Warehouse services. The industry standard is a three-year contract with early termination fees averaging at about $400, but sometimes exceeding $1,000. It’s really a huge relief to see that you won’t have to worry about it with this company.

Merchant Warehouse realizes that small businesses do not have a ton of disposable income and as such, do not require lots of cash to utilize the service. Users also don’t have to worry about expensive third-party leases being shoved down your throat here Unlike many other providers in the space, Merchant Warehouse is literally one of the only providers to list prices alongside their terminal selection. Furthermore, their prices are extremely reasonable. While this may sound like simple features – it’s essentially unheard of in this industry.

Let’s move on to the Genius product that was touched upon earlier in this review. Genius is really a marvelous product that has been able to make Merchant Warehouse to the top of its game. Genius offers software updates and unified reporting, as well as support for QR code payments, EMV and near field communication. The last three ones listed represent new forms of payment that are getting ready to overtake the market in the next few upcoming years. Let’s dive deeper into how Merchant Warehouse can make them work for a small business.

Through Genius there really is some exciting and cutting edge payment technology that Merchant Warehouse is able to implement for your business. The first is Near field communication (NFC): This technology allows customers to pay simply by placing their phone in front of the reader to access their mobile wallet (such as Isis). iPhone don’t currently support NFC, though, and Apple doesn’t have plans to, so that removes a big demographic from the pool.

The next revolutionary payment option is QR code payments: You know those little black and white square things that just look like a bunch of dots? They’re called QR codes. Some services allow you to use a unique QR code to make payments. For instance, LevelUp (4.5 stars) offers a QR-based payment service. PayPal will also be releasing this type of service in early 2014 to allow customers to pay in-store with a QR code. Many loyalty programs also work based on QR codes, such as SpotOn.

Lastly, EMV chips really make a difference: EMV cards are already beginning to hit the market, adding security with an embedded circuit chip. This so-called “smart card” technology will be standard security in the US starting in 2015, making terminals without EMV readers obsolete.

Merchant Warehouse outperforms all its competitors as per Genius. It’s a corporate-grade tool that allows for the use of advanced features like gift cards, loyalty discounts, seasonal coupons and more. More importantly is the fact that every single type of payment and/or service is offered through a single device and interface. It’s a centralized tool that winds up saving businesses tons of money, because they don’t have to invest in dozens of gadgets to serve their customers.

Merchant Warehouse Prices

Merchant Warehouse offers the best of the best in this category. They have no cancellation fees, making your account ostensibly month-to-month! You’ll still have to go through the cancellation procedures in order to stop them from billing you when you decide to stop using your account, but there is absolutely no penalty for doing so.

When it comes to the overall pricing structure, since each small business has different needs and differs in the set up, so does the pricing model. In order to get started with the service, users must request a quote either electronically or by getting in touch with a representative through a telephone hotline.

The typical starting rate for the service is at 0.39%, but it can be negotiated depending on businesses’ needs. The base price is $7.95, and it covers the monthly statement fee. However, the services offered through Merchant Warehouse are very broad and complex. As a result, your exact pricing may differ wildly, depending of course on what type of products and services you require. We definitely recommend at least getting a quote on Genius. There are also additional low cost terminal options.

Criticism Of Merchant Warehouse

Merchant Warehouse currently has an A+ rating at the BBB, with 168 complaints over the last three years. One of the truly remarkable things about Merchant Warehouse has been and continues to be their dedication toward making things right with customers who have complaints. The biggest complaints that seem to be commonplace on the Internet for this service are the withholding of funds and the service not being easily cancellable.

Regardless of the complaint, Merchant Warehouse takes responsibility for preventable errors, and seem to genuinely care about the reputation of the company and the customer’s experience. You can see evidence of this in forums and blogs across the net, as well as on the BBB reviews and Ripoff Reports. Unfortunately, they offered no responses via Yelp, where the site has 25 predominately negative reviews.

Customer Support

The support offered by Merchant Warehouse is really good and well received. The company has live chat from 9AM to midnight on weekdays, email support 9AM to 6PM (EST) on weekdays, and phone-based support 24/7. Regardless of your issue, it is easy to get in touch with a representative.

Merchant Warehouse knows that there is a lot of competition out there in the payment solutions industry, so it really tries to listen to its customers as much as possible. Although the wait times for phone and live chat can sometimes be quite lengthy, the responses that one receives are generally professional and intelligent.

Final Thoughts

For anyone starting a small business, it’s really necessary to have a third-party’s help in getting your financial and payment structure up and running. Merchant Warehouse is a very high-end merchant solution for growing businesses that are trying to go force their competitors out of the market. The company offers some solid services, far exceeding the industry standard across the board.

The website provides a plethora of services including: fair payment terminal sales, quality products, good support, ethical sales practices, and no early termination fee. Lastly, Merchant Warehouse’s Genius customer engagement platform is an interesting solution for merchants looking for new and alternative payment technologies and/or mobile marketing.

So take some careful time to consider what Merchant Warehouse can do for your small business. Visit merchantwarehouse.com today for further information and to set up a free quote!