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2.99% + $0.49
online rate
$0
monthly fee
Instant
payout
Small business
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Quick setup
Merchant One
Merchant One is a Miami Beach-based ISO that resells Wells Fargo merchant accounts with tiered pricing, Clover hardware and a $13.95 monthly fee.
No reviews yetFounded 2004Miami Beach, FL, United States
- Starting rate
- 0.29% to 1.99% qualified
- Monthly fee
- $13.95
- Payout
- Varies
- Contract
- Long-term
- PCI level
- Level 1
- Regions
- US
Overview
Merchant One is a merchant services provider based in Miami Beach, Florida, and a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, CA. Better Business Bureau records put the start of the business in 2004. Rather than operating its own payments platform, it sells merchant accounts, a payment gateway with more than 175 shopping cart integrations, a virtual terminal and Clover point-of-sale hardware to small and mid-sized US businesses, then supports those accounts with dedicated account managers and 24/7 phone support.
Pricing and how it works
Merchant One advertises a qualified swiped rate of 0.29 percent to 1.55 percent and a qualified keyed-in rate of 0.29 percent to 1.99 percent, a $13.95 monthly fee and a $0 setup fee. Those are tiered rates. The 0.29 percent figure is the floor of the qualified tier rather than a rate most merchants will average, because transactions that fall into mid-qualified and non-qualified buckets cost noticeably more. There is no published rate sheet: every account is quoted individually after a sales call. Independent reviews report an annual fee of around $99, and describe both three-year terms with early termination fees and negotiated month-to-month deals, so the agreement you sign depends heavily on what you negotiate.
Who it is for
Merchant One targets US small businesses that want a single point of contact, subsidized terminal placement and fast approval, including merchants turned down elsewhere. It is a reasonable fit for a retail shop or restaurant that values a named account manager over a self-serve dashboard. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants transparent published pricing, for online-first businesses that flat-rate providers serve more cheaply, or for merchants unwilling to negotiate. The company holds an A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau, but its BBB customer review score is low and dozens of complaints have been closed there in the past three years, most of them about fees and cancellation terms that merchants say were not explained up front. Get every fee and the exact contract length in writing before signing.
Best for
Small business
Retail
Restaurants
Regions
US
Industries
Retail
Restaurants
Hospitality
E-commerce
Pros
- Advertised qualified rates start at 0.29 percent, and interchange-plus pricing is available if you ask for it
- Every account gets a named account manager, with 24/7 phone support and terminal placement programs that avoid upfront hardware cost
- Approval is fast and the company works with merchants that flat-rate providers and stricter underwriters turn away
Cons
- Pricing is tiered and unpublished, so the headline 0.29 percent is a qualified tier floor that few merchants will average once mid-qualified and non-qualified transactions are counted
- Independent reviews and BBB complaints repeatedly describe multi-year contracts with early termination fees that salespeople had said did not exist
- Some reviewers report funding taking a week or more despite the next-day funding the company markets, and there is no published rate sheet to check any of it against
Pricing
Pricing at a glance
Merchant One advertises qualified rates of 0.29% to 1.55% swiped and 0.29% to 1.99% keyed in, plus a $13.95 monthly fee and no setup fee. Actual pricing is tiered and quoted per merchant after a sales call, so the advertised floor is rarely the effective rate.
- Pricing model
- Tiered, Interchange-plus, Custom quote
- Contract
- Long-term
- Free trial
- No
- Monthly minimum
- N/A
Fee breakdown
| Online card rate | 0.29% to 1.99% qualified |
|---|---|
| In-person card rate | 0.29% to 1.55% qualified swiped rate |
| Keyed-in rate | 0.29% to 1.99% qualified rate |
| Monthly fee | $13.95 |
| Setup fee | $0 |
| PCI fee | Support states PCI compliance is covered by the monthly fee, so confirm this in writing |
| Early termination fee | Charged but not published. Independent reviews report a $295 flat fee or $25 per remaining month, with some complaints citing substantially higher amounts |
Features
Payment methods
- Visa
- Mastercard
- Amex
- Discover
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- ACH
Integrations & deployment
- API
- Hosted checkout
- Virtual terminal
- POS hardware
Capabilities
- Recurring billing
- Tokenization
- Tap to pay
- Reporting dashboard
- 24/7 support
At a glance
- Currencies
- USD, US merchants only
- Payout
- Varies
- PCI level
- Level 1
- High-risk friendly
- No
Reviews
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Frequently asked questions
- How much does Merchant One cost?
- Merchant One advertises a qualified swiped rate of 0.29 percent to 1.55 percent, a qualified keyed-in rate of 0.29 percent to 1.99 percent, a $13.95 monthly fee and no setup fee. Independent reviews also report an annual fee of around $99. There is no published rate sheet, so the actual rate is set during a sales call and varies by business type and volume.
- Does Merchant One require a long-term contract?
- Usually yes. Multiple independent reviews describe three-year agreements with an early termination fee, although some merchants report negotiating month-to-month terms. Reported termination fees range from a $295 flat charge or $25 for each remaining month to several hundred dollars per remaining year. Merchant One does not publish its standard term, so ask for the contract length and cancellation fee in writing before signing.
- Is the 0.29 percent rate realistic?
- Rarely. That figure is the floor of the qualified tier under a tiered pricing model. Transactions that do not meet qualified criteria, such as rewards cards, corporate cards and many card-not-present sales, are downgraded to mid-qualified or non-qualified tiers that cost more. Your effective rate, meaning total fees divided by total volume, is the number that matters, and it will be higher.
- Is Merchant One good for high-risk merchants?
- Not especially. Merchant One is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank and underwrites to standard bank criteria, so it is not a high-risk specialist in the way that dedicated high-risk acquirers are. It does market fast approval and works with businesses that flat-rate providers decline, but merchants in restricted categories such as adult, firearms or CBD should approach a specialist instead.