Level Up Your Business Today
Join the thousands of people like you already growing their businesses and knowledge with our team of experts. We deliver timely updates, interesting insights, and exclusive promos to your inbox.
Join For FreeU.S. Bank has been around since 1863. But have its merchant services stayed current with the times?
Total Rating | 4.4 |
---|---|
Fees & Rates4.5 | |
Products & Services4.1 | |
Contract4.6 | |
Sales & Advertising Transparency4.6 | |
Customer Service4.4 | |
User Reviews3.7 |
Table of Contents
U.S. Bank Merchant Services is the payment processing arm of U.S. Bank, a longstanding nationwide bank used for business and personal banking. U.S. Bank Merchant Services provides various merchant account services to small businesses, supporting payments at brick-and-mortar businesses, as well as online payments and mobile POS.
Products & Services4.1 |
---|
Software & Services 4.0 |
Hardware & Equipment 4.2 |
Historically, we have not recommended large nationwide banks for merchant services due to their association with long-term contracts, outdated processing hardware, and impersonal customer service. However, in recent years, providers like U.S. Bank and Chase have seemingly become more attuned to the needs of small businesses, offering products and services on par with those available from the best small business credit card processing companies.
U.S. Bank offers processing solutions suitable for even the smallest merchants, complete with flat-rate pricing, mobile processing, and month-to-month contracts with a quick, online signup process. The features themselves are quite comprehensive, and best suited for small, mobile or brick-and-mortar businesses that may or may not have some online component, such as an online ordering website.
Here are some of the features you’ll get with U.S. Bank Merchant Services:
Fees & Rates4.5 |
---|
Pricing 5.0 |
Affordability 4.0 |
U.S. Bank offers flat-rate credit card processing with month-to-month contracts, a pricing model we always like to see, as it’s affordable for smaller merchants and doesn’t lock you into a long-term contract.
U.S. Bank is pretty transparent with its fees, putting most (though not all) of them front and center on its website. On the downside, it doesn’t disclose eCommerce plan pricing or POS hardware pricing, and you may be charged a setup fee and a monthly hardware rental fee.
Fortunately, U.S. Bank offers a completely free POS plan with a free mobile card reader, and you have the option to purchase your POS hardware outright instead of renting.
U.S. Bank does not charge an early termination fee (ETF) or account closure fee, as you can leave your contract at any time for any reason.
The following are some different types of fees you can expect to pay with U.S. Bank Merchant Services.
Sales & Advertising Transparency4.6 |
---|
Sales Practices 5.0 |
Web Presence 4.0 |
Though they don’t necessarily disclose every single fee, U.S. Bank actually offers a lot more pricing and contract information than the typical large nationwide bank provides regarding their merchant services. Services and pricing are generally quite transparent, even if the website doesn’t list the price of every hardware option or add-on the way a PSP like Shopify or PayPal might.
From what we can tell, U.S. Bank does not use independent sales agents to sell their merchant services.
Contract4.6 |
---|
Commitment 5.0 |
ETF & Other Fees 4.2 |
U.S. Bank has month-to-month contracts with no early termination fee or account closure fee.
If you are renting a terminal or other POS equipment from U.S. Bank, you can simply return it and will not have to pay any penalty fee.
Merchants using talech POS via U.S. Bank will also have contracts with talech, but fortunately, talech contracts are also month-to-month, allowing you to stop using it at any time without incurring any type of fee or penalty.
Customer Service4.4 |
---|
Personal Support 4.4 |
Self-Service 4.4 |
U.S. Bank Merchant Services boasts 24/7 phone and email support at no additional cost. They also offer some self-help support resources, including an online knowledgebase.
U.S. Bank Merchant Services Customer Service | Availability |
---|---|
Phone Support | |
Email Support | |
Support Tickets | |
Live Chat | |
Dedicated Support Representative | |
Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
Videos & Tutorials | Some talech POS tutorials on YouTube |
Company Blog | |
Social Media | Social media accounts for U.S. Bank, not merchant services specifically |
Best of all, merchants who sign up for U.S. Bank Merchant Services will receive a dedicated account manager they can turn to when they have an issue.
You can find numerous talech tutorial videos on YouTube in case you need help setting up or troubleshooting with your POS equipment. However, some customers in user reviews complain about having technical problems with talech and say they have not received adequate support from talech to resolve these issues (See User Reviews section below).
User Reviews3.7 |
---|
Customer Feedback 3.0 |
Review Site Aggregate 4.0 |
It’s not difficult to find user reviews for U.S. Bank, and these reviews, as a whole, are not very positive. On Trustpilot, the bank earned 1.3/5 stars, with 1,051 reviews total, and on the Better Business Bureau website, they earned a B rating, with an average of 1.1/5 stars, and 608 reviews total. However, user reviews for U.S. Bank’s merchant services, specifically, are scarce, while fellow review websites actually rate U.S. Bank Merchant Services quite positively.
When it comes to user reviews of U.S. Bank’s POS provider, talech, and its payment processor, Elavon, the consensus is not as positive. Reviews of talech are mixed (we rate talech 3.6/5 stars, which is slightly above average and happens to also be the same score we give U.S. Bank’s Business Banking Account), and reviews for U.S. Bank’s payment processor (Elavon) are downright bad—Elavon has only 2.3/5 Merchant Maverick stars.
Here are some things customers frequently have to say online about U.S. Bank Merchant Services, Elavon, and talech.
U.S. Bank Merchant services offer a solid array of credit card processing solutions, including a full merchant account with a dedicated support representative, flat-rate pricing with a free plan option and month-to-month contract, same-day funding for U.S. Bank business banking customers, and thousands of physical branches across the company.
That being said, there are complaints about U.S. Bank’s POS partner, talech, and especially about its merchant services subsidiary, Elavon.
All in all, I would feel confident recommending U.S. Bank Merchant Services to small businesses that need core processing services such as mobile processing, online invoicing, and the ability to accept Zelle payments. U.S. Bank’s flat-rate pricing model is especially geared toward lower-volume businesses, including those looking for a Square alternative.
Though there aren’t enough user reviews to gain a clear enough picture of U.S. Bank Merchant Services to recommend this provider to every type of small business, the good thing is that there is no commitment or long-term contract so if you don’t like their processing services, you can easily switch to another provider—check out our best free merchant accounts for some similar options.
If you decide to take our recommendation and give U.S. Bank Merchant Services a shot, you can call 844-775-1902 to sign up for an account (or just to get more information).
We evaluate and test each payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on certain key characteristics in order to generate our granular ratings for merchant accounts and credit card processors.
For payment processing reviews, we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate the provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.
We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.
Read more about how we rate payment processors.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
U.S. Bank Merchant Services
|
---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see U.S. Bank Merchant Services for yourself.
The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆
U.S. Bank Merchant Services
|
---|
After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see U.S. Bank Merchant Services for yourself.
Let us know how well the content on this page solved your problem today. All feedback, positive or negative, helps us to improve the way we help small businesses.
Give Feedback
Want to help shape the future of the Merchant Maverick website? Join our testing and survey community!
By providing feedback on how we can improve, you can earn gift cards and get early access to new features.
Help us to improve by providing some feedback on your experience today.
The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
Our unbiased reviews and content are supported in part by affiliate partnerships, and we adhere to strict guidelines to preserve editorial integrity. The editorial content on this page is not provided by any of the companies mentioned and has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone.
"*" indicates required fields