Leaders Merchant Services Reviews

Leaders Merchant Services is a large merchant account provider and reseller of iPayment and First Data. Founded in 2000, the company claims to serve merchants in over 50 states. For many years, Leaders was the epitome of an industry-standard credit card processor: a large, independently contracted sales team primarily selling conventional credit card terminals and long-term contracts. In recent years, however, the company appears to have embraced some of the more forward-looking technologies offered by First Data, including its “Clover” POS system and support for Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.

Leaders Merchant Services provides point-of-sale solutions, merchant cash advance, business loans, gift and loyalty programs, check processing, and QuickBooks integration. The company provides phone and email support to all of its merchants, although it’s probable that after-hours support is handled by First Data. Brandon Wolfe is the president and CEO of Leaders Merchant Services.

Leaders Merchant Services is a merchant account provider that specializes in retail, home-based, mail-order, and e-commerce merchant accounts.

The company offers a three-year contract with an early termination fee of up to $350, a B+ rating, and independent sales agents.

Leaders Merchant Services charges a three-year contract fee, a monthly service fee, a non-compliance fee, and a monthly termination fee, and charges a monthly minimum service fee of between $20 and $25. They also charge higher rates on swiped transactions than they advertise.

Leaders Merchant Services offers virtual terminal and payment gateway services through Authorize.Net, and charges 2.90% plus $0.30, a gateway fee of $25 per month, and a batch fee of $0.15.

Leaders is a merchant account provider that relies on independent sales agents to service its clients, and communicates terms poorly.

Over the past three years, over 100 people have complained against Leaders Merchant Services. The most common themes included misrepresentation of rates, nondisclosure of fees, and unreachable customer service representatives.

Leaders Merchant Services offers customer support via a dedicated phone line, email form and a toll-free number.

Leaders Merchant Services has a B+ rating from the BBB with 213 complaints in the last 36 months; 26 of these complaints were resolved to the satisfaction of the merchant.

Leaders Merchant Services appears to utilize telemarketing and independent sales agents to market its services, and is the primary source of merchant complaints citing nondisclosure of fees and aggressive sales tactics by agents.

The home page of Leaders Merchant Services quotes “rates as low as 0.35%” on its rate quote page, but does not mention “Mid-Qualified” and “Non-Qualified” rates.

We consider deceptive rate quoting to be common among sales agents. If you suspect that your sales agent snuck extra fees into your account, seek a third-party statement audit.

Leaders Merchant Services is one of the worst merchant account providers, but can improve its rating by removing deceptive rate quotes from its sales pitches.

At a glance

Founded: 2000

Location: Camarillo, California

Acquiring bank: Wells Fargo Bank, BMO Harris Bank

Website: leadersmerchantservices.com

Phone number: 800-220-4143

E-mail: info@leadersmerchantservices.com

Leaders Merchant Services Promotional Video

Online reputation and reviews

Leaders Merchant Services is the subject of hundreds of negative reviews on various consumer protection forums. Complainants describe deceptive sales tactics, higher-than-expected rates, hidden fees, long-term contracts, early termination fees, withheld funds, and poor customer service. These types of reviews have been posted with regularity over the past five years and are consistently negative in tone. In general, it is difficult to find positive reviews about Leaders Merchant Services that have been verified as coming from legitimate business owners.

Legal actions and lawsuits

There are no outstanding or recently resolved legal actions related to Leaders Merchant Services at this time.

Have you used Leaders Merchant Services for your business? Rate the company at the top of this post and tell us about your experience in the comment section below: