- Random account holds and freezes — no warning, no explanation
- Flat rate kills margins at volume ($250k+/yr pays far too much)
- Customer support is minimal; hard to reach a human
- Higher chargeback exposure on payment links
- IC+ saves 30–50% vs flat rate at volume
- Real dedicated merchant account — no freeze risk
- Cash discount / surcharge program = 0% net
- Actual human rep when you need one
- Zero friction signup — live in minutes
- Free hardware + free POS app
"Square is great when you're just starting out, but at your volume you're basically donating 0.5–1% of every sale back to them. We can put that money back in your pocket today."
- Sudden account terminations — businesses cut off with no notice
- Not a true merchant account (payment aggregator = shared risk)
- International fees stack up fast (+1.5% + 1% currency)
- Support is ticket-based; no real account rep for most merchants
- Dedicated merchant account = your own underwriting, stable
- IC+ vs flat rate = real savings at scale
- Cash discount eliminates fees entirely
- A rep who picks up the phone
- Best-in-class developer API / docs
- Global reach, global currencies
"Stripe is built for devs building apps, not for running a business. If you're not a tech company, you're overpaying and one flag away from having your account frozen."
- 36-month contracts with steep early termination fees
- Locked to one processor — can't switch rates later
- Rates vary wildly depending on who sold it to you
- Poor support when things go wrong; varies by reseller
- No 36-month lock-in — month to month
- We shop processors to find YOUR best rate
- Transparent IC+ pricing, not reseller mystery rates
- Compatible POS hardware — no forced ecosystem
- Slick proprietary hardware ecosystem
- App marketplace for add-ons
"Clover is great hardware but whoever sold it to you sets your rates — and you're locked in for 3 years. We can often beat the rate AND get you out of the contract."
- PAYG plan is 3.09–3.69%+ — brutal at any real volume
- Completely locked to Toast processing — zero processor choice
- Hardware + add-ons blow up the "free" monthly plan
- Refunds must tie to original transaction — inflexible
- Processor freedom — they don't own you
- IC+ dramatically cheaper than 3.09% flat
- Surcharge program = 0% net processing cost
- Works with hardware they already own
- Deep restaurant-specific features (KDS, tickets)
- Offline payment capability built in
"Toast owns your processing — you're paying 3%+ and you have zero leverage. What if I could cut that in half and keep all the POS features you actually need?"
- Rolling reserves and fund holds are notorious — 180-day holds reported
- Account limited/suspended with zero notice — merchants left stranded
- NOT a merchant account — aggregated risk model
- 3.49% + $0.49 in-person is among the highest flat rates available
- Dedicated merchant account — funds are yours
- IC+ pricing vs 3.49% flat = massive savings
- No reserve risk — transparent underwriting upfront
- Human support when something goes wrong
- Consumer brand recognition (buyers prefer it)
- Instant setup, no approval process
"PayPal is for sending money to friends. Using it as your primary processor is like keeping your business cash in a shoebox — it works until it really, really doesn't."
- Fund holds up to 14 days — fees still charged during hold
- "They lied about fees" — ACH charges not disclosed at signup
- $99/mo subscription uneconomical below ~$8k/month volume
- CSG Forte acquisition caused service disruption for many accounts
- No mandatory monthly subscription fee
- Surcharge/cash discount = 0% net, no subscription needed
- Better for low-to-mid volume merchants
- Cleaner, more transparent fee structure
- Pure IC+ model works for very high volume
- Strong brand in the "transparent pricing" niche
"The subscription model sounds smart until you hit a cash flow crunch and they're holding your funds while still charging the monthly fee. We get you 0% net without the subscription gamble."
- Volume discounts take 3 months to kick in — new merchants pay full rate
- Very limited integrations (QuickBooks, Xero, Jobber — that's about it)
- Canadian company — some US merchants have trust/support hesitations
- Account holds noted in BBB complaints despite "transparent" branding
- US-based dedicated support team
- Cash discount/surcharge = 0% net (Helcim can't match this)
- Broader processor network = better fit matching
- Day-one pricing — no 3-month waiting period
- Truly transparent published rates
- No monthly fee + no contract combo is compelling
"Helcim is one of the better self-serve options out there — we respect the model. But they're Canadian, self-serve only, and if you want to eliminate processing fees entirely, we can do that. They can't."
- Use a different processor? Shopify charges 0.5–2% transaction fee on top
- Account holds and fund reserves on growing stores
- Rates not competitive vs IC+ for merchants doing real volume
- Locked to Shopify ecosystem — no offline retail solution
- IC+ pricing — no artificial flat-rate tax
- No penalty for using us alongside Shopify
- Works in-store AND online — full omnichannel
- Surcharge program eliminates processing cost
- Zero friction if already on Shopify
- Avoids the transaction fee penalty
"Shopify Payments keeps you captive with that transaction fee penalty. Once we show you what IC+ saves you versus 2.9%, plus no processing cost on surcharge, the math usually wins."
- Keyed rate of 3.5% + $0.15 is painful for phone orders
- Account holds and freezes — same aggregator risk as Square/Stripe
- Merchants often using it "because it's in QuickBooks," not because it's best
- Support tied to Intuit's broader QB support — notorious for wait times
- Real merchant account vs aggregator risk
- IC+ saves significantly vs 2.5–3.5% flat
- Cash discount eliminates fees entirely
- Works with QuickBooks — don't have to leave QB
- Native QB auto-reconciliation
- Zero setup — already in their workflow
"They're using QB Payments because it's convenient, not because it's cheap. Our gateway integrates with QuickBooks too — same reconciliation, better rates."
- Long, complex contracts with high early termination fees
- Multiple fee line items — statement reconciliation is a nightmare
- Terrible SMB support — built for Fortune 500, not local business
- Corporate acquisitions = confusing who your actual processor is
- SMB-focused — you actually matter to us
- Clean, readable statements vs wall of fees
- No multi-year contracts trapping you
- Human rep who knows your account
- Global enterprise infrastructure
- Brand recognition with large-volume merchants
"Worldpay is built for retailers doing $50M+ a year. If you're talking to me, we can get you better rates, cleaner billing, and someone who actually answers the phone."
- Tiered pricing disguises true cost — "qualified" vs "non-qualified" buckets
- Long-term contracts, 3-year terms common, high ETFs
- Customer support ranked poorly — bank bureaucracy, slow response
- Rate increases mid-contract reported by multiple merchants
- IC+ is always more transparent than tiered
- No bank bureaucracy — actual responsiveness
- Flexible month-to-month terms
- Cash discount option Elavon doesn't push
- Preferred by hospitality / hotel verticals
- U.S. Bank backing = institutional trust signal
"Elavon is a bank product — built for the bank's revenue, not your savings. Ask them to itemize every line on your statement. We will."
- Flat-rate pricing becomes expensive at volume — same trap as Square
- Sticky — merchants don't switch because it's at their bank
- Limited POS ecosystem vs Clover or Square
- Support is Chase's general bank line — not payments specialists
- IC+ saves real money vs 2.6–3.5% flat at volume
- Not tied to who they bank with
- Cash discount = 0% processing cost
- Dedicated payments expert vs bank generalist
- Same-day settlement to Chase account is genuinely fast
- Brand trust from banking relationship
"Using your bank for processing feels safe — but Chase makes more money on you than your bank account does. We're focused on one thing: getting you the lowest cost. They're not."
- Tiered pricing model hides true effective rate — merchants overpay
- Multi-year contracts with large ETFs are standard
- Hard to get clear pricing breakdowns — buried in fine print
- Poor dedicated payments support — bank branch reps aren't processors
- Transparent IC+ vs opaque tiered pricing
- No multi-year contracts
- Honest statement — every fee itemized clearly
- Cash discount program BofA doesn't offer
- Convenience of banking relationship
- BofA brand credibility for risk-averse merchants
"BofA merchant services is a upsell on their banking relationship. Pull their last three statements and I'll show you exactly how much you're overpaying versus what IC+ actually looks like."
- Post-Global Payments merger: service quality complaints increased
- Sales reps can push opaque rate quotes despite IC+ branding
- Hardware lock-in through proprietary POS products
- Rate increases mid-contract reported after acquisition
- No corporate acquisition uncertainty
- Cash discount / 0% net option they don't push
- Flexible processor network — not one backend
- Closer relationship — smaller, more responsive
- Long-standing brand recognition in restaurant/retail
- Proprietary POS suite for some verticals
"Heartland used to be a best-in-class independent. Since Global Payments took over, it's just another corporate processor. We can get you the same IC+ pricing without the corporate shuffle."
- 30+ years in business — established, reliable backend
- EDGE cash discount program — 0% net cost for merchant
- Broad merchant type coverage (retail, restaurant, services)
- Free hardware offers available for qualified merchants
- Large ISO/agent network = proven infrastructure
Strong fit for retail, restaurant, and service merchants who want the EDGE/cash discount program, are doing moderate-to-high volume, and need hardware. Especially good for merchants coming off flat-rate processors looking for a clean IC+ or 0% net setup.
North/NAB is one of our processors — we run deals through them. If a merchant says they already have North, dig into whether they're getting good rates or are stuck with a bad agent deal. We may be able to re-board them through our program at better terms.
- Strong technology integrations and API access
- Good fit for mid-market merchants with specific tech needs
- Responsive partner support (Jesse / account team)
- Competitive IC+ pricing structure
- Cash discount program available
Tech-forward merchants, businesses needing API/gateway integrations, mid-market accounts where tight rate control matters. Good fit when merchant needs more customization than a standard terminal setup.
Juan.G@payarc.com · 857-577-7557 · Activations: 857-575-5756 · 24/7 Support: 877-203-6624
- Strong omni-channel processing (in-person + CNP + online)
- Good for businesses with mixed card-present / card-not-present volume
- Competitive rates on keyed and online transaction types
- Reliable backend infrastructure
Merchants with significant card-not-present or phone-order volume. Good when the deal has a mix of in-person and online and the merchant needs a processor that handles both cleanly without rate penalties.
Use PayROC when deal profile includes high CNP/keyed volume where a single-backend IC+ processor handles the mix better than a flat-rate option.
- True US + Canada cross-border processing capability
- Strong for merchants operating in both markets
- Global payment method coverage
- Solid enterprise-tier infrastructure
- Good option for Canadian businesses needing US processing
Any merchant operating in both Canada and the US, or processing significant cross-border volume. Also strong for businesses that need broader international payment method support beyond standard Visa/MC.
partnerservices@nuvei.com
Authorize.net is a payment gateway (owned by Visa), not a processor. It routes transactions to a processor backend. Merchants who say "I use Authorize.net" still need a separate processor — we can work WITH Authorize.net.
- $25/mo gateway fee + $0.10/transaction on top of processor fees
- Merchants often don't know what processor they're actually on
- Common on websites using older ecommerce platforms
- We can integrate with Authorize.net as their gateway
- Focus on replacing/improving their processor, not the gateway
- Alternatively offer our gateway at lower or equal cost
"Authorize.net is just the pipe, not the processor. Who's actually charging your rates? Let's look at your backend — that's where the savings are."
Braintree is PayPal's developer-focused payments platform — primarily used by online merchants and SaaS companies. Owned by PayPal. If a merchant mentions Braintree, they're running an online/tech business with significant eCommerce volume.
- 2.59% + $0.49 per transaction standard rate — expensive at scale
- Same PayPal account risk: holds, terminations without notice
- No in-person/card-present solution — online only
- IC+ significantly cheaper than 2.59% flat at volume
- Dedicated merchant account vs PayPal aggregator risk
- Works if they also have in-person volume we can capture
"Braintree is PayPal for devs — it's fine for getting started but it's still 2.59% flat and still PayPal's risk model. At your volume we can do better."
Most banks resell processing from Elavon, First Data/Clover, or Worldpay under their own brand. The merchant thinks they're getting a bank relationship benefit — they're usually getting tiered pricing with a bank markup layered on top.
- Tiered pricing with 2–3 buckets: qualified/mid/non-qualified
- Monthly fees, PCI fees, statement fees built in
- Bank rep doesn't actually know payments — they just set it up
- Merchant never shopped rates because "my bank does it"
- Ask for a recent statement — the effective rate is almost always high
- Tiered pricing is inherently more expensive than IC+ at same volume
- Processing doesn't need to be at their bank — it's a separate service
"Your bank is great for lending and deposits — but processing is their side business. Pull your last statement and let's find your effective rate. I've never lost that conversation."
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⚡ Quick Objection Responses
When a merchant brings up a competitor mid-call — two sentences, stay confident.