Elavon Merchant Services is an Atlanta-based merchant account provider, and they are one of the largest in the USA.
3 billion transactions.
That’s how much Elavon processes in just one year. Yikes!
We're going to run through Elavon's products and features and show you exactly why Elavon is one of the biggest merchant account providers around!
What products does Elavon offer?
Due to its huge size, Elavon manages all of its payment solutions processing in-house. This means you don’t need to worry about dealing with any backend processors - what you see is what you get.
Here are some of the other features you get as an Elavon customer:
- POS systems: The card machines that Elavon offers allow you to easily complete face-to-face transactions without any hiccups. They all feature mag-stripe, NFC (necessary for Apple Pay/Google Pay etc.), and have vibrant coloured displays. They also offer mobile/wireless card terminals that are ideal for businesses on the move.
- Payment gateway: If you don’t want to use Elavon’s standard payment gateway or customer portals, customer support will give you advice on how to integrate the gateway of your choice with Elavon.
- Virtual Terminal: The use of a virtual terminal is included in Elavon’s ‘’Converge’ pack. This is an eCommerce platform that’s available as an extra, for an additional fee of course! Worth noting, virtual terminals are essential for accepting payments online, so you’ll probably need this feature unless your business exclusively accepts payments face-to-face.
- Loyalty Card integration: Elavon offers something called ‘Fanfare’ which lets you develop a loyalty program for customers who make regular online payments. This is a feature that’s rare amongst other payment providers.
- Online Reports: You can analyse card transactions, chargebacks, and any funding activity. This is vital for analysing your business performance.
- Anti-Fraud measures: Elavon’s payment services meet PCI compliance and feature 3D secure, which helps your customers stay safe from fraud.
- Customer support: Due to their sheer size, Elavon is able to offer 24/7 customer support services, so you can get in touch whenever you need them.
- Accepts most cards: Elavon gives customers plenty of payment options. They accept most debit and credit cards, including the usual suspects, Visa and Mastercard. Also accepted are premium cards like American Express and Discover. Customers can also use Apple Pay, or if they’ve got an Android smartphone, Google Pay.
Overall, Elavon offers great bang for your buck with all of these features. Let's talk fees.
How much are Elavon’s fees?
Elavon ask that you sign up for a three year contract, but there is no cancellation fee, meaning you can essentially treat it as a 'month-to-month' contract.
Elavon don't post their UK fees on the website, so if you're interested in signing up with them, you'll need to get in touch for a tailored quote. We have their US pricing, however, so we'll convert this and use it as a rough guideline to follow.
Small business category:
- 2.65% + $0.19 transaction fee (roughly £0.15 at time of writing).
- $10 (£8) flat monthly fee.
Large business:
- Contact for a quote.
Elavon's fees are not far off of what competitors offer. If you're seriously considering Elavon, we do recommend getting in touch with them directly so you can properly weigh up their features and fees yourself.
What are the reviews like for Elavon?
Across online review sites, we picked out these positives for Elavon:
- No early termination fee.
- App/website is really easy to use.
- Affordable transaction rates and monthly fees reportedly quoted for big businesses.
- Credit card processing times are fast.
So, if having quick service, a fairly flexible contract, affordable fees, and technology that works means a lot to your business, you should seriously consider Elavon.
Summary:
Elavon is one of the US's largest merchant account providers for good reason. Whilst they aren't transparent with their pricing, you know that your quote will be bespoke to your business and it's payment processing needs, rather than lumping you in a larger category with other SMEs.
Their product and service offering is vast - you won't need to mix and match with other service providers to get what you need.
We say Elavon is well worth shooting off an enquiry to.
