It's a good idea to look at Payment Depot reviews like this one, because it truly is one of the most transparent payment processors. If you like membership pricing, Payment Depot provides a system where you pay a monthly membership fee for your processing.
Because of this, there are only small transaction fees and no percentage markups based on the number of sales or the cost of products being sold.
We're starting to see many other payment processors go with pricing models like this. Payment Depot seems to be a leader with this payment structure, considering you don't have to worry about application or setup fees–and the pricing is rather transparent.
Therefore, Payment Depot makes sense for a wide variety of sellers, as long as you aren't considered a high-risk merchant. In addition, Payment Depot isn't currently available to online stores located outside of the United States.
That being said, keep reading our Payment Depot reviews to learn more about the pricing, features, and customer support.
Payment Depot Pricing and Fees
Since pricing and fees is so important in the payment processing industry, it makes sense to start off by talking about the advantages of Payment Depot's pricing structure. To begin, a merchant would sign up as a member, paying a month-to-month bill. There are no set up fees and you can even gain access to a free virtual terminal and payment gateway.
The pricing is pretty easy to understand, considering you don't have to worry about percentage markups based on how much you sell. This is a huge advantage, since percentage-based markups are often the most confusing part of choosing a payment processor.
There is a small transaction fee to consider, along with whatever costs need to go to the credit card networks. The transaction fees are $0.05 to $0.15, which is extremely reasonable and can save you big money, even with the combination of the monthly fee.
Payment Depot has four monthly payment plans, starting with a Basic Membership and going all the way up to a more expensive Premier Membership, or even a completely customized plan.
Let's take a look at the four pricing plans:
- Basic Membership – For $49 per month, you receive support for up to $25,000 in sales per month. The transaction fee is interchange + 0% + $0.15. The interchange fee is the underlying cost that goes to things like banks and credit card networks.
- Most Popular Membership – For $79 per month, you get support for up to $75,000 in sales per month. The transaction fee is interchange + 0% + $0.10. You also receive bonuses such as data breach protection and a mobile card reader. Retail stores can take advantage of a regular card terminal, and everyone gets premium technical support.
- Best Value Membership – For $99 per month, you get support for up to $200,000 in monthly sales. The transaction fee is interchange + 0% + $0.07 for every transaction.
- The Premier Membership – The $199 monthly payment gets you support for unlimited monthly sales and a transaction fee of interchange + 0% + a $0.05Â per transaction. Things like the data breach protection and premium support are also included. You also gain access to a PIN pad and upgrades to your card and mobile terminals every two years.
It's worth noting that all of the plans listed above include free payment gateways and virtual terminals. You can also save a bit of money by paying for an annual subscription instead of the monthly plans. If you feel like none of the plans discussed above are right for your business, Payment Depot is still willing to work with you to create a custom plan. This might be helpful if you use specific hardware that isn't included in one of the plans.
Overall, we would suggest signing up for the 90-day free trial. Then, you can test out the system to see how you like Payment Depot. We recommend selecting a plan based on the number of sales you have per month. This way, you can simply upgrade to a higher membership once your sales increase. You could also contact Payment Depot if you need to have a custom plan.
What Are The Hidden/Other Fees?
For some reason, it's become common for payment processors to sneak in little hidden fees that you may not notice or only come up after you terminated the contract.
The great thing about Payment Depot is that your monthly charges cover all of the extra fees you would expect from comparable payment processors. For instance, you don't have to worry about IRS reporting fees, early termination fees, or PCI compliance fees.
The only additional fees that Payment Depot still charges you for are pretty standard across the entire industry. These include chargeback fees and credit card network fees. You also might have to pay a fee if you don't keep your website PCI compliant.
Overall, that's not too bad considering you can expect those fees from just about every payment processor.
The Best Features
The list of features from Payment Depot is pretty solid. The majority of the products and features we talk about below are included with your monthly membership. As mentioned before, payment gateways and virtual terminals are provided for free within every membership. Some of the offerings, such as premium support and terminals are only given to you for free with some of the higher tier memberships.
That being said, let's take a look at some of our favorite features from Payment Depot:
- Next day payments that end up in your account about 24 hours after a transaction is posted.
- Mobile payment options and credit card readers that you can use on things like smartphones and tablets.
- Several types of credit card terminals, some of which come for free depending on your membership level. You can also choose to upgrade your terminal based on your own needs.
- A free virtual terminal for all memberships.
- A free payment gateway included with all memberships. It seems like most, or some, of the gateway fees are included with your membership–but make sure you check on this.
- Direct integrations to credit card processors such as First Data. Essentially, Payment Depot manages your account and partners with these processors to make it easier for you.
Ease of Use and Transparency
There's much to say about the transparency and ease-of-use from Payment Depot. We covered much of the topic of transparency in the pricing section, but we also recommend all merchants look at the Payment Depot website to see just how willing the company is to share information on its pricing.
Many payment processors don't show any types of plans or fees on the website, since they either can't offer an exact number or they may be hiding something.
Regardless, Payment Depot's website is full of useful information on its membership plans. The only problem with the membership pricing is that it's difficult to understand your per-sale profits and how the monthly fees compare to what we're use to in the industry.
As for getting set up with Payment Depot, it truly is a seamless process. The customer support team takes you through the integrations and sends you all of the free terminals that are included with your plan. You can integrate with a wide variety of e-commerce platforms, and it seems like the customer support team is always there to guide you along the way. Not only that, but you receive next day payouts so that you're not sitting around waiting for a payout at the end of the month or after two weeks. This makes it much easier to understand your revenue and to be able to pay off whatever expenses you have.
Customer Support
Your customer support from Payment Depot depends on your membership level. However, all customers receive 24/7 technical support through email or phone.
Having said that, it seems like regular business hours are the best time to call or send in emails. This would be based on Pacific Time.
The Payment Depot website also has pages for FAQs, customer reviews, and the privacy policy. We also like the fact that the company has a blog and a social media presence. It would be nice to have a knowledgebase on the website, but for now you'll have to stick with the dedicated support representatives.
The only difference in support between memberships is that all vendors with the Most Popular Membership (and above) will receive priority support. This typically means that you get pushed to the front of the support queue.
Who Should Consider Payment Depot as Their Payment Processor?
We like Payment Depot for a wide variety of merchants. It doesn't really matter how big your store is or what you're selling, as long as you are not considered a high risk merchant. You also need to be a US seller, making Payment Depot a non-option for businesses in other countries.
Overall, Payment Depot is a wonderful payment processor with plans for all types of business sizes. You can upgrade or downgrade depending on your sales, and you even get some free payment terminals to help out with other facets of your business.
If you have any questions about our Payment Depot reviews, please let us know in the comments below.
Comments 0 Responses