Processor Directory > PNC Merchant Services

PNC Merchant Services Review

PNC Merchant Services is a payment processing company that operates on the First Data platform. The company offers standard processing services to businesses of all sizes.
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In this PNC Merchant Services review, we’ll give an overview of what it can offer your business and take an objective look at the company’s reputation.


News

In 2017, law firm Webb, Klase & Lemond filed a class action lawsuit against PNC Merchant Services alleging that the company consistently and knowingly charged more than permitted in merchant agreements to clients across the country in what it calls an example of systematic overbilling. The case, Healing for the Abused Woman Ministries v. PNC Merchant Services Company, alleges breach of contract and seeks return of amounts paid to PNC that exceeded the fees outlined in the merchant agreements signed by the businesses.

What processing services can PNC Merchant Services offer my business?

PNC offers an array of processing services that can be fashioned to fit your business’ specific processing needs. With PNC you can accept payment cards or checks whether your transactions occur in a traditional store environment, on-the-go with mobile processing, online for ecommerce, or taking mail/phone orders. The company also offers a gift card program to those who are interested. 

PNC Merchant Services homepage

Payment Card Services

You can worry less about making a sale when you offer a variety of convenient ways of payment. Credit cards, debit cards, EBT payments, and gift and loyalty cards can all be processed using PNC’s services. The company also offers equipment for facilitating these transactions.

Check Services

Accepting checks is still an important way of receiving payment for many businesses, but you don’t need to be burdened by excessive trips to the bank or worries about the check bouncing anymore. PNC Merchant Services offers TeleCheck Electronic Check Acceptance; it converts paper checks into electronic transactions for added security and deposits them directly into your account. You can convert the checks electronically with any terminal that supports TeleCheck.

In Person Processing

PNC Merchant Services offers a variety of payment methods for businesses like retail, restaurants, and others that work out of a traditional brick and mortar location. You can process payment cards and checks using terminals, PIN pads, point of sale systems, check readers, and equipment for EMV and contactless payments.

Mobile Processing

If your business can’t be tethered to one spot, mobile processing offers the flexibility you need for making sales while on the move. PNC Merchant Services offers different options for mobile transactions including wireless terminals and card readers that plug into your smartphone. These options can be beneficial for those who work at tradeshows, festivals, or offer in-home services.

Online Processing and Mail/Phone Orders

Whether you are an ecommerce entrepreneur or looking for a way to enable mail order or telephone order payments, a payment gateway can meet your processing needs. PNC Merchant Services offers the payment gateway Payeezy. Along with the ability to process credit card payments, Payeezy offers hosted checkout pages that can be customized for collecting sensitive billing information, a real-time payment manager for reporting and obtaining transaction information, and programming tools to help integrate your current website or app.

Gift Card Program

Gift cards can be a great way to expand your influence and allow your customers to share your business with others. They also offer a means for analyzing spending trends and patterns. PNC Merchant Services has a program that will allow you to customize cards or choose from pre-made designs, as well as create signs, displays, and other accessories to go with them. Programs can be tailored to meet your business’s individual needs.

Cash Flow Insights

Cash Flow Insights is a collection of computing tools for analyzing and managing your business’s cash flow. The tools can be accessed online anytime and offer accounting software syncing, invoicing, document management, and more. The service is not included automatically with an account, but can be added for a monthly fee.

What equipment does PNC offer?

PNC Merchant Services can provide several options for equipment, including traditional card processing terminals, check scanners, point-of-sale solutions, and mobile options. Multi-location terminals are also available for companies with more than one branch. The company, however, does not offer much specific information regarding the models of equipment offered.

PNC Merchant Services does offer an assortment of Clover products. One option is the Clover Station, a point-of-sale solution for retailers and restaurants. The comprehensive system replaces your existing cash register, payment terminal, receipt printer, and barcode scanner. It has touchscreen functionality, can be accessed via the internet, and includes comprehensive tracking, including inventory, transactions, and employee activity.

Clover Mobile and Clover Go are also available options for accepting mobile payments. The misleadingly named Clover Mobile is actually still a point of sale solution, not a reader for smartphones as “mobile” usually refers to. The tablet-based system can be paired with the Clover Station for taking tableside payments and has other features such as a built in barcode scanner and EMV card reader.

The Clover Go is the smartphone solution. With Clover Go, you can download an app that will allow you to key-in payments on your smartphone, as well as take payments with a plug-in card reader.

Are there any security benefits to working with PNC?

If you are looking for hands on help you might need to look elsewhere, but PNC Merchant Services does dedicate a large section of its website to PCI compliance and security information. Pages include understanding data security requirements, tips to minimize chargebacks, protection from phishing, and protecting cardholder data, understanding PCI, validating PCI, TransArmor seamless solution for tokenization, and Trustwave compliance validation information.

PNC Merchant Services Rates and Fees

PNC Merchant Services doesn’t publish pricing information on its website, and will set pricing differently for each business. If you would like to know what you would be paying for PNC’s services, you can request a quote directly through this profile using CardFellow’s free quote request tool.   

PNC Merchant Services Reviews 

A good place to start when researching a company’s reputation is by reading through the complaints at the Better Business Bureau. Unfortunately in this case, there’s nothing to go on: PNC Merchant Services does have a profile with the BBB, but it is not accredited and holds no rating. There are no complaints or reviews. This is likely because a note from the BBB informs people that the profile’s address is incorrect and that they must contact the BBB directly to make a complaint. This might mean that zero complaint status is misleading, but it is unclear if the BBB would post the complaints or if anyone has made an attempt.

There are also no reviews to be found on Google or Yelp, but Ripoff Report has 7 reviews listed between 2012 and 2015. The main complaint seems to be that the contracts are intentionally deceptive and not fully disclosed. People report being unable to cancel their accounts, rates being raised, and hidden fees.

With only 7 reviews to go on, a valid assessment of PNC Merchant Services’ online reputation isn’t really possible. It could be that complaints about the company are few and far between, or maybe we aren’t getting the whole story. If you have worked with PNC, we want to hear from you! Leave a review!

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
0/5

Unlike general web reviews, verified reviews are posted by businesses that have chosen the processor's quote through CardFellow's marketplace, and CardFellow has confirmed with the processor that the business is using its service. Businesses can update verified reviews at any time to ensure the review accurately reflects the processor's performance over time.

There are no verified reviews for this processor
SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1.2/5

Unlike verified reviews which are validated by CardFellow, web reviews can be submitted by anyone viewing this profile. While we validate these reviews as best we can, CardFellow does not verify that a reviewer is using or has used a processor's service.

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Posted by Asha on Sep 22, 2018

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

I opened a business account with PNC, I immediately noticed that the bank representative seemed to be only focusing on the merchant services, which I thought was a bit odd since I just wanted to open the account. I opened the account and a few weeks later I went back to discuss the merchant services. I eventually received the policy or contract online. As I read through the first few pages I noticed there were fees and numbers that did not make sense or were never mentioned. Thankfully I never signed the agreement. Everything negative thing reported online is true including 1) Hidden fees, there were several annual fees that was never mentioned. 2) Bogus tier system. The representative sells you that PNC has the lowest transaction fees, but they use a non standardized tier system that allows them to charge you the highest rate not the lowest they brag about. 3) Customer service: when I first reviewed the contract and contacted PNC merchant services, no one ever picked up the phone.I believe this is intentional, you will go back to the Bank's sales person, so he can continue to be deceptive. 4) Overcharge for clover- they charge 2-3x the cost if you buy outright and then if you lease, it double that price. 5) Long lease, with termination fee. I am so thankful I followed my gut and read and re-read contract and read on-line reviews before committing. While I actually like PNC bank the PNC merchant services and their bank representatives are snakes who are truly deceptive, and dishonest, to lock you into their services. Don't use them or the Clover. .

Posted by Dell on Dec 06, 2017

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

More info about the lawsuit you mention: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/10/prweb14851822.htm

Posted by Daniel A Aaron on Oct 06, 2017

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
2/5

Scammed me out of lots of money. Promised no monthly fees and did not deliver. They also locked me in contract unknowingly. Ripoff. Do not use.

Posted by Dan on Oct 04, 2017

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

What a nightmare PNC Merchant Services has been. Ask all you want about what fees you will be paying, they'll be sure not to tell you.

Posted by tzvi herman on Oct 03, 2017

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

When they signed me up for an account, they submitted the wrong information to first data which resulted in over $100,000 dollars of my funds being held up for 180 days. When I confronted them about it the only response I got was I feel so bad but good luck. STAY AWAY!!!!!

Posted by Istvan Kiss on Mar 30, 2017

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

This service is not safe. DO NOT USE IT!!! The credit card company going to take your money back if it was fraud no matter what since you have signed the contract. I had fraud credit card charge after two weeks - without any warning they got to my checking account and took the money. Since I had no idea it was fraud I spent some of the money, but they took back everything. When I contact them the only response i got is sorry.

Posted by Dorothy Hooks on Oct 04, 2016

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

I signed up with PNC Merchant Services on 9/24/2014 for a simple merchant account; an account with no monthly fees. I specifically told Randi McKenna that I was not going to be processing credit card payments on a regular basis and did not want to pay a monthly fee. Now, almost two years later, PNC starts charging me $19.50 fee per month. I contact them and they informed me they sent a letter to me in February; I never received the letter and I told them. They assigned me a person Mark Blackstock, to resolve the issue for me about the fee and about cancelling my merchant services account; he did absolutely nothing - they are crooks. Blackstock told me that I signed the contract and agreed to a fee, if I did not process $60,000 a year in credit cards and that I signed the contact agreeing to keep the account for 3 years; I was not aware of either of these things. These are key things that Randi McKenna should have pointed out to me. I never would have agreed to processing $60,000 a year in credit card payments or to keeping the account 3 years. The figures McKenna put on my application for Visa and MC amounts, I did not give to her; she put them there on her own. She is responsible for letting the customer know all these things but she did not tell me anything. PNC Merchant Services is a ripoff and is designed to get customers sucked in for long periods, so they can make a profit. I filed a complaint with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, which did no good; Mark Blackstock lied to them, saying that he did an investigation but he did none! He sent Consumer Finance Protection Bureau a letter saying he addressed the issue with me but he lied! Mark sent me a letter dated August 5th, with the same thing he told me in June when I first contacted him about the issue. PNC Merchant Services should be closed down and all the top executives put in jail; they are a scam and ripoff and the government allows them to get away with it! Now, PNC Merchant Charges has placed another unannounced charge on my merchant account for the month of October for $109.00; I was told it was an annual fee to cover the charges Visa and Mastercard fees they are charged! OUTRAGEOUS!!! PNC Merchant Services are making up fees as they go! The representative also told me the $19.50 a month I am being charged is because I don’t process credit cards each month; so I am getting penalized for not using their services each month! How can these government agencies, who are supposed to protect consumers against companies like PNC Merchant Services, allow this to happen?

Posted by Anita Phillips on Jul 28, 2016

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
1/5

After discovering my client's credit card purchases were not being deposited (in total) to my PNC Bank business checking account and in addition, discovering that entire purchases were never credited, I contacted my PNC Merchant Services' Account Manager. That was 4 years ago. After repeated telephone calls and emails, he admitted that funds were missing and tried to buy my silence by given me a gift (a credit card processing machine). Huh? I guess he thought a credit card machine that I could not use (because I had no land line at my business), would make up for the thousands of dollars missing from my business checking account. Of course, at the time he offered this bribe, he did not realize I was without a landline....because he never came to my business. I moved 4 streets away from the original location and he never even knew it. Even though I'd notified PNC Bank in Tequesta, Florida and PNC Merchant Services plus sent me an email notification. Said he just didn't note in my file. After I refused to accept his little slider machine, my Account Manager just stopped answering my calls and emails. I then filed an extensive report, detailing the thousands of dollars in missing credit card deposits and excessive fees - A report that was reviewed and deemed to be accurate by a licensed CPA. It's now been 3 years since I discovered the missing funds and excessive charges and still no resolution. They are slick! PNC Merchant Services should be fined, publicly shamed and put out of business. Within the next few weeks, I'll be interviewed by a local media outlet. As they say, "the gloves are off!" Sadly, many small businesses trusted PNC Bank and hoped that their local Managers would somehow respect and protect their business relationship. "We were all wrong." My local PNC Bank Manager didn't give a damn. Claimed to have no knowledge of the thefts. All I can say, if the local Account Manager contacts you in Northern Palm Beach County, Florida, RUN! The guy will rip you off and destroy your small business. He's not only incompetent, he's just clueless. PNC Merchant Services and the Manager of Tequesta, Florida's PNC Bank will rue the day that they started stealing money from my small business.

Posted by CardFellow on Mar 29, 2016

SATISFACTION
RATES & FEES
CUSTOMER SERVICE
2/5

PNC Merchant Services suffers from the same plague as the other large banks, such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo. It doesn't seem to understand that it's possible to make a profit while maintaining a certain level of ethics and transparency. Just like its large bank counterparts, PNC Merchant Services resells First Data's processing services. We have reviewed many PNC statements that show it's partial to opaque billback pricing with aggressive surcharges.

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