There are a plethora of sites that compare business services, including those that provide merchant account reviews, placing a microscope on credit card processing companies for business folks who need to accept credit cards.  Educated consumers are voracious in their appetite to read about the firms in a “top 10” list of credit card processing companies (even a “top 100” list) in an effort to streamline their efforts in finding the diamond in the rough.

Merchant account review sites are popular and may provide value to the reader.  The following lists several inherent benefits of this type of site: 

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  Provides convenience and perhaps a one-stop analysis - Merchant account reviews may be thorough and all-encompassing, and include a diverse group of credit card processing companies.  It should prove very time-efficient for merchants to simultaneously compare various offerings.
  
  
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  Highlights attention on the advantages (and perhaps disadvantages) of certain merchant account vendors.
  
  
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  Helps to synthesize and summarize a lot of Internet-based information on the selected merchant account providers.
  
  
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  Contributes to a greater understanding of the merchant account field, and may target important rates that merchants may not have previously known about.  

However, although merchant account reviews offer the aforementioned benefits, it is necessary to put them into proper perspective and note some of the drawbacks:

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  Are these sites truly objective?  Is the webmaster someone who works directly with a merchant account company, ostensibly providing unbiased information?  Does the webmaster receive an affiliate commission from the highlighted group of sites?  It may be impossible to know the answers to these questions but the reader should weight the possibility that the creator of the site may have ulterior, self-serving motives.
  
  
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  The merchant account reviewer may limit the number of credit card processing company comparisons.  There are a multitude of providers and only a handful of vendors may be featured.  (I have written to several review site webmasters, requesting our payment processing service to be evaluated -- typically to no avail.)
  
  
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  The contrasted fee structure may not be up-to-date and current.  Fees fluctuate in the merchant account field, and any worthwhile comparison consistenly needs to be updated and revised.
  
  
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  The fee structure is usually not all-encompassing.  Many rates may not be included so it is very difficult to note which merchant account provider is best.  For example, many merchant account reviews compare the qualified discount rate but omit a non-qualified discount rate compoarison.
  
  
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  It is very hard to gauge the level of standard of customer and technical support available.  Review sites focus on rates (and rightfully so) but cannot provide much feedback regarding the quality of service or lack thereof.  

Credit card processing review sites may be considered another research tool but it is imperative for merchants not to rely solely on the information provided.  Similarly, business owners should not be jaded and dismiss such sites, even if, for instance, webmasters receive an affiliate commission from the highlighted companies.  (Such webmasters may very well believe that the featured credit card processors rank among the best in the merchant account field, even if they receive compensation from their picks.)  Again, it is crucial for any merchant to go through a number of possible vendors, narrow the list, and eventually select one provider using a myriad of resources, including merchant account reviews.