Redwood Merchant Services is a division of America Bank and has been a top player in the processing payment industry since 1991. The company, based in Santa Rosa, California, offers a broad range of services targeted toward satisfying small and medium business needs in retail, restaurant, e-commerce, healthcare, and other domains.
The collaboration with Westamerica Bank helps the company serve all customers by providing complete financial services, including banking and payment services. The agreement also facilitates Redwood to offer more services, such as credit and debit cards, to its customer base with lower interest rates and introductory pricing. This symbiosis enables companies to optimize financial management and simultaneously receive safe and confident transactions.
Redwood Merchant Services has come to be identified with a dedication to data security and customer satisfaction. Over the years, the company has proven to adapt to the changing needs of the payment processing landscape, including the added technologies of EMV and NFC payment solutions, to ensure businesses run smoothly and securely. Lets read more about Redwood Merchant Services Review.
Services and Features
Redwood Merchant Services offers various features and services to address the different needs of small and medium enterprises. Their offerings encompass multifarious processing functions of payment and management for businesses’ various needs, providing merchants with what they need to run their businesses effectively and safely.
Payment Processing Solutions
- Credit and Debit Card Processing: Redwood Merchant Services provides excellent tools to manage both credit and debit card payment types. This includes support for major card networks so that merchants can accept payment in any manner their customers prefer.
- Mobile Payment Processing: Redwood provides businesses with mobile payment processing facilities in this fast-growing epoch of mobile transactions. This is how they can receive customer payments via smartphones and tablets. This service emerges as optional, mainly benefiting non-traditional businesses like food trucks and pop-up shops, as it enables them to travel while processing payments.
- Online Payment Solutions: Redwood Merchant Services supports e-commerce with treatment settlements by creating payments unto the largest volume of electronic transactions possible online through multiple payment gateways. This consists of payment gateways supporting safe and robust online transactions and other electronic payment solutions, catering to smooth-numbers-selling checkouts for businesses.
- ACH and eCheck Processing: Businesses interested in cutting down processing costs can leverage Redwood’s ACH and eCheck services. These electronic payment methods are faster and more secure than regular paper check payments, making them appropriate for repetitive bills and large transactions.
- EMV and NFC Payments: Redwood fully supports EMV chip cards and NFC payments. These technologies help increase transaction security and allow contactless payments, one of the most accepted and welcomed modes of payment, since they offer both the convenience and security that consumers seek.
Business Management Tools
- Point of Sale (POS) Systems: Redwood provides an extensive POS platform on controlling all points of sales, inventories, and customer information in one integrated point for business. Tailoring can be offered based on the needs of different industries.
- Virtual Terminals: Businesses can use Redwood’s virtual terminals without a physical card reader that requires payment processing. Through the Redwood virtual terminal, merchants can enter details and safely process any transaction from any computer manually.
- Inventory and Employee Management: Redwood point-of-sale systems have inbuilt inventory and employee management features. Such tools help a business routinely check inventory levels to maintain status, manage employee schedules, and monitor employee performance metrics toward the operation’s efficiency.
- Gift and Loyalty Programs: Redwood’s loyalty and gifting programs service helps keep your customers and grow your business. It integrates seamlessly with a POS system, ensuring businesses conveniently reward their most loyal customers.
Additional Services
- Merchant Cash Advances: Redwood offers merchant cash advances to businesses as working capital to fund opportunities, smoothen cash flows, or cushion against unexpected uses other than paying for them. These are paid back as a percentage of future credit card sales, making the practical terms of repayment quite flexible.
- Subscription and Recurring Billing: Redwood ensures that businesses running a subscription model will have a recurring billing solution. It automates all the billing processes, ensures that bills are time-serviced, and substantially reduces administrative overhead.
- Dunning Management: Redwood has a dunning management system for handling declined or late payments. This comprises automated communications or actions with customers focused on ensuring a business receives outstanding payments so it can continue working nicely with available cash flow.
- Security Measures (Encryption and Tokenization): Redwood is in front of the charter for leading the security of payment transactions to the uppermost level by using best-in-class encryption and tokenization technologies. These two coverages protect sensitive data during transactions, substantially lowering the possibility of fraud and data breaches.
Overall, Redwood Merchant Services hosts a significant number of lucrative services and options that, by contribution, would fit most types of businesses and bring their operating level to new spheres while ensuring that all payment processing services are safe and reliable.
Industries and Business Types Served
Unique solutions exist for all industries and businesses that cater to personal needs and can provide payment processing. Key industries are automotive, retail stores, and restaurants. All these industries use Redwood’s advanced POS systems to add more convenience to their transactions and gain efficiency in their back-office operations.
For professional services, such as legal and consultancy, the user can make payments securely and seamlessly using Redwood. Therefore, such businesses can continue with their operations without engaging in the hustle of inefficiencies brought about by payment. Redwood will give much simplicity and ease to eCommerce services that require online payment professionally and safely; it will simply incorporate with any implemented shopping cart, hence gaining support with the inclusion of Internet merchants.
Redwood’s services also benefit contractors and beauty and wellness businesses. These sectors globally demand attention and use mobile payment modes. Redwood addresses this challenge head-on by providing services on mobile payment processing, easing the act of transacting.
Such advanced security features within Redwood, such as tokenization and encryption, address the high demands from the respective healthcare and telemedicine industries about safety and dependability. They ensure sensitive patient information is safe during transactions, enabling Redwood to address the stringent security needed for the respective sectors.
Moreover, Redwood Merchant Services accepts high-risk businesses, including those involving cannabis and CBD. These concerns necessarily add another layer to their payment processing due to the interference in regulations. Drawing on its experience, Redwood provides customized solutions to enable businesses like these to offer trusted services to support their customers’ growth and operational needs.
Pricing Terms | Redwood Merchant Services Review
Redwood Merchant Services uses a tiered pricing model, which is quite typical in the industry. There is some leeway in that the rates range from as low as 1.00% to 4.99% for swiped and keyed rates. This, therefore, means that the merchant can get his costs varied owing to the different heights of the transaction types and varied transaction volumes. This spacing is necessary to accommodate various types of transactions and their different volumes. It is very important for one to know the kind of transaction in which it is engaged and how this might affect the bottom line.
One of the most significant issues revolving around pricing terms at Redwood is that monthly and annual fees are not very transparent. These fees are not widely disbursed to merchants at the sale time and might create an unplanned cost for merchants. The businesses should understand the overall scope of these fees to make budget allowances for payment processing.
Other aspects include clarity on PCI compliance and whether monthly minimum fees are to be required. PCI compliance fees are related to maintaining standards for safe and secure transactions, which can take up a significant share of the associated costs. Redwood does not explicitly state whether these fees are exclusive of the overall setup or added to it, which merchants have an issue with.
Redwood Merchant Services charges a standard early-termination fee of $295 to a merchant canceling before the end of the two-year agreement. For a business hoping for more lenient service agreements, this penalty could be significant.
Redwood provides competitive processing rates but concentrates on a total lack of transparency on additional charges and promises potentially high costs due to its tiered pricing model. Businesses should, therefore, ensure they review and thoroughly understand the pricing terms before engaging to avoid unforeseen expenses and ensure services meet their financial expectations.
Contract Terms
Redwood Merchant Services typically puts its clients under a standard two-year agreement. This cannot be pegged as a long period in the payment processing industry, considering that it is an ideal, stable timeframe for both the service provider and the merchant to get to start and maintain their service relationship. Be that as it may, a critical section that any potential merchant should be aware of is the section on early termination fees.
The Early Termination Fee is $295. Merchants who cancel their contract before the two-year term is up pay a $295 fee for early termination. That’s an otherwise high-scale fee—emphasis on otherwise—and one that critically needs consideration, essentially for businesses that badly need more service agreement flexibility.
Another essential thing is the transparent disclosure of contract terms. The ambiguous presentation of all the possible monthly and annual fees beforehand isn’t sometimes a sure shot with Redwood Merchant Services. Most concerns arise based on the ambiguity of PCI compliance fees and monthly minimum fees. One must be PCI compliant to have all transaction accounts securely, and fees must be clearly outlined to prevent them from falling into the jaws of change in variable costs. This lack of clear information on these fees could confuse the merchant.
Additionally, while preferring tiered pricing is an advantage in several cases, this tier also adds to another layer of cost obscurity about the exact costs any business may have under Redwood. This boils down to the fact that the fees a merchant may have to pay all depend on the kind of transaction, which may translate to higher costs for some businesses.
When conducting any business with Redwood Merchant Services, an entity has to scrupulously follow each step of the contract terms of engagement, asking as many questions as possible about the fees. Everything concerning the agreement should be fully understood. Doing so helps organizations avoid unforeseen costs and guarantees that services meet their financial and operational needs.
Customer Service and Support
Redwood Merchant Services provides a range of support channels to ensure that their clients receive timely and effective assistance. They offer a toll-free customer service number, allowing merchants to reach out for help during business hours easily. Additionally, there is dedicated email support for addressing non-urgent inquiries or issues that require detailed explanations. For technical support after regular business hours, Redwood utilizes offshore support teams to ensure that assistance is available around the clock.
Regarding sales practices, Redwood Merchant Services employs independent sales organizations (ISOs) to market its services. This approach can sometimes lead to variability in the customer experience, as independent agents may have different levels of expertise and adherence to company policies. However, Redwood is known for its transparency in terms and conditions, ensuring that all important details are clearly communicated to potential clients.
Moreover, Redwood Merchant Services is noted for the absence of deceptive advertising. The company makes a concerted effort to provide honest and straightforward information about its offerings, avoiding the common pitfalls of hidden fees and misleading claims that plague many in the industry. This commitment to transparency helps build trust with merchants, making it easier for them to make informed decisions about their payment processing needs.
Overall, Redwood Merchant Services aims to provide reliable and accessible customer support while maintaining honest and transparent sales practices.
Customer Reviews and Complaints
Redwood Merchant Services has garnered various reviews from different platforms, reflecting a mix of positive and negative feedback.
- Positive Feedback: On platforms like Google, Redwood Merchant Services has received favorable reviews, with an average rating of 5 stars based on a small sample of two reviews. These reviews typically highlight the company’s effective customer service and reliable support for existing clients, which has contributed to a low number of complaints relative to the size of the business and the length of time it has been in operation.
- Negative Feedback: Despite the positive reviews, customers have noted some areas of concern. On Yelp, Redwood Merchant Services has a rating of 3.5 stars from three reviews. Some merchants have reported issues with fund holds and reserve policies, where funds are held until outstanding balances are resolved. This can lead to significant operational challenges and frustration among clients who promptly need access to their funds.
Additionally, there have been concerns about the transparency of contract terms and the policies surrounding early termination. Some reviews mention unexpected costs and difficulties when terminating services, largely due to the $295 early termination fee. This lack of clarity can be a source of dissatisfaction for merchants who value straightforward and transparent agreements.
Mixed Reviews: The feedback on service rates and customer support quality is also mixed. While some clients appreciate the competitive rates offered by Redwood Merchant Services, others have felt that the rates are not as transparent or as competitive as initially presented. Furthermore, while many customers praise the support team for their responsiveness, others have encountered inconsistent service quality and communication issues.
Overall, while Redwood Merchant Services maintains a solid reputation for customer satisfaction, there are areas for improvement, particularly regarding contract transparency and clearer communication regarding policies and fees.
Comparative Analysis
When comparing Redwood Merchant Services with other merchant service providers, several factors come into play, including pricing, contract terms, customer service, and specific features.
- Comparison with Other Merchant Service Providers: Redwood Merchant Services offers competitive payment processing solutions similar to those of industry leaders like Square, PayPal, and Stripe. However, Redwood primarily targets small to medium-sized businesses across diverse sectors. In contrast, providers like Square and PayPal are widely recognized for their ease of use and flexibility, catering to both small businesses and individual entrepreneurs.
- Advantages of Redwood Merchant Services: One significant advantage of Redwood Merchant Services is its affiliation with Westamerica Bank, which provides integrated banking services alongside payment processing. This can be a major benefit for businesses looking for a one-stop solution for their financial needs. Additionally, Redwood’s support for high-risk industries such as cannabis and CBD sets it apart from many competitors who often shy away from these sectors.
- Disadvantages of Redwood Merchant Services: A notable disadvantage is the lack of transparency regarding pricing details. While the tiered pricing model can be beneficial, the undisclosed monthly and annual fees, the lack of clarity on PCI compliance, and monthly minimum fees can be problematic for businesses looking to understand their costs upfront. The early termination fee of $295 and the standard two-year contract might also deter businesses seeking more flexibility.
- Recommendations for Businesses Considering Merchant Services: For businesses considering Redwood Merchant Services, it is crucial to thoroughly review and understand the contract terms, especially concerning fees and termination policies. Comparing Redwood’s offerings with those of other providers like Square, PayPal, or Stripe can help determine the best fit for your business needs. Businesses in high-risk industries or those requiring integrated banking and payment processing might find Redwood particularly advantageous. However, for those prioritizing transparent pricing and flexible contract terms, exploring other providers could be beneficial.
Conclusion
Redwood Merchant Services offers comprehensive payment solutions with competitive rates and robust support for various industries. While the service is reliable and well-regarded, potential customers should know the contract terms and lack of fee transparency. Redwood is a solid choice for many businesses, but a thorough contract review is recommended.
