Dharma Merchant Services is a traditional merchant services provider with interchange-plus pricing that specializes in working with independent businesses. Dharma Merchant Services has solutions for accepting online and offline payments and they accept low-risk business processing more than $10,000 each month. Its other features include free virtual terminal, online reporting, mobile processing, online payment links, customer database, credit card storage, and next-day funding.
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What We Recommend Dharma Merchant Services For
Dharma Merchant Services has an excellent reputation for being honest and transparent—a breath of fresh air in the payment processing industry, which can be very opaque and difficult to navigate. It specializes in working with mom-and-pop businesses and nonprofit organizations. In my experience, Dharma offers some of the lowest interchange-plus rates available, and overall some of the best merchant services for small businesses. In particular, Dharma Merchant Services is great for:
- Restaurants: With Dharma Merchant Services, restaurants and quick-service dining establishments can get low credit card processing rates and 24-hour customer support—which comes in handy on weekends. Dharma also works with many popular hospitality software, making it a great restaurant credit card processor.
- Storefronts needing cheap processing: Dharma Merchant Services has extremely low interchange-plus pricing, particularly for in-person storefront and restaurant payments.
- B2B payments: Dharma Merchant Services has solutions for B2B sales with level 2/3 interchange reductions, relying on an integration with MX Merchant. High-volume discounts are available, and you also get priority 24-hour funding.
- Established nonprofits: Offers processing discounts to established nonprofits and works with credit card companies to ensure your business is registered properly to receive the best rates possible. However, they only partner with organizations processing over $10,000 monthly.
When Dharma Merchant Services Would Not Be a Good Fit
For some businesses, a different merchant account provider will make a better fit. Specifically, merchants that don’t process a lot each month, as well as merchants that fit the high-risk category, should look elsewhere.
- Processing less than $10,000/month: Dharma Merchant Services has a lengthier and more stringent application and approval process. Merchants processing less than $10,000 in transactions each month will likely not be approved. Smaller sellers should consider these free merchant accounts or payment apps tailored for smaller volumes.
- High-risk businesses: Dharma Merchant Services’s vetting process will also disqualify many high-risk merchants. If that’s the case for you, you may look for a merchant account for high-risk businesses.
Dharma Merchant Services Overview
Dharma Merchant Services Pros | Dharma Merchant Services Cons |
|---|---|
Low interchange-plus pricing | Strict application process |
24/7 support | Monthly fee |
Free virtual terminal and mobile processing app | Higher rates for American Express |
Next-day funding | Account closure fee |
Free MX Merchant account |
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Dharma Merchant Services has one of the stricter application vetting processes compared to most merchant service providers. As such, it’s generally not suitable for high-risk businesses. New merchant account setup takes 2–3 business days after they receive all the necessary materials.
Dharma Merchant Services Pricing
Virtual | Storefront and POS | Restaurants, Bars, and Quick Service | |
|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Fee | $25/month | $25/month | $25/month |
Transaction Fee (in addition to interchange fees) | 0.2% + 11 cents (0.3% + 11 cents for Amex) | 0.15% + 8 cents (0.25% + 8 cents for Amex) | 0.15% + 8 cents (0.25% + 8 cents for Amex) |
Monthly Processing Volume Limit | $100k/month (lower rates available for volume over $100k) | $100k/month (lower rates available for volume over $100k) | $100k/month (lower rates available for volume over $100k) |
Custom Plans
Lower rates are available for merchants processing more than $100,000 each month.
Additional or Other Fees
Additional fees may include:
- $1.50/voice authorization fee
- $20 wireless fee
- $25 chargeback fee
- $5 retrieval fee
Contract Length and Early Terminations
Dharma Merchant Services doesn’t require a long-term or minimum commitment, but it charges a $49 “closure processing fee” if you permanently cancel your account. To avoid that fee, or if you’re a seasonal business, you can close and reactivate your account without paying this fee, or any other applicable fee.
Dharma Merchant Services Alternatives and Fees Comparison
Fattmerchant | Square | PayPal | Payment Depot | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Best for | Recurring billing software | Small businesses just starting out | Occasional in-person sales | Cheapest credit card processing |
Monthly fee | starts at $99/month | starts at $0/month | starts at $0/month | starts at $49/ month |
Card-present transaction fee | Interchange + 8 cents | 2.6% + 10 cents | 2.7% | Interchange + 5-15 cents |
Keyed transaction fee | Interchange + 15 cents | 3.5% + 15 cents | 3.5% + fixed fee | Interchange + 5-15 cents |
Ecommerce transaction fee | Interchange + 15 cents | 2.9% + 30 cents | starts at 3.4% + 30 cents | Interchange + 5-15 cents |
Looking for the lowest rates? The payment processing rates you will pay can vary based on your business size, type, and average order value. To find the most affordable option for you and compare multiple processing rates, read our guide on the cheapest credit card processing.
Dharma Merchant Services Features
- High-volume rates: Merchants that process more than $100,000 each month can lower transaction fees to 0.1% + 5 cents plus interchange.
- Payment types: Dharma Merchant Services supports all major credit and debit cards, ACH bank transfers, and mobile payments.
- Next-day funding: Get quick access to funds from card-present transactions.
- MX Merchant: Get a complimentary MX Merchant account with a virtual terminal, online reporting, mobile processing app, online payment links, and a customer database including options to save payment methods.
Dharma Merchant Services Ease of Use
- POS integrations: What Dharma Merchant Services lacks in built-in POS features, it makes up for in integrations.
- Simple interface: Many who don’t use the platform on a daily basis still find it easy and intuitive.
- Affordability: Dharma Merchant Services charges a comparably low monthly fee in addition to affordable interchange plus rates.
- Helpful customer support: The support team at Dharma Merchant Services has earned a reputation for being available and going above and beyond.
Merchants can purchase select hardware from Dharma Merchant Services or integrate hardware purchased elsewhere. Dharma Merchant Services has its own countertop terminals, ideal for food-based businesses. You can also use Clover Flex and Verifone products.
As far as software goes, Dharma Merchant Services integrates with First Data, TSYS, FreedomPay, Authorize.net, and USAePay. It also works with many POS systems, including:
- Aloha
- Ambur
- Breadcrumb
- Digital Dining
- Dinerware
- Groupon
- Lavu POS
- Micros
- NCR Silver
- Revel POS
- Shopify POS
- Shopkeep
- Squirrel POS
- Talech POS
- Vendini
Dharma Merchant Services Customer Support
Dharma Merchant Services has 24-hour tech support available via phone, live chat, or ticket submission through its website. Their detailed support page has an easy-to-navigate FAQs section for troubleshooting on your own. Customer reviews show positive experiences with the knowledgeable, patient, and responsive support team.
What Users Think of Dharma Merchant Services
Though there are not many user reviews for Dharma Merchant Services, those we can find are positive. Merchants appreciate the responsive customer support team and transparency around pricing.
- Capterra: Only one user reviewed Dharma Merchant Services on Capterra, giving it 5/5 stars. They like that it’s easy to navigate, even though they don’t use the platform daily.
- Trust Pilot: Dharma earns a 4.6 out of 5 based on 109 user reviews.
While reviews for Dharma are mostly favorable, many note that it may not be a great fit for merchants processing under $10,000 per month. Plus, Dharma is only available to US-based businesses.
Users Like | Users Don’t Like |
|---|---|
Easy to use | Software error messages when processing cards |
Immediate customer receipt printing | Doesn’t support international merchants |
Accepts payments quickly and easily | |
Commitment to corporate social responsibility |
Bottom Line
Dharma Merchant Services is a traditional merchant account provider that offers affordable payment processing rates to high-volume businesses. Restaurants and other food-based businesses also benefit from strong features and integrations tailored to things like tipping, tableside ordering, and more. Other features include discounted B2B payment processing, next-day funding for qualifying transactions, and a helpful support team. Visit its site to estimate the fees for your business and to request a quote from its team.
