Groupon credit card processing

[tek9]

Yes, I know, another CC thread...
I've just heard that Groupon has a mobile credit card processing service with substantially lower processing rates than Square, Paypal, and others. They only charge 1.8%! plus $.15 per swipe, and 2.3% for key-ins. (excluding Amex)
I was only aware of Square, Paypal, and GoPayment, and they charge 2.7-2.75% for a swipe.
Does anybody use Groupon, and if so, are you happy with them? How do they manage to charge so little?
It seems that you have to have had (or commit to having) one Groupon daily deal to be able to get this. But it seems to be worth it for this rate.

 

[Xander]

http://www.cardpaymentoptions.com/credit-card-processors/groupon-payments/

According to other sources, these low rates are reserved only for merchants who run “Daily Deals” with Groupon. Otherwise, the swipe increases to 2.2% plus 15 cents per transaction for VISA, MasterCard and Discover. It is unclear as of this review how much the keyed and AMEX rate increases because Groupon does not publish this information, instead requiring merchants to enroll or call a customer service line.

 

[tek9]

http://www.cardpaymentoptions.com/credit-card-processors/groupon-payments/

According to the Groupon site you only have had to run "a" daily deal - meaning one deal - and you're classified as a "groupon merchant" which would get you the lower rate. Unless I'm missing something....

 

[DocGreen]

According to the Groupon site you only have had to run "a" daily deal - meaning one deal - and you're classified as a "groupon merchant" which would get you the lower rate. Unless I'm missing something....

Um... is it "a" daily deal, or a "daily deal"?

Makes a HUGE difference.

Also, if it's just a (one) daily deal... how can it be daily? It's only 1.

 

[Xander]

THAT would make perfect sense, Doc. They cut you a deal on processing only while you've got a deal running. Since they're already gouging out a huge chunk of your profit, they cut you a tiny bit of slack on the credit cards.

 

[tek9]

Um... is it "a" daily deal, or a "daily deal"?

Makes a HUGE difference.

Also, if it's just a (one) daily deal... how can it be daily? It's only 1.

I was under the assumption that Groupon has a "Daily Deal", meaning every day they have some kind of deal going. If you, as the merchant, had a "deal" listed with them once as their "daily deal", then you're classified as a "groupon merchant" and can get the lower rate.
In any case, one thing is clear that their T&C are very unclear, and they seem to be hiding something. Unlike Square and the others who have everything right on their website...

 

[carrcomp]

Has anyone actually called them to find out?

 

[PDXMicro]

Thank you very much Op for bring this up. I just signed up, they are a merchant - similar to square - but with lower transaction fees and no monthly fees. Also with the $15 fee for the reader, you get your first $5,000 in sales with no merchant fees (basically pays you back). Great deal IMO and looks like I have a new primary payment method This is completely seperate from "groupon" as you know it. This is a merchant account but also has the ability to take groupon vouchers if you wanted to use that feature (basically gift certificates).

http://breadcrumb.groupon.com/payments/

Highlights: 1.8% + $0.15 per swipe (Visa/MC/Discover), no monthly fees, no contract (cancel anytime), lower per transaction fees than anyone else that has no monthly fees, your able to take credit cards on your PC as well as your mobile device (awesome for me), next day funding (better than most), cc reader reads on the first swipe (we all know how the others are), 24-hr customer support, PCI built in, and did I mention 1.8% + $0.15 per swipe?