Elavon review 2024: Cost, plans, features and more

Best for tracking payment data

Elavon

Blueprint Rating

Monthly fee

$0

Swiped transaction fee

2.6% + 10¢

Free equipment

No

Pros

• Customizable reporting.
• Robust analytics.
• 24/7 customer support.

Cons

• Lack of transparency in fees and pricing structure.
• No free hardware.
• Unreliable customer service.

Featured credit card processing offers

Stax

Learn More

Via Stax’s website

Monthly fee

$99

Swiped transaction fee

7¢ to 10¢ + interchange rate

Merchant One

Learn More

Via Merchant One’s website

Monthly fee

$13.95

Swiped transaction fee

0.29% to 1.55% per transaction

Payment Depot

Learn More

Via Payment Depot’s webiste

Free Trial

No

Offers

$0 Setup & No Cancellation Fees

Pricing

Customized Interchange+ Pricing – Rates as low as 0.2% – 1.95%

Clover

Learn More

Via Clover’s website

Monthly fee

$14.95

Swiped transaction fee

2.6% + 10¢

Elavon Payment Processing overview

Elavon was founded in 1991 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. It is owned by U.S. Bank. For over 30 years, Elavon has served over two million customers in 36 countries. In a given year, it processes over six billion transactions with a total value of $600 billion. 

Elavon stands out by offering large-scale reporting tools that deliver actionable data and ways to act on them. You can sync data from across multiple business locations, then filter it to create custom daily and all-time access reporting. You can also filter data through 17 different filters, create and track custom KPIs, create customer or buyer profiles and track transaction disputes. 

In addition, when your data shows problems brewing, Elavon offers preventative solutions. For example, if your data shows a cash flow problem ahead, Elavon offers Fast Track funding. It allows you to submit a batch of transactions totalling up to $100,000 by 6 a.m., then have it in your account by 5 p.m. Its True Daily Funding gets funding to you quicker, often within hours even on weekends and holidays.

Elavon has 1.3 out of five stars and over 170 reviews on Trustpilot. The majority of its reviews are negative, with 94% being one-star, 3% five-star and 2% four-star reviews. Common complaints include billing issues (such as continuing to charge for services after account closures), faulty hardware and slow or unresponsive customer support. 

How much does Elavon Payment Processing cost?

ELAVON PAYMENT PROCESSING COST
Pricing structure	Interchange-plus
Monthly fee	$0
Online transaction fee	1% plus 25¢
Swiped/keyed transaction fee	2.6% + 10¢
Keyed transaction fee	3.5% + 15¢
Chargeback fee	$20
Free equipment	No
High-risk merchant	Depends on the merchant

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Elavon Payment Processing credit card processing

Elavon offers a few main options for processing in-person payments, including a mobile app, smart terminals, and countertop and wireless terminals. It does not offer free equipment, but you can rent a terminal, which could help make equipment purchases more affordable.

It offers the ability to accept online payments via debit or credit card, digital wallets, mobile in-app payment processing or with an ecommerce platform. Note that a payment gateway is needed for ecommerce processing, which is an added monthly cost. A payment gateway is a website integration that facilitates credit card processing, including fund transfers.

Elavon’s accepted payment methods include:

• Visa
• Mastercard
• American Express
• Discover 
• Apple Pay
• PayPal 
• Visa Checkout 

Transaction fees

Elavon’s pricing and fee information isn’t publicly available, and you have to talk to a member of the Elavon sales team to find out specifics. After speaking to an Elavon sales representative, we learned that there’s no subscription or annual fee associated with an Elavon account and the pricing structure is a tiered flat rate.

The Basic plan’s per-transaction fees are as follows:

• Online transaction fee: 1% + 25¢.
• Swiped/chipped transaction fee: 2.6% + 10¢.
• Keyed-in transaction fee: 3.5% + 15¢.

This is pricing for Elavon’s basic plan. You may receive discounts if you are a Costco member or price increases if you choose a different plan.

Chargebacks happen when customers request a refund due to suspected fraudulent or disputed transactions. For chargebacks, Elavon charges a $20 fee. These fees range between $15 and $20 among competitors. 

Monthly fees

Elavon doesn’t charge a monthly fee. While there is a month-to-month contract, there aren’t any cancellation fees and you can terminate at any time. Despite no monthly plan fees, users pay upfront to rent or purchase terminals and for a payment gateway as needed. 

Add-ons

Elavon offers a few add-on features to complement its business payment processing capabilities, including tools to attract more paying customers and streamline business financial processes. These include:

• Fast track funding: This feature allows you to get funding deposited into your account from batched transactions within hours or one day, even on holidays and weekends, helping you to quickly resolve cash flow problems of up to $100,000. 
• Check acceptance: Elavon’s ACH and ECS payment processing allows you to accept physical checks or bank account information online or over the phone. Physical checks are converted into digital ones to be processed as fast as you would process a card transaction.
• Gift cards: Elavon allows you to create and offer gift cards to encourage customers to come back and buy more.
• Chargeback management software: Elavon’s case management software allows you to view and respond to disputed transactions. You can investigate transaction histories and respond to disputed charges from Elavon’s online portal. You can also set alerts based on transaction amount and age, as well as receive daily reports on disputed cases. 

Elavon does not offer pricing transparency around these add-ons. To learn about pricing, contact its sales team. 

Who it’s best for

Elavon’s credit card processing service is catered for businesses of different sizes, from small and medium-sized to enterprise-level businesses. And, in addition to major industries such as restaurants, retail and travel and hospitality, Elavon also caters to niche-industry companies, such as those in the golf, mass-transit and higher-education industries. 

More specifically, Elavon’s ability to help companies analyze and glean insights from large datasets of transaction and financial information makes it a good fit for large high-transaction-volume companies. With online per-transaction fees of only 1% plus 25¢, it is also a good fit for large and global online brands. 

Elavon might offer payment processing to high-risk merchants, but you would need to talk to its sales team for more information. 

Elavon Payment Processing customer support and experience

For potential customers, Elavon’s support hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, Monday through Friday. A contact request form is available on the company’s website for those in North America. Note that no live chat feature is available. Elavon offers 24/7 customer service via phone to existing customers.

When we tested its customer support, Elavon’s representatives were quick to respond and transfer us to the right department. The sales team was also speedy in emailing information on plans they thought would be a good fit for our discussed business. 

While Elavon’s website contains a fair amount of information and is simple in its design, it’s difficult to decipher its main offerings and features. It does not offer pricing information and users are frequently prompted to contact sales for answers to basic questions. 

Elavon’s BBB and Trustpilot reviewers consistently report that Elavon’s customer service representatives are uninformed and that users were put on hold multiple times.. 

Elavon offers an app for Apple and Android customers, but it only has one review on the Apple Store. Its combined average app star rating is 3.6 out of five stars. 

Elavon Payment Processing vs. Square

	ONLINE TRANSACTION FEE	IN-PERSON TRANSACTION FEE	MONTHLY FEE	24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT	BEST FOR
Elavon	1% + 25¢	2.6% + 10¢	$0	Yes	Tracking large-volume payment data
Elavon ONLINE TRANSACTION FEE 1% + 25¢ IN-PERSON TRANSACTION FEE 2.6% + 10¢ MONTHLY FEE $0 24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT Yes BEST FOR Tracking large-volume payment data
Square	2.9% + 30¢	2.6% + 10¢	$0	No	New and brick-and-mortar businesses
Square ONLINE TRANSACTION FEE 2.9% + 30¢ IN-PERSON TRANSACTION FEE 2.6% + 10¢ MONTHLY FEE $0 24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT No BEST FOR New and brick-and-mortar businesses

At 2.6% plus 10¢ per transaction, Elavon and Square’s in-person transaction fees are identical. But for small businesses that primarily handle online transactions, Square’s fee for online transactions is significantly higher at 2.9% plus 30¢ per transaction versus Elavon’s 1% plus 25¢ per transaction. 

However, the main difference — and draw — of Square is that it’s an end-to-end payment processing system, offering all you need to set up your online or offline store for little or no upfront costs. It offers a free card reader for in-person transaction processing and does not require a monthly fee. Elavon, on the other hand, requires a payment gateway (purchased separately) and does not offer free equipment.

Elavon offers around-the-clock support for its customers. Square, on the other hand, has customer support between the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Monday through Friday. Despite this difference, Square receives higher ratings around the quality of its customer support.

The standout feature for Elavon is its ability to help you manage and glean insights from data via custom reporting. It helps businesses with large data sets, such as those with multiple locations or large online stores, get a detailed view of their transactions and stay ahead of consumer demand via alerts and real-time and daily reports.

Square, however, stands out with merchants as the provider that offers an entire credit card processing setup, including a card reader for in-store processing, with no upfront costs. This, coupled with its no-monthly-fees and pay-as-you-go transaction-based pricing, makes it a great fit for brick-and-mortar startups needing to only pay when they get paid.

Elavon Payment Processing vs. Clover

	ONLINE TRANSACTION FEE	IN-PERSON TRANSACTION FEE	MONTHLY FEE	24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT	BEST FOR
Elavon	1% + 25¢	2.6% + 10¢	$0	Yes	Tracking large-volume payment data
Elavon ONLINE TRANSACTION FEE 1% + 25¢ IN-PERSON TRANSACTION FEE 2.6% + 10¢ MONTHLY FEE $0 24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT Yes BEST FOR Tracking large-volume payment data
Clover	3.5% + 10¢	2.3% + 10¢	$14.95	Yes	Restaurants
Clover ONLINE TRANSACTION FEE 3.5% + 10¢ IN-PERSON TRANSACTION FEE 2.3% + 10¢ MONTHLY FEE $14.95 24/7 CUSTOMER SUPPORT Yes BEST FOR Restaurants

Clover and Elavon’s fees for keyed transactions are the same, but Clover’s in-person transactions are 2.3% + 10¢ per transaction, whereas Elavon’s is 2.6% + 10¢ per transaction. For online sales, Elavon’s rates are 1% + 25¢ per transaction, whereas Clover charges 3.5% + 10¢.

Unlike Elavon, Clover charges a monthly subscription. As such, Elavon may be a better fit for startups that cannot yet justify a monthly fee, or for those with periods of low or no transaction volumes, such as seasonal businesses. Clover doesn’t charge a monthly software fee for the first month, so you can try its product during its free 30-day trial without risk.

Both providers offer 24/7 customer service. Note that, per Elavon’s Trustpilot reviews, customer support may not be able to answer all of your questions. However, based on user reviews, Clover’s support is generally helpful, responsive, informative and professional.

With lower in-person transaction pricing, Clover is a stronger choice if you have predictable sales volumes, do a lot of in-person sales and want reliable and professional customer service. Its catered POS systems also make it a good fit for brick-and-mortar businesses. Its restaurant POS, for example, allows you to map out your tables, split bills and integrate relevant tools, such as Grubhub. 

With lower online transaction fees, Elavon is a better fit for online stores. It is also a good fit for companies with high online transaction volumes. Its reporting and data management tools can help ensure that no sales or collection opportunities are missed, even in large data sets. For example, Elavon offers invoice overdue alerts, detailed charge dispute reporting and quote-expiration alerts. You can even create buyer personas for your marketing teams to better target new or underdeveloped markets. 

Is Elavon Payment Processing right for your business?

Elavon is our top choice for tracking payment data. It offers the ability to glean powerful transaction and consumer insights from large data sets and multiple locations across your business. You can also sync it with other tools to aggregate more data, such as accounting software. Its ability to handle large data sets coupled with its low online-transaction fees make it best for ecommerce stores with large consumer bases and transaction volumes.

If you need a payment processor that’s a one-stop shop for a specific industry, we recommend Square, which is geared toward retail stores, or Clover, which offers features specific to restaurants. Both are all-in-one payment processing products.

Featured credit card processing offers

Stax

Learn More

Via Stax’s website

Monthly fee

$99

Swiped transaction fee

7¢ to 10¢ + interchange rate

Merchant One

Learn More

Via Merchant One’s website

Monthly fee

$13.95

Swiped transaction fee

0.29% to 1.55% per transaction

Payment Depot

Learn More

Via Payment Depot’s webiste

Free Trial

No

Offers

$0 Setup & No Cancellation Fees

Pricing

Customized Interchange+ Pricing – Rates as low as 0.2% – 1.95%

Clover

Learn More

Via Clover’s website

Monthly fee

$14.95

Swiped transaction fee

2.6% + 10¢

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)