Chase Payment Solutions and Dharma Merchant Services often fall within the top five when it comes to popular card processors. Let’s take a closer look at both, so you can decide which service is a better fit for your business.
Chase Payment Solutions, part of bank behemoth JP Morgan Chase, offers card processing services for businesses of all shapes and sizes. From retail to restaurant and professional services, from mom-and-pop shops to international corporations, Chase Payment Solutions has you covered.
Dharma Merchant Services is another payment processing service provider that lets businesses accept card payments in-store and online, with merchant solutions for storefronts, restaurants and business-to-business (B2B) sales.
*See how Chase Payment Solutions compares to Fattmerchant, another popular card processor.
| CARD PROCESSOR | CHASE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS | DHARMA MERCHANT SERVICES |
| Type of Provider | Direct processor | Front-end processor |
| Type of Processing Fees | Tiered or interchange-plus | Interchange-plus |
| Contract & ETF | Month-to-month, no ETF | Month-to-month, no ETF |
Products & Services
Not just card processors, both Chase and Dharma serve the whole merchant package. Have a look at what each provider offers to figure out which can better fulfill your processing needs.
CHASE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS
- Merchant accounts
- Credit card terminals
- Payment gateway
- Virtual terminal
- Mobile processing
- Level II/III processing
- International payments
- Line of credit
- Business credit cards
DHARMA MERCHANT SERVICES
- Merchant accounts
- Credit card terminals
- Payment gateway
- Virtual terminal
- Mobile processing
- Level II/III processing
- POS systems
- ACH payment processing
- Invoicing & recurring billing
- Line of credit
- Fundraising services
Direct vs. Front-End Processor
Chase Payment Solutions is a direct processor, while Dharma Merchant Services is a front-end processor. What’s the difference? Good question.
Front-end processors connect to card associations and supply settlement services and authorization. They work hand-in-hand with back-end processors which accept settlements from the front-end and move money from the issuing bank (your customer) to the merchant bank (you). Dharma uses First Data and TSYS as its main back-end processors, but your transactions can go through other back-end processing companies as well.
Direct processors complete the whole process, front-end to back-end, in house. That means that if any problem comes up – like account freezes or chargebacks – you’ll only need to deal with one company, instead of two. As such, direct processors often outperform front-end and bank-end processors when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Other Factors To Consider
Let’s have a look at how transaction rates compare for Chase and Dharma:
| CARD PROCESSOR | CHASE PAYMENT SOLUTIONS | DHARMA MERCHANT SERVICES |
| Swiped Debit Transactions | 2.6% rate +10¢ per tap, dip and swiped transaction. | 0.15% + 7¢ per transaction (and $20 monthly fee) |
| Swiped Credit Transactions | 2.6% rate +10¢ per tap, dip and swiped transaction. | 0.15% + 7¢ per transaction (and $20 monthly fee) |
| High Volume Retail | (not disclosed, but is negotiable) | 0.10% + $0.05 per transaction (and $15 monthly fee) |
As you can see, Dharma Merchant Services offers cheaper rates for tiered pricing, even with its monthly fees factored in.
The one advantage with Chase Payment Solutions is that you can negotiate prices for their interchange plus model. It’s worth the effort for medium-to-high volume businesses.
Because direct processors handle payment processing themselves step-by-step, they offer a smoother experience with less “miscommunication” compared to front-end processors. That’s why direct processors often receive less customer complaints and higher customer satisfaction scores than their processing peers.
More and more providers are doing away with long-term contracts carrying early early termination fees (ETFs) in favor of month-to-month ones with no ETF. Both Chase and Dharma require the latter.
If you find another provider that can meet your business’s changing needs, or you want to test a new processor, you won’t be penalized for making the switch.
Bottom Line
In my opinion, Dharma Merchant Services comes out on top for most low-volume small businesses. It’s one of the most transparent and ethical card processing companies you will come across. Its rates are competitive and it’s customer service is top-notch.
But if you need a card processor which can handle large transaction volumes with the utmost stability, consider one of the largest credit card processors in the country with Chase Payment Solutions.
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