Most partnerships are formed as a financial decision where both parties benefit. It would be nice if companies made decisions based on morals and ethics but we all know that's not how it works.
I'm really not sure what you are trying to imply here - if anything - but I can tell you first hand that while our reseller programs are generous, the #1 reason why resellers sign up with us is because they trust that we will take good care of their clients.
Profits from merchant processing only last if you retain your clients and keep them very satisfied. If an agent sends an account to a merchant processor that ends up losing the account, those profits don't last very long at all and no one wins. (Not to mention, it would be a big negative for the person referring the account and it could cost them other business!)
If you take very good care of your clients - whether big or small - you will get a tremendous amount of referral business and build word of mouth. This is true for any business and especially the merchant processing industry.Those independent marketing partners operate under the CDGCommerce name and thus represent your company. You can't say that CDGCommerce is against annual and early termination fees and then let sales agents use your name to push those very same fees. Either CDGCommerce doesn't allow them to be charged, or by allowing their sales agents to sell them under their name, you are endorsing them.
First and foremost, you are completely mis-stating what I just said above. I said thatno CDGcommerce merchant account - including those offered by agents - has any early termination fees. We stand behind our service and I can't think of anything that shows greater confidence in our service than having an across the board no early termination fee policy.
In terms of other fees - we have many agents across the country who work in many different niche marketplaces and set their own pricing. Sometimes the margins are so thin in certain categories - such as card present/retail - that an annual fee provides a little bit of revenue to the rep and processor while the lion's share of the savings is passed to the merchant on a transaction basis.
However, it is quite improper to somehow paint a picture of a typical CDGcommerce merchant account as having an annual fee. You would be excedingly hard pressed to find even an example or two of any online promotion by one of our agents with an annual fee component.
In addition, I really don't feel your mention of "pushing these fees" is appropriate. We go out of our way as a business to provide full disclosure to all merchants in triplicate.
Not only do merchants see the pricing on the promo page, our online application system shows the pricing in full detail with a complete explanation of all fees and terms and then the merchant sees it all again on the merchant agreement.
I am not sure what other merchant processors you have worked with in the past, but we take our reputation and our service very seriously at CDGcommerce and our staff dedicates themselves every day to taking great care of our many merchants.
I do agree with you that it is important to always do the right thing. And I think that everyone wins when businesses are honest and ethical. It is good for morality and also good for business.
