Leaders Merchant Services Review: Does It Deliver in 2025?

Reliable Credit Card Processing With a Checkered Past

After days of careful research involving a deep dive into various reviews and opinions – the good, the bad, and the ugly – I found that the Leaders Merchant Services (LMS) of today is one of the better credit card processors in the business. It offers reliable tools for brick-and-mortar and e-commerce stores and helps businesses grow by offering low interchange-plus pricing and business funding options.

The quick and convenient onboarding process is especially great for new businesses or those looking to grow. LMS has an impressive 98% approval rate (for authorized business types) and same-day onboarding, making the setup of your credit card processing pleasantly straightforward.

That’s not to say LMS is perfect. For starters, detailed and up-to-date information about its service is still hard to find, and its pricing structure still needs some work. Still, LMS remains a solid, intuitive payment processor for growing US businesses. Is it the right choice for you and your business? Read on to find out.

High-Quality Features That Support Steady Business Growth

While it may not offer flashy extras like competitors, LMS delivers a dependable suite of fundamental features designed to streamline your payment processing. These reliable tools are built to support your operations at every stage of growth, helping your business run smoothly and efficiently.

A Broad Selection of POS Equipment

LMS offers a wide range of devices for card-present transactions and, unlike many other processors, it sells them outright instead of leasing. While the upfront cost is higher, purchasing your equipment will save you money in the long run. If you sign a long-term contract with LMS, you may even get your equipment for free.

One of LMS’s hardware offerings is the First Data FD150, an easy-to-use terminal for face-to-face transactions. You can get it together with a First Data pin pad if you prefer a more mobile option. For businesses that also accept checks, LMS offers the Magtek Mini-MICR, a compact check reader designed for easy processing.

As an authorized Clover reseller, LMS also gives you access to Clover’s complete line of modern and intuitive POS systems. These devices are designed to support various business types, including restaurants and retail stores, and come with features tailored to each industry.

Practical E-Commerce Tools for Online Transactions

LMS provides two primary solutions for handling card-not-present transactions: the popular Authorize.net payment gateway and a shopping cart integration for online stores via Cartmanager.

You can use Authorize.net to accept online payments and take payments made over the phone. As an independent service, Authorize.net offers its own customer support and security features, adding another layer of protection and reliability.

Meanwhile, LMS’s shopping cart integration helps streamline online sales with “add to cart” buttons, unlimited products and orders, and customizable checkouts. Cartmanager also handles tax calculations, supports multiple payment methods, and offers growth tools like coupon management, customer statistics, and affiliate program support.

Flexible Payment Options for Your Customers

LMS supports a wide range of payment methods, offering flexibility for both you and your customers. In addition to processing all major credit and debit cards, LMS lets you take payments via digital wallets like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. And if you get a Clover device, you can also accept payments through PayPal and Venmo.

Another notable LMS feature is Instant Accept, which integrates with QuickBooks and allows you to access a virtual terminal directly from within the application. This simplifies the process of receiving payments on outstanding invoices.

Whichever payment method your customer uses, you can expect your payout within 1 to 3 business days.

Business Funding Options Through LMS

For new or expanding businesses in need of additional capital, LMS offers access to merchant cash advances. This type of funding allows you to receive a lump sum upfront, which you then repay through a fixed percentage of your future sales.

Unlike traditional loans, LMS’s merchant cash advances do not require collateral or have strict deadlines. This flexible structure can help reduce financial pressure while providing the resources needed to help your business grow.

It’s Easy To Set up an Account, but Finding Information Can Get Tricky

Setting up and managing an account with LMS is exceedingly easy. The onboarding process is fast, and the POS and e-commerce tools it offers are intuitive and straightforward. That said, its outdated and often confusing website can make finding even basic information harder than it should be.

Getting Started With LMS

To get started with LMS, all you have to do is go to its website and enter your name, business name, average monthly processing volume, email, and phone number.

You can also apply to LMS by calling the phone number at the top of its webpage and talking to a sales representative. The representative will ask for your business address, social security number, date of birth, and checking account number. After you give them the required info, just stay on the line and they’ll guide you through the rest of the onboarding process.

High Approval Rate and Same-Day Setup

LMS approves 98% of merchant applications. If your financial history or industry means you might struggle to find credit card processing elsewhere, you should give LMS a try. Once approved, the onboarding process can take as little as 24 hours, so you can start accepting payments immediately.

Personalized Accounts Based on Your Business’s Needs

Businesses will have different needs depending on factors like their size, the industry they belong to, and others. A local gym won’t necessarily need all the same features as a local coffee shop.

LMS understands this, offering various services customized to your business’s needs. Some of the extra features LMS offers include subscription tools, gift cards, loyalty programs, and online restaurant menus. You can either negotiate these additional features when you sign up or contact a sales representative further down the line as your needs evolve.

Low Processing Rates, but Beware of Hidden Fees

Leaders Merchant Services has gotten some negative reviews in the past due to a lack of transparency regarding its pricing model. Though the company has recently taken steps to fix this, obtuse pricing information remains one of LMS’s biggest weaknesses.

Merchants who sign up expect a flat monthly fee of about $10 with LMS. Though the advertised markup on credit card transactions is as low as 0.15%, customer reviews suggest that the actual value usually falls somewhere between 1% and 5%.

These fees are reasonable on their own. In fact, LMS’s monthly and markup fees are among the lowest in the industry. The problem is that LMS comes with some extra costs that aren’t prominently advertised. If you decide to use the Authorize.Net virtual terminal, for instance, you’ll have to pay a monthly fee of $25. You’ll also be charged an annual $129 PCI-compliance fee, or a monthly fee of around $40 if you’re not PCI-certified.

Finally, you should keep in mind that the average LMS contract has a minimum duration of three years, which is significantly longer than that of most other processors. But like its rates, you’ll also be able to negotiate a month-to-month term instead.

Full PCI Compliance and Some Extra Measures for Added Security

All the equipment and services offered by LMS are fully PCI compliant, with some devices offering additional security features. LMS will also help you obtain PCI certification, but you’ll need to pay an annual PCI-compliance fee.

PCI Compliance & More

LMS offers a wide range of equipment for card-present transactions, all of which follow PCI regulations. Each device is EMV Level 1 and 2 approved and PCI-certified, so you can trust them to keep your customers’ credit card data secure.

The Clover POS equipment, in particular, offers outstanding security features, like Clover Security Plus. This gives you PCI compliance assistance, a security score benchmark, and access to support agents who specialize in data security. If you’re interested in e-commerce, you’ll also be pleased to know that LMS’s chosen payment gateway, Authorize.Net, is one of the most popular and most trusted out there.

LMS offers services to help merchants achieve PCI compliance, for which it charges a mandatory PCI compliance fee. If you do choose LMS for your credit card processing, you’ll want to achieve PCI compliance as soon as possible. Otherwise, LMS will charge you a monthly PCI noncompliance fee on top of any other fees you might incur beyond LMS’s control.

Additional Security Features

Though it doesn’t seem to offer any additional security features on its end, every peripheral device supplied by LMS comes with built-in security tools. For example, all hardware sold by LMS comes with end-to-end encryption, while the Clover systems it sells offer tokenization and fraud prevention technology.

The Authorize.Net payment gateway and shopping cart integrations ensure end-to-end encryption and adhere to the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) protocol, which is presently the benchmark for cutting-edge network security. Additionally, you have the ability to password-protect any of the physical or digital tools provided by LMS.

Few Channels, but Great Phone Support

Past merchant testimonies cite a lack of satisfaction with LMS customer support. While I don’t doubt these reflected reality when they were written, LMS seems to have stepped up its game massively in this area to improve the overall quality of its service.

Still, if there’s one thing I can fault LMS’s customer support for, it’s a lack of available channels. Besides the toll-free number you’ll find on its homepage, the only other option for contacting support is to fill out a ticket on the “contact” section of LMS’s site, but all this does is schedule you for a future call.

That means that the 24/7 phone line is pretty much your only option for contacting LMS. Luckily, the phone support is outstanding. I called a couple of times in order to ask about where LMS operates, whether it can process multiple currencies, and how to go about the onboarding process.

Every time I called, a support representative picked up the phone in less than 2 minutes. Each representative took the time to listen to my questions and responded with in-depth and informative answers. They also asked additional questions to better understand my business and industry, and showed a genuine interest in helping me get what I needed.

If you have basic questions but don’t want to call, you can always check out the FAQ section on LMS’s website. It’s a detailed, well-written resource that contains lots of useful information about LMS, merchant accounts, and credit card processing in general.