The Processor Scoreboard

Leaders Merchant Services

A Camarillo, California sales organization selling Wells Fargo-sponsored merchant accounts since 2000. It holds a BBB A+ rating and accreditation. Its customers tell a very different story, and it has been the same story for years.

Written by Robert Day, Founder and Managing Partner of weAudit.com, previously an executive at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv and Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, the world’s largest card processor. Published October 2026.

40out of 100

Regulatory and Legal20 / 25

Fee Practices5 / 25

Complaints and Resolution6 / 20

Transparency5 / 15

Sales Channel4 / 15

What to know before you sign.

A three-year contract that renews itself, with a termination fee of $250 to $350 that complainants say their salesperson told them did not exist.
Tiered pricing. In Leaders’ own words to a complaining merchant, “the qualifying rate is applied at the time of each batch settlement,” and “the full rate and fees will be charged at the end of the month.”
Fees that rise after you sign. Merchants describe monthly charges of $15 to $22 becoming $140, rate increases within months of a three-year agreement, and PCI non-compliance fees charged even after scans were completed.

Who you are signing with

Leaders Merchant Services is an independent sales organization, not a bank or processor. It has been in business since 2000, sells point-of-sale equipment and merchant accounts, and is registered as an independent sales organization and member service provider of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. A 2023 federal court case also names Paysafe, a processor, alongside it. Your account’s sponsor bank is what decides who holds your money; see our Wells Fargo Merchant Services rating (53/100).

Leaders also appears in another rating on this board. A Better Business Bureau complaint filed against “Bankcard USA – Leaders Merchant Services” describes 44 months of debits for services never used. See our BankCard USA rating.

Fee practices: the contract is the product

Leaders does not publish its pricing. Independent reviewers and complainants have documented the terms that sit behind the rate:

Term	As reported
Contract length	Three years, renewing automatically unless cancelled in time
Early termination fee	$350 in year one, $250 in years two and three, after a 30-day trial; complainants report up to $375
Annual fee	About $99
Monthly minimum	About $25
PCI compliance fee	About $129 a year, with non-compliance fees charged monthly when validation lapses
Pricing model	Tiered: qualifying rate at settlement, full rate and fees at month end
Reserves	Funds held for up to 180 days on some accounts

Sources: Leaders’ own responses to Better Business Bureau complaints, and terms as reported by independent review sites including CardFellow, NerdWallet and BestCompany, credited by name. Leaders does not publish pricing; your agreement shows what applies to you.

Tiered pricing is the single most effective way to make a statement impossible to compare against another. Leaders’ explanation to a merchant who saw one rate at settlement and another on the statement is the clearest description of it we have seen from a processor’s own pen. Read how a merchant can have the lowest rate and the worst deal.

Complaints: A+ rated, one star reviewed

Leaders is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and holds an A+ grade. Its BBB customer reviews average 1 out of 5. A BBB letter grade largely measures whether a business responds to complaints, and Leaders does respond. The responses are telling: fees “were correctly applied,” with refunds offered “as courtesy” once accounts are closed.

The complaints, across the BBB and independent review sites over many years, repeat the same pattern. Merchants say they were promised no contract or no termination fee, then charged $250 to $375 when they left. They describe monthly fees far above what they were quoted, rate increases within months of signing a three-year agreement, PCI non-compliance fees of $70 to $90 a month despite completing their scans, funds held for 180 days, and cancellation processes that take weeks.

Regulatory and legal

We found no Federal Trade Commission or state attorney general actions against Leaders. It was named as a defendant in a 2023 federal lawsuit in Florida alongside Paysafe, BBVA and others; we found no finding against it. That earns most of the available points, with some held back for the open litigation record.

Transparency and sales channel

Leaders publishes no pricing, uses tiered pricing that hides the real rate until month end, and relies on outbound sales representatives. The most consistent complaint in its file is about what salespeople said: no contract, no termination fee, low monthly costs. Those are the two categories where it scores lowest.

If you have a Leaders account

Find your agreement and program guide. Note the start date, the renewal date and the termination fee schedule.
Work out your effective rate from three statements: total fees divided by card sales. The fee calculator does it in seconds.
Check your PCI status and any non-compliance fee. See PCI non-compliance fee refunds.
Cancel in writing, with the signed closure form, and keep proof.
Get the statement audited before your renewal date passes.

Independence, right of response and corrections. weAudit takes no money from any processor, ISO or referral arrangement, and no company can pay to change its score. Leaders Merchant Services may submit a response or correction at any time, and we will review it and update this rating if the evidence warrants. Scores reflect the evidence available at publication. See the full Processor Scoreboard.

Common questions

Is Leaders Merchant Services legit?

Yes, it is a real company, in business since 2000 and registered as an independent sales organization of Wells Fargo Bank. But its complaint record is long and consistent: three-year contracts merchants say they were not told about, termination fees of $250 to $350, and monthly fees higher than quoted.

Does Leaders Merchant Services have an early termination fee?

Yes. Its contracts run three years and renew automatically. Reviewers report a 30-day trial period, then a termination fee of $350 in the first year and $250 in the second and third, and complainants report amounts up to $375. Read your agreement before you cancel.

How do I cancel Leaders Merchant Services?

Leaders requires a signed closure request form from the authorized account holder. Ask for it in writing, keep proof you sent it, return any equipment as instructed, and watch your bank account for debits after the cancellation date.

Why does my Leaders statement show different rates?

Leaders’ own response to a complaint explains that the qualifying rate is applied when each batch settles, and the full rate and fees are charged at the end of the month. That is tiered pricing, where sales that do not qualify cost more, and it makes your real rate hard to see until the month closes.

Who processes Leaders Merchant Services accounts?

Leaders is a registered independent sales organization of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and court filings also name Paysafe alongside it. Check your agreement and statement for the bank and processor that hold your account.

Why is Leaders A+ rated by the BBB if its reviews are so poor?

The BBB letter grade measures factors such as whether a business responds to complaints, not how happy its customers are. Leaders is BBB accredited and A+ rated, while its BBB customer reviews average 1 out of 5.

Send us the statement. We will tell you what is in it.

Our first audit is free and takes about five minutes of your time. We show you your real rate on a Leaders account, every fee on top, and what your contract allows. If there is nothing to find, you will know that too.

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About this rating: scored on weAudit’s five categories, Regulatory and Legal (25), Fee Practices (25), Complaints and Resolution (20), Transparency (15) and Sales Channel (15). Evidence was gathered in October 2026 from Better Business Bureau records including Leaders’ own responses, federal court dockets, and independent review sites including CardFellow, NerdWallet and BestCompany, which are credited by name; reported figures from third parties are labelled as such. Leaders Merchant Services is a name of its owner.