The 2021 case itemized the allegedly unauthorized charges: a $125 monthly PCI non-compliance fee, a $69 reporting fee, an $8.50 service and regulatory mandate fee, and a $54.95 monthly charge for a “customer intelligence suite.” When a lawsuit reads like a statement audit, pay attention.

Litigation alleged Heartland represented in 2014 that it would charge merchants the same rates for American Express transactions under the OptBlue program, then billed differently, with a related complaint alleging back-billed increases delivered in violation of the contract’s own notice requirements. A federal judge preliminarily approved a $2.5 million settlement in October 2017.

In 2021, a group of restaurants filed a proposed class action alleging Heartland introduced new or increased fees during the COVID-19 pandemic without adequate notice, at the moment its merchants could least afford them.

In 2019, Heartland was sued over fees on MySchoolBucks, its school lunch payment platform, with the plaintiff alleging parents were misled about program fees. Per the public record, after the suit was filed the company deposited $40,000 into the plaintiff’s bank account in an attempt to moot his standing to sue (he reversed the deposit), and updated its terms of service to require users to agree they could not participate in the case as class members. Merchants should study that playbook, because it shows how the company approaches disputes when it writes the rules.

Displayed for the record, not scored: Global Payments disclosed a 2012 breach exposing approximately 1.5 million card numbers at an estimated cost of roughly $93.9 million, and Heartland, prior to its acquisition, suffered one of the largest payment data breaches in history, later paying $2.4 million in a related class settlement finalized in 2012.

Per rate-change notices summarized by independent merchant advocates, effective January 1, 2026, Global Payments raised its merchant discount rate by 0.20% per transaction across multiple card categories. On $100,000 of monthly volume, that single change is roughly $2,400 per year, and it landed the same month the company closed a $24 billion acquisition and announced a $2.5 billion share buyback. We report the timing. You draw the conclusion.

Merchant records and independent analysis document an annual fee of approximately $499, an infrastructure upgrade fee reported around $450 in 2025, monthly statement and PCI fees, terminal lease costs exceeding $230 per month on some accounts, and recurring $300 to $500 “upgrade” fees described in merchant reviews.

In a 2026 BBB complaint resolution published in the public record, Global Payments approved a one-time credit of $22,663.48 to a single merchant, described in the company’s own response as a courtesy credit in respect to the increase of rates month over month. Sit with that number. One merchant, one complaint, one refund larger than many businesses’ annual processing cost. Now ask what the merchants who never complained paid.

The TSYS channel has been documented with three-year service agreements, automatic renewal clauses, and early termination fees, with monthly fees not disclosed up front. Complaint records include an undisclosed $495 cancellation fee on an EVO-originated account and a reported $700 cancellation charge triggered by auto-renewal on a six-plus-year account.

One documented complaint describes an accountant who took a TSYS sales meeting, declined the offer, and then watched over $3,000 drain from his account and a client’s account over 18 months for services never signed, with the company’s suggested remedy being to hire a lawyer. Other records describe undisclosed cancellation fees explained after the fact with a shrug, and unsolicited rate representations that never survived contact with the first statement.

TSYS and other Global Payments channels sell through sub-ISOs and partners who set their own pricing and run their own support. Industry analysis notes many complaints trace to those resellers rather than the parent, which is exactly the point: the parent profits from the channel while the accountability stays scattered across brands merchants have never heard of.