Marketing
Metrobank Card runs numerous promotional offers to garner new customers, including discounts at popular businesses, such as Samsung, Denny’s, and Jansport, as well as hotels that accept their credit cards. Although its perks program includes products and services from major brands, we do not recommend you sign up with Metrobank Card just for the incentives. These discounts are not much better than ones you would find elsewhere. Its claim of “we go beyond perks” is pretty empty and disingenuous.
Honesty
We didn’t find anything dishonest, but that could be because we didn’t find much substantive information on Metrobank Card’s website. Its claim about going beyond perks is gimmicky but not overtly deceptive. Also, we could not find a single complaint about dishonest sales tactics or any other predatory behavior.
Sales
Metrobank Card utilizes an in-house sales team, external agents, independent sales organizations, and other partners to pump up its sales pipeline. Though this is a common sales strategy in payment processing, it is one that should not be taken lightly. Due to so many entities making claims and setting prices, the strategy often leads to poor communication and a huge customer service and retention issue. Though this is the norm with many in the payment processing industry, it does not appear to be the case with Metrobank Card. We could not find any evidence of an overtly misleading direct sales pitch.
Support
Metrobank Card can be reached by phone and email. Though customer support is available 24 hours per day, seven day per week for current customers, other representatives are only available during business hours on week days. Also, it is fairly active on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Social media is used mostly to tout its perks program.
Staff Responsiveness
When it comes to email, we had a fairly positive experience. Emails were answered within just a few hours of them being sent. However, it is important to note that not a single email included responses to our questions. Calling was a different story. We do not encourage you to call, unless you have a lot of time to waste. We made several attempts to call. On at least occasions are calls were dropped after waiting on hold for close to an hour. On the one time we managed to get a representative, it was not worth the wait. The call was a fruitless attempt at getting any valuable information. It is understatement to call the phone experience disappointing.
Staff Education
The sales team had no idea what it was talking about in terms of merchant services or processing. We are not sure if it was due to a lack of training, knowledge, or just a general malaise. Trying to get even a basic overview of its products and service was an exercise in futility. We found this to be pretty pathetic since Metrobank Card aims to make such a global impact in terms of payment services.
In our experience, we felt rushed. The person we spoke to was more focused on getting us to the next stage, instead of trying to discuss any real details or benefits.
Staff Interaction
Since Metrobank Card website was so lacking in terms of concrete pricing or terms, we were hoping our interactions would provide us a window into this information. Unfortunately, we did not experience this. The person we spoke to was unprofessional, lacked confidence, and was not very helpful. Even basics about product offerings seemed to be a struggle.
We found the sales representative to be way too eager for us to move forward to the next step, instead of trying to respond to our questions. In a nutshell, the person was aggressive, rude, and likely a turn-off for any other business calling to inquire about services and products. Since we were only able to get through to one person, we hope this was just one bad experience. If not, we hope Metrobank Card moves quickly to rectify this or expect to lose potential customers at a quick pace.
Pricing
Metrobank Card does not share any pricing information on its website, and, obviously, was not forthcoming with this information via our calls or emails. Therefore, we were unable to determine whether it charges a monthly minimum, PCI-compliance, chargeback, or statement fees.
Hardware Costs
Metrobank Card discloses no hardware costs, but the payment provider does have the option of renting equipment to merchants. The only thing clear is that the bank provides to a merchant based on the specific contract it signs.
Merchants should be aware that though the bank provides POS terminals, they are responsible for any installation, repair, and maintenance, “including but not limited to the ordinary wear and tear.” If the terminal is lost, stolen, or damaged due to the merchant’s negligence, it will pay Metrobank Card to replace the terminal plus installation charges.
Early Termination Fees
The length of the contract is unknown, and representatives failed to elaborate on the terms. Also, it is unclear whether Metrobank Card charges an early termination fee. Its merchant agreement does state that a business must submit a written notice to cancel the agreement 30 days before it is to expire or it will automatically renew. Based on this language, it is very likely that a merchant will pay an early termination fee to end the agreement. Some merchant account providers charge up to $400 to cancel a contract.
Complaints
Though Metrobank Card has a fairly large customer base, we were unable to locate a single complaint or review about the business. Since Metrobank Card partners with other in the industry, it is very likely that complaints have been filed against them.
