Elavon Aka Nova Information Systems Not closing account and continuing to take fees out of my checking account. Atlanta Georgia

The issue of the PCI Compliance fee impacts EVERY merchant in the US that accepts credit cards. The rule was passed by the associations as a protection against some of the kinds of fraud witnessed against giants like TJ MAXX and others who had secure payment processors, secure web sites, but non-secure software.

In the past, only payment processors were required to prove their security met current standards. Now, the requirement also passes down to the individual merchant. If you switched to another payment processor, you likely had to or will have to pay a similar fee. I've checked competitors and found most are around the $125-180 range for the new annual certification. So $135 is certainly not exhorbitant. I also learned that the cost is a pass through fee, so the processor isn't generating profit from the requirement. Your Elavon letter told you that you did NOT have to use their preferred vendor, but did provide you with a link where you could access all Visa approved vendors to do it on your own. If you had done so as the letter indicates, you could simply contact customer service and fax them the certificate and the fee would be waived. It is also likely that your concern about the lack of time to close the account is due to your not opening the letter until weeks after you received it, since the letters went out and were dated on Nov 1.

Finally, as a merchant who has used Elavon even when it was Nova, and have tried companies like First Data and others before that, I would much rather pay the $135 or do it on my own and fax it in to them than to cancel an account and go to a company where i'll likely have to pay the fee there, but won't enjoy the same level of customer service that I have with Elavon. As per your rebuttal, even though it took a while to run up the ladder, this problem resulted in the matter being resolved for you. I can't say a competitor like First Data or others would have done that.

Elavon did eventually make good: I have received a refund of the $135 and they have closed my account as requested.