CDGcommerce Review

CDGcommerce is a family-owned merchant services provider founded in 1998 by Chris and Laura West and based in Port Orange, Florida, operating as a registered ISO/MSP of Pinnacle Bank (dba Synovus Bank) and Citizens Bank, N.A. It is unusual among independent sales organisations for publishing its entire rate card: a flat-rate plan at 2.90% + $0.30 in person and 3.50% + $0.30 online with a $9.95 monthly fee, an interchange-plus plan at interchange + 0.30% + $0.10 retail, + 0.35% + $0.15 online and + 0.25% + $0.10 for non-profits, and a wholesale membership at $49 to $199 a month paid annually with per-transaction cents from 15¢ down to 6¢. Its own Quantum gateway and virtual terminal are free, there are no PCI, annual, statement or gateway fees, and — in the company's words — in more than twenty years it has never required a contract length or termination fee. It holds an A+ rating and BBB accreditation since 2020 with two complaints closed in three years, and it makes no attempt to serve merchants outside the United States or in adult, cannabis or telemarketing categories. The weaknesses are the ones that come with a small shop: a thin self-service knowledge base, a Dejavoo terminal that carries a $79-a-year update charge, and third-party reports of funding holds and terminations on riskier accounts.

Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using CDGcommerce’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.

What it is

CDGcommerce was founded in 1998 by Chris West, its chief executive, and Laura West, its co-founder, who describe starting it in a studio apartment and still own and run it — the company makes a point of being family-owned rather than answerable to Wall Street or private equity. It is based at 212 Cessna Boulevard in Port Orange, Florida, and operates as a registered ISO/MSP of Pinnacle Bank, a Tennessee bank doing business as Synovus Bank in Columbus, Georgia, and of Citizens Bank, N.A. in Providence, Rhode Island. The company says more than 20,000 merchants have applied for accounts over its life and that it retains more than 97% of actively processing clients, and it serves retail, restaurants, e-commerce, professional services, non-profits and B2B merchants in the United States only.

What it costs

The pricing pages are the reason to review the company. The flat-rate plan is 2.90% + $0.30 per transaction for swiped, dipped, tapped or mobile-reader payments, with a 0.60% surcharge on keyed entries, and 3.50% + $0.30 for online and phone payments through the gateway, for $9.95 a month. The company states the flat-rate plan carries no annual, PCI, statement, monthly-minimum, gateway or pass-through fees — the FANF and Mastercard location fees other processors itemise are absorbed. The interchange-plus plan passes the card networks' interchange and assessments through at cost and adds 0.30% + $0.10 for retail, 0.35% + $0.15 for online and 0.25% + $0.10 for non-profits; the site does not publish its monthly fee, and third-party reviewers report $19 to $49 depending on the account. The wholesale membership replaces the percentage markup with a per-transaction fee on top of cost: $49 a month for up to $25,000 in volume at cost + $0.15, $79 for up to $75,000 at + $0.12, $99 for up to $200,000 at + $0.09, and $199 at + $0.06 for larger accounts, all billed annually in advance, with monthly billing available on request.

The Quantum gateway and virtual terminal are free on every plan, with Authorize.Net available instead. Hardware is a $99 AnywhereCommerce C2X Bluetooth reader for phones and tablets, or a Dejavoo Z11 Wi-Fi touchscreen terminal that is neither sold nor leased but supplied on a $79-a-year update plan. The optional PastePay CRM adds invoicing, subscription billing, appointments, inventory, gift cards and a web store for $199 a year, and the QuantumPOS variant is $299. Approval typically takes one to three business days.

No contract, no exit fee

Every plan is month-to-month. The company's FAQ says that in more than twenty years it has never required a mandatory contract length or termination fee and that retention should be earned rather than enforced, and nothing in the third-party record contradicts that. The only commitment is the wholesale membership's annual prepayment, which is a real cost if you leave mid-year but is not a penalty.

Reputation

The Better Business Bureau rates CDG Commerce A+ and has accredited it since 22 April 2020, listing a start date of 1999 and two complaints closed in the last three years. For a processor that has operated since the late 1990s that is a nearly empty file, and Merchant Maverick rates the company 4.7 out of 5 in a review last updated in July 2026, and other third-party reviewers describe the complaint volume as close to none in an industry where complaints are the norm. Where reviewers do fault it, the themes are funding holds on some accounts, terminations of accounts the company decided were high-risk, and a self-service knowledge base thin enough that Merchant Maverick scores it 2 out of 5 — the phone line, which Merchant Maverick reports is staffed around the clock, is where the support actually lives.

Gaps

• United States only; there is no international acquiring.
• Adult content, CBD and cannabis and telemarketing are declined, and other high-risk categories are taken selectively at best.
• No published funding schedule — the site is silent on how quickly deposits arrive.
• The interchange-plus monthly fee has to be confirmed with sales.
• A gateway and a paid CRM rather than an integrated POS ecosystem; a restaurant or multi-location retailer will pair it with a third-party point of sale.

The verdict

B+. CDGcommerce does the two things that matter most for a small business choosing a processor — it prints its prices and it lets you leave — and it has a quarter-century record with almost no complaints behind them. Interchange plus 0.30% + 10¢ with a free gateway is a good deal, the non-profit rate is a genuinely good one, and the membership tiers give a growing business somewhere to go without changing provider.

It is not an A because it is a small, US-only shop with a modest software layer, an unusual $79-a-year terminal arrangement, an unpublished interchange-plus monthly fee and an unpublished funding schedule, and because the holds and terminations reviewers describe mean a borderline merchant should ask before applying. For a mainstream US business that wants clear pricing and no contract from people who answer the phone, it is an easy recommendation.