Storage Commander is a popular self-storage management solution that allows self-storage facility operators to manage payments, tenant insurance, marketing, and other key features from a cloud-based system.
While most Storage Commander users leverage the platform’s SC Pay function for merchant processing, it’s clear that few (if any) of those businesses really understand what’s happening behind the scenes.
And this knowledge gap is directly impacting your payment processing fees.
Our Insider Take on SC Pay From Storage Commander
On the surface, SC Pay seems straightforward. It’s an integrated payment processing solution offered by Storage Commander so self-storage facilities using the software can accept payments directly from the software.
But that doesn’t tell the full story. Here’s what’s really going on:
- Storage Commander is owned by Fullsteam (acquired in 2019).
- So Fullsteam Payments is the integrated processor behind SC Pay.
- But Fullsteam is ultimately a PayFac that leverages Fiserv’s acquiring bank services on the backend.
- This means that your SC Pay transactions are technically handled by Fiserv, but Fullsteam is your merchant service provider.
Why is this so important to understand?
Despite the SC Pay branding that’s associated with your payment processing, you’re stuck with Fullsteam as the only processor that supports integrated payments within Storage Commander.
And unfortunately, Fullsteam Payments has its fair share of problems that you need to be aware of.
Pros of Using SC Pay For Payment Processing in Storage Commander
Let’s start with the good stuff. While this payment solution isn’t perfect, it’s definitely not all bad and there’s plenty to like about this software and payment integration.
Interchange-Plus Pricing: You can get an interchange-plus contract from SC Pay/Fullsteam, which is the best possible structure in payment processing. Some integrated processors try to force you into flat-rate contracts, so it’s nice that you can get IC+ here as a standard offering.
Rates Are Negotiable: In our experience, the reps at Fullsteam are open to negotiations and they’re willing to offer competitive rates if you know what to ask for. This translates to SC Pay as well, since it’s the same parent company and effectively the same processing solution (even though the branding is different).
Easy to Set Up: Since Fullsteam is a PayFac using Fiserv, you don’t need to go through a traditional underwriting process to get approved for a merchant account. This means you can typically apply and you’ll be accepting payments in Storage Commander in just a few days.
Simple Management: The integrated payment functionality itself is solid and as advertised. You’ll be able to manage your self-storage customer payments from anywhere, and all of your data is in one place within the same software.
Drawbacks of Storage Commander’s SC Pay
As previously mentioned, this solution has its flaws. It’s on you to figure out if the pros outweigh the cons or if you need to look elsewhere for self-storage payment processing.
Awful Reporting: These monthly merchant statements are arguably the worst in the industry. The statements from your current month show transaction data from two months ago, and you need three full months of statements to get a full picture of your processing situation. No other provider on the market does this.
Lack of Transparency: SC Pay and Fullsteam don’t actually put the processor’s markup on their statements. You need to explicitly ask them for a breakdown to ensure they’re giving you the rates you were quoted.
Frequent Rate Increases: Even if you get onboarded at a competitive rate, you can expect your rates to climb at least once per year. This also applies if you’re “locked in” to terms (because your merchant agreement will have terms that allow rate hikes at any time with adequate notice).
Extra Fees: In addition to the markup over interchange that you’ll pay per transaction, SC Pay/Fullsteam charge a range of other fees for stuff like PCI compliance, monthly billing fee (0.05% of your volume just to send you a bill), accelerated funding, and other “service” fees.
What Else You Need to Know About Storage Commander’s Merchant Services
There are a few more insights I want to share that don’t necessarily qualify as good or bad, but they’re still worth mentioning so you fully understand your payment processing situation with Storage Commander.
SC Pay is Your Only Option if You Want Integrated Payments
Since Fullsteam’s acquisition of Storage Commander, the software doesn’t support any other third-party processor integrations. The payment functionality still works fine, but you don’t have as much leverage when you’re negotiating because Storage Commander knows they’re the only option. So they aren’t as incentivized to offer competitive rates.
Processing Rates Are Fairly Average
That said, we don’t see Fullsteam price gouging customers using SC Pay via Storage Commander. Some accounts have high rates (over 100 basis points), but we typically see markups around 40 basis points, which is decent for an integrated solution.
You Need to Keep a Close Eye on Notifications
Rate increase notices tend to come as separate emails that aren’t attached to your statements. It’s easy to overlook these if you’re getting hundreds of emails per day. But any communication from SC Pay, Storage Commander, or Fullsteam needs to be looked at closely because it could be warning you about an upcoming rate hike.
You Can Always Negotiate Better Terms
Whether you’re just getting started with SC Pay or you’re a long-time user of Storage Commander’s merchant services, you can always pick up the phone and ask for a better rate. It’s not always easy, but they don’t want to lose your business. So they’re often willing to make concessions to keep you happy.
Fiserv Isn’t Really in the Picture For Your Business
While Fiserv is the acquiring bank that actually handles the payments on the backend for Fullsteam and SC Pay, this isn’t a situation where you’re able to contact Fiserv directly. That’s because Fiserv’s role here isn’t typical of other integrated payment solutions. Since Fullsteam operates as a PayFac, they handle all customer-facing support and interactions. And Fiserv doesn’t directly integrate with Storage Commander (if they did, you’d be able to get a better deal going straight to them).
Final Thoughts and Key Takeaways
Understanding how Storage Commander’s merchant services work behind the scenes is crucial for your self-storage business. Once you fully grasp what’s happening, it’s much easier for you to figure out how to negotiate better terms that can ultimately save you thousands of dollars on processing fees every month.
Here’s the bottom line:
- If you want integrated payments with Storage Commander, SC Pay is your only option.
- Take the time to audit your statements every month, and you’ll actually need multiple months of statements to get the full picture (not ideal, but necessary).
- Contact SC Pay and/or Fullsteam as often as you need to request a full breakdown that includes their markup, because this isn’t standard on all statements.
- If your processor markup is over 0.40%, then there’s likely room for savings.
- Your rates aren’t set in stone, so negotiate and push back against your annual rate increases.
I’ll be 100% honest with you here. I literally read thousands of merchant statements every year, and I still scratch my head sometimes when I’m looking at anything from Fullsteam.
So it’s totally normal if you’re confused and don’t quite know what you’re looking at when you get monthly reporting from Storage Commander and SC Pay.
If you need help understanding your statements or identifying overages on your account, let our team here at MCC help you out. Set up a free consultation today, and we’ll be happy to answer any of your questions and look at your statements for free.