A payment infrastructure aggregators cannot offerand cannot freeze.
Real merchant accounts. Real banking relationships. Real human judgment. For merchants who cannot afford a payment failure.
“Get the Fair Treatment You Deserve.”
Aggregator platforms were not built for your business.
A merchant account aggregator (also known as a payment facilitator) is a payments business that aggregates millions of sellers under one master account, instead of giving each business its own dedicated Merchant Identification Number (MID). Aggregators onboard merchants quickly because they push underwriting decisions onto an algorithm, and that algorithm cannot tell the difference between a problem merchant and a successful one having a big month.
In the aggregator model, when transaction volume spikes during a launch, when a refund pattern triggers a flag, or when a high-ticket transaction sits outside the algorithm's expected range, accounts can be frozen. Funds can be held. Terminations can arrive with limited notice.
The practice operates as a specialist boutique payment processor built on direct relationships with nine sponsor banking partners. Across 19 years of merchant services and payment solutions experience and approximately 11 years operating under the Fair Merchant Solutions name, the practice has processed close to $3 billion in client transactions. Annual client attrition runs below 1 per cent. Clients stay 6 to 18 years on average. We approve 99 per cent of the merchant applications we submit.
Infrastructure, Not Aggregation
Direct relationships with nine sponsor banking partners in the United States, plus a separate set of partners for Canada (with one bank serving both markets). Every client receives their own dedicated MID, underwritten by a human who knows the business. No aggregator middle layer. No algorithmic risk reviews. No shared-risk exposure.
Interchange-Plus Pricing
You see the card network cost and our margin separately. No blended rates. No hidden escalation. If you have ever wondered exactly what you are paying in processing fees, this is the only pricing model that answers the question, and it is the model every client account is built on.
The Savings Pledge
We will generate the savings we forecast for your account, based on the information you provide, or we refund the difference. No other payment provider in this market offers this commitment. In 19 years, we have never had to issue a refund.
A Trusted Advisor, Not a Provider
Most providers lead with a complimentary statement review. We don't. Our first conversation is about understanding your business: your delivery model, your client journey, your ideal payment scenario. Only when there's a fit do we move to the Merchant Account Optimization. This is the difference between a transactional vendor and a trusted advisor. As Eric puts it: 'We do not use chatbots. We are the chatbots.'
Built for businesses that cannot afford a payment failure.
- Travel & Tourism
- Hospitality
- Coaching & Consulting
- Health Supplements
- Digital Agencies
- Ecommerce & DTC
- Debt Collection
- Subscription Businesses
- Clinics & Wellness
If your business processes card-not-present transactions, operates across borders, handles high-ticket sales, accepts deposits for future delivery, or experiences volume spikes during launches, you belong on this list.
Why merchants stay with us for 6 to 18 years.
Founder
Eric Douay
Eric Douay has been a leader in the merchant services and payment solutions industry since 2007: 19 years and approximately $3 billion in client transactions across the practice's lifetime. Before merchant services, Eric spent 17 years in international hospitality. He opened the first Canadian sales and marketing office for ACCOR Hotels on a mandate engineered from the Paris headquarters, then founded D-TOUR Marketing Inc., the longest-standing Canadian sales and marketing representative for Concorde Hotels & Resorts, Relais & Châteaux, and Grupo Hotelero Gran Caribe.
Eric holds an MBA in international business and marketing from Marseille, France. He served on the executive board of ACTA Quebec and spent 24 years on the executive board of Skål International Montreal, including two as President. He was recognised at the Business Expert Forum at Harvard Faculty Club with the Visionary Award in 2015, and invited to speak at the Leadership Speakers Academy Faculty at West Point.
Partner
Chris Anderson, CPA
Chris Anderson has nearly 30 years of professional experience, providing extensive strategic, operational, and financial C-level direction to companies in the payments, software, technology, and other emerging market sectors.
Chris joined Eric's practice 10 years ago and is a key asset for client operations, overseeing underwriting and risk management, onboarding and integration, and customer support. Chris is a Summa Cum Laude graduate in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis, and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Two brands. One umbrella. One principal.
Eric serves merchants across two industry worlds. Each world requires a slightly different specialist conversation. So today, the practice is delivered through two operating brands beneath the same umbrella, both run by Eric personally, both backed by the same banking partners, both held to the same boutique service standard.
For Non-Travel Merchants
Fair Merchant Solutions
Fair Merchant Solutions was incorporated approximately 11 years ago to serve higher-risk merchants outside travel: coaching and consulting, supplements, digital agencies, ecommerce and DTC, subscription businesses, debt collection, clinics, and the categories that share the structural challenges of client-not-present transactions and future-delivery commitments.
For Travel & Tourism
Excellent Payment Services
Tour operators, travel agencies, hospitality groups, future-delivery booking platforms, and the broader travel trade community. Built on Eric's 17-year hospitality background and his work as a sales and marketing representative for ACCOR Hotels, Concorde Hotels & Resorts, Relais & Châteaux, and Grupo Hotelero Gran Caribe.
Both practices share the same sponsor banking partners, the same interchange-plus pricing architecture, the same Savings Pledge, and the same boutique service standard. The right intro call for you depends on your industry, and the buttons below route you to the right conversation.
How a relationship with us actually starts.
Most payment processors lead with a free statement review. We don't. That approach commoditizes the relationship from the first conversation. It puts the provider on the same footing as every other vendor competing on price.
Our first conversation is different. We ask questions to understand your core business: what you sell, how you deliver to your clients, what their journey looks like, how you currently take payments, and what your ideal scenario for credit card processing would be, regardless of your current merchant experience. Toward the end of the call, we ask about your estimated annual credit card transaction volume.
By the end of that first conversation, Eric has decided whether your business is the right fit for the practice. If it is, the next step is the complimentary Merchant Account Optimization: a full review of your processing statements to identify your true effective rate, where hidden fees may be eroding your margin, and what an interchange-plus structure backed by our nine banking partners would deliver for your business.
This is the trusted advisor approach. The first conversation isn't about pricing. It's about understanding whether we are the right partner for your operation.
Start the conversation.
Book a 15-minute intro call with Eric. We'll spend it understanding your business and your current payment setup, not selling you anything. If there's a fit, we'll move to a complimentary Merchant Account Optimization. If there isn't, you'll walk away with a clearer view of your current exposure than you had an hour earlier.
Choose the call that matches your industry below.