Best for
Mom and pop, e-commerce, high volume, retail, small businesses.
Specializes in
Certified Payment Processing was a merchant account provider specializing in POS equipment leasing, contactless payment, check processing, gift cards, and more.
Pricing Summary
Setup Fee: $0
Monthly Fee: Variable
Swipe Rate: Variable
Keyed-in Rate: Variable
Early Termination Fee : $495-$595
Contract Terms:
Certified Payment Processing was a merchant account provider founded in 1991 by Andrew Frankel. It processed billions in payments each year, had over two hundred employees, and generally serviced e-commerce businesses and small, local mom and pop stores.
Certified Payment Processing was founded in 1991 by Andrew Frankel and primarily serviced online businesses and small mom and pop stores, and retail businesses. Its pricing model was generally thought of to be a tiered pricing model, though sometimes its rates varied due to the modified contract it used and gave to merchants. Certified Payment Processing’s website is no longer up, and the affiliated companies that share the same address seem to have moved their efforts towards Cypress Bay Solutions. Many merchants made complaints about Certified Payment Processing and complained of hidden or misrepresented fees. Its reputation was on the negative side.
Head Quarters
Carrollton, TX
Year Founded
1991
CEO
Andrew Frankel
Employees
200
Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance
Zero setup fee.
Has a gift and loyalty program.
Documentation knowledge base available.
Domestic telephone support during business hours.
Low risk business tolerance.
Early termination fee.
Three year contract.
Public pricing is not available.
Not all important terms are disclosed.
PCI compliance fee is charged.
Point 1: Full-Service Payment Processing
Certified Payment Processing offered different solutions to processing debit and credit cards. It branded itself as a ‘full-service’ solution to payment processing. It did this by allowing merchants to accept debit cards and credit cards and a myriad of other services such as online payments attached to a payment gateway. With its other services like POS equipment and the processing of checks and gift cards, Certified Payment Processing attempted to be a one-stop-shop for payment processing while it was active.
Point 2: POS Terminals, Peripherals
Certified Payment Processing utilized several different POS equipment to enable the merchants that used it to accept debit and credit cards in person. This includes all-in-one terminals, card-readers, mobile apps and Bluetooth card readers attached to smartphones, and more. Generally, merchant account providers do this to allow merchants to accept payments in as many ways as possible. Certified Payment Processing’s POS system is very run-of-the-mill and not particularly special.
Point 3: Gift Cards, Checks, Contactless Payments
CPP also allowed merchants to take and create gift cards for their restaurant or business, process checks, and make contactless payments. This can be helpful for merchants depending on what kind of business they do. Still, contactless payments are becoming more and more popular, with some businesses relying on them these days to process most of their payments.
Discloses All Important Terms
No
Public Pricing Available
No
The fees and pricing are not all available when it comes to what CPP offers. CPP uses a modified version of a First American Payment Systems contract. While it is known that they used a tiered-pricing system, it also utilizes a very high termination fee that can sometimes hit as hard as $500-700. Other standard fees also apply, like a $25 monthly minimum fee, a $124.75 PCI compliance fee, and a $99 annual fee.
The specific rates for swipes, keyed-in, or other kinds of card acceptance aren't disclosed.
Pricing Model
Tiered Pricing
Swiped Rate
Variable
Keyed-in Rate
Variable
Mobile Payment Rate
Virtual Terminal Rate
Variable
Monthly Fee
Variable
Payment Gateway Fee
Variable
Batch Fee
Variable
Early Termination Fee
$495-$595
PCI Compliance Fee
$124.75
Equipment Lease Terms
Non-Cancellable
Address Verification Service (AVS)
Application Fee
Account Setup Fee
$0
Gateway Setup Fee
Annual Fee
$95
Monthly Minimum
$25
Statement Fee
Certified Payment Processing uses a modified First American Payment Systems contract. This agreement tends to be around three years in length and notably has a very high early termination fee. Many merchants complain that the terms of the contract feel underwhelming and are being overcharged for subpar services. These complaints are numerous, and complaints about the early termination fee or confusion about the automatic renewal of the contract.
Contract Length
3 Years
Early Termination Fee
$495-$595
CPP has been the subject of an overwhelming number of complaints from many, many different merchants and customers. BBB alone has over 70 complaints registered, and even though some of them have been resolved (16), many remain unresolved, and some merchants are still angry and feel as if the company has scammed them.
CPP doesn’t seem to have been involved in any lawsuits as far as official records are concerned. BBB has them rated at 1 star with two reviews, and Indeed at 2.5 stars with 63 reviews.
BBB
A+(16 complaints)
N/A
None
Yelp
N/A
Total Online Reviews
100+
Total Online Complaints
70+
Lawsuits
None
If you're in the market for a merchant account provider, be sure to check out our user reviews, our merchant accounts guide and our top popular merchant provider picks