Cliq Review

Rates and Fees
60/100
Truth in Advertising
65/100
Consumer Reviews
80/100
Customer Support
95/100
3.3

Best for

eCommerce and POS merchants of varying sizes and industries

Specializes in

Online and POS payment processing, prepaid cards, payroll solutions, and ACH for electronic check processing

Pricing Summary

Setup Fee: $0

Monthly Fee: Undisclosed

Swipe Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%

Keyed-in Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%

Early Termination Fee : $495+

Contract Terms:

3 Years
Visit Cliq

Cliq is a merchant account provider that resells the contracts of Cynergy Data. The firm also offers other financial services (B2B) including payroll, paycard, and prepayment solutions.

The firm is rated as an average-tiered provider overall. Cliq offers the payment processing services that most merchants need, however falls short with its contract terms. The primary concern for Cliq’s contract terms is the unusually high ETF, which is a minimum of $495.

A standard contract with Cliq includes a three year agreement with automatic one year renewal. These contracts are priced using a tier structure rather than the more favorable Interchange Plus pricing.

The firm does not currently have a rating on its BBB profile (possibly due to a recent FTC settlement affecting the company) and it does not show any complaints on that profile. 

Cliq Overview

 

Previously known as CardFlex, Cliq is a merchant account provider located in Costa Mesa, California. 

Cliq operates as a reseller of merchant account contracts from credit card processing company, Cynergy Data. In addition to providing merchant account services, Cliq also offers businesses payroll, paycard, ACH, and prepaid payment solutions.

The firm is headquartered at 2900 Bristol Street, Building F, Costa Mesa, California 92626 and is a registered ISO/MSP of 3 banks; WoodForest National Bank of Woodlands in Texas, Evolve Bank and Trust of Parkin in Arkansas, and Central National Bank & Trust Co. in Enid, Oklahoma.

The firm was established in 2007 and has an estimated 30 employees working under CEO Andy Phillips.

Quick Facts

Head Quarters

Costa Mesa, CA

Year Founded

2007

CEO

Andy Phillips

Employees

30

Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance

What We Like

What We Don't Like

Industries Served

  • Clothing & Apparel
  • Convenience Store
  • Education
  • Educational Seminars
  • Electronics
  • Gas Station
  • Moving Companies
  • Personal Service
  • Restaurant / Bar
  • SAAS
  • SEO & SEM Services
  • Thrift Store

Business Types Served

  • Ecommerce
  • High Risk
  • High Volume
  • Information
  • Low Risk
  • Mobile
  • Mom & Pop
  • MOTO
  • Non Profit
  • Online
  • Retail / Card Present
  • Small Business
  • Wholesale

Cliq Products & Services

 

Cliq offers an array of B2B financial services. The services that are more relevant to merchant processing, however, are as follows: 


  • ACH for electronic check processing 

  • Remote payment processing via a PCI-compliant shopping cart, smartphone transactions, and virtual terminals for mail order and telephone order (MOTO) sales. 

  • POS payment processing equipment which Cliq advertises as being uniquely fast to enable merchants to process more transactions in a shorter amount of time.


 

Cliq Payment Processing

  • Credit Card Processing
  • Debit Card Processing
  • eCheck & ACH Processing
  • Gift & Loyalty Program
  • Merchant Cash Advance
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Gateway
  • POS Equipment
  • Virtual Terminal

Cliq Billing & Invoicing

  • Mobile Payments
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Processing
  • Recurring/Subscription Billing

Cliq Advertising & Sales

 
Cliq employs independent sales agents as well as an in-house sales team to market its contracts. Merchant account providers that hire independent sales agents typically experience a larger number of advertising complaints but this trend does not uphold with Cliq.

However we were able to locate a number of negative reviews aginst the firm online. A majority of these reviews have to do with the sales agents’ nondisclosure of contract terms. More specifically, customers have had issues with understanding the cost of their contract’s Early Termination Fee, which appears to be very high in most cases.

Potential merchant clients should be sure to thoroughly review their terms of service before entering an agreement. Additionally, it is advised to work with a sales rep that you trust when signing up for service.

Truth in Marketing

Discloses All Important Terms

No

Public Pricing Available

No

Cliq Pricing, Rates & Fees

 

A point of concern for Cliq’s contracts is its Early Termination Fee. With one of the highest ETF’s in the industry, Cliq’s contracts include a $495 charge should a merchant wish to cancel their agreement before the three year term is up. The final ETF is actually the greater amount between $495 and their average monthly processing charges multiplied by the number of months remaining in the contract.

Additional fees include an annual PCI Compliance Fee, which is set to be no greater than $300. There is also a monthly PCI Compliance Fee set to be no greater than $50.

eCommerce merchants should be aware of potential additional fees that typically affect online transactions. The most common are Payment Gateway Fees, Tech Support Fees, and Batch fees.

Cliq also offers POS equipment leases but rates and fees can vary significantly depending on the merchant’s size and industry.

Pricing at a Glance

Pricing Model

Tiered Pricing

Swiped Rate

1.00% - 4.99%

Keyed-in Rate

1.00% - 4.99%

Mobile Payment Rate

Virtual Terminal Rate

1.00% - 4.99%

Monthly Fee

Undisclosed

Payment Gateway Fee

Undisclosed

Batch Fee

Undisclosed

Early Termination Fee

$495+

PCI Compliance Fee

$300 Or Less

Equipment Lease Terms

Undisclosed

Address Verification Service (AVS)

Application Fee

Account Setup Fee

$0

Gateway Setup Fee

Undisclosed

Annual Fee

Undisclosed

Monthly Minimum

Undisclosed

Statement Fee

Cliq Contract & Terms

As mentioned, Cliq resells the merchant account contracts of payment processing company, Cynergy Data. A standard contract with Cliq is a three-year agreement with automatic one-year renewal. 

Cliq uses a tiered pricing structure for its contracts. This pricing is typically less favorable for merchants than its alternative - Interchange Plus pricing.

Contract Length

3 Years

Early Termination Fee

$495+

Cliq Setup & Support

 

Setup Highlights

  • Documentation / Knowledge Base

Support Highlights

  • Domestic Phone Support (Business Hours)
  • Offshore Tech Support (After Hours)

Cliq Complaints, Ratings & Reviews

Cliq is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau and has no rating on its BBB profile. It is suspected that the BBB is refusing to rate Cliq’s profile due to a recent FTC settlement. 

We were however able to locate a number of negative reviews against Cliq outside of the BBB. The common theme among those negative reviews is a nondisclosure of contract terms by the firm’s sales agents.

Ratings

BBB

NR

Google

1.7 Stars / 14 Reviews

Facebook

N/A

Yelp

N/A

Reviews

Total Online Reviews

50+

Total Online Complaints

10+

Lawsuits

1

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