Paya Review

Rates and Fees
60/100
Truth in Advertising
80/100
Consumer Reviews
80/100
Customer Support
80/100
4

Best for

Paya is best suited for industries such as electronics, convenience stores, personal services, thrift stores, B2B, healthcare, and education.

Specializes in

Paya is a prominent merchant account provider in the United States that focuses on payroll, accounting services, and credit card processing services. It claims to currently serve thousands of companies nationwide. It processes over $30 billion annually across various payment methods.

Pricing Summary

Setup Fee: $0

Monthly Fee: Undsiclosed

Swipe Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%

Keyed-in Rate: 1.00% - 4.99%

Early Termination Fee : $900+

Contract Terms:

3 Years
Visit Paya

Jeff Hack founded Paya in Atlanta, Georgia back in 2006. It is currently headquartered in Atlanta as well. It employs over 300 people, and is a registered ISO of BMO Harris N.A., Chicago Il. It is one of the larger-sized processing companies in the U.S. It services all kinds of businesses, with small businesses constituting a large percentage of its clientele.

Paya Overview

 

Paya is a large credit card processing company that also provides accounting and payroll services. It was formerly known as Sage Payment Solutions before it rebranded itself in January of 2018. This was prompted by GTCR, a private equity firm, acquiring the company back in 2018. Its pricing model varies based on the kind of business it is servicing. This can lead to fluctuating rates and fees for different types of companies within other industries.

Paya focuses on accounting, payroll, and processing services, and explicitly focuses on B2B, healthcare, and education. Its overall reputation is positive, but it does have a track record of complaints regarding excessive charges. It also offers a virtual terminal and a payment gateway, but these tend to incur additional fees on behalf of the merchant.

Quick Facts

Head Quarters

Atlanta, GA

Year Founded

2006

CEO

Jeff Hack

Employees

300

Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance

What We Like

eCheck processing offered

PCI-compliant solution

Good for eCommerce

Good developer tools

What We Don't Like

Untransparent tiered pricing

Early termination fee

No pricing disclosed online

Industries Served

  • Clothing & Apparel
  • Convenience Store
  • Education
  • Educational Seminars
  • Electronics
  • Gas Station
  • Healthcare
  • Moving Companies
  • Personal Service
  • Property Management
  • SAAS
  • SEO & SEM Services
  • Thrift Store
  • Web Design Services

Business Types Served

  • B2B
  • Ecommerce
  • High Volume
  • Information
  • Low Risk
  • Non Profit
  • Retail / Card Present
  • Small Business
  • Subscription / Continuity
  • Wholesale

Paya Products & Services

 

Point 1: Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway


Paya offers the use of a virtual terminal and payment gateway. Depending on the type of business, you may benefit from this service. If a significant part of your business lives online, this becomes a necessary service for merchants. However, it's important to note that this typically incurs additional fees from a merchant account provider.

Point 2: Payroll Services, Accounting Services


Paya’s payroll and accounting services have been offered since its founding in 2006. Payment processing is also one of the company’s original services. For some merchants, this may help keep track of taxes, income, expenses, and more. While not every business will take advantage of this, some might find it to be instrumental within specific industries.

Point 3: Credit and Debit Processing, Invoices, POS Lending


Paya offers many ways to process and accept payments. Credit and debit cards are just some of the options. ACH and mobile payments are also covered, as are invoices and POS lending. All of these are either forms of payment that Paya processes, or in the case of POS, a way of accepting payments. EMV Chip technology is also available from Paya, which increases security and prevents fraud.

Paya Payment Processing

  • Check Services
  • Credit Card Processing
  • Debit Card Processing
  • eCheck & ACH Processing
  • Mobile Payments App
  • Online Payments
  • POS Equipment
  • Virtual Terminal

Paya Billing & Invoicing

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

Paya Advertising & Sales

 
Paya uses software vendors, sub-ISOs, and both independent resellers and agents to advertise its services. Most of these methods are standard practice, but independent resellers tend to raise a red flag for merchant account providers. Independent resellers have a reputation of using aggressive, and often deceptive, sales tactics to meet commissions or sales quotas. This ultimately correlates with a high complaint total regarding a company’s sales team.  Based on its level of complaints, Paya doesn't appear to have issues within sales.

Paya's pricing model varies and largely depends on the business that it is servicing. While Paya uses independent resellers, it doesn't seem to utilize dishonest marketing or advertising. It appears to utilize ethical practices. 

Truth in Marketing

Discloses All Important Terms

No

Public Pricing Available

No

Paya Pricing, Rates & Fees

 

Not all aspects of Paya's pricing model are known, yet certain elements are. For example, Paya has a liquidated damages termination fee, which charges a merchant $25 multiplied by the contract's remaining months. This can result in astronomical termination fees. It also sets a $100 PCI Compliance Fee. Besides these, most costs will vary based on the kind of business. This can be very useful to merchants who have unique companies or are in new industries. 

Pricing at a Glance

Pricing Model

Interchange PlusTiered 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

Undsiclosed

Payment Gateway Fee

Undsiclosed

Batch Fee

Undsiclosed

Early Termination Fee

$900+

PCI Compliance Fee

$100 Per Year

Equipment Lease Terms

48 Month (locked)

Address Verification Service (AVS)

Application Fee

Account Setup Fee

$0

Gateway Setup Fee

Undsiclosed

Annual Fee

Monthly Minimum

Undsiclosed

Statement Fee

Paya Contract & Terms

Paya tends to offer multi-year agreements. Merchants have complained about automatically renewing contracts, which if combined with the liquidated damages term, can lead to paying incredibly high fees. Not much is known about Paya's arrangements beyond this point. The few complaints regarding the company’s contracts revolve around this given information.

 

Contract Length

3 Years

Early Termination Fee

$900+

Paya Setup & Support

 

Setup Highlights

  • Documentation / Knowledge Base
  • Live Online (1-on-1)

Support Highlights

  • Domestic Phone Support (Business Hours)

Paya Complaints, Ratings & Reviews

Paya has several negative reviews and complaints against them, but its numbers still fare better than most companies. Paya is accredited by BBB and is rated 1 out of 5 stars based on nine reviews. Eighteen complaints were closed in the last three years, and 10 in the previous 12 months.

Paya receives positive reviews from other websites, with an average of 3.5 and above. The reviews on Glassdoor and Indeed paint an overall positive picture of the company’s internal operation. Common complaints from employees revolve around incompetent leadership and management. 

Indeed has Paya rated at 3.5 stars out of 5 based on 11 reviews. Glassdoor has Paya rated at 2.8 out of 5 stars based on 32 votes.

Common complaints about Paya tend to revolve around excessive charges, though most have been resolved. For the company's size, it has not received many complaints overall.

Paya has no active or past lawsuits against it, class-action or otherwise. 

Ratings

BBB

A-(16 complaints)

Google

N/A

Facebook

No Reviews yet

Yelp

N/A

Reviews

Total Online Reviews

50+

Total Online Complaints

40+

Lawsuits

None

Paya Alternatives

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