Paymentsense Review

Rates and Fees
70/100
Truth in Advertising
90/100
Consumer Reviews
50/100
Customer Support
75/100
3

Best for

Small businesses looking to get their credit card processing up and running quickly.

Specializes in

Working with low to standard risk merchants seeking payment processing that fits their individual needs. Located in the United Kingdom and Ireland, Paymentsense is a merchant account provider that works with over 70,000 merchants across the countries.

Pricing Summary

Setup Fee: Undisclosed

Monthly Fee: £8.30 or £12.45 or £16.60

Swipe Rate: 0.20%

Keyed-in Rate: 0.2% + £0.50

Early Termination Fee : £120 plus VAT

Contract Terms:

Month-to-month Variable
Visit Paymentsense

Founded in 2008, Paymentsense is a subsidiary of Fiserve.

Their home offices can be found in London.

The CEOs are Jan Farrarons and George Karibian.

Paymentsense Overview

 

Paymentsense was founded in 2008 as the UK branch of Fiserve, a US-based payment processor. The company has expanded to cover both the UK and Ireland. They work with over 70,000 merchants and with over 250 million annual transactions, they process more than £10 billion annually.

The company focuses on small to medium-sized businesses and offers both face-to-face and online payment options. They pride themselves in offering everything a business could want in a payment processor.

With more than a decade in business, they have grown to be one of the largest providers in the British Isles.

Despite their size and apparent success, Paymentsense has been bombarded with negative reviews consistently. Over the years they have accumulated more than 600 negative reviews and over 750 1-2 star reviews.

Quick Facts

Head Quarters

London, England

Year Founded

2008

CEO

Jan Farrarons & George Karibian - Founders

Employees

500

Merchant Provider Risk Tolerance

Low Risk Businesses

What We Like

What We Don't Like

Industries Served

  • Automotive
  • Beauty & Wellness
  • Clothing & Apparel
  • Convenience Store
  • Contractors
  • Electronics
  • Food & Beverage
  • Gas Station
  • Healthcare
  • Hunting & Outdoor Equipment
  • Moving Companies
  • Personal Service
  • Professional Services
  • Restaurant / Bar
  • Retailers
  • SAAS
  • Telemedicine
  • Thrift Store

Business Types Served

  • B2B
  • Ecommerce
  • Enterprise Merchant Accounts
  • Mobile
  • Mom & Pop
  • MOTO
  • Online
  • Retail / Card Present
  • Small Business

Paymentsense Products & Services

 

Hardware and Software

Paymentsense offers a variety of payment processing options. It appears there are three main options for card machines to be found on their website and the same number of online payment types.

In-store options:

Mobile Card Machines
Portable Card Machines
Countertop Card Machines

For online, they offer:

Phone Payments
Email Payments
Online Payments

All of these payment options can be funneled through a dedicated payment gateway. It appears a merchant can build their account with a mix and match approach to fit their business needs.

Value-Added Services

There are no stated value-added services, however, they do offer to cover up to £3,000 in termination fees to switch to their company.

They also advertise free setup for their services.

Supported Payment Types and Services

Paymentsense seems to accept all major credit card types. This includes digital wallets. These payment types are listed on their website.

Visa
Mastercard
Discover
American Express
Google Pay
Apple Pay
Samsung Pay
Maestro
Diner’s Club

Paymentsense Payment Processing

  • ACH Check Transactions
  • Check Services
  • Contactless NFC
  • Credit Card Processing
  • Credit Card Terminals
  • Debit Card Processing
  • eCheck & ACH Processing
  • EMV Processing
  • Mobile Card Reader
  • Mobile Payments App
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Gateway
  • POS Equipment
  • Receipt Printing
  • Recurring Billing
  • Signature Capture
  • Virtual Terminal

Paymentsense Billing & Invoicing

  • Contingency Billing
  • Dunning Management
  • Mobile Payments
  • Online Invoicing
  • Online Payments
  • Payment Processing
  • Recurring/Subscription Billing

Paymentsense Advertising & Sales

 
It appears Paymentsense uses independent sales agents. This can be directly linked to the high number of customer complaints related to their sales tactics. These third-party agents regularly make offers the parent company will not accept.

Truth in Marketing

Discloses All Important Terms

No

Public Pricing Available

Yes

Paymentsense Pricing, Rates & Fees

 

Rates appear variable to business. Beyond the base listing, there is no real information as to what a merchant could be expected to pay per transaction. This most likely indicates there is a range of expected rates.

Three monthly payment tiers based on annual transaction amounts are listed on their website.

£8.29 for under £50,000
£12.45 for under £250,000
£16.62 for under £1.2 million

They do not address fees on their website other than the setup fee. They do state it is free to switch plans and that a merchant can cancel free of charge.

Whether this free cancellation refers to the whole contract or just parts of it are not specifically addressed. There are potential hidden fees. Many of the hundreds of customer complaints reference hidden fees.

Pricing at a Glance

Pricing Model

Tiered Pricing

Swiped Rate

0.20%

Keyed-in Rate

0.2% + £0.50

Mobile Payment Rate

Unknown

Virtual Terminal Rate

0.2% + £0.50

Monthly Fee

£8.30 or £12.45 or £16.60

Payment Gateway Fee

Undisclosed

Batch Fee

Undisclosed

Early Termination Fee

£120 plus VAT

PCI Compliance Fee

£5.94 Per Month

Equipment Lease Terms

Undisclosed

Address Verification Service (AVS)

Unknown

Application Fee

Unknown

Account Setup Fee

Undisclosed

Gateway Setup Fee

Unknown

Annual Fee

Unknown

Monthly Minimum

Undisclosed

Statement Fee

Undisclosed

Paymentsense Contract & Terms

With the advertisement of monthly fees and free cancellation, it can be assumed that Paymentsense operates on a month-to-month lease. There is no actual indication that this is true, but they also do not specifically mention a contract in their literature.

They do reference machine rentals, however, there is no actual indication as to what the cost will be. The fact that rentals are mentioned on the website would indicate the existence of leases. Paymentsense does not disclose what the lease terms may be for their equipment and they specify no termination fees for equipment.

Contract Length

Month-to-monthVariable

Early Termination Fee

£120 plus VAT

Paymentsense Setup & Support

 

Paymentsense advertises free setup as one of their buy-in perks. They also reference a very short setup time. It appears virtual payment processing can be up and running in minutes, while their face-to-face payment equipment can be up and running within a few days.

According to their website, they offer 24/7 customer support. There is a separate help center website that is devoted to customer support. It appears that they offer phone and email support, but there are levels of security in place to ensure only account holders can access the help center.

Setup Highlights

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

Support Highlights

  • Domestic Phone Support (Business Hours)

Paymentsense Complaints, Ratings & Reviews

BBB Rating

There is no Better Business Bureau profile or rating.

Other Online Reviews

There are over 600 complaints to be found online. While there are positive reviews mixed in, this number is rather high. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a concerted effort to remedy the customer complaints.

In addition, there are close to 800 1-2 star ratings to be found on various rating sites around the internet.

Ratings

BBB

Does not have BBB profile

Google

No Reviews

Facebook

No Reviews

Yelp

N/A

Reviews

Total Online Reviews

6200+

Total Online Complaints

600+

Lawsuits

No

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