Merchant’s Review Guide To Worldpay UK

Monday, June 1st, 2020

Pros

• Comprehensive service payments
• Dedicated merchant account
• 24/7 Year-round support 

Cons

• High number of negative customer reviews
• Three-year contract term
• Above average fees

Overview

Worldpay, a large merchant account provider,  can be found in 40 countries. The largest concentration is in the U.K. and Europe. Launched in 1989 under the name “Streamline” in the U.K., the company then changed its name many years later and became Worldpay.

The company was purchased by The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and was named RBS Worldpay. Then in 2010, RBS sold its “controlling interest” within the company and it was renamed to just “Worldpay.”

In 2018, Worldpay was purchased by Vantiv Inc. The merger produced the name Worldpay Inc. 

Then in March 2019, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc purchased Worldpay.

With its headquarters in Ohio, their current CEO is Charles Drucker.

Worldpay is known as an “omnichannel payment provider” since they can equip businesses to provide payments “in-person” through their point of sale system, online payments via an e-Commerce platform, and so much more. 

Products and Services

• Merchant Accounts: A huge plus about Worldpay is that it is a “direct processor”. This means that all transactions are processed internally and not dependent on a third-party processor. 
• Credit Card Terminals: Worldpay sells well-known countertop terminals such as the Verifone Vx520, Ingenico iCT220 as well as the iCT250 models.They all are equipped with EMV capability.
• Payment Gateway:  Not much information is given about its payment gateway on the website. Neither is pricing disclosed.
• Virtual Terminal: It provides Vantiv’s Virtual Terminal Plus which lets you turn your computer into a credit card terminal. 

Fees and Rates

Previously, Worldpay had not revealed any pricing information on its website. They only offered tiered and interchange-plus pricing plans. The rates depended on a merchant’s monthly processing volume per month, processing history, and other variables.

Now, they’ve announced an in-store “card present” rate of 2.90% + $0.30 per transaction. Higher volume merchants could qualify for card-present rates of 2.70% + $0.10 for every transaction. 

Contract Length and Early Termination Fee

Worldpay currently offers a contract term of three years with an “automatic renewal clause” for one year terms after. It also offers a “prorated early termination fee schedule”, instead of charging you for the full amount, no matter when you close your account. 

Sales and Advertising Transparency

Worldpay does suffer from an overall lack of transparency as they don’t offer any specific details about their software, hardware, or features on their different products. No processing rates or fees are mentioned on their website. 

The company does use a mixture of in-house sales staff and independent sales agents. Although the in-house staff seems to do a good job overall, the same cannot be said for their sales agents. There are lots of complaints accusing the agents of providing misleading and deceitful sales practices. It is best to contact the sales team directly instead of dealing with independent sales agents. 

Customer Service and Technical Support

Worldpay does offer customer support 24/7 by way of telephone and email. You also have the option of accessing your account at your convenience through Worldpay’s Online Merchant Portal. 

Based on some customer reviews, merchants tend to receive mediocre customer service. Account representatives have been reported as being “unresponsive”. The customer support staff has been described as “unhelpful”. 

Final Assessment

As the current payment provider industry is shifting to a more “tech-focused” approach, along with more transparency and fair pricing, Worldpay may be faltering with its substandard “take what is offered or nothing” approach.

Its last merger with Vantiv proves that Worldpay’s primary focus is to service larger companies, leaving the small businesses in the dust. A good step in the right direction would be to offer more transparency in their advertising and not rely on their salesy bag of tricks.