Allied Wallet

Marketing

From its steady flow of press releases to its engagement on social media channels, Allied Wallet as a solid marketing strategy. It uses the digital space to market new products and services, news that impacts the industry, as well as trends. It also has an “offer” section on its Facebook page, which, when you click on it, gives you this message, “Please contact us directly to hear about our sales and service specials, offers and incentives.”

Honesty

We don’t like that Allied Wallet uses rate baiting to attract customers. It offers a hypothetical qualified rate that most merchants will never will be eligible to get. Allied Wallet does note that the rates shown depend on processing history and business type (and likely numerous other factors) but we find this misleading. We feel like this type of thing is similar to its “e-coupon” on Facebook. It’s just another way to lure people and get them signed up without knowing exactly what they can expect.

Sales

Allied Wallet uses resellers and other strategic partners to sell its services worldwide. This reason may be why there are some complaints in the digital space about customers not realizing they signed up for services with Allied Wallet. In some cases, it appears as though agents were not transparent about their partners. This left individuals confused and not knowing who to contact about charges. This is a common customer service issue when merchant account providers use independent sales agents and resellers. However, in this specific circumstance, it doesn’t seem to be a huge issue. Likely, Allied Wallet takes the right steps to ensure deceptive practices doesn’t become a real problem.

Support

Allied Wallet can be reached via phone, email, and chat. It offers 24 hour per day, seven day per week customer service.

Staff Responsiveness

Allied Wallet is almost overly responsive. In less than a half day, we received an email reply from three different representatives. All of the messages were similar in substance and tone. Then, there were the phone calls. We received two follow-up calls after the email and then, three others that evening. Overall, we appreciate that they are hungry for business but this was a bit too aggressive.

According to customers, they respond as promptly when you are experiencing an issue. In many cases, they heard back within a few days. This isn’t perfect but better than many other providers.

Staff Interaction

Though representatives were polite and professional, we never got the feeling that we could completely trust what they were saying. At times, they felt they were searching for answers and instead were hyper-focused on when we could send more information so that they could hurry and send over a proposal. This made us, and should give other customers, pause. We got varied answers depending on the agent we spoke to that day. We had a hard time believing that the final contract we signed would look like anything we had discussed. This is not only disappointing and troubling, but a real business problem. We would encourage merchants to be very cautious when dealing with Allied Wallet.

Pricing

Allied Wallet charges flat-rate pricing with rates starting at 1.95% plus 7p per transaction in Europe and the United Kingdom. It charges rates starting at 2.95% plus 7p per for international transactions. Final rates depend on business type and processing history.

However, according to its cost comparison sheet dated October 2017, Allied Wallet requires no minimum contract length and charges a merchant discount rate of 1.5% plus $0.33 (or 23p) per transaction. Also, it charges a gateway fee of $45, which is waivable. The sheet states it charges no set-up or monthly fees.

Fees are assessed on an individual basis and are itemized in your specific contract, according to Allied Wallet. No ranges are provided but Allied Wallet does charge the following fees:

• Monthly Maintenance
• Transaction
• Refund
• Retrieval
• Chargeback
• Wire

Additionally, Allied Wallet also requires a holdback rolling reserve for one to six months.

Early Termination Fees

According to Allied Wallet’s terms and conditions, you can terminate or close your account at any time by clicking on your account link in your profile. Pending transactions will be cancelled and any funds will be released by check if all authentication requirements are fulfilled. It also states that Allied Wallet can hold funds for up 180 days to ensure that there are no transaction reversals, other fees, or issues. There is no mention of customers needed to pay a penalty to terminate an account.

Hardware Costs

Allied Wallet does not sell or rent any equipment, such as point-of-sale terminals or card readers.

Additional Important Terms

Any merchant that is found to be violating Allied Wallet’s Acceptable Use Policy can be fined up to $50,000 in addition to any fines from its payment processors and service providers, according it terms and conditions. Violations would include any merchant receiving payments for:

• “any sexually oriented or obscene materials or services in violation of AlliedWalletLTD’s Mature Audiences Policy”
• “any narcotics, other controlled substances, steroids or prescription drugs in violation of local law in both the locality where delivery takes place and where your offices are located”
• “wagers, gambling debts or gambling winnings, regardless of the location or type of gambling activity”