What to Know About Paymentsense Hidden Charges

Thursday, January 31st, 2019

Paymentsense is a London-based independent sales organisation (ISO) and merchant service issuer for First Data. It is also one of the leading payment processors in the United States serving since 2010— and now offers services to over 30,000 small and medium-sized companies in the UK. Paymentsense also provides mobile, online, and over-the-counter payment solutions.

As useful as the services are, you need to be forewarned of the following paymentsense hidden charges that could stretch your budget.

Pricing

PaymentSense does not display all its prices and fees on its official web page. Some rates and costs vary depending on a company’s size. It only states that it doesn’t charge fees to create a merchant account. Otherwise, it only lists per month costs for mobile payments via a virtual terminal and online payments via a payment gateway. The fees are payable either in bits per month or all at once per year, but, those who pay annually get a discount.

Fees for both mobile and online payment are as follows:

• £9.95/month or £8.30 per annum for companies that process up to £50,000 annually
• £14.95/month or £12.45 per annum for firms that process from £50,000 to £250,000 per year
• £19.95/month or £16.60 per annum for businesses that process from £250,000 to £1.2 million yearly

Note that these monthly fees do not include per transaction fee or VAT.

Early Cancellation Charges

Paymentsense contract term lengths vary from 18 months to 60 months but feature locked-in rates that decrease progressively throughout the contract. Some customers have complained of their extended five-year agreements as opposed to other providers whose deals don’t exceed three years. Plus, there’s a variable cancellation fee. Clients have whined about charges of up to £1,155.

Concealed Hardware Costs

The company leases portable, countertop, and mobile card machines that it sources from Ingenico and Spire. However, it does not reveal fees, but only states that the fees depend on factors like; nature of the retailer’s business, type of machine, and amount of transactions.

Retailers must pay a monthly rental fee for the card machine. The amount depends on the number and type of terminals hired and processing fees. Customers have raised concerns about the problems faced during any attempts to cancel these lease agreements. This may be because it works under First Data— so any lease agreement is handled by First Data Global Leasing (FDGL) and can’t be ended until the term is complete.

In such a situation, the merchant’s best option is to contact the FDGL to confirm the amount it would cost you to cancel a deal. Merchants often complain about long contracts as most of them are quite expensive, and carry a series of hidden fees.

Wrap Up

A savvy business owner must investigate the hidden costs of any contract they get into. If not, your firm risks losing thousands of dollars in service fees.