iPayment Review

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2.5
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How did they treat you? ▼

UPDATE 5/8/2019: iPayment was acquired by Paysafe Group in June 2018. Visiting iPayment's website will relocate users to Paysafe's. For information on the company please review our review of Paysafe.

SUPPLEMENTAL UPDATE 11/2/2015 – iPayment (AKA: Flagship Merchant Services) has repeatedly made hostile attempts to force the removal of this review. These have included intimidation through bullying and threats of litigation under false pretenses as well as an illegitimate DMCA claim filed with our host, which was rejected on the grounds that it was a “guise” to suppress fair use of a trademark. It is our opinion that such actions reveal the depths to which iPayment's executives will stoop in an attempt to suppress constitutionally protected free speech that is critical of their business practices. We view these actions as not only highly unethical, but as a demonstration of their unwillingness to correct the problems that cause merchant complaints and, instead, a preference for aggressive strong-arm retribution tactics. If you have been a victim of such threats or bullying, please detail your experience in the comment section below.

iPayment (ipaymentinc.com) is a very large ISO of First Data that claims to provide merchant accounts to approximately 153,000 small businesses nationwide. Founded in 1999, the company is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, but maintains its primary operations center in Los Angeles, California. iPayment became a publicly traded company in 2003 but was then purchased by an investment team led by its founder Greg Daily in 2006. It has operated as a private company since 2006.

iPayment also owns the domain name “creditcardprocessing.com,” though it is unclear whether it regards this business as a subsidiary or as a separate enterprise. iPayment acquired its longtime reseller Leaders Merchant Services in November 2017. iPayment is sponsored by Wells Fargo of Walnut Creek, California, as its Acquiring Bank. O.B. Rawls, IV, is the president and CEO of iPayment following the ouster of Carl Grimstad in September 2016.

Key Points

  • Sales & Marketing: iPayment hires independent sales agents and has received a moderate-to-high number of complaints about its sales practices.
  • Costs & Contract: iPayment offers a three-year contract with an early termination fee of up to $350.
  • Complaints & Service: iPayment has received more than 300 public complaints.
  • BBB Rating: iPayment has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 271 complaints in the past three years.
  • Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With iPayment

iPayment Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 300+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Terms

As noted at the top of this review, iPayment has also made direct attempts to suppress this review and the legitimate merchant comments posted beneath it. This would seem to indicate that the company prefers to stifle negative feedback rather than address the root causes of complaints. Nevertheless, iPayment has a moderate-to-high number of complaints filed online, many of which can be found in the comment section below.

There are two types of complaints that dominate the reports. In the first type, the obvious sources of the merchants’ problems originate with the agents or ISOs that set up the accounts. In these complaints the common theme among merchants are reports of hidden fees, high monthly costs, non-disclosure of the service length agreement/cancellation fees, and expensive PCI Compliance fees. In the second type, iPayment is the source of the complaints and merchants typically report receiving poor service and unprofessional customer support. In one recent iPayment complaint, the merchant states, “I was told by this individual there was No Contract I could cancel at anytime! I was also told that the fee would be aproxamatly $7.00 a month,” only to later learn that “there was a three year contract and I had to pay an early termination fee.”

Since it is our philosophy that the actual credit card processor is ultimately responsible for the agents and ISOs which represent it, we are awarding iPayment a “D” rating in this section based on these complaints.

iPayment Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints 124
Billing & Collection Complaints 132
Advertising & Sales Complaints 8
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints 0
Delivery Complaints 7

Note: We have adjusted this company’s BBB rating according to our own standards. To better understand why we adjust BBB ratings, please see our Rating Criteria.

As of this update, the Better Business Bureau is awarding iPayment an “A+” rating, which is surprising given the fact that the BBB report lists 271 complaints in the last 36 months. Only 51 of these were resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Complainants cite billing and collection issues, product and service issues, and advertising and sales issues as the primary problems. These complaints are most likely the result of iPayment’s use of poorly monitored sales agents and the company’s lackluster customer support. There are also 28 negative informal reviews left on the company’s profile alongside four positive reviews. We have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “D” based on iPayment’s complaint volume and resolution ratio.

iPayment Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Cost & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate Variable
Keyed-in Rate Variable
Early Termination Fee $250-$350
PCI Compliance Fee Variable
Equipment Lease Terms Variable

Pricing and contract terms of an iPayment merchant account can vary based on several factors including a merchant’s business type, processing volume, and the agent or ISO setting up the account. Under most circumstances it looks like the standard contract (available below) has a service agreement of 36 months with an early termination fee that ranges from $250 to $350. iPayment also appears to sell long-term, non-cancellable equipment leases through First Data Global Leasing. These factors combined with the overwhelmingly negative merchant feedback we’ve received have earned iPayment a “C” rating in this section. Depending on the ISO or agent, however, the terms of an iPayment merchant account contract are likely to be very negotiable. Be sure to read “Fee Sweep” before engaging any merchant account provider in contract negotiation. See the iPayment Program Guide.

iPayment Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

Jobs & Marketing Summary
Employs Independent Resellers Yes
Advertises Deceptive Rates No
Discloses All Important Terms No

iPayment relies heavily on third-party independent sales organizations (ISOs) and independently contracted agents to bring in new customers. This is a common marketing practice among large processors that often results in merchant complaints because the sales tactics of the ISOs and agents are very hard to control. It appears that iPayment is suffering from the typical complaints of nondisclosure as a result of this strategy, which negatively affects its rating in this section.

iPayment does not appear to directly utilize any deceptive marketing or rate quoting tactics in its official materials; however, some of its ISOs and agents appear to be doing so. There are numerous complaints in the comment section of this review and on other consumer protection websites that describe misleading rate quotes, deceptive sales pitches, and sales agents who disappear after signing merchants up for service. For this reason, merchants are encouraged to research any company offering iPayment merchant accounts before applying.

Our iPayment Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

iPayment’s reputation is suffering from numerous complaints mostly due to its marketing strategy of hiring independent agents and partnering with ISOs. The company can improve its rating by significantly reducing its future complaint count and improving its pricing and contract policies so that merchants cannot be set up in expensive long-term contracts.

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Which is Most Important for You?

If you had to pick one, which quality would you say will be the most important with your next credit card processor? Tap or click your selection to register your vote:

  1. Low Transaction Fees
  2. No Monthly Fees
  3. No Contract
  4. Reliable Customer Support
  5. Quick Signup

Testimonials & Complaints

How Did iPayment Treat You?

263 User Reviews

  • Lisa

    They definitely steal from you. That’s the truth. I never authorized any bank drafts out of my account for $119. Every month they did this and claimed I was being charged an additional $75 for a non transaction fee since there were months none of my clients paid with credit cards. When I called them to demand refunds since these were unauthorized they sent me a form to pull up. The form simply said docu sign. Sign your name submit and start signing??? First of all what am I signing?? Why are they asking for my signature on a blank “form”??? Taking this to attorney . These people are criminals. This was done for 3 years. Had no idea who this company was kept thinking it was some transaction my husband had done for the business until he claimed it was unknown to him

  • Scott

    Marketing solutions

    This company essentially scammed me, They toss you around to so many different companies and people but you don’t really notice until you realize that everybody has different emails. They put a hold on my first transaction for $3000, but the money went into their account. So the transaction was successful but then they held it. I can’t recharge my customer and I don’t think that they are going to refund him.

  • John

    The worst. I have the same complaints as most here Hidden fees over charging and so on. Here is a new one. I closed my account back in may mailed in my equipment. The other day i get a charge from them on my account. I go to their web page and its dam near impossible to find phone numbers only email so i send then email but get no reply. Now i call my bank and dispute but they cant cause credit card processes are above the law. My bank guy was great got me on a 3way call with them and they said it was for the equipment charge well guess what i sent that back and i have UPS tracking showing they got it. After 3 or 4 lengthy holds and a call back they agree to reverse charge. Get this it could take week or more to get my money back WTH you are a CC biz you can make money move in min. So i got to waste hrs of my time for there lame mistake Who going to pay for my time.

  • Gerald Siebel

    I signed up with them in Dec 2019, because they said they were so uch cheaper than my present credit card processor at that time. I decided to try them. In the 9 month since then they charged me PCI compliance fees back in March, and a monthly fee besides each and every month. I don’t do that many credit card transactions so I used them once in Dec 2019. In February I tried and my access had been closed. I got it reopened but had otherwise taken care of my transaction. In May I had another and again my access had been closed. Used my old company for that transaction. Tried and in July, and once again my access was closed. It took 3 calls, 2 faxes, and finally an email form to close the account. Then I get the $350.00 early termination fee. I should have read the fine print. I will never do business with this firm again.

  • Jay Lepore

    Hello – does anyone know of a method of recourse with this company.

    I found out within the last month that I have been paying 19.95 since 2008 (it is now 2020).

    I tracked them down and called them on 7.13.2020 @ 800 324 9825

    The lady said “evidently” you signed up for some service and failed to call us back in 30 days to cancel it.

    So they are a merchant provider that signed me up for some auto pay service through company.com which is what appeared on the bill.

    Total bull**** and scammy. Must have been an unnoticed checked box somewhere IF that.

    So I’ve paid the 2800 over the years because my bookkeeper assumed the 19.95 as appearing on the statement looked like a merchant account charge.

    • Jonathan Weis

      Flagship, Ipayment, etc whoever they are now… they never call you back and have snuck junk fees to the tune of hundreds of dollars on my billing, second time in a year I have to call them for refunds !! . Shady company, broke terminal with bad update then tried to strong arm me into an expensive new terminal with high pressure sales tactics and long term contract.. fishy !!! . Was able to find a work around on you tube but they really stink now…50$ fee for sending you a 1099K and the pci non compliance fee notice says they are now going to get you for 60$. Not like Flagship used to be, disappointed. Will find a new provider asap. Beware !


      This post will help: Eliminate Hidden Fees From Your Monthly Bill

      -Phillip

  • Dominic Easton

    Horrible company. The merchant payment processing company “I-Payment” are complete crooks and scam artists. I cancelled my account with them over 2 years ago because they would always try toto char me hidden annual and monthly fees even though my account was supposed to be 100% free other than the 1.5% per swipe fee they were charging me. I would constantly have to call customer service and tell them I wasn’t supposed to have any annual or monthly fees. Calling customer service was always a long wait then when they finally issue the refund it would take 4 weeks to get my money back. Finally I had enough and cancelled all services with them and switched to Chase Merchant Services in 2017 but the fees from I-Payment didn’t stop. In January 2018 they charged me a $179 annual fee even though my account was cancelled. I had to inconvenience myself and call them again to get refunded which took about 4 weeks again. Then just again today in Jan 2019 another $179 annual fee from I-Payment shows up again even though I cancelled my account with them over 2 years ago! This time I called my bank and reported the charge as fraudulent which it is.
    Please avoid doing any business with this company and “I-Payment” they are crooks and scam artists and will try to steal your money every chance they get. Avoid this nightmare.

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  • Eric Hickman

    CAUTION – STAY AWAY !!!! I closed my account with Ipayment in August 2018 and they have continued taking the monthly fee out of my banking account months later without my consent or knowledge. A $7.00 monthly service charge soon turned into a $59.00 monthly bank charge and they still are charging after I closed my account. I’ve spoken to several representatives which none will transfer me to a supervisor…SO .. Don’t do business with this company!!!!! I thought this was a legit company, boy was I wrong also !!!!!

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  • Sharnele Mack

    I’ve recently signed up with iPayment to process my mobile transactions. They quickly signed me on and allowed me to process payments. They then placed my account under review resulting in the funds that I processed to be placed on hold for an undisclosed timeframe for review. Under false pretense might I add. With the only response being that they have the right to hold or deduct funds at anytime per the signed onboarding agreement (which I still have yet to find). They also redacted the funds they deposited into our accounts on top of the funds they’re holding (which were transferred to an account with numbers that were not my own.) I’ve only been with them for a week and I’m out of nearly 7,000 dollars. The reps in Risk are extremely evasive and rude. (I’ve dealt with 5) I contacted my initial activation specialist who works out of Boston (who’s a Godsend). He has been contacting them endlessly for the past 2 days as of 8/8/18 and they too have been giving him the run around. Internal case swapping, no call backs, suddenly out of office, false claims of not receiving emailed documentation, and lies of office times. This scam must be exposed. Small businesses are suffering!….Update to the madness as of 8/14…our account was terminated at the drop of a dime by an agents personal discretion! I sincerely believe that this is a fraudulent company and “risk management” is nothing more than a rob peter to pay paul scam!

    If you would like to join in petitioning for a class action lawsuit against this scumbag company. Please email me at [email protected]


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    • Terri Malott

      Have you received your funds yet? I was told it was their funds indefinitely so I started issue refunds to customers seems it is the customers money and good ole free from risk called me 2 months later saying I was going to be in big trouble for this. I bank with navy federal. My bank reversed their payments they tried to take on top of the money they are holding and issued a fraud investigation on them. I since have contacted a law firm whom does class action lawsuits to begin to expose this company. I had a friend set up a small online store just to prove a point what they are doing no matter what kind of transactions ones process like most I doubt anyone had to send in their company info you just gave it to them on the phone and boom you were approved no documents signed just a email from ipayment saying congratulations your merchant account was approved. Which ones usually receive within 2 hours not 24 to 48. Anyone wishing to join a class action law suit please feel free to contact me these scamming fools need to go down!!!


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  • KEVIN ODUM

    BEWARE BEWARE!!!! I closed my account with Ipayment in August 2017 and they have continued taking the monthly fee out of my banking account for the past 12 months without my consent or knowledge totaling $776.76. Ive spoken to several representatives which none will transfer me to a supervisor… Don’t do business with this company!!!!! I thought this was a legit company, boy was I wrong!!!!!


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  • Bill Etherton

    Terrible service, combine them with creditcardprocessors.com and you have a team of liars and thieves working together that charge you for services that you don’t request or authorize and monthly charges that the sales team at creditcardprocessors.com lie about when they sign you up. The people at IPayment will not send you the paperwork so you can cancel the service. I personally believe I will have to close my bank account to get rid of their monthly charges. Stay away from this company. I was charged $149 for enhanced security services not requested or received or approved. I was told by creditcardprocessors.com when signing up the monthly charge was $5 it turned out to be $60, I have requested the paperwork 3 times to cancel the service and still haven’t received it.


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  • ER Cell Techs Inc.

    We switched processors to ipay. We sell phones online, and are considered “high risk” because of that. We switched to them because of issues with our previous processor. We were assured the same would not happen with ipay, and at first that was true. They began changing our deposits after batchout(amounts,deposit days etc), and eventually stopped depositing our funds completely. When we contacted them they said our account was under review, and that we would need to send the last 15 invoices so they could verify the customer made the purchase. We complied immedietly. They said the review was complete, and all funds would be released to us by the next business day. The next day we began receiving notification from ipay that they had deposited funds. However, the money never made it to the bank. Called them back, now they claimed it is under review again, and they need 3 months worth of business and personal bank statements. We again complied. We were told again review was complete and funds would hit the next business day. The next day again we receive notification from ipay stating funds had been deposited. Once again they never make it to the bank. We went to log on to dashboard to see what had happened, and ALL of our information, including deposit information had been removed. We immediately called, and were informed that our account had been closed and they would be holding our funds for up to 60 days without any reasoning or justification . Only stating that by law they could hold the money as long as they see fit. Needless to say I have contacted an attorney and the FBI. This is clearly organized crime. They have now stolen close to $40,000 from us. Run far from them as fast as you can!


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  • Lonnie Parsons

    I signed up with this firm after be given the promise of no fees unless I run a transaction by their sales person Allen Hatfield. They hit my account for $32 to $35 and than $205 with zero transactions run. I am out over $300 and am struggling to close the account which takes a month to 6 weeks. Mean while they are continually hitting my checking account for more fees. I am closing the bank account. This company is a business killer so do your self a favor and find a reputable company like PayPal.

  • P. Page

    The worst company ever. Lies about fees. Chris could not get anything right on application. Even put wrong account number down. Could have been his bank account number for all we know. After 2 week, finally got account right. Never got the service they promised, so cancelled service. Told there would be no cancelled fee, but they charged us 250. This company and everyone associated with them is a complete rip off. Stay away from them and everyone associated with them.

  • David Eibeck

    We recently switched to ipayment because the told us they could save us money, The first month was a nightmare of overcharges and poor service. Looks to me to be organized crime, stay away.

  • David Eibeck

    Switched to ipayment to save money only to learn the company is not upfront about their fees and hidden charges. We were charged twice for a transaction that was never supposed to have been approved. The fees were over $1,000.00 for a transaction they told us could be approved because it was over the limit.

  • Billy

    Horrible company, I hope you read these messages and don’t use them. Unfortunately I didn’t do good job searching and was burnt by this company!!!!! Please run. Bad service, hard to get ahold of (after account was setup)

  • Junk B Gone LLC

    I set up an account with iPayment for my business, which provides contracting services to residential and commercial properties so we could start accepting credit card payments. I ran my first transaction, which just under $9K – not uncommon in the contracting world. The processing went through on a Tuesday – no issues. On Thursday night I received a call that my payment was being reviewed. I received the call about 10 minutes before their offices closed, so I had to wait to call back until Friday, which I did. On Friday they asked for a copy of my invoice and the contact information for the cardholder to validate the charges – I provided both on the spot. I followed up again Monday since no one had called me back. I was told they had reviewed my account and were willing to release half the funds, but were going to hold on to the other half of the funds until the job was complete. They asked me for 3 months of my personal bank statements. They told me since they were not a real bank, they borrowed money to pay for their charges, and could withhold funds or refuse to process payments at any time. I had to refund my customer and ask them to either pay in cash or wait until I had a new processor in place. While the customer service rep I spoke with was very friendly, I am wholly unimpressed with their business practices. Don’t let the low rates fool you – these guys are not a good business partner. They have no problem holding onto the money you earned for an unlimited amount of time without any justification for doing so. I would run the other way if I were you.

    • Glenn Welt

      iPayment a/k/a CreditCardProcessing.com is one of THE WORST processors I’ve ever encountered in my 51 years of business ownerships. My experience with them on my first transaction was similar to yours. Currently I can suggest only 1 processor where I’ve had ZERO issues: Square. Every transaction has been deposited into my bank in 1 business day. Not sure it applies to every merchant but they told me my transaction limit is $50,000. Every other card provider that offers the low rates is usually the same. If you want to eliminate ALL transaction fees & get all your $ immediately, you might consider using the app that I created: ChecksNet

  • Sam Street

    David Dwyer He said go with us I will always be Available if you have any questions or concerns. Called Left a messages send emails no response from him. When I talk to him about services initially he always answered the phone on the 1st And always return my messages. Made promises he didn’t keep. Getting ready to cancel service horrible.

  • Joseph

    this company in my opinion is a rip off they have looked up my payments for 3 weeks and still no answer to when it will be released… DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!! NOT to mention the fee changes.

  • Joshua Grier

    Honestly, this company is the worst company I’ve dealt with both on a professional and personal level. Their customer service reps are incompetent and unprofessional. What I hate most is the way they bill you – they draft your account BEFORE you get the bill. So you have no clue what comes out per month. With my company being a small business and less than 1 year opened, my sales aren’t as lucrative as one that has been opened for years. A lot of our clientele pay cash. I was previously using Square – but I figured let me get something a bit more professional and easier for my employees to use. Why did I do that? Honest Square and PayPal are better options and easier to use. This company charged me a $100.00 annual fee in December when I signed up in July. So no clue it was going to be charged in December. I escalated this concern to a manager and all they said was “you didn’t read your contract?” That comment pissed me off more than the fact that I was being billed blindly. So I cancelled my account with them last week, I asked if there was a fee to cancel and they didn’t address that question but simply said, we have cancelled your account. Well, today I log in to my account and see that I am charged $250 cancel fee. This was not advised to me originally. There’s more to type but I don’t have time to do so.

  • Aaron Offutt

    This is a PSA. Total transparency: I am a Sales Rep for Heartland Payment System. I have had two of my clients in the past week who have given me the same phone number of a Jessica Baxter with a phone number that is all over the internet as a number used by one of two reps at iPayment. They claim to be with Heartland, not the usual “your processor.” but naming Heartland specifically, asking to get statements or to point attention to the “Important information” section of a recent statement. It is a ploy used by numerous cold-calling processors, but going one step further to claim they are with Heartland, and she is NOT. Thankfully my merchants and I have a good enough relationship that they know to call me to check out the validity first.

  • Anaconda Ortega

    Bad companies about 1 month to release my money 1400 +530 they release cuz I will make complaint to bbb and general attorney
    For any small reason held the money lie saying you bank account is wrong to charge 25 dollar fee to change and keep the money until resolve don’t do bussinne with them be careful .

  • Glenn Welt

    iPayment,Inc. d/b/a creditcardprocessing.com has given me THE WORST card processing experience I’ve ever had over the past 52 years that I’ve owned many businesses.

    I provided EVERY single bit of information Nicholas Iacozza requested during the application process. I was assured that I could immediately process charges up to $2500 each and $20,000/month. Two days after my account was setup, I received an email from Jenny Newman at ipaymentinc.com which said “SUSPENDED BATCH ALERT: IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED.” If Ms. Newman worked for me, she’d be fired instantly because NOTHING (not 1 word) in her email told what I needed to do to ‘unsuspend’ the one and only $1400 charge! In fact her email said ‘please provide the following items by fax or email’ but listed absolutely NOTHING (space was 100% blank) !

    I now blame myself for ever contacting these incompetents. I was “suckered” by a website that appears to be a legit reviewer of car processors but is actually an ad for Flagship and Creditcardprocessing.com which they rate as being #1 and #2. In other words I now realize that FAKE news suckered me wasting hours of my time and have moved on to a LEGIT card processor!

  • Jeff Brown

    I had a client that was considering paying with a credit card. I then contacted Flagship Merchant Services about the fees. I was conned into filling out the application with the agreement they would not submit it with out my authorization. They were fully aware that I may not use the service. I contacted them a few days later and informed them that I would not be needing the service. They submitted the paperwork any way and proceeded to charge my account with out my knowledge. When I did see the charges I contacted them and they informed me that they would correct it. To date they have not stopped charging my account. After contacting them again they told me I was to fill out some BS paperwork that I was never informed of before. Flagship Merchant Services is a con and a rip off. Google there phone number 800554477 and /or look up reviews yourself. They stay in business deceiving people. Stay away from them as well as Quiq, and any other person that would be affiliated with them.

  • Reynold G.

    DO NOT USE iPayment ! They fraudulently opened an account that I had no idea about and was pulling out money out of my account as fees. They are affiliated with Well Fargo, another horrible sh*t company. I absolutely regret using them. iPayment customer service in all of their departments are terrible.
    Warning to businesses, stay away from iPayment and creditcardprocessing.com They are scammers. They will deny any fault even if it’s so obvious and yes they will hangup on you.

  • millpond Inn

    This is an unethical , non transparent company. They also have many hoops you have to jump thru to close an account. I jumped, but it took 4 months to get them to stop drawing on my bank. I’m out $263.80

  • James Troy

    IPayment suspended my account after 6 years as a client. Never had a return and never had a problem until I changed businesses and products and they claimed I was not operating under the original agreement to sell only a certain product. I have never heard of this. I sold a hand made teak kayak for $6500 and they suspended my account and then charged me $288 dollars for the refund to the customer These people are rude and unethical. I have disputed the charges with my bank but they say it will probably go in iPayments favor. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE THIEVES.

  • Jennifer Crowson

    This company is horrible they held our batch transaction for over a week till we had to issue credits and go another route. Should be a crime to hold the funds while they audi? Took over a week to audit 6 transactions for a total dollar amount of less than 2k.

  • Rhonda Sutherland

    I just signed up at the end of July. They have taken 3 withdrawals from my account by mid August. Suppose to have been refunded for the first 2 but never was. Now I stay on hold for 10 minutes before a recording tells me there is no one to take my call and tells me to hang up. VERY frustrating! It is very hard finding someone there that has any authority.

  • Shawndee's Massage

    When I first began doing business with them, They Stole from me NEARLY $300 while I was on vacation & refused to return it saying they didnt have an account on record for me. I had to get my banks fraud dept to go after them to Get it back 4 different times, so far. I no longer do business with them. Stay with SQUARE!!
    It took approx. 10 per client to check out, it was down once at 11pm (Square save me!) They sent me a broken reader, never replaced it after over a month of doing business with them & manually entering EVERY transaction. 7.5 Hours spent mostly trouble shooting my phones settings, some with my bank on refunds (about an hour of that or 1.5 hours) & NOTHING was accomplished. Then they made ME write down my problems & email it back to them on Thier form. Why couldn’t the manager I was talking to do that? He Knew all of my problems already. Stupid, just stupid & poor business operating skills & very poor customer service!
    Don’t give them access to your bank. Period.

  • Shilia Lalumia

    I-Payments is the most dishonest company ever. First of all let me start by saying they sent a women to what she thought was an all male mechanic shop wearing a pale see through dress with very little panties on her rear. She was a very smooth talker, Very dishonest. I was promised a 90 day trial ” Just send the equipment back with in 90 days and nothing more needs to be done.” I sent the equipment back with in 30 days of finding out that they were shady. I was promised that my rates would be less than 1% across the board and that was the first Lie. They gave my information to a third party that created a lease in my name and reported it to the credit bureau as a purchase. My credit was checked by a third party for a total of three times by this company. They have sense then promised to remove the lease and credit me the money back to my account. They have not done that as of yet. They continued to take money out of my account as of today alone they have taken out $ 354.70 today alone and I have not even used the machine in more than 45 days. My credit is damaged because of them and I still can not get them to stop taking money from my account. I have plans to obtain an attorney and will consider a class action lawsuit.

  • Joan

    HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! RUN away. Their independent agents are sleazy. LOTS of hidden information. You will be screwed over before you even know it. Customer Service is an F. You will ending closing your bank account just to get these leeches off of you. Stay far, far, away from this.

  • Evergreen Custom

    Ipayment as a whole employs poor to little valued customer service. Our company had been with them for nearly 6 yrs when we changed responsible party of our business. Our 6 yr acct now became a “new” acct and with that came the headaches of proving we were worthy of the transactions being put through their system. 4 day holds became the expected and any high ticket days became an avg 3-4 wk hold on all transaction of that day with no warning. As a small business this could break us.

    When we would make contact to inquire to the status it was simply put as, ” I am working on it as fast as I can”, but never was an outgoing call made from our reps to us to help keep us up-to-date. They refused to increase our high ticket request twice and then offered to fulfill the request if we would sign a contract. (We went elsewhere and have had ZERO issues from day 1, with our FIRST transaction being rather large and the money was deposited the very next day).

    They showed no real concern for our business nor worked to show we as their customer were of importance to them.

    • Marckinson Charles

      I am sorry to hear about your experience with ipayment. In this industry there aren’t any differences when it comes to acquiring company like Ipayment or TSYC, Bank of America and any other multi-billion dollars company. What makes your experience with a ISO or Aquirer is the support you get from your local sales representative. No nobody in this industry has a clean slate. What I always tell my Merchants is to fully understand their contract before agreeing to it. You will get the best customer service from your local rep.

  • Kevin Andrews

    Run, don’t walk. The smooth talking salespeople and independent resellers disappear once you sign the contract and you will soon find out that this is a horrible company to deal with. The fact that BBB rates them as A+ tells you all you need to know about the BBB.

    You may not realize who you are being signed up with until it is too late, as they use a network of resellers that sell under their own names.

    I could write pages about the issues I’ve had with them. As I read through the other reviews, I find myself muttering “Yep. Yep. That’s them alright!.”

    It started with them suddenly imposing a $95 a year fee to report sales to the IRS. When I pointed out that was specifically prohibited by law, they stopped charging me but never refunded past fees.

    Then they would sneak little fees onto my statement. A “security” fee, for example. Huh? When questioned, they would do a song and dance about how that is to protect me from fraudulent charges, but when pressed on what protection they provided, things got a little vague. No, it doesn’t insure me against fraud. There is no special check of any sort. Nothing at all that I could ever tell, other than what Authorize.net already does as a matter of course, (CVV and address matching options).

    Then we would find out that there was a chargeback, but they never notified us. Another song and dance about how we are supposed to login somewhere and check for that and how it’s all explained in the contract.

    Today I got an email from them that looked exactly like a phishing scam, saying that I had a chargeback and to “login” to learn more. OK. So not using the link in the email, I did login and found the chargeback. But not details or any way to respond to it. I also noted that they had not updated my phone and other information with changes I had notified them about 2 years ago.

    When I attempted to make those changes on their site, I found that the “Submit” button was greyed out. So I called them, danced with their voicemail tree for 10 minutes and finally reached a human who very casually told me, “Oh yeah, the webiste isn’t working. It should be working in a couple of weeks.” The website that I just logged into? The one which has my confidential business records? That website “isn’t working right now.” That’s right. So why then am I allowed to login, fill out forms and try to submit them? And why did they send me an email telling me to login? No answer, just that it would be working in 2 weeks.

    Then they handed me off to the chargeback guy, who couldn’t find the record. At all. He said there was no chargeback. Except I was looking at it on the screen, it had an amount and a transaction number and corresponded with a customer who had told us she was going to go this route. Well, it wasn’t on his screen, so he says I should call back Monday.

    When i told him I really didn’t want to have to call back on Monday to do this whole thing over, and that I’d like to get it resolved now, he tells me maybe I’m looking at the wrong website or the wrong account. lol. Then he tells me he can’t help me because I am “refusing to answer questions” and that I “refused to call back on Monday.”

    He finally asks me if I would like to speak to his supervisor, and when I assured him that I would love to do that, he said, “OK, here’s her voicemail” and immediately transfers me.”

    It was actually a much longer phone call, much of which you probably would not believe if I told you how it went down! Seriously, it was like right out of a movie, like what you’d expect to see if The Sopranos were running a credit card processing scam.

    I left a detailed message. But I felt like a fool, because I have the distinct feeling that the “supervisor” is an un-monitored voice mail where they send people to get rid of them.

    It’s such a hassle switching payment providers. Do yourself a favor and do lots of research before you sign on with anyone. Please don’t bother looking further at iPayments. You WILL regret it and you’ll end up here down the road telling your own story and shaking your head.

    Attention iPayments, if you are reading this, please note, that this is my personal opinion, which I’m entitled in this country to express. Don’t bother trying to sue me, the way it is reported you tried to sue others who spoke out against your unethical business tactics!

  • Ashlie

    DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE A CHANCE!!!! They are absolutely horrible!! They held $3,000 of my money until their risk department spoke with 5 of my customers to make sure the transactions were legit! I get that they want to do a risk but there is other ways to go about doing this. The 5 customers are my regulars and it killed me that I had to bug them about this! They then cancelled my account so I couldn’t login while fighting them to release my money. Thank goodness I took pictures of all the tranactions before they locked me out of the app so I had some sort of proof! I’m still out $300 that I’m sure I will never see. They won’t call or email me back and charged me a withdraw and ledger fee? No clue what that’s for and of course I haven’t gotten an explanation. RAY in Risk Management is a horrible person (to put it midly). He basically told me that he doesn’t care if I call him to complain because he hears these complaints everyday all day. He said that it’s no sweet off his back and that I need to have backup funds in order to run a business just incase something like this ever happens!! Really, Ray?!? There are so many other things that happend but I don’t have time to write them all out. AGAIN, NEVER TRUST OR GO WITH THESE GUYS!!!

  • Johnny Barkley

    Terrible, terrible service and performance. They are holding our funds that were paid to us by a customer and have not released them to us, and only agreed to ‘as a courtesy’ release half of them to us. This was after a dozen attempts to contact their risk management department, whom alerted us originally about needing to batch. Very unreliable and irresponsible representative that would not take any accountability for anything and was not willing at all to help. I could go on for hours about how this portion went, but I will spare the reading for now.
    They spoke with the customer, he told them there was nothing suspicious, and to release the funds to us. They still did not. No reason or explanation as to why, but they WOULD NOT release our money to us or him. Finally after fighting for weeks about this, incurring fees, holding up projects, we were able to process a refund with someone in technical support who had a very bad ‘not my problem’ attitude.

    We will be cancelling this service provider and suggesting that NO ONE uses them for anything in the future.

  • James

    I had an account with Ipayment for years and looking back at it now I can see I was lied to very bluntly. They are not a low fee merchant service provider as they like to advertise themselves as. Take a close look at your $8.00 a monthly statement and you’ll see some unexplained fee buried under the “miscellaneous fee” category. If you call them about that, you get that baloney pre-canned script which tells you nothing about what those fees really are all about. They just take advantage of businesses with their deceptive practices.
    Do yourselves a favor, get Paypal account or better a CLOVER GO swipe that you install onto your smartphone, pay a straight 3.5% on the “non present card” (2.7% with card present) transaction and have a good day. No more of that PCI certification BS and no more unexpected fee….. all clean and simple to understand….. my 2 cents.

  • Loren Jay

    Ipayment took a $5000 deposit a customer gave me to start a job and just took it, it’s been 3 weeks now of battling the “risk management ” department. They finally said they’d release 1/2 of the funds after my customer called them and begged them to release the funds so I could finish the job. So I’ve successfully lost a customer and a ton of cash. Still haven’t received the funds into my bank account. Beware. I would go with a more reputable company.

  • Rich Moonblatt

    iPayment and First Data is Reckless, Irresponsible and Fraudulent!

    First of all, First Data outsourced our business to the Dominican Republic where the Call Center does not have the:

    1.) Skills
    2.) Knowledge
    3.) Experience

    To do the minimums of their jobs!

    Repeatedly, we were left on hold for well over one half hour, as we consistently attempted to do business with a US-based representative.

    Once connected, we were still kept on hold for extraordinary amount of time and received no further service.

    IPayment and First Data is reporting inaccurate information on tax related matters.

    We were told our CPA when filing the tax return can file additional information to correct the error.

    Why would we incur the expense with our CPA?

    The best way to do business with 1Payment and First Data, is the way we are about to commence:

    File a grievance with the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) who licenses and regulates how iPayment and First Data Reporting Services does business.

    As you can see, clearly iPayment and First Data does business in bad faith.

    In our 9th attempt at resolving the matter with First Data, and the last few, who refused to connect us to a US based Representative were:

    1.) Louis–#CY%
    2.) Mercie–#12C

    First Data insisted the problem lied with IPayment (Credit Card Processing Company) and they were equally inept as we talked to Victor #7661 and he was s uncertain where he was located. Eventually, he offered up, Westlake, California.

    Fortunately, the FTC will work, with my support, at putting First Data and iPayment out of business.

    Caveat Emptor. (Let the Buyer Beware!)

    Rich Moonblatt
    10609 Meadowhill Rd
    Silver Spring, MD 20901

    • Shilia Lalumia

      I have your address information and I will be contacting you. I believe this company is selling our information or giving it a third party. I have stuff on my credit report I never authorized. They have people sales reps cancel my 90 days trial. I sent back the equipment with in that 90 days and they still put it against my credit. I reported to the BBB and I don’t know what else to do. I can not stress enough for every one to be persistent with the BBB complaints. I have even still been getting calls to use their services with one male rep trying to intimidate me and being threatening.

  • Steve

    IPAYMENT WILL STEAL YOUR MONEY ANY WAY THEY THINK THEY CAN. – Read below for proof.

    First, the rates were double what I was quoted. How? Every card came in non-qualified in one way or another… Rewards card, bank card, personal card, company card. They seemed to have everything covered.

    Second, they put right into the contract… down in about the middle of the 3rd page. “MERCHANT MAY BE ENROLLED IN ADDITIONAL SERVICES… FOR WHICH APPLICABLE FEES WILL BE INCURRED. WOW!!!! So, I got enrolled in some app that they own, and got charged $5 / month until I caught it! Crazy.

    Third, they held several deposit in their risk department for over 300 days. It is several thousand dollars and even though I’ve cancelled with them, I’m still trying to get our money back!

    Fourth, I got charged a $350 early termination fee. So I asked them to show me in the contract where it says that. They said they couldn’t send me a contract, so I told them they would have to reverse the fee. Finally, they sent the contract. YUP, EARLY TERMINATION: $0.00, AND THEY CHARGED ME $350. Said it was normal business. I’m still trying to get that money back as well!

    You’ve been warned.

  • Business owner

    I aquired an account with Ipayment through Flagship merchant services on 1/5/17. I was quoted $7 a month when in use and 14.95 when not in use .IT took them 4 weeks to send me the card swiper and the first time I used it was for $3.50 it took 6 days for the $3 to come to my bank account and the very next day $41.77 was withdrawn from my account by them. Over 11 phone calls in one week I was but on hold over 8 hours and I’ve emailed them 6 times between the two companies. This is the worst I’ve ever been treated by anyone. Never signed nor seen a contract nor disclosure but you have to sign a closure form to cancel the service 36 hours later. I am super unimpressed with both companies dont waste your time or money with either one of them.

  • nishazad and babar sheikh

    received 3 calls , 3 consecutive weeks asking me to sign up , I was very clear to say I am not interested in what the person had to say nor the services.
    then i see $29.99 debited from my account on 12/23/2016 .When I called the company I was told they gave me a free trial period and now the period has ended they are charging me , and this would be monthly. REALLY ? Who authorised this ? What dishonest people. This is a big scam !!!!

  • Deanna Kelley

    This is a bad idea. Do not listen to the sales rep he is lying. Look closley at what you are signing, it will say no matter what the sales rep tells you this contract is as printed. No matter what sales rep marks out and pencils in, it says this in the contract. I feel lucky knowing they only got 213.58 of my money after I read so many other reviews where people said they took $800 and up and the companies, like mine, never even used their services. I can’t believe this is legal, but thanks to all the lobbyist and corrupt politicians that help get these laws passed that make it legal for companies like Card Payment Solutions dba ipayment dba iaccess to rob us of our hard earned dollars. Someone please file class action lawsuit I will join in.

  • A. N.

    If you sign up with ipayment they give you pages and pages of fine print – you have to actually go through and read ALL the fine print, because they zing you with things that they do not at all make clear in the application — such as it is a three year contract and if you cancel they take almost $500 out of your account. They seem to charge fees for random things — such as upgrading their system and you don’t get any say in it, they just send you a letter saying that the fee will be charged to all of their clients and out it goes from your account. Absolutely the worst.

  • ori ben-haim

    The business is not handeling concerns with customers. The businees provided false information on how credit card transaction be made. They withdraw 4300 from the business account from transaction that never been made and no one to talk to other than to dispute with the bank. It is 10 days of everyday calling with no answers. It is a corrupted company that i would not suggest any one to deal with

  • Roy Talamantez

    Alan Calhoon walked in to my business and talked me in to switching merchant account’s. I already owned a machine and I made it vary clear that i did not want a new one. We start business 4 days later i get a box? After opening it I called the number and was told its a 4 year contract! I told her no way in HELL and sent it back stopped using that service and got square. About a week later i was charged $697 for the machine! After a few hours on the phone and giving them the tracking number that said it was delivered they still could not figure out the location of the machine. I had my bank put a stop payment. (Alen called me a week later saying the machine was in the back office) Several months down the road i notice this “MISC-MOTO withdraw on my statements. Pow another stop payment! Another month down the road and i get a $350 cancellation fee!! I canceled 4 days after starting. This is the third time i was charged!! I wish Alen Calhoon never walked in my business!!!

  • david Stout

    After having this company for a few years it was time to end my contract. I sent them a letter stating that at the end of my contract I would like to cancel my service with them. And that there should be no cancellation fees involved because I have held my end of the contract term. But regardless they subtracted $350 out of my account is a cancellation fee. I hung on to them for almost a year not doing any transactions because I was using a different credit card company but I didn’t want to break my contract with them. Looking back I should have just ended my business with them if they were going to subtract the $350 regardless. My advice is never do any business with I payment. They are dishonest. And a company that should not be operating. So anyone wishing to do business with them DON’T !! You will regret it eventually. That’s a guarantee. I payment is crooked and dishonest and they are Crooks..

  • Lili Diaz

    Absolutely the worse company ever! When trying to open the account the sales rep reached out to me like 20 times at least to try and see when we can expect to open the account. After the account was opened , i had such a hard time getting a hold of him or anyone else who was helpful and informative in the sales dept. Its like a switch went off. Complete change from when they were trying to get our company to set up the account. We were told the monthly service charger would be $9.95 but at the end of the day we had that charger + a gateway fee + a fee for not reaching a minimum usage fee + batch fee..just to mention a few. This is defientely a very shady way of doing business. Creditcardprocessing.com or as you are registered ipayement, Inc…shame on you. There needs to be more transparency with customer as to how you guys operate and the exact fees that will apply.

  • Cindy Yager

    IPayments and Timothy Boyd are definitely huge ripoff companies. I used their terminal for one day before it became clear that I had been scammed. I cancelled in February and since them have been told that my account is not cancelled until “Melissa” faxes or emails me a cancellation. Of course, this never happens. So, they continue to steal money from my checking account on a monthly basis. Avoid them or be ripped off into eternity.

  • Rebecca Turisk

    Just checked my business account and discovered that ipayment hasn’t processed my sales and are holding my money (18,000). First they stated that I’ve gone over my $35,000 allowed sales for the month then was told 10-15 invoices they are disputing. They want the phone numbers and addresses of these credit card numbers. What? We don’t have that information. Now I can’t get hold of Juan Cortes either by email or phone. He is holding my money and won’t return calls while I’m sitting here with my business on hold.

    • Shaquana Y Jackson

      RUN FAST….. SCAM……They are with holding 22k and the reason is simply because I’m a new client. Zero charge back. It has been over 30 days now I have provided them with everything they asked for and they still refuse to release funds. They are avoiding my calls and emails.

  • TJ Davis

    I trusted iPayment as my credit card processing company and it cost me professionally. They seem to be very behind what other credit card companies have to offer and their customer service is extremely poor. It is very difficult to get ahold of a person, and when you do, it is the operator and they repeatedly blindly transfer you to someone who mysteriously never picks up. After over 20 phone calls and multiple messages I finally got one person from one department who returned my call. The other department that I had called and emailed never got back to me. This company is especially bad for small businesses. They will tell you how much they will allow your company to bring in per month and cap your income. This doesn’t make sense as the more you bring in the more they bring in. They will also limit the amount each customer can spend. This does not make sense for your business or theirs. The staff that I came in to contact seems very untrained and unexperienced and the company’s internal communication and structure seems very unorganized. If there are any issues with any transactions they will put a hold on your entire account instead of that one transaction. This means all transactions are ceased until the one transaction issue is resolved, which takes time. I had a signature authorizing a charge from a client in which the client was willing to verify over the phone that they authorized me to make the transaction. IPAYMENT took thousands of dollars out of my account despite the my client not wanting to be reimbursed and despite me having adequate documentation that the transaction was not fraudulent. This company’s actions has directly cost my company money, has on numerous occasions overdrawn my bank account, and has cost me poor yelp reviews. Research them more to determine if you want to risk you and your company’s reputation by doing business with them. If you do decide to do business with them, read all of the fine print in the contract because they will sneak things in that noone discussed with you before. For example, they ask you what your average monthly sales are and when you tell them, they set this as your monthly transaction cap without telling you they are doing so. Remember, this is average, meaning that when you do less than your quoted average, you are in the clear. But when you do more than the quoted average, they will freeze your account and all of your transactions. I have called around to other companies and every company I have talked to found these practices to not be the industry standard. Another trick they like to use is to not let you talk to the person you need to talk to. For example, I call in and the person that I need to talk to is Person A. Person A never answers their phone and instead you talk to Person B. Person B cannot answer any of your questions and does not have the authorization to get the things done that you need done. So they put you on terminal hold and go and talk to Person A. They come back and tell you what person A said and you respond. They run back to person A and tell them what you said and so on and so forth without letting you talk to Person A. All the while Person B is constantly creating miscommunication because it is one massive game of telephone. Two different people will also give you completely conflicting information about company policies and required documentation etc. What a waste of my time!

  • nikesh shah

    Ipayment is the worst, they will hold your money even if it is not your fault. The 1st time they held over $100,000 for a $400 charge back they couldn’t get out of my account. Worst part is they didn’t contact me, i had to notice it and contact them. I got a letter from my bank with what they asked, and they gave me the money back, this took over a week. A month later the same thing happened, i noticed it again an contact them, got them another letter, then 4 days later they want the letter to say other things, so i got it updated. They are holding over $100,000.00 for a $200 charge back, this has been going on for 21 days and still no resolution. These guys love to hold your money, they should at least release $95,000.00 and hold $5,000 till the issue is sorted out, but this is ridiculous, plus they don’t contact you, you have to watch them.

  • Bill McFalls

    This company needs to be stopped. Where is all the money they have kept? I’m hope they don’t file bankruptcy and clean everyone out.
    There are people in prison for doing less than Steve Graham has done to numerous people. Who do you need to talk to in law enforcement to
    get something done?

  • Megan

    Don’t use them!!!! They take big sums of money out of your bank account. I tried calling them to cancel my “contract” with them. I left them I think close to 4 to 5 voice mails and I have no response back. So I then closed my bank account and of course then they tried contacting me, finally. I tried disputing these charges since they ignored my calls but they don’t care. Not only that I tried emailing one of Ipayments CS agents about my contract. I wanted to see it and he wouldn’t even show me the contract. That makes no sense to me. When I signed up he also said no hidden fees….you’ve got to me kidding me! Go through pay pal to get payments, seriously! They have a new credit card app and it works great!

  • Jamie

    This merchant is one of the most horrible, absolutely horrible I have ever worked with..
    they deposit the money to you 3 days later.
    they keep running your credit …they won’t refund to your customer for about 10 days…..
    most horrible I’ve ever worked with …
    only one month hurt us enough !

  • jimmy Walker

    I contact a lady name Jessica with Ipayment in October of 2015 regarding a credit card machine for my transportation business. Jessica took all of my personal information over the phone and said that my credit card machine would arrive in less than 2 weeks, After a month had passed, I contact Jessica again, she apologized and said that she would get the machine out right away. After another 3 weeks had passed I contact her again, and she said that she would send it in overnight mail. I spoke with another representative of Ipayment, and the lady I spoke with told me the same thing that the credit card machine would be shipped overnight. It is now March 4, 2016, which has been 5 months since I applied for the credit card machine and still have not received it. This affected my business tremendously because I had to receive cash from customers and meet them at different locations, which was an added expense on my business. I would not recommend this company to anyone.


    Are you with iPayment? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Joanna Johnson

    We asked via a faxed in document provided to us by Credit card processing.com on Dec. 1st to cancel our services. Our account was hit on12/2/15 for $55.75. On Jan/5/2016 our account was again hit for $65.70, we again reached out to them and was told that they had never rec’d the docs. (We have verified that it was rec’d at that time through our efax service) We were told that they would close the account at that time. We were told we would be given a low ball refund that did not include all monies due. We disputed it as soon as we rec’d it via email. We then sent itemized charges and for the third time sent banking statements to support that the monies are being pulled from our account. Fast forward to today Jan 27, 2016. Still no refund. We called in to ask for the refund yet again and were told it’s been submitted and that it would be another 7-14 days. I asked to speak to a Supervisor who was either unintelligent or lacking of the same common information that the agent gave me. I asked to be given to a corporate representative as I wanted to further escalate this and I kid you not, they transferred us to someone who could not even look up our merchant ID #. Infuriated, I researched the company deeply and found new phone numbers and have been calling them to get results. I am now in possession of their legal information. Their take it or leave it non chalant attitude is far worse than their lack of follow through and customer service. All we want is our refund. It should not take a month and six days to close out an account and refund the money back into our accounts. Although we hate to use the word fraud, the constant misdirection, smokescreen and slight of hand this company attempts to use appears to have a fraudulent vibe. As customers, if retaining our business was important they would have. How long can you seriously expect to drag out a refund? Our best advice, do your homework before deciding upon a credit card processing company. Something is very amiss about this company and it’s ahem affiliates etc. In our opinion, creditcardprocessing.com has done everything in its power to play dumb. For example, we were never told that we also had to cancel services for authorize.net (whom we have no trouble or have a beef with). It’s simple good human: Do what you say you are going to do when you say you are going to do it and follow through in all you do. Why is this so hard?


    Are you with iPayment? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Lewis D

    My company had over 12K retained funds for over 140 days by Ipayment. They stated that the company had two suspicious transaction and retained the remainder the funds not deposited yet and debited the bank account of the previous credits. After several emails exchanges, they sent me a check, but deducted $1598.00 in reserve fees. Is this legal? The funds were paid by my customers, I have supplied Ipayment with credit card statements confirming payments by them. If they received the funds, deducted $489.00 of “J-fees”, can they, on top of that, deduct an extra $1598.00 in reserve fees? Thank you in advance for any information.


    Are you with iPayment? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Dex

    While my wife was applying for a payPall account a popup for Ipay came up and it appeared to be more info for PayPall so she filled it out. with in minutes we tried to correct this mistake with no success. we have never wanted their service and told them on the phone after a 2 hr wait but they want lots of money to cancel.
    I would like an address of some agency that will shut them down, I Pay is clearly a scam taking advantage of people on the net.
    Dex

    • James

      I have good news for everyone here.. Two years ago I spent 14k on my own team of attorneys to get rid of these crooks once and for all. It has truly paid off, the CEO is about to be indicted on multiple felony charges within the next week. I have been unable to talk about the ongoing litigation for obvious reasons, however now we are finished and the district attorney is filing charges as I speak. My family and I have at least 10 times the net worth of this company, and they are about to feel the brunt of it.

  • Robert

    iPayment = garbage – It is shocking that they still exist. At least everyone had a choice. I did not. My guess is iPayment always had a problem retaining clients, so they bought my Merchant Account. I was never informed. Some a-hole, from iPayment “acting as a rep for my old merchant account provider” called me one day, asking some questions about accepting Discover & Amex. To make a long story short, he was calling to start a fight. By the end of the call, I canceled my merchant account, never thinking it was iPayment at all. It took me 11 months to find out. To make another story shorter, they froze my funds, almost $9000.00 in sales & reserves. Over 4 years have passed, and they never released any funds. They even tried charging my account more, but my Bank called them and threatened to file charges against them. In spite of it all, they placed me on the TMF list for no reason at all. I didn’t do a thing, and was in good standings for over 5 year. My chargeback rate wouldn’t even rate. I had maybe 2 a year out of over 1000 transactions. They bought my merchant account to take my funds. They should be in jail.

  • jason

    ipayment, ugh. Everything you said is true. Total nightmare. They won’t release our funds and they hold them forever! Keep making excuses, unprofessional customer service, nobody returns calls. Any ideas as to how to actually get our funds from these people?

    • Eric McNamee

      Jason,

      They’re holding your funds in reserve because you may have processed a payment outside of your approved parameters. IE: A transaction above your high ticket or you keyed a card when your account is 100% swiped etc. If that’s the case then iPayment can run a transaction verification with the cardholder then upon completion release your funds. If the reserve was due to excessive chargebacks then iPayment has the right to hold your funds for 120 days prior to release though. Getting it released prior to the 120 days is incredibly rare unfortunately. I would find out the exact reason they put your account on reserve and see where to go from there. Hope this reply helped you out.

        • Eric McNamee

          If they’ve held the funds for 141 days they may try and pull the claim that they haven’t held it for 120 ‘business’ days. Usually it’s six months before the processor will review a reserve for release though.

          However, if you violated your merchant agreement somehow (giving cash advances, processing MOTO on a retail account etc) then they put the reserve for 120 days on the day of your last transaction.

          I would go through your Program Guide which I bet was provided after you filled out the paperwork to open your account. It’s about 42 pages long and contains all of the legal jargon associated with merchant processing. Hiring a lawyer may be a waste of money because processors have legal teams draft the contract terms which essentially protects the processor in ALL events that pertain to accepting payments. If you have any success though please post it here so other merchants can follow suit if need be.

  • Sergey Tyukin

    I would to find a lawyer who can help me sue this scam company. Since I signed with them I haven’t seen any deposits in my checking account. Only that they withdrew funds from my account without my authorization. Then they closed my account, without any explanation. I feel helpless, but I am looking into options to sue them.

    • Eric McNamee

      Sergey,

      When you get an approved merchant account you signed off giving the processor the right to debit your account with the agreed upon terms. Page 2 of the iPayment application has the schedule of monthly fees and page 1 contains the fee schedule for processing charges.

      If a transaction was processed and not deposited into your account there is a chance the transaction was flagged by the risk department. This usually happens with card not present & high ticket transactions. Normally a verification is requested with the cardholder (risk and fraud prevention) and if the cardholder states the charge was not authorized then the processor reverses the transaction. If your account was closed by iPayment it may be due to a violation of the agreement or risk deemed your account to risky to maintain. I would call iPayment and have them tell you the exact reason for the closure.

      As the transaction was already settled, the fees for that transaction still apply unfortunately. Also it is unfortunate that being you signed the paperwork you authorized them to debit charges from your account so a lawsuit wouldn’t really get you anywhere unless you prove iPayment violated your contract with them. If you do successfully sue them and win please post it on this review site so other merchants can have something to go on if they are caught in the same situation.

      • Sergey Tyukin

        Eric,

        Thanks for the reply. The problem with the contract is that when I was applying for the account, I was given an online link, where I filled out my information (name, bank, etc.. ) , then in the bottom of the page there was a little area where you scribble your signature. No contract is presented at that moment. No mentioning of iPayment company involved. Basically they use National Bank Card to get use to sign that application, then they use that signature you gave them online and slap it onto iPayment contract. National Bank Card is used as a facade for other business entities, but it’s not being disclosed. Have I knows that I am getting into iPayment agreement, I wouldn’t sign.

        Now, on holding my funds: my customers were satisfied with the products. I have even asked one of them if they’ve filed a dispute for the charge. He said no. I have worked with other processors – USAEPay, and there is guarantee that your finds will hit your bank account. This is how real responsible merchant processors work. I have received zero deposits. If you think my business involves high risk don’t approve my account, then locking my funds. If you see the risk, cancel my account, but do your duty and transfer the funds.

        To make matters worse – they’re not even letting you know that your account is closed! I had to call them and find out, after getting suspicious of ridiculously long time frames for depositing my batches.

        My budget is quite limited, I have made an inquiry with Legal Grind, but I agree, with their legal army in hand I have slim chances of wining in court. Lesson learned hard.

        Thanks!

  • Ian Shere

    These guys rate with every other processing company I’ve ever heard about or dealt with – below the scum that sits at the bottom of the barrel. Incorrect charging, reps who are only “your best friend” until you sign up, a “customer service” dept that gives no service and could care less about the customer.

    More thieves.

    • Eric McNamee

      Are they holding some of your funds in reserve? I see your website and your industry type is considered higher risk (card not present environment, non-tangible services, SEO and future delivery) so I assume they put you on the Tiered pricing model with a 10% – 25% rolling reserve?

      Have you processed transactions yet or did you sign up then get hit with an onslaught of “setup” fees?

  • Terence Samlson

    Dealing with Ipayment was a waste of time. I initially signed up for an account to take payments for my business website. When signing application our average ticket about was $500. We sell items on our site ranging from $200-600. We had a few small priced items which we list for around $10-15. On our very first Transaction a customer tried to purchase the cheapest item on our site priced at $12. The customer input all their own information but the transaction was declined, so the customer tried again and it was declined. A day later the customer tried again and it was approved. Over the next few days customers purchased items from our site totaling around $300. The funds were never deposited in our account and after speaking to someone in the risk department we were told our account would be on hold for 6 months due to the first customer who had 2 declines for $12. The guy from risk told me this was suspicious and that they no longer want to do business with me. I guess this was a blessing in disguise and I am so happy that they cancelled my account before my business really took off.

  • frank

    I processed 800 dollar through Fragship Ipayment went into my account and took two transactions of 500 each and 100 on fees and after
    they said that after 6 months they will refund they never refunded they kept the money, Please stay away from Ipayment they will Keep your hard earned money and they will lied. They will constantly mislead you and lied just about everything

    • Eric McNamee

      Frank,

      Based on what you’re saying you processed $1,000 on two transactions at $500.00. The fee being $100 is a 10% effective rate which I presume includes monthly base fees (statement fee, PCI Compliance, monthly service and possibly a monthly minimum). Saying that they never refunded the fees actually makes sense though if you signed an agreement that reflected what you would be charged. Did they at least deposit the transactions you processed or did they withhold those funds too?

      • franklin

        No I processed like 800 and they deposited into my account they just went after that and took two transaction for 500 each just in case someone open a disputed
        very comon they go to people account take money out just in case in the future someone open a dispute they should be in the business of selling toilet paper then noone will eve open a dispute

        • Eric McNamee

          Sounds like it’s either a Retrieval (Bank disputes/investigates the transaction) or a chargeback (cardholder disputes the transaction). iPayment can’t remove funds from your account “just in case of a dispute”, they have to have a valid reason from either the cardholder or the cardholders bank. I think in your scenario it’s a Retrieval though which means iPayment removed the funds from your account and holds it in reserve pending a verification of the transaction from the cardholders bank. If it was a chargeback you would have received a chargeback notification letter in the mail which you can dispute through iPayment’s chargeback department.

          More than likely you’re dealing with an independent agent that resells iPayment’s services. I wouldn’t bother dealing with the independent agent and go directly to iPayment Corporate. Have your Merchant ID ready so customer service can pull up your account. Their 24/7 support number is 800-554-4777 and their sales support number is 866-304-5551.

  • Ellen Kennon

    After using Intuit for many, many years, I switched to iPayment (formerly Flagstaff) to process my credit cards. On April 11, 2015, I was notified that they were holding a large charge from a client because “it was above my monthly transaction amount”, so I cancelled my account on the spot. Then today, when I received the largest merchant fee EVER (& for less than 2 weeks worth of sales), they informed me that they still had my client’s money on hold and that although I never saw this money, his American Express was still charged. The employee I dealt with, Steven Graham, then tried to tell me he told me to refund my client’s money, yet this was a total lie! How was I supposed to process a refund when the charge never went through and my account was cancelled so I couldn’t get into it anyway?? So now, they opened back up my account to process the refund which they say can take up to two weeks before it comes off of my client’s AmEx! To make matters worse, Steven Graham is refusing to credit back the merchant fees on this charge because I threatened to dispute it! After reading these reviews, I fear they won’t give my client back his money and will keep taking money out of my checking account! I’d LOVE to join a class action suit!

    • Eric McNamee

      Ellen,

      When you process a transaction and settle you are liable for the fees associated with the transaction. If the transactions amount was far above your initially approved parameters (ie: approved for a high ticket of $1,000 but processed $2,000 etc) then the risk department will flag the transaction and instead of depositing into your bank they’ll hold it in ‘reserve’ pending a verification of the transaction with the cardholder. This happens frequently in merchant services and would have happened with any payment processor. To get your funds deposited you can explain to the cardholder that your new merchant services provider needs to verify the sale and once completed they will release the funds on your normal funding schedule.

      Telling you to refund the money to the customer would not have done you any good as the initial transaction settled so the Interchange fees and assessments were billed. If you are on the American Express One Point program then the swiped rate is 2.89% and the keyed rate is 3.5% which is where I assume you saw the large fee taken out. The reason these reserves happen is to protect the payment processor from a possible chargeback and is standard throughout the entire industry. If the cardholder is unavailable and the transaction cannot be verified then call after 30 days to request the funds to be released and do so every 30 days after until you receive the deposit.

      Closing your

    • Rashid Atkins

      iPayment are thieves and crooks. The Better Business Bureau was not able help. I requested and audit of iPayment’s books because they are liars. Here is the situation. This left my owing a customer $8400.
      I entered into an agreement with this company to handle credit card transaction. After entering agreement I learned they cap the amount of money that can be transacted by them. The following transactions from my bank account below show they credited money into my business account after a transaction and took it back out the following business day.

      Date: 06/20/2014
      Transaction amount: $2,400.00
      Deposit amount (Credit): $2,362.08
      Transaction number: 140620 422369820033797

      Date: 06/23/2014
      Debit amount from the account: $1,000.00
      Debit amount from the account: $1,400.00
      Transaction number: 140623 422369820033797

      After the customer compliant through his credit card provider because services weren’t rendered because the money was taken out of my account as indicated above. On July 14 Flagship debited my account for $2400 which was not their money because they debited my account in 2 transactions on June 23. It was the amount money they deposited to my account on June 20th. They have taken money which is not theirs. I contacted customer service who promised my money would be returned and 5 months later which never happened. This same behavior with another transaction. Don’t use them. They said we went over our monthly budget and would release the funds and never released the funds.

    • Mike Harn

      I also would love to join a class action lawsuit against. Ipayment /and redfynn it is very similar to your case they will not deposit my customers money , they took and they also want me to reversed the charge,that I have never received for my two customers. If you want to you can call me or text me [Phone number redacted. Contact information not allowed.] I have had the worst experience ever with these two companies they are doing fraud and stealing hard earning money from the working class. It is excuse after excuse.

    • Ellen Kennon

      Here’s the name of the iPayment employee I dealt with. He actually returns calls even though he’s all over the internet too:

      Steve Graham
      Risk Management
      Direct 818-540-2836
      Fax 818-540-6821

  • Darcie

    Beginning March 24 through April 16, 2015 we processed just under $20,000.00 in credit card transactions. As of today, May 1, 2015, not one of those transactions have been deposited into our bank account. We have been processing credit cards for over 15 years (with only 1 chargeback in that entire period) and switched to iPayment in March to lower our fees. There is absolutely no credible reason for this and I have filed an official complaint with the BBB in Thousand Oaks, CA.

  • Nancy

    This is the worst company ever. They lied when we signed up and claimed I would save lots of money by switching to them. After getting my first statement I find I am paying a lot more in fees. I called and complained many times about lowering the min processing fee limit and raising max limit. They initially set the max limit based on my lowest processing at my previous company – which was a very slow month. Then after just over 2 months they cancelled my account without notice causing problems with customers ordering on my website. When I called them they just said after reviewing my account they were not comfortable doing business with us. Then they charged us $350 early termination fee! What a SCAM.

  • Daniel

    By far one of the worst experiences I’ve had running my business… fee after fee after fee. They even conveniently took 30 days to close the account so they could charge me another months worth of fees after I called to close the account…, a PCI Compliance Fee, half of an annual fee, and a payment fee rejection was charged bc I switched my business bank account and was told by the iPayment representative while closing the account that all future fees would not be charged. Save yourself time and money and avoid this company at all costs. I more than regret opening an account with them.

  • Scott Mullins

    WARNING: If you are thinking about this vendor as a CC processor, I am warning you that you are better off NOT taking credit cards at all. Listen, we can all bitch and I am sure there are 2 or 3 people that love ipayment but the reviews and the BBB and the 50,000 pages on google for IPAYMENT FRAUD / SCAM speak for themselves. Good thing is that they are an equal opportunity F*@$#KER and it does not matter if your revenue is $1 or $10,000 per month……bottom line is this company will woo you in and then KEEP your money. You are better off paying the bank you hate whatever rate they want. At least they are accountable. These thieves point fingers at everyone but themselves. Again, if I researched this for one minute I WOULD have never gone forward with them. As excruciatingly painful as it is, I know a principal of this company and for the life of me would have never thought I would be wasting my f’ing time writing crap like this. Bottom line….your company is worth more. There is nothing in the world IPAYMENT can offer you that you cannot do better going to your bank or anyone else who has a conscious. If you DONT want the money you worked for and just want a bunch of suits to hold it and give you excuses, this is the BEST company for you.

    • Mike

      After taking a week to get approved for a average ticket of $7000 for two of my companies. we ran three Credit card, Redfynn said that since the one is 9600 we should run two separate charges a 4700 and a 4900.and then run the 4300 and the 4200.they paid the 4200 took all their fees and we got 3900 and some change.after waiting for three days to receive it when It’s was set up as next day funding .then they kept the other three transactions and said I had to call I payments because they put a hold on them.for no reason other than they said my average ticket that they had on the paperwork said $1000.and I have never heard of IPayments beforebut of course they did pay a $4200 one with no questions.it is lie after lie after lie after doing some research the owner of redfynn is also the owner of I payments.so it’s been three weeks they will not release over $13,000.and I payments wants me to reverse the charges on money that I don’t receive .I told her today on the phone that my customers are going to dispute the transactions and put on the dispute that the vendor was not paid. Sarah the lady at I payment said why would you do that that’s going to show a charge off that you didn’t pay them. At this point she got pissed off that I was going to file something against their company.then she assisted that I needed to do a reversal I said I’m done talking to you and I hung up.well guess what it is 1215 at night and my phone beeped I payments took $350 out of both of my companies checking account for two cancellation of my accounts that’s a total of $700 for not even receiving money on three different credit swipes. And I am not the one who canceled my accounts.so I payments are a big fat fraud company I’m going to go over to the Idaho State Attorney General’s office come Tuesday and file actual complaint against them. And if anybody knows of any attorney that will take them on as a class action lawsuit I will be more than welcome to join them since they have stole over $14,000 now. [Contact information redacted]

      • Eric McNamee

        Mike,

        When you get approved for a high ticket of $7K more than likely your first couple of transactions will need to be verified. Here’s the thing though, even though you got approved with the high ticket, running the same card back to back is what caused the red flag. All providers monitor transactions and two high ticket transactions on the same card back to back would have been flagged regardless of who you processed through. When you process outside of your parameters it’s best to collect as much data from your customer and run the transaction once instead of twice. Your rep with your provider recommending you run two separate transactions tells me you’re dealing with a rep who is relatively new to merchant services.

        If the transactions weren’t disputed then your funds are being held in reserve. If they were disputed then you can fight the chargeback by proving the transaction was legitimate. You would need to call iPayment’s chargeback department and get the dispute paperwork and if the cardholder did dispute it then you’ll also receive the letter in the mail regarding it. You should also know that providers have the right to close a merchants account if they breach the terms and conditions for accepting payments which you should have received with your welcome letter in the mail. iPayment is not a fraudulent company even though some of the reps lie about pricing to get quick business.

        • Mike

          My contract states my average ticket is 7000 and my monthly is 25,000 my cardholders have not disputed anything I payment will not pay and are holding the funds like the other thousands of people on the site. The Attorney General’s wouldn’t have judgments against the owners. It is lies after lies from my payments they won’t call you back they hang up on you. if you’re thinking about going with I payment you should run run run. and I am researching a couple attorneys that are thinking about taking a class action lawsuit against these companies

    • John

      Sounds familiar! I had a similar experience. From the moment i started receiving customers I began receiving declines. Turns out part of those declines were due to NMI technical issues. Once this was resolved the declines continued. I called into RedFynn and spoke with an agent named “Clayton” who is completely incompetent. He told me he would look into the matter and get back to me. he never got back to me. The following day I took it upon myself to call NMI only to . find out that my store could not communicate with the gateway because my user name was incorrect. So, I immediately fixed this. Two days later I get another declined order. I call in to find out that my account has been cancelled?

      I speak to the risk department and find out that my account was cancelled because of excessive declines? What? The declines were the result of their technical issues combined with the incompetence of their own agents! The risk department asked me to have an agent send over email documentation to verify that the user name was an issue. I did. Then I called back to confirm that the risk department had received it only to find out that the risk agent had already gone for the day and it was noon.

      I realized at this point that I was not dealing with ethical people and sent in an email requesting a refund and the cancellation of my account. The following day I see a charge in my account for $350 to payment for cancellation.

      I am definitely planning to bring a lawsuit against these crooks. They practices are ridiculous! On the one hand they have done several things to stop me from collecting money. Then, when I act to prevent this, they attempt to charge me additional fees?

  • David Austad

    i payment rips off its clients with high rate of 5.45%
    They even add a 29 a month charge for internet access with out my permission there answer was everybody would want that i found numerous made up fees that were added after we got the service
    TOTAL RIP OFF

  • P Huff

    My company has used First Data since 2005, we are a multi-million $ operation in home health – suddenly today, the day before a Holiday we get a message from Amy saying they won’t process an invoice as it’s not what we do?? We have been submitting these invoices 52 weeks a year for 9 years……….! Calling her is a no answer – my voice mail is on and I’m getting ready for the Holiday vibe…..I am not a happy camper with these people

  • Wendy Greene

    My parents are doctors that go to medical conventions. They went to 27 this year alone. My mother has written and published cutting edge health books and guides. She speaks at some of these conventions as well. She has been on seversl radio shows, and some talk shows informing the public of her expertise and research imperative for all of our health, and quality of life. We run a booth selling phi energy dots. A company in England that has been around for 13 years. Our customers are mostly high esteemed doctors that love, and support what we sell, most of them sell them out of their own practices, and this sold all around the world. Ok. That being said.

    Our last convention of the year my Dad decided to switch our current swipe pos company and begin using ipay. That was a gigantic mistake. We ran into a pluthera of issues while using the ipay swipe pos on our cell phones to collect our payments for our products and supplements we sell out of our booth. First of all it stopped accepting payments after only the first few sells. So, we had to use the swipe pos we had been using for about 2 years in order to complete the purchases. ipay had put a hold on being able to accept more money. It took 3 times trying to swipe our customers credit cards, and having to have them sign 3 times, was horrible to deal with, it cost us preciius time, and it is a hassle for all of us involved. We made around $30,000 that last show, thank God we had captured $12,000 of it on our old company! Because,ipay refused to give my parents the $15,000 of purchases that were swiped. Saying that they don’t know my parents and the customers can return their purchases anytime in the next 6 months, so ipay is threatening to hold their much needed $15,000 for 6 months. This has caused an extreme amount of stress on my parents, my Dad was on the phone with customer service trying desperately to resolve this detrimental issue. After 2 days of torment ipay agreed to release $6,000 of their $15,000. That is just wrong! So, not only did we lose customers due to the technical difficulty with using ipay swipe pos and purchases that said they went through on the transaction but later were not on the final balance. My Dad is staying with their original swipe pos company and after ipay gives my parents their money they rightfully earned will never use ipay again. If they don’t release the entire amount very soon, or I am going to personally call every one of our customers and ask them to process their payment with us again, and reverse their charge from ipay. Either way my parents will get their money. It’s up to ipay if they want to practice intelligence, and smart business sense or not be around much longer. Common sense is you need to keep customers to stay in business. The horrific experience we have had is unacceptable.

  • reza davachi

    Ipayment inc Placed my accounts on the Terminated Merchant File (MATCH) claiming i broke mastercard rules solely because they were notified i was not Microsoft Authorized. Mr Cohen, of Ipayments possibly inept legal department, told me that they would ignore any evidence of my authorization BUT any evidence of my authorization has to be obtained by me and given to them.. HUH? So I have to prove to you i am authorized but you will not recognize anything i give you showing i am authorized.

    You are asking me to go above an beyond any company in the world has had to go to gain authorization. Not even Microsoft gives this much issue reselling their items.

    I sent Mr Cohen directly to Microsoft’s “How to be a license reseller” and it clearly states sign up for the Microsoft Partner Program. I then sent him a link to the Microsoft Partner program License which states we can sell Microsoft technologies. He then claims i could have gotten that from anywhere. Alleged Ignorance is bliss when it comes to Mr Cohen and his way of doing law.

    I offered to Pay for his time to show him how he can become authorized. I gave him my Microsoft credentials so he could log into my own account and review my license agreement with Microsoft.. Mr. Cohen is actively trying to deny any request or evidence and do any due diligence.

    He also expressed that until his contact from microsoft contacts him and says differently, they will not remove me from match. He will also not supply the info MS has given him and who at microsoft contacted him.. SO again. Mr Cohen is actively trying to prevent me from gaining the proper information he knows will satisfy his legal issues. Ethics left his plate long ago.

  • AJ

    Mine story is no different than others, started a new small business that has website to take orders. I was doing good and getting lot of orders and now all of sudden my money is put on hold for 90 days for no solid reason. They are holding over $10,000 of my hard earned money and I might have to discontinue my business because I don’t money to by supplies and to pay other expanses.
    It seems like they are openly cheating and killing small business and no body can stop them.

    Can anyone suggest any legal action to have my money back, I think I signed some contract of which they never sent me a copy so I am assuming all the fine prints must go against me.

    Really need some genuine help!

  • Daniel

    I cancelled 2 days after I signed up through Flagship because I didn’t know this company named iPAYMENT was GOD. Apparently they have the power to approve or decline my sales. I processed two transactions that totalled more than what I was allowed to charge, which was never disclosd to me by the Sales Rep. I don’t understand how and why a company would put a limit on how much a business can charge per transaction, per customer and per month. What a ridiculous policy! Why would they put a ceiling on my sales? You guys are just a middle man making money off my profits. Take the money from the buyer, who is willing to pay, take your percentage and hand the rest over to the seller. Simple.
    I now have to shop for another merchant provider and the first question I ask is “Are you partners with ipayment?”
    If they are, that disqualifies them automatically.
    Reading other reviews, I’m glad I had this experience early because it would have been a nightmare.

    I guess I should thank the Risk Management Dept for declining my sales transactions based on god knows what.
    Obviously they consider me a risk before they even had a chance to do business with me.
    Well anyone who is considering using ipayment … BEWARE because your risking your business by dealing with them.

  • Thomas Burdsall

    I was totally unaware that I was required to pay a nearly 100 dollar minimum per month for the privilege of accepting credit cards.
    IN over three years I processed ZERO credit cards, but found I was paying I-payment nearly 5000.00 in monthly and yearly fees. I did not monitor my banking account as closely as I should have…. But locking in for 3 years was not made clear not can I find it in any paperwork I received.
    Run Away… Run fast if you are a small business. It takes one month to close the account. so they charge you another one month fee.
    Customer service reps are NOT there to help YOU. BEWARE

  • Valerie Hector

    I received a replacement VeriFone VX610 Wireless terminal from IPayment’s agent NPMG. The terminal was a replacement for a stolen VeriFone VX610 and NPMG sent it to me without first downloading the software to make the terminal work. NMPG told me to telephone Ipayment for a telephone download. After 3 unsuccessful downloads, IPayment told me the problem was with my telephone line. They told me to go to another building with a different telephone line. I went to my parents’ house in an adjacent town, and after 2 more download attempts, my terminal still would not work.

    IPayment techs then told me that they could try to have my downloadable file “rebuilt” by their sister company, First Data, and that maybe then, on the 6th download, the download would work. I was not fond of that idea, given that I had other work to do than wait for a 7th download to fail.

    I informed them that the previous day, one of their techs told me I could return my terminal to IPayment and have them do a download in-house. Well, that was yesterday’s tech, and today the story was a bit different. Today’s tech tried everything possible to dissuade me from returning the terminal to them for an in-house download. But I persisted.

    Bottom line: I am shipping the terminal to IPayment tomorrow via FedEx overnight at my expense. It should arrive on Tuesday morning, April 8th, 2014. I was told to call IPayment on Tuesday to be sure that the terminal has arrived, and to ascertain how long the download will take. I have requested overnight service on their end, since I need the terminal for a show this coming week. Ipayment could not promise to do the download quickly, but they will try. Supposedly the overnight return shipping of the terminal, whenever that ends up taking place, will be at IPayment’s expense but just in case I offered to give them FedEx number, so that the cost of return shipping cannot be used as an excuse for not getting the terminal to me quickly, so that I can use it during my upcoming show.

    All of this is quite surprising – given the 4 or so hours I have spent on the phone with IPayment techs in the last few days, it would seem to make more financial sense for them to just stop the nonsense after the 2nd or 3rd hour of technical support, and program the download in-house. I have lost 4 hours of time on my end, and they have lost 4 hours on theirs – total of 8 hours. That is not including the 5 or so hours I spent trying to get their defective downloads to work.

    Unfortunately this is not the first serious problem I have had with IPayment’s technical support department, trying to fix their defective VeriFone VX610 terminals. Am I wrong to suspect that these terminals are rebuilt, meaning highly likely to be problematic?

    And they are highly adverse to acknowledging a very basic fact: the problem lies not with my telephone line, or with my parents’ telephone line, but with the apparently defective downloadable file that someone on their end built for my terminal.

    One further issue: when I call IPayent Technical Support and they ask for the last 4 digits of my social security number, they tell me no, they don’t have those digits on file for me, that I must be mistaken about my social security number. So I give them my FEIN instead. Nor can IPayment recognize the business phone number I have had for 15-plus years.

    Given the above, should I stay with IPayment, or try another processor? And a more technically-advanced type of terminal / card reader?

    Valerie Hector
    Evanston, IL

  • Jeffrey Burton

    Century Payments accepts merchant services through I-Payments. After my contract was up I decided to cancel my service due to high fees and changing policy on the whim, they charged me a $250.00 early termination fee although it was not an early termination. This made my banking account overdraft 3 times for 3 days in the amount of $108.00. They said they are not responsible for the overdraft fees (this has gone on for 6 days straight). I can not purchase supplies or pay bills with my business account because of their mistake. I warn you, do not do business with Century Payments (I believe they were bought out by another larger merchant services company) or their affiliates. Im just a small mom and pop shop, and must manage my money tightly, they did not care.

  • Jan Michael Rosario

    IPayment is the worst company i had to deal with. They not only been charging my every month even when i canceled with them long ago their customer service is horrible, rude and unprofessional. Never do business with this company ever.

  • Joan

    We left IPayment 3 months ago because of their lack of concern for customer service. I also spoke with their Risk Department and was made to feel like we were undesirable clients. They set our per transaction limit at $2,000 and repeatedly ignored our requests and applications for an increase. I explained to the completely uninterested person in the “Risk Department” that I had regularly been processing $2,000 transactions for consecutive days so our clients could pay their invoices which were much higher than our limit. He was completely oblivious to how this made us look to our client AND the inconvenience it cause our client’s bookkeeping staff. This obviously could have cost us customers, something he did not care about when I tried to explain it to him. During our business relationship with IPayment we also NEVER had a charge back! When we established new service we discovered that the processing machine they charged us $1,000.00 for we could have purchased from our new company for just a little over $100. IPayment is a joke! Their local sales staff is very nice, they should look for a new employer! BTW, our new per transaction limit was immediately set at $15,000.00 and we were told if we needed to process a transaction for more than our limit to just give them a call and they would make it happen. BluePay knows how to get on your team and help you succeed!

  • Diana

    I called CreditCardProcessing.com (owned by iPayment, Inc) to apply for a merchant account. The sales rep Jackie Vickers ([email protected]) was very nice and helpful. But – I would soon find out that they are liars and this company is out to steal from honest merchant.

    A few days after my account was set up and accepting payments, I got a letter from their Steven Graham ([email protected]) in the “Risk Management” departing stating that my funds would be place on hold for 3 business days because they had to review my business. I sent them all the required documents and followed up on the forth business day. They told me that they were shutting down my account and holding the funds (over $7800) that my customers paid me – indefinitely. So basically, they are stealing my money because they feel like it.

    I wish I had researched this company and read all of their negative reviews before I decided to do business with them. If you are reading this review, please do not sign up for an account with them. If you are processing any decent amount of transactions, they will hold your funds indefinitely and shut down your account.

  • Twin Cities Safety

    Briefly: IPayment Inc. is an online merchant service provider that I agreed to use to allow me to process credit card payments on my website. They have taken $920 of funds that my customers paid me for my services and refuse to release them to me.
    They literally have stolen money from my own customers. I started using them as a gateway provider for my Authorize.net account so that I could accept credit card payments on my website. I started noticing a problem after a few days. I had several customers purchase products from my site, but no money was being deposited into my account. They kept telling me to wait another day and it would come, that everything was good and I needed to be patient. I gave it some time, about a week, figuring it must take some time to get up and running, but nope, no money. So I e-mailed my rep (3 times), no response. Then I started calling. They told me there was an issue with the voided check that I sent them. They never bothered to tell me this before. So I rush ordered some new checks as the one I had given them was my last one. Got the checks and sent them over. Called to verify. They then claimed the check I sent was not good enough and that I’d have to get a banker to write a letter for them with the account information. I went to the bank and got the letter. I had the bank fax it and I even had the banker speak with an Ipayment rep. To be safe I e-mailed and faxed the letter and my check myself. I called to verify and was told “Yes, everything looks good; you should receive your money in 1 to 2 business days”. Well, needless to say, that didn’t happen. After a week still no money and no correspondence from the company so I called again. They said I didn’t receive the money because they had decided to close my account! No notification, no call, no e-mail, just shut down my credit card processing account. When I asked why they informed me because I didn’t get them the bank information. Then they said that there was a “chargeback” on one of my transactions so that’s why they closed the account. A chargeback is when a customer notifies their bank that they didn’t make the charge and it may be fraudulent. I found it odd and investigated. The customer said that on her bank statement iPayment Inc had taken the money from her account and posted it as an ATM withdrawl from Cottage Grove MN, so the customer didn’t realize that charge was for my product. I had the customer call her bank to let them know the charge was valid. I gave all this information to Ipayment but they didn’t care. They simply refuse to open my account or give the funds to me. They won’t even refund the money back to the customer! Sounds like fraud to me. My customer pays for my service, I deliver the service, and Ipayment keeps the customers money. It is obvious that this was a setup, they are trying to make me look at fault to keep money and told me that they would invest it and do “whatever they want with it”. There is no way that is legal.

  • Tim Smith

    I can not be more disgusted with this company. Worst customer service ever. They are a bunch of crooks and frauds that are holding MY money for absolutely no reason. Here’s my story:

    Ipayment is the biggest fraud and scam artist I’ve ever dealt with. The worst possible customer service and they completely worked against me, and set me up. They literally have stolen money from my own customers. I started using them as a gateway provider for my Authorize.net account so that I could accept credit card payments on my website, I was so excited. When setting up my account they were very responsive to questions and quick to respond. As soon as I had signed the agreement and was setup they would no longer respond. I started noticing a problem after a few days. I had several customers purchase products from my site, but no money was being deposited into my account. I gave it some time, about a week, figuring it must take some time to get up and running, but nope, no money. So I e-mailed my rep (3 times), no response. Then I started calling. I got transferred many times but stuck with it. They told me that they couldn’t read the voided check I gave them so couldn’t process the funds. They never bothered to tell me this. So I rush ordered some new checks as the one I had given them was my last one. Got the checks and sent them over. Called to verify. They then claimed the check I sent was not good enough as it didn’t have “LLC” after the business name and that I’d have to get a banker to write a letter for them with the account information. Ridiculous, but fine, I went to the bank and got the letter. I had the bank fax it and I even had the banker speak with an Ipayment rep. To be safe I e-mailed and faxed the letter and my check myself. I called to verify and was told “Yes, everything looks good; you should receive your money in 1 to 2 business days”. Well, needless to say, that didn’t happen. Then I got a call from a customer saying my online checkout wasn’t working. I called to find out about the online checkout issue and the fact no money had been deposited into my account, even though Ipayment had processed just under $1000 worth of transactions in less than 2 weeks. They said I didn’t receive the money because they decided to close my account!! No notification, no call, no e-mail, just shut down my credit card processing account. Who knows how many customers I lost because it went down and they didn’t tell me. When I asked why they informed me because I didn’t get them the bank information. After hours on the phone explaining that I did, they then passed me to a supervisor William who was the rudest person I’ve ever talked to. He talked down to me and belittled me. He said that there was a “chargeback” on one of my transactions so that’s why they closed the account. A chargeback is when a customer notifies their bank that they didn’t make the charge and it may be fraudulent. I found it odd and investigated. The customer apologized and said she didn’t realize that charge was for my product. She said that the charge, which was a credit card charge for my product on my website through Ipayment, showed on her bank statement as an ATM withdrawal in my city. So Ipayment screwed it up. She called her bank to let them know the charge was valid. I gave all this information to Ipayment but William (or anybody else) didn’t care. They simply refuse to open my account or give the funds to me. Here’s the kicker, they won’t even refund the money back to the customer! Sounds like fraud to me. My customer pays for my service, I deliver the service, and Ipayment keeps the customers money. There is no way that is legal. Extremely rude, difficult to deal with and mean company. It is obvious they did this on purpose, they make the charges look funny so people will dispute them and then close your account and keep the money. How can they sleep at night?! What can I do???

  • JZ Maintenance Services

    These guys are a complete scam, i have used them since april of 2013 and have today decided to cancel there services. Every month they charge random amounts to my bank account and alot of money for processing card transactions regardless if i process cards or not. I will not be using these guys no more and suggest anyone considering accepting credit cards as a form of payment to stay clear of this company. I Signed up through card service international site so beware of these guys as there gonna rob your bank account every chance they get.

  • ron

    What a poor excuse for a business they closed my account then are chargeing me for 350 early termination charge stay away from this compoany they are rude and are bait and switch

  • ron

    I just signed up for ipayment 3 weeks ago and i am a new business and they cancelled my account thay say for security reasons because i have my site on maintance because i cant get the checkout to work so anyways the charged me $350.00 dollar cancellation fee and there the one that canceled the account so if anyone wants to join in a class action lawsuit please count me in thanks Ron is it true that they aree part of authorize.net

  • Colin Mabon

    WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!

    Do no attempt to use iPayment. They will come up with ludicrous reasons to hold your money. I “tried” to use iPayment in April 2013, processed $7800 in transactions and as of August, 1 2013, still not a penny has been deposited in my bank.

    WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!

  • Lavanda Hughes

    I joined these people on May 24, 2013 because a agent came into the salon and solicited this card services. He claimed they had the best rates out of everybody. 4 days later I get a paper in the mail talking about all these hidden fees that fool forgot to mention. I had 30 days to cancel because I can’t afford those extra fees. I cancel on June 5, 2013 and didn’t even use the darn machine. A whole month and a half these people take out 350.00 DOLLARS OUT MY ACCOUNT. I AM PISSED TO THE MAX!!!!!!!! I AM GOING TO TELL WAVY TV 10 NEWS AND FOX 43 NEWS CHANNEL AND CUT THEIR MONEY OFF. NO ONE ON THE EAST COAST IS GOING TO MESS WITH THEM. SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DO NOT MESS WITH CARDPAYMENT SOLUTIONS THEY ARE UNFAIR AND CROOKS.

  • mitri

    This is hideous, I haven’t even had one successful transaction and all my money is being held by this messed up system. Every call I’ve made they provided me with different reasonings to why my money is being held. I signed up for merchant inc which automatically signed me up for ipayment. I, like an idiot, hadn’t done my research about iPayment Inc. I briefly conducted a little research about the company and thought people are complaining just because they want to complain. I didn’t take peoples’ comments seriously but then after I fell into their trap, I have now learned my lesson. They have $1500 of my money being held, without a legitimate reasoning. I asked them to send me my agreement form and they had refused. This is fraud, how is this company still running? How is this legal? What is going on?!!!

  • Lori Marthe

    IPAYMENT are criminals, I paid fees upon fees for years, including excessive compliance fees, and now they withdraw $250 from my account for a cancellation fee. I wasn’t aware the broker signed me up for a 3 year contract, nor did IPAYMENT tell me of the penalty during any of the many calls to cancel services with them. Now I have to pay to reinstate and pay $11 per month until the end of my contract. I hate class action suits, but these credit card processes need consequences for their greediness. Seems they all stick it to the small businesses!

  • Steven R

    iPayment STOLE MY MONEY! They stole my money! I had 500 dollars in sales and then they decided to place a hold on my account because it was a new account, for 1 month. After 1 month I called them to verify they were going to finally deposit my funds, but instead they decided to close my account without telling me. Why did they close my account you ask? They closed my account because I sell smartphones. So then I made the statement, to a manager over the phone, that nowhere is that information provided before you sign up that you can’t sell smartphones and I ask for MY MONEY to be sent to me, and we would just part ways. Nope they will not give me my money and the manger just hung up on me. So beware iPayment, they are thieves and swindlers!

  • Morgan

    IPayment almost put my out of business if my first year when it was thriving. I was doing fantastic getting lots of orders when suddenly Ipayment told me they would not support my transactions and told me I must return over 40 thousand dollars to customers that already received their products. I do sales with the Military. Even though I had every one of my customers confirm that I delivered and nothing was fraud I payment still made me return the charges. Ipayment kept their fees for the 40k I charged. I had to find a new company (Sage) and re-run the cards and pay that transaction fees all over again. Thankfully everything worked out and I am very happy with Sage. Ipayment is a scam. I am lucky I survived that 4 months of pure madness!! Shame on Ipayment. Period.

    • Jim

      OH I feel that pain, I couldn’t even get my bus off the ground They had charge’s being taken from checking account with different names screwing my account NAF’s unbelievable and speaking of BBB they shut the complaints down because they overloaded them. Someone needs to put them out of business.
      All I can say is if you have trouble with them cancel your checking account immediately and fight them SOB’s
      There Garbage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was able to get free of them but it was a sham scam…….

  • Witheld for Privacy

    I am a new customer with Merchants Inc. / iPayment and am closing my account immediately.

    This company is holding 1200 of my funds and I cannot get help in releasing them. Customer ‘Service’ is inconsistent, rude, deceitful, and abusive.

    They claimed they could not ‘verify’ a simple bank account for 2 weeks, withdrew over $1200 from my checking account for no reason and overcharged on fees .. all in the FIRST MONTH.

    And their ‘risk’ department held my account hostage for 4 business days, claiming to need to call my clients, and then the closed my account and then re-opened it without informing me.

    They do not communicate well, nor do they communicate completely with regards to what you will be charged.

    Please do not subject yourself to this company. I am writing to the CA BBB tomorrow, thank you all for that advice.

  • Moses

    We have been working thru Authorize.net with iPayment to process our conference registrations fees— iPayment is simply a terrible company to work with – they have been holding over 21,000 dollars of our money for over a year and every time you call they ask you for a bible thick of documents, after we confirm that they have received them, you are told that ” we get back to you — “no one calls back and we still do not have our money after a year….

    Very unstable organization, discourteous staff on the phone – employees are in flux (or it is a gimmick since we hear “that person no longer works here” all the time)… We are extremely unhappy with iPayment and they seem to sit on your money as long as they can — we have no other option but to take legal action against them if we do not get our money within a couple of days ….

    Moses

    • Cheryl

      I just joined and am at my wits end. I have a rental business and have in the past used Paypal, however, I decided to pursue the acceptance of credit cards online and haphazardly found this company. Last week I billed $3700.00 and waited 4 days for the funds to post and they did not. I called continually and got the run around. Told to fax invoices/address/phones to the risk managment department. Told “Brady” was handling my account. Never could reach Brady, who I believe is is just a fax machine and not a person. Then spoke with Levi, which I am sure is not his name. He was an absolute jerk, looking to arguing and of course lying continually. They still have my money and will not release it. Gina is another low life in the Risk Dept. How can they get away with this, they are literally stealing money.

  • Allan Sutton

    The California Better Business Bureau can help. I experienced all of the problems mentioned on this site with iPayment, and finally switched to PayPal as my card processor (which has been wonderful). A year after I settled and closed my iPayment account (which took repeated calls and faxes over a period of many days), iPayment withdrew $129 from my business account without notice or authorization. After being put on hold repeatedly, and no response to repeated e-mails, I turned the matter over to the California Better Business Bureau. Within a month, iPayment refunded my $129 and sent written verification that it would not happen again. Plus, when you file a BBB complaint it can be seen by others, which helps to spread the word about this truly rotten business.

    • Mary Mansfield

      Thank you for this post. I also had an automated withdrawal, with no authorization, from a account with iPayment that I had closed 7 months earlier. I have had it with calling and will report to BBB and to the Attorney General of California. Can you imagine how much money they are collecting doing this?!

      • craig

        What is my best recourse over the $250 cancellation fee. Without notice over a month after I closed, they took money out of my bank account that wasn’t there. They cleaned me out. No invoice, no authorization, no nothing. wasnt even aware of the contract. The rep who signed me up didn’t disclose. I called him, he maintains it should only be a 1 year contract. He’s a liar who works for these thieves. They charged for everything under the sun, even the statement they sent out. I want to be part of any lawsuit someone starts. I just want to get even with these licensed awful people. Im just a small business person, taxi driver. I switched to square, much easier and far less costly. Their business model made me leave. I feel violated by these people.

  • Isabel

    So 8 months ago I signed up with flagship/iPayment. I charged $1200 (6 customers) and within the first week was informed my funds were being held and they needed to contact the customers I charged. I provided them with all they asked for and contacted my customers to let them know as well. Another week went by and I had not heard back from iPayment/flagship, I called and was informed that they closed my account with out even an email/phone call and were holding my $1200 for no less then 6 months……..well here we are 7+ months later and I have been playing tag with who ever this “Joseph Hernandez” is. After many emails and phone calls over the last 10 days I decided to take matters into my own hands and today I sent an email blast to any and all email addresses I could find for CEO’s and managers ect…. At 6:00PM I received a call from a lady i did NOT email wanting to assist me. I guess someone passed the message on!! I just sent her all the docs I had already sent to “Joseph” and was promised a call back within an hour and funds sent to my account with 24-48 hours. I will not jump for joy just yet, but this is the first call I have ever received, and the most assistance I have been given since all this began. If you do not hear from me again then all was 100% successful! I will provide the contact info for her but ask in return that no matter how much BS you have been fed or put through please don’t take your anger out on her, she is super nice and VERY helpful!!
    iPayment Risk Department Manager:
    Julie Braico
    818-540-6557
    818-540-6722 (fax)

  • Glenn

    If Flagship tries to direct you to iPayments as a good alternative gateway to First Data, do not accept their advice. Just as all roads lead to Rome, at First Data, all roads lead to a woman named Gina in the risk department. Poor Gina is either a dim bulb or hamstrung by her superiors; it really doesn’t matter to you because she lives to block your payments. Gina told me that I was the CFO of the company I was selling to, so she’s not good with facts and she cannot read either because contracts and credit card authorizations mean nothing to her. You will dial at least five numbers before being handed off to Gina, and the person handing you off will give you her number because she does not answer her phone. Two rules of thumb: (1) Don’t go near iPayments. (2) If you’re already there and someone says, “Gina,” don’t waste your time. Refund all transactions, set up a new authorization AND payment gateway (don’t use your old authorization or you’ll meet Gina again), and re-charge the cards through a competent credit card processor. For more fun, read the sordid history of iPayment at the Nashville Post and the icky corporate culture at glassdoor.com

  • Kalera Stratton

    I had ipayment for years, and like many of you, I didn’t pay that much attention to the charges as I was focusing my energy on running my business. My accountant did complain about how hard it was to track charges from them, as their statements are a terrible mess, but it seemed like it wasn’t that big a deal. However, after my business took a big hit in the recession and I decided to scale back, I noticed very LARGE charges that I could not explain coming through. I decided to cancel my account, and talk about jumping through hoops! I had to cancel with iPayment and Authorize.net AND American Express, separately, and even after that I still had charges coming through. I just got one for $129, over six months after cancelling my account, for no reason that I can discern. I can’t get through to them on the phone and emails have not been answered. I suspect that I will have to talk to an attorney to get this resolved. I can only guess at how many thousands of dollars they may have defrauded me out of while my business was active. I hope some savvy lawyer decides it’s worth their time to put together a class-action lawsuit, these guys are world-class scammers.

  • Charree Swindoll

    Three months ago I “started” filling out an online application at
    http://www.authorize.net, a company owned and operated by (I-Payment)
    that processes online credit card payments for e-commerce web
    sites. The application had six stages, I quit a little over half way
    through the process and never printed it out and mailed it in as
    requested. They do not allow the application to be submitted online,
    and also require two forms of ID, bank statements and other
    information be mailed along with the application. I never completed,
    submitted, or sent a single thing in any form or fashion. I stopped the
    entire application process after looking up reviews online due to a few
    odd request that caught my attention. A week later I received a
    letter in the mail stating I had been approved for their service.
    I immediately called them to find out what was going on. They stated
    that it was a mistake and that they would close the account right
    then. When I asked how it was possible to open the account in the
    first place without me completing the application, they gave no
    answer. I felt like it was resolved, and thought nothing more of it.

    Another week had passed and I noticed a $26.00 ACH withdraw from
    from my bank account from (BANKCARD MTOT DICS). I knew that it had
    to be I-Payment that made this withdraw because the very first page
    of the application asked for my bank account information, and I had
    never released this information to anyone else. I again called them
    to find out what was going on. They stated that this was yet another
    mistake, and that the charge was an (Activation Fee) for all new
    accounts. They stated that they would refund the charge right then.
    A few days later on 11/14/2012 the money was returned to my account.
    I was now becoming worried, so I called my bank to notify them of the
    issue I was having, although the last thing I was thinking at the
    time was that they would ever attempt this again.

    On Dec. 31, 2012 another ACH withdrawal for 350.00 was debited by
    I-Payment stating that it was a (Cancel Fee), almost three months
    from the day when they closed the account that should have never
    been opened to start with. As soon as I noticed the fraudulent
    withdrawal I called the Police Dept. located where they do business,
    Thousand Oaks, California. I was informed that this was by far the
    first time they have had to deal with them. They asked me to call
    I-Payment again to have them correct the problem while they remained
    on the line. The lady who I spoke with gave no explanation other than
    to say the money would be returned to my account no later that Friday
    Jan. 4, 2013. The police officer stated that they would look into this
    and to call them back on Friday.

    I decided then it was time to do my own research. After only 5 min.
    online, I discovered that hundreds of businesses and victims
    have experienced the exact same problem, and that I-Payment has been
    sued multiple times. I also discovered that the current owner is under
    investigation by the Attorney General, and the BBB is involved. Most
    of this information can be found at the following web site _________
    ________ ..or by typing the search terms (I-Payment
    Complaints) in a search engine. The most disturbing part of all this
    is that this web site states that I-Payment has been known to falsify
    applications and documents to submit to any bank where charges have
    been disputed.

    I later realized how I-Payment was able to obtain the “must have”
    information needed to know exactly when to debit my account. I receive
    698.00 on the first of every month, by the 5th when my rent is due,
    most of these funds are depleted. Yet not more than two hours after
    the SSI was deposited I-Payment made this withdrawal. Back when I made
    my second phone call to I-Payment I remembered them asking me to
    email them a copy of my bank statement showing the 26.00 withdrawal
    that they made, which showed the exact date when I receive my SSI
    Payment. I would ask anyone to do the same research that I have done in
    order to gain the needed knowledge about this company. I attest that
    everything I have stated here is the complete truth without
    withholding any information. Thank you for your time.

    Note: In addition to the information above, I would also like to
    mention that no where during the partial application process that was
    filled out and not sent in, does it state anything about any Fee’s
    of any kind. However it does state that the application must be
    entirely completed and mailed in order to be considered. It also states
    that you have 30 days to cancel without any obligations, cancelation
    fees etc. As I stated earlier , I called them the same day I realized
    (less than 8 days) from the time they had mistakenly opened this
    account, when they stated it had been resolved and closed. The point
    being that even had this not been a mistake on their part, I would have
    still been covered by the 30 day account closure time limit. There is
    absolutely no misunderstandings on my part concerning this, and
    everything this company has done thus far is against both state and
    federal laws. I-Payment illegally opened an account without my
    permission, and without any of the information required to do so, and
    then proceeded to lie to me and illegally take money from my bank
    account. Even the online application states clearly that they ask for bank
    account information “Only” to verify your identity and nothing more. Upon
    request, I have everything needed to back up my claims. Thank you.

  • Tracie

    I did a charge with this company, and they tried to deposit the money in an incorrect account number. The money sat in their institution and they told me I need to resubmit my account number. I sent my account information and than they told me I needed to talk to their risk management department. Risk management had a voicemail and never returned my call. So basically I never had a credit card purchase go to my account and they kept trying to charge me a monthly fee. This wen on for months with no resolve, and just recently they tried to draft a $350 cancellation fee out my account. For what—-I have never been provided a service.

  • Thomas

    Yes, they are one of the worst companies I have ever deal with. I never had a company that will hold your money for doing good business. After one good black Friday sale, our account was hold for inspection. After all paper works are sent and check, they come back and offer us to continue to process with them and hold 25,000.00 indefinitely! Our account is not a new account we have been with them for the past 5 years. Still today we are trying to find a fix for this problem, and the hold amount is getting larger and larger at 57,000.00 now, and our company is facing a cash flow problem due to this hold of income. We can’t agree to the hold, or close the account as they will just hold everything for 6 month. They have 0 rights for this type of hold, and are getting away with it. Any one has any way around this problem or know a good lawyer that will take on this case please let me know.

  • Ben Berry

    The salesman will promise you the world and will do this while still managing to sound trustworthy. These people are trained to deceive the small business owner who unknowingly enters a contract that could destroy the business they worked so hard to create. Much like many other commenters on this board iPayment decided it was their right to hold thousands of dollars from us because there were credit cards that had been declined on our account. After hours on the phone and hours of paperwork we were eventually able to recover our funds about 2 months later. During this two month period we were stripped of nearly half our operating budget which could have been our early demise as a new small business. Luckily we found a new merchant company willing to pay our cancellation fees (yes they are hefty, don’t let them fool you) . Even after the cancellation, iPayment is still taking over $200 out of our account. Hopefully we will get to the bottom of this after hours wasted on the phone. RUN AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY UNLESS YOU HAVE THOUSANDS TO SPARE.

  • Albert L

    I am the manager of a distribution company, and I signed-up seven of our locations to use credit cards via iPayments. We had several transactions surpass our average daily limit and monthly limit. The result is that iPayment is now holding $54,000 of our money and refuses to deposit the funds into our operating account because we are not authorized to this spending level. What criminals! Our customers have paid us, we shipped the merchandize and now 30 days later iPayments refuses to release the funds. I hate these people. In particular, Sara Lopez in their risk department is incredibly rude.

  • Cristin Hall

    Stay away from this company. Do not do ANY business with them. They “lose statements in the mail” and will not respond to your inquiries. I had a number of items hit my account (causing major OD fees and snowballs) with NO warning, all without selling even ONE item. I called to dispute and they gave me poor information. NO transparency. DISHONEST. I will be reporting to Federal Trade Commission and BBB. I am also opening a small claims against them for violating my consumer rights. Save yourself from the mess I have found myself in and head on over to a company like Intuit or Square Up.

  • Aaron

    I used Ipayment for 9 years. Like many business owners I was busy running my business and trying to make money. My time was even more limited with the downturn in the economy. Working more hours for less pay is not exactly the idea behind having a business. At any rate I admit that It was my fault that Ipayment got away with charging me insane fee’s each month for years. The fee’s varied and my statements only said “Misc. Fee” $50.00-$60.00 each month some times more. Finally I had enough I did research online and found a much better processor. However when I tried to cancel my account with Ipayment then their true colors showed…it was a total hassle, after hours on the phone, faxing written cancellation requests etc. I could not get them out of my bank account. Months after I closed my account with them they were still hitting my account. I got the runaround at every turn. I even had one rep. tell me it took up to 30 days to cancel an account…! Really? it took only minutes to set it up??? interesting right? finally I had to close my account to stop them from stealing from me. It’s crazy that this entire industry does what they do every day. Stealing untold billions no doubt from honest business people all over the world. If you or I did a tiny fraction of what Ipayment and other companies like them do each day..and we got caught I’d be writing this from my prison cell.

    • Richard

      Never Sign up with I-Payment! I was with them for about a year, I signed up with them because I was assured there were no hidden fees, and the monthly payment was minimal. After about a year I found out that they have a multitude of fees, they put notes on your bill, mixed in with everything else giving you as little warning as possible about what might happen if you do not respond, most of the time it gets over looked since it appears to be just the usual every month info, then they start hitting you up for anywhere from $30 to $130 for miscellaneous fees. Finally I cancelled with them which they ignored for a couple of months till they had racked up another $150 in charges, which I called about and complained and they said they would refund the charges which instead they hit me up for a $495 Cancellation fee!
      Furthermore they show up on your bank statement in various names so you never quite know who you are dealing with! NO Deal is good enough to work with these guys in any way!

  • Chris

    Signed up with iPayment and was guaranteed that I would not be charged a fee for going over the monthly “credit limit”. After reviewing my statements closely, I realized that I had in fact been charged for what they assured me I wouldnt. After 3 months of trying to get refunded the $4000.00+ in fees, I finally switched to [redacted – possible promotion] and hired an attorney to pursue iPayment for the monies they took from my account plus attorney fees. DO NOT sign up with this company for your merchant processing needs.

  • Carolyn

    Ipayment are the worst of the worst. I have been trying 2 months to close my account. I have spent hours on the phone with them jumping thru their hoops just find out yesterday they took $128.85 from my account and I have never even opened it..I have just tried to get rid of them. The people are rude and truly make it as hard as they can to get them off your bank account. I am going to the bank today to close that account. My only alternative. Stay away!!!! I am just wondering when any of the responsibility should be of the company itself instead of the persons like myself. I have tried and truly give up.

  • Charles

    They did the same thing last week.

    They went into my bank account with out any autortization. Stole some money and it’s been difficult to get it back.

    They won’t even tell who they did it for.

  • Dennis

    AVOID iPayment at all cause!! This credit card payment processor is being used by merchant service providers like Flagship Merchant Services, National Bankcards and others. When you shop for a merchant service provider, make sure you ask who is their payment processor.

    I had Flagship Merchant a year ago. When they were charging me some fees that were not disclosed to me before, I called them up, they make me to run around between Flagship and their payment processor, iPayment. I finally told Flagship I want to cancel the account. They told me I need to call iPayment. It took 3 months to get the account cancelled. Between iPayment and Flagship, they made me to jump thru hoops to cancel the account, such as I need to fax it in, I need to call in, and so forth. When I called about the status of cancellation, they said they never received it. They keep delaying the cancellation while still CHARGING my account. I ended up paying hundreds to get the account closed, despite of their advertisement of no cancellation fees, etc.

    Make sure you ask who the payment processor is!!! Avoid iPayment!! Also avoid Flagship Merchant Services!

  • RZ

    Ipayment ripped me off for over 10 thousands dollars. Apparently, they bought my merchant account from Online Data Corp. They called me and never told me this, but I knew something was up. The guy that called was rude and arrogant. I was with O.D.C. for years. Spotless record. Hardly any charge backs. Nothing for over 3 years. I asked the guy on the phone who it REALLY was. He told me ODC. I told theguy to close the Merchant Account and I will find someone else. I got two Merchant Accounts within one week and started processing. Same thing. Not a problem at all. Those Ipayment criminals terminated me and messed me up with the new processor. I asked Ipayment WHY? They never gave a reason to this day. That is illegal right there. Then they started charging my bank account for no reason. I went down to the bank and my bank called them up. Told them to stop. They said okay. Then they still kept charging me with over 10 thousand dollars in my merchant account, Then my bank threatened them with fraud charges. They finally stopped. To this day, they never paid me back. Stay away from them. They are criminals.

  • Virginia

    I would like to know how to stop ipayment from deducting $69 a month from my checking account. I have an ipage website and signed up for credit card processing when I set up my website in order to handle online payments for tuition for online classes that I would like to offer in the future. I have not yet developed the class, but I am getting charged monthly for ipayment services that I have never used. When i was asked how much volume I expected, I told them about 25 transactions a YEAR. I wrote them a letter requesting cancellation and sent it return receipt requested. I received the green USPS card back, but I have never heard from ipayment and the bills keep coming. I feel that a class action suit against them is definitely in order.

    • Phillip CPO

      The only way to stop a company from debiting your checking account is to contact your bank and inform them of the problem. Most likely you will need to close the checking account and open a new one.

  • Michelle Herbert

    After many calls to Levi Harris, risk management representative as well as his supervisor, Susan, we have not resolved this issue. (The supervisor has not returned any of my calls and Mr. Harris has been extremely rude and impossible to deal with.) We have provided Mr. Harris the customer invoice, the tracking showing delivery of OUR products and together spoke with my customer confirming the delivery and order while Mr. Harris was on the phone. (He mentioned during the call to my customer that if I was dissatisfied with his services, he could close our account. My customer was still on the phone. COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!)

    We believe ipayment has acted maliciously towards our company (we pay them), has purposely delayed payment and possibly committing fraud against our company.

    After filing a claim with the BBB, ipayment closed our account without telling us. This was clearly retailiation. They still have several hundred dollars of our and we are fighting to get it. Even worse, the risk management person sent over 3,000 hate emails to us.

    They are the WORST company we have ever dealt with in 10 years.

    • East Coast Business

      I agree with the comments I’ve read about the exceptionally poor service.

      We have had the same issue – ran into Mr. Levi Harris and all his *charm*. We called to check on a completely separate matter – and were informed that our account had been closed. No phone call…no notice. We have had zero charge backs in our time with them. The reason for the closure – we were doing too much business. All of it good and valid and verifiable ( no charge backs – ever ) – but – they felt they should just close the account – without notice.

      No response from Julie ( Levi’s manager ) – no call back from Levi. In my opinion, the lack of transparency from the company should be a MAJOR red flag to anyone working with them now or considering using them.

      I would agree with those who have commented and feel that iPayment has acted in bad faith and caused financial damage to firms. Truly a scary thought that firms like this exist and they handle people’s money and personal information.

      Protect yourself – contact your bank – shut them off before they can reach in and take money that you then have to fight to reclaim.

  • SFoley

    Do not use iPayment they lie, lie, lie. They are dishonest they have sales agents tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to sign up with their fraud services. Then they tell you that you can cancel any time lie! They tell you your monthly amount will never exceed X amount LIE! The first month usually runs smooth after that they add fee’s take money out of your account whenever they feel like it they do not communicate with you at all their customer service is the worst in the industry. They tell you one thing do another…they only work on snail mail so they take the money then you have to scramble to find out why your bank account is so low or possibly in the negative. 2 weeks later you get the letter stating why they took the money. HELLO have you heard of email? iPayment/Century Payment/Authorize.net or whatever other name the fraudulently put out there STAY AWAY. They will take money without warning O yeah No early termination fee LIE $350.00 or whatever they want. If you get charge-backs because of their incompetence fraud detection suite your company will most likely have to close your doors. They screw you over so bad it’s not even funny.

  • Ray B

    Their big problem is communication, they (Couri, Amanda, Jennifer) just don’t do what they promise. Although I manage a very solid company doing business with one of I Payment’s competitors for well over 10 years w/o even one complaint , I Payment held significant funds due to action of the Risk Management Dept (Jennifer, who never answered the phone and rarely called back) and of course did not release the funds as promised..

    Just do business somewhere else, it has to be better than I Payment.

  • Jamie

    I have had the same issues as stated above. They have charged me about $83 + a month to use their services which I had not clue was going to be that much since it was over the phone and I was new to setting up a website. I have lost more money in the fee’s from ipayment then what my website has made. I was on a 3 way call with Bank of America trying to get it figured out, still waiting for my account to be cancelled but I am not sure if I will be charged a fee since I have been using them for 2 years. They also did not specify that in the phone call…. This is a total scam of a company I want to change my bank account information but that would mean I would have to change everything else with it. :-(

  • Thomas Garrison

    I own and operate a Web development and hosting company and have for more than 12 years. In May 2012 I decided to create a new system for handling new hosting accounts. Part of the process was to implement iPayment to process the payments.

    Between the time I initiated the creation of the account with iPayment and before completing the process I spoke to a partner of mine who was “adamant” that I not complete the process. He told me of his horror story with iPayment and how they charged him fees of nearly $200 that were invoiced as “compliance” fees.

    When I read through the iPayment details “before” initiating any account information, I did not find anything that indicated a monthly payment, minimum monthly sales, or ANY fees related to the iPayment beyond the processing fees – which were very standard.

    I had filled out all paperwork and was “authorized” by iPayment to use the account, BUT…I still needed to “Activate” the account with iPayment AND Authorize.net BEFORE I could use the account.

    When I was told of all the unknown fees that iPayment would generate I simply stopped the process and did NOT “activate” the account with iPayment OR Authorize.net.
    In fact, I continue to receive E-mail messages from Authorize.net asking me to activate the account.

    I have every bit of evidence in the world to prove that I NEVER activated the account.
    This process began in early May of 2012.

    The end of May 2012 I was charged $19.95 by iPayment – for no reason that I was advised. I called June 8, 2012 after I found the charge on my bank statement and was told the refund would be made within 30 days.
    I also requested that the account be closed and was provided the proper documentation to facilitate that process. I complied and confirmed that the account was closed.

    I reviewed my June 2012 bank statement on line and found that there was a refund from iPayment as promised for the $19.95, BUT… there was then an additional debit for $113.90 on my never-activated account.
    I contacted iPayment June 14, 2012 to find why I was charged an additional $113.90 on an account that was never activated.

    The person answering the call said it would take up to 30 days for the refund and could provide no response as to why iPayment debited my account for the additional $113.90.

    I requested a supervisor and was told that a “rush” would be added to the new request for refund and in 2 weeks or less the account would be refunded.
    But no explanation could be provided as to why my non-activated and closed in June account was still being debited.

    August 1, 2012 I checked my bank statement on line. There was a refund for $24.90.
    I spoke to the agent answering the phone and was told it could take up to 30 days for the refund. When I demanded that he put his supervisor on the phone he was insistent that he could handle my request. I refused to continue the conversation with him and was finally allowed to speak to a supervisor.

    The supervisor told me, “The refund of $24.95 is an automatic refund when a request is made. The remaining $89 mandates a manager ‘push’ the refund.”
    When I asked what that meant I was told the manager must personally authorize the refund. I was told that no manager had taken the responsibility to ‘push’ the refund and that’s why my refund had not been completed.

    I demanded that the supervisor find a manager and have them sign my refund to ‘push’ the refund while I held on the phone. The supervisor complied and told me, “The manager has signed the refund and says the refund will appear in my bank account by Friday (August 3, 2012).”

    I can only hope that it come true this time and that I will not have any further debits to my account. There is no guarantee that iPayment will not debit my account again.
    Further, I will need to contact my bank – after I have succeeded with the refund – in order to block iPayment from accessing my account for any reason.

    So, iPayment NEEDS to be put out of business. The fact that the “Bottom Line” of this blog insinuates that we should feel bad for iPayment not succeeding in business is wrong.
    iPayment conducted illegal business practices and THAT is why they are “suffering”.

    It is due “solely” to the business practices of iPayment (or any other business) that they succeed or fail.
    I HOPE that they fail and soon. It couldn’t happen fast enough.

    Thomas

    • Thomas Garrison

      It’s now August 7, 2012 at 4:45 p.m.
      I’ve been on the phone most of this afternoon with iPayment / Merchant Services.
      No, they still haven’t refunded my money.

      Their “latest story” is that the person who physically remits the authorized refunds was not in the office last week. Therefore, it was supposed to be Monday, August 6, 2012 or this morning, August 7, at the very latest to have the refund appear in my account.

      There was no payment in my account this morning…and obviously nothing Monday.
      One agent swore she would work on the issue and call me back with an update. She actually did. She told me that a payment was made to their bank, Wells Fargo, but for “some reason” the payment was denied.
      She told me that they are making a request for another payment and that I “should” see the payment in my bank as of Wednesday, August 8, 2012.
      I left for a few minutes and when I returned there was a message from the same agent asking me to return her call. Her message said that the payment was not made to Wells Fargo although the paperwork is in order and the payment was supposed to have been made. She asked me to call back to update.

      I returned, called and asked for that agent but…she was not available. So, I spoke to a new agent who tried to tell me to give it another 48 hours “…to see if the payment appears in my account.”
      I said I’m not going to give it another 48 hours and want to speak to a supervisor.

      A supervisor got on the line and, after a lot of attempts to tell me that it was my fault for opening the account, and payments take up to 30 days to refund, I let her have my full wrath.
      In short, I stated all the evidence I have that clearly states the account was not only NOT activated but was “closed” (verified by iPayment) BEFORE the $139 was debited from my bank account.

      The supervisor finally came around to realizing that I’m not going away, I’m right, and want my money. She told me that the funds have already been sent to Wells Fargo and they are simply waiting for the funds to appear in my own bank account. This latest supervisor promised to call me in the morning to verify that the payment appears in my bank account.

      At this point I’ve calculated my expenses in trying to get back the money that should never have been debited from my account has cost me more than $600 in my time and bank fees.
      So, I’m going to try to figure out how to file a suit against iPayment / Merchant Services. I’ve already made an initial contact with a law firm and am awaiting a reply for possible class action.

      Thomas

      • Samantha

        I have been with i Payment now for going on 2 years. For the last year I have had issues with the service as well as to the way they operate. I was told when signing on with i Payment that I had to have a side account called a reserve… I was very new to the whole merchant service / processing credit cards and did not know that this really was not a normal thing in the world of Merchant Services. I was told that a set % would be debited from my batches and placed in a reserve account. The % would stopped being debited when I had reached a total of $10,000 and then the only fee’s debited at that time would be their fee’s. I was also told that the reason for the Reserve account was if a Charge Back was ever placed then the funds would be taken from this Reserve account. I have been very missed led. I was told by i Payment several several several weeks ago that I had hit my reserve of 10,000. I still noticed that my batches were not what they were supposed to be and about 4 weeks later after the initial conversation with i Payment about I having hit the reserve amount I place another call to find out exactly what ” their ” fees were that was being debited from my bank account. I felt this should have been a simply answer for them and in fact it was not. I was told that my account manager was on vacation for 2 weeks and that they would have her contact me with the details of my account on her return to the office. Really yes, I was told to wait 2 weeks for their employee to get off vacation before I could find out where my money was going. Now two weeks have passed I never got a call from the account manager and over the past 2 weeks even more money is being debited from my batches. They are now way off … so I again place a call to i Payment to see what is the world is going on. To my relief my account manager was there. I think Great! Some answers. Let’s just say that conversation was ended with madness. Like I said I have been with I Payment for right at 2 years. In the course of 2 years I have had 5 Charge Backs and in my industry that is a very very low charge back ratio ( I have done the research I know the numbers ) not to mention I won them all back. I was told that because of my charge back ratio was high that they unannounced to me had raised my Reserve account and it has now been placed at a higher rate and that it was now capping off at 25 grand and not the 10 grand oh and that they were keeping 25% of my batches until the reserve had been capped off again. I had a fit to say the least. After a 2 day process of phone calls and speaking from one manger to the next I was told they had spoke to the bank and that they had got the bank to agree to keeping only 15% of my batches but still had to cap the reserve off at 25 grand. This is crazy. 5 won charge backs in aprox 2 years and they think they are untitled to hold on to not only my existing 10 grand but now another 15… really? Who do they think they are. As well as the part about the reserve account where charge back money was debited from and placed back into if won back. Not the case All five Charge backs were debited from my business bank account without any prior notice just snatched out as they pleased. Of course this was not really a problem for me like stated I won they money back and it was placed back in my account within a couple of weeks. Now the above issues have been just a couple of the ongoing for the last couple of months. Here is today’s issue I log into my account yesterday morning and notice it’s been debited over 1 grad. I immediately I contact i Payment with assumption that’s it is a Charge Back. I was told they would collect the documents needed from the card issuers bank and forward them to me so that I could submit the proof needed to win my money back. This morning I still had not herd from I payment so place a call back to see if they had the documents i needed yet to move forward to responding to this charge back. I was then told that it was in fact a old charge back that I had previously won that was fighting it again and they the card issuers bank is who was handling and sending the documents. i payment gave me the number to the bank and ask me to make contact with them. So I did. When I get on the phone with the bank I find out that the grand debited from my account was because I had not responded to the documents they had sent out 12 days prior asking for a response from me or the amount would be debited from my account. Here’s the problem when I asked them where they sent the documents to they stated my old personal home address in which I have not lived at for 2 years. I have no idea how they got that address not to mention it’s 100% wrong. The lady at the bank proceeds to tell me they collect my info from i Payment and that is the address i Payment gave them. She also told me that she was sorry but the case could not be opened and that I was at a loss for the money. At this point I am hot.. I call I payment back and they tried to put it off on me like it was my fault that they had the wrong address and I told them I have the change of address forms that I sent into you that are signed by me and dated. They tell me they never received any change of address from me and i promise I still have the original form that was faxed to them. They basically said that it was out of their hands and there was nothing they could do about getting the case re-opened. Well needless to say I am not staying and have already started the process to go else where but here’s my current issue with that…. they still have over 10 grand of my money! I was told that they will hold that money for a year or longer before I can get it back. How can that be legal? I don’t understand how companies can take such advantage. I don’t know what I am gonna do.. maybe contact an attorney because they should not be able to hang on to that much of my money for that period of time. If I feel they are scamming me now while I am a current customer of their and If I am leaving because I feel they are cheating me then what makes them think that my 10 grand is safe in their hands. I am sure in the course of a year or more that they will come up with all kinds of fees for this or that or whatever an my 10 grand will be 10 bucks if i am lucky by the time they release it. Just Crazy!

  • James B

    I have never written a review before but this is a must.

    The worst criminal enterprise that I have ever had to deal with. Hidden fees, continuing to charge me after numerous cancellations and then charging a cancellation fee.

    Run away from this company!!!!

  • Joy

    Do not go with Ipayment. I signed up to take credit cards for my small business with flagship merchant services and ended up with two other companies billing me, one being Ipayment. The people there are RUDE
    and incompetent. The charge add on fees for things you don’t even know you are paying for.

  • Spencer

    Ipayment is a HORRIBLE company, i was using them for a eCommerce store. I closed my account on 5-11-12 and they charged up a additional $200 in fees after i closed my account. I have called them 3 times now and they keep saying. it takes X amount of days for your account to close..

    I would RUN from this company, i am now using transnational. They have been very nice to me and even sent me a fee Credit Card Swiper.

    DO NOT USE iPayment unless you want to get a ton of additional fees.

  • Sue Love

    Central Payment Corp. sold approxiately 20% of my active merchants to iPayment. Several of these merchants have called me and reported rudeness and unprofessional behavior from customer service. One of the complaints is long hold times and being transferred from one person to another.

    Central Payment Corp. has hid the transfer of these accounts from my merchants because the statements still come from CPC and there is no mention of iPayment on the statement.

    CPS has told its agents to leave these accounts alone. So our merchants get angry at us. I have had several merchants cancel and yell at me for poor service. One merchant slammed the door in my face.

  • Joseph zar

    Ipayment is worst merchant service company i have ever come across. They have the worst customer service and a bunch of rude people working behind a desk. They changed my application and basically told me to stop processing because i will get a over the limit fee, then they charged me a early termination fee on top of that. These people are a bunch of theifs.

    • Elton

      IPAYMENT ARE NOTHING BUT CROOKS !!! Read the fine print because it is loaded with ways to steal your money, go into your bank account and rob you and to top it all they will find all kind of reasons to hold your money for 6 months. Not only all of the above but they will also flag your business to unable you to find another processing service & put you into financial bankrupcy.
      STAY AWAY FROM IPAYMENT PROCESSING SERVICES !!! THEY ARE REALLY CROOKS !!!
      I am now in touch with a law firm to file a million dollar plus lawsuit against them.
      Take my advice, ” LEAVE THEM ” as soon as you can or you will regret it sooner or later !!!
      CROOKS…CROOKS…CROOKS !!! I wonder why they are still in business & has not the state/government had them investigated & shut down or even being brought to light on TV & the news….

        • Danie

          Hi, I would be willing to take the lead on starting a class action lawsuit. Thanks to this forum, I was able to reverse my customer payments prior to them closing my account. For 10 days they have been verifying entries. I have gotten calls from my customers saying that they have called them and they are making them feel very uncomfortable asking questions about the account. When I pushed them on this, I got an email that they have decided to close my account. I aksed them to refund my customers money, and they said they could not do that; they would have to hold it for 30 days. I promptly went and processed the refunds for my customers and gave them a heads up that I was doing so so that they would not be able to keep the money. It is only because of these comments that I was able to get in in time prior to them closing the account. I’ve printed my statements, the emails etc. from the merchant and went and closed my bank account so they could not debit from it.

          They have had over 2,000 of my money for 10 days; and are very rude, do not answer calls and do not have managment available.

  • Bambi

    this is a bit scary. I have been with them about a year and I haven’t had any problems. I just recently heard of some complaints. After reading these reviews, I’m thinking I should try to get out. Are there any other good comments about them? Or is there any type of compliance committee that can shut them down?

  • lisa allen

    I had online clothing store for a few months. For some reason I had 98 customers abandon their shopping carts. I never made a single sale. Ipayment said I never properly set up my account. I shut down my website but continued recieving bills from Ipayment. The customer service was horrible! I sent in 20 emails trying to cancel my account. I was told they never recieved it. One lady said she was to busy to talk to me, I said well I’m still a paying customer, I want to fix this now. She disconnected my call, another lady told me I was sending the cancellation notice to the wrong department. For over a month I sent in my form. Then a women told me that yes, they have recived it but they werent going to honor it because my signature didn’t look correct. The next month my bill went from $19.95 to $143.95. I called and asked why it was so high, membership fees and pci compliance she said. I haven’t had a website for over 5 months, so I’m not sure how they ran a pci compliance on a website that isn’t working. I still have not been able to correctly close my account. This is the WORST company I have ever delt with. STAY AWAY!

  • philip hayden

    Such a pain in the a$$. after some very strange fees, i decided to close my account. After nearly 5 months i’m still being billed and getting the runaround. Seems like each time they change the process along with being very rude and condescending over the phone. Personally, i’d like to head over there and talk face to face. I assume their tone would change drastically.

    DON’T DO IT!

    Wish i would have seen this site before enabling my merchant account. At least i can help ensure no one else i know ever goes through this experience.

    • mark

      please add me in , I never activated the account yet they have charged me $178.80 so far I have emailed them and they state it does not matter I still get charged even if I dont activate the account!!!! what kind of business is that!. I sent closure form now waiting on the huge closing fee , going to speak with bank to close my account to prevent this frauds from taking more money

  • Myron Fonseca

    Horrible company to do business with. Held nearly $30K in deposits for months and never once contacted me to notify me of the hold. Business started to increase and they were NO HELP AT ALL. According to the account online the deposits were made to my account.. They could NEVER give me a breakdown of what was deposited and what was held or even any reason whatsoever on why there was a hold in the first place. After requesting several times for a statement of what was on hold and what was deposited they gave me a mickey mouse report stating the same incorrect information as shown in the account online. here we are 6 Months after the hold and still no explanation or statement. there is still more than 12K outstanding that I have NO CLUE when i will receive.

  • wassim zbib

    dont ever thinking of using i payment , THEY ARE A PUNCH OF CROOKS , and thieves , thats how they do their business , by fooling consumers ,, i called consumer affair and im filing a suit against them ,its my first month , they didnt even gave me any service yet , im still using my old credit card processing terminal and company , and they charged me a monthly fee , and when i called they said in a very cold blood , you want to cancell the three years contract (which is i didnt see but they said its their on the papers i signed ,, so i have to pay a 300 dollars termination fee because they fool me ,they set up the trap and i fell in it ,, thats what it is ,, and the funny part that they dont know the people that opened this account , its my responsibility to contact the crooks that walked in to my store and gave me a fake contact number ,,

  • Jared

    My experiences with iPayment has been an absolute nightmare.
    No business should consider establishing merchant services with them.
    I plan on taking legal action against, them, and think that a class action suit is a realistic possibility.

    • Dana

      I cancelled my I-Payment merchant account in November 2011 because of too many non disclosed fees. Finding out how to cancel was not easy. After months of no longer having an account with them, I discovered that they deducted $129.00 from my checking account in April. I’m furious. I don’t know how to initiate a class action lawsuit on my own, but someone please count me in.

      • Kent

        Consider yourself lucky, Dana. My checking account has been charged a $350 cancellation fee, even though I never completed the sign-up process.
        Please please please… run from this sham of a corporation. You’ll spend hours fighting these ignoramuses to get your money back. Luckily, my bank was able to reverse the charge, but only because I caught the scam the day iPayment tried to process the cancelllation fee.
        I’ve been using PayPal for months and have been very happy. Their fees are a bit higher, but at least they know how to run a credit card processing business for small companies.

    • David Warren

      Here is a nightmare for you all. I had a company use a stolen credit card to purchase $18,000 worth of material.
      Before I was aware that it was fraud, Ipayment did not credit us the money. However when I called them and to tell them it was fraud. They debited (took) $24,000 out of our checking account and over drew it. There is so much more to share, however safe to say, you may want to insure that you do business with a company that truly has customer service with someone interested in your welfare, and not just a number to call.

  • Chuck

    Just sitting here contemplating, after reading all these complaints and seeing how they are all similar, what action ‘we’ as a group could or should take. A rough estimate of what they cost me in a span of 20 months is close to $3,000 and that made the shoestring budget for my shop more like a fine thread one. If anyone has any ideas or recommendations I would appreciate the input and would be willing to entertain the idea of a class-action or a group letter to the powers that be in D.C.

  • Marg

    In March I signed up with a company called Flagship Merchant Services, when they were not able to deliver a terminal I did not go through with opening an account. Flagship told me they would refund me the terminal fee and I thought great I will move on to another company that can deliver what they promise. I now find out that since February, (how they mananged to go backwards I don’t know) a company called IPayment has been taking money from our bank account. Flaships gave my bank account information to IPayment. I phones to find out what this was about and Michelle was unable to help me so she transferd me to manager John. Both of them told me lie after lie and then told me it was my fault. I should have known that Flagship gave out our bank accout information to others. How was I supposed to know this? Now that I am reading all these comments I am glad I did not complete this transaction with either of these companies. Now I just gottat figure out how to get both to stop taking money and return all of our money to our account. Any ideas?

  • Jaya

    I agree. Stay away from Ipayment. I used to be with them and they take every opportunity to charge you extra by small amounts so that you don’t notice. In addition they go out of their way to make sure you don’t have any information about PCI compliance so they can change you a an extra fee. They are working against everything that credit card security procedure are trying to accomplish.
    They also have very poor customer service. If you have a complaint they don’t want to hear it.

  • Allan Sutton

    Avoid this company at all costs. During my first year with them, they once refused to transfer an entire month worth’s of funds my bank account until I faxed them phone numbers for all of those orders (all of which were fine — not a single chargeback or declined card; in fact my company has had only had two chargebacks in the past seven years). Once that was done, it still took them several weeks to transfer the funds. There were no more problems for a few years after that, but then the hidden fees began to rise until by last year they were taking around 9% of my total sales between various fees and transaction charges. In addition, they began declining orders from some solid, long-standing foreign customers whose cards were perfectly good. I finally dropped I-Payment, but it took the threat of legal action to even get through to a real person to close the account. And today, a full year after I closed the account, I see they’ve just withdrawn $129 from my bank account for a “PCI compliance fee,” which I’m turning over to my attorney. (By the way, I’ve since switched to PayPal, which has been superb). This company is a very bad player, and has been for many years. Anyone know if a civil suit is pending (or want to start one)?

    • Chuck

      Allan I got the same $129 dollar PCI Compliance fee at the first of this month and I closed out the account with I-Payments last December. Since I had no clue what it was for I called and was told it was the compliance fee for the previous 12 months and that it was in my contract. I had already checked my statements from last year to see if I had missed being charged a compliance fee for 2010 and I hadn’t. When I asked them why I was getting charged now and hadn’t then, the supervisor simply said “Well that’s a good thing for you”. It went right through me and I said the BS word and got hung up on. I have the same familiar story of the representative not disclosing any of the hidden costs. When those started creeping up, I called and got a total run-around with no explanations. Closing the account was a circus. It took about four weeks of calling and emailing to get in touch with someone that was semi-honest on how to do it. When I told her I wasn’t the least bit impressed with the company due to the way they kept raising or adding on fees , she told me that they have a lot of people close due to that. Hidden in the contract somewhere, is some clause about all the extraneous fees and she told me if they showed up you could cancel whatever service it was you were being charged for, all non-essentials. The biggest problem I had was when I did call to inquire about them, I was misled and got to take a nice ride on the pervibial ‘buck’ as it was getting passed around. This is only the second provider I have dealt with and I thought the first was a bit shady, but compared to I-Payments, they seem like a great company.

    • Lewis

      Same issue here. My wife had a merchant account through First National Processing but closed it last summer to go with PayPal. Early this month we got that $129 “PCI Compliance” charge from iPayment–which is a company that we never actually dealt with directly (everything went through 1NP). I called 1NP and the somewhat harassed-sounding guy on the phone said “about 50” other people had called and complained about the same thing and that he would put in a request to get our money refunded.

      • Lewis

        Replying to myself…it should come as no surprise that here it is 9 months later and we’ve never seen a cent of our $129 “PCI non-compliance fee” they promised to refund. Stay far, far away from iPayment.

  • Mike Weldon

    I signed up with I-payment through my web hosting service Xeran. I was told that I would be charged a monthly fee of 20.00 and the ussual percentage for transactions. Even though my ussual transactions are $3000-5000 they limited me to $1500 which essentially made my processing useless and allowed them to collect monthly fees that increased to 60-80 dollars a month for nothing. Then when I cancelled I got charged $129.00 again for nothing. I am using Paypal now with no problems and no fees if I do not process!
    Thereout to be a law! and yes we need to go to cash only like the good ole days.

  • holly

    Don’t use this company. They are holding 2100 of money from my business and then this morning took 2800 out of my bank account won’t return my calls and will not return emails don’t use anything that has I payments name on it

  • Mary

    Horrible horrible people. They are playing tough with our money. Everybody should stop excepting credit cards so they can be out of jobs. Who are they to hold our money. We make them our partners they go in to our accounts and they control our hard working money while they are rude and hang up the phone on us!! Stop accepting credit cards. They are holding 6000 dollars of mine and try to get explanation they play know it all they are rude and hang up the phone.

  • Don

    Good luck on doing your due diligence on I-Payments. The service was marketed by Merchant Services Direct seeing an opportunity as banks were closing our or moving merchants to new accounts due to PCI requirements. After 3 months, I am just discovering who I am doing business with….. – I-Payments. Summary and above comments are unfortunately on target. Their “Risk Department” has locked up over $5400 until they can verify with the client..

    Even though the nature of our transactions, over $4000 per transaction, was discussed with the Merchant Services Direct sales agent, I am discovering we have a “$900 high ticket limit”. The agent also would not leave a copy of the set up agreement. I am expecting the worst as outlined above. Anyone got an attorney on this? I may need to join up.

  • Dou Wade

    Do not get nowhere near this company because regrets will follow. It has numerous hidden fees, nebulous statement and high cancellation fees. On top of all it is not easy to get it off your bank account. It is just a scam. It doesn’t deserve to be in business. We all have to fight until it simply disappears.

  • kevin

    I got a statement with fees from this company for my company. I have never used this company before. It looks totally scam. If this company can do this to anyone, you could be the next victim. be very careful !

    • Dianne Bey

      I had the same thing happen. I opened up a webpage with IPAGE. It was impossible to finalize my website without filling out a window with ipayment.inc…perhaps. Not sure. But I got an email the next day. They had my personal info and pretended to be ipage and asked how much sales volume I would have.. I had already been told by ipage I would be charged $54 for the year, no more. Six months later $404 have been taken out of my bank account from ipaymentinc…which is different from Ipayment merchant services??? Noone will take responsiblity. when I reported fraud to Wells Fargo, ipayment inc fabricated a false application with my signature..not sure where they got it… ipayment claims they used to be affiliated with ipage and are no longer…though Ipage has an ipayment icon on their services…not thrilled about being ripped off. I have voice recordings from ipage and ipayment that contradict each other…apparently I have no booking… I have never sold anything nor have had anything for sale….no credit card services.. They took out $5 then, $30, then $35 then $79.90 every month without my knowledge for services I didn’t use. I’m furious!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • Dianne Bey

      Curious…Did they tell you that they had your application? They fabricated an application in my name with my signature after I signed up with Ipage…They got my personal info…I was ripped off $404…for services I didn’t need or use…a total scam…

  • Jason G

    Worst customer service I have ever experienced in 7 years of business.
    Will not release funds although I have a perfect track record for 7 years of business.
    Never return phone calls. (no exaggeration)
    I truly regret the day I made the switch to this company and cannot leave fast enough.
    Remember, value is not always in the price and this company will end up costing you money.

  • Steve

    Congratulations on looking up reviews of this company before you sign your life away. Now go do the reasonable and smart thing and find another solution for your merchant processing needs. Find any other solution. These people are the worst most dishonest and dishonorable people I’ve ever dealt with in the money business, which as you already know is full of dishonorable people. iPayment with their “ISO” amount to classic bait & switch con artists. They’ll tell you something that almost sounds too good to be true to get you to sign up and then they’ll hit you with reality and it ain’t pretty. We’ve paid an outrageous amount of money in fees. We were better off using PayPal to process credit cards. Run. Run for your life.

  • Jim Jones

    Wow!
    I should have stumbled onto this website before I signed up.
    I agree with all of the “overcharging” remarks left on this forum.
    I agreed to a flat monthly charge and the discount fees associated with each transaction. I got charged a PCI Non-compliance fee $24.95, a fee that indicated I needed to update my information ($19.95), even though I was unaware I needed to verify my information. A surcharge fee… the list goes on.
    All these charges are conveniently “Masked” under the “MTOT” line item on my bank statement.
    I guess contracts don’t mean anything when dealing with this company… it’s just a Buyer Beware type thing.

  • Brenda Day

    I was severely disenchanted with IPyment.. Yes, they misrepresented costsn and their front line Customer Service is laughable. The one page signed agreement said nothing about a “PCI compliance fee”. In fact, it was a very straight forward agreement that show “….no other yearly fees applicable..”. Yet, within 1 month I was billed for an egregious amount and I spent 1.75 hours on the phone “attempting” to reach IPayment’s customer service (the same phone number I was told to use if I had a customer present and I needed IPayments assistance with merchant charges). What retail customer is going to stand around for that length of time while IPayment has their finger up their nose. Only to finally reach a representative who parroted some nonsensical policy statements repeatedly and then got rude with me. The rest of the day was spent communicating between a Cynergy Data Customer Service Manager and a manager at IPayment.. Both managers seemed efficient, knowledgeable and service oriented. I was assured that they would take off a considerable portion of the “hidden fee” if I was willing to give them another try. I was satisfied with the compromise but still leery of this enterprise. So, I was able to get the IPayment manager to agree to waive the $300 cancellation fee IF I again experienced any questionable practices within the next 3 months. You know the end to this song. I cancelled via email and phone call within 14 days. However, IPayment has continued to charged me $10 a month for Service Fee (Bahahahahaha). They do not know what service is and I have NEVER used their service. Additionally, I have yet to receive Any response from either company, And just to kick sand in my face? I saw an additional, nonsensical $25 fee (apparently for the hell of it), IPayment debit from my bank account today! I am beside myself with frustration and aggrevation! At this juncture I believe they owe me $145. That could be used to pay my auto insurance this month. Oh how I dream getting a letter in the mail someday that says a Class Action suit filed against IPayment and it’s affiliates. They are ripping off the little guys and we are left powerless to do a damn thing!

    • Jim Jones

      Was overcharged $250 by years end.
      Buyer beware… contracts don’t mean anything with this company.

      ipayment Contact Information Primary Contact: Mr. Carl Grimstad (President)Complaint Contact: Mr. Dante Croupe (Dir of Risk Mgmt)Mr. Afshin Yazdian (EVP & General Counsel)Mr. Marcus Smith (Sr Dir of Operations)

  • LS

    All of you researching about going with IPayment, do not go with them. I stumbled across this site researching about iPayment. I have been with them for a little over a year and my monthly fees have been consistently going up and up and up. The web is obviously loaded with complaints about this company and for good reason. I have had the same experience as many of you here , fees not at all what I signed up for and each month more and more comes out of my bank account. I have a small business and have been so fed up with them…I can’t afford all their undisclosed fees.

    I have contacted them over and over about the why my fees are so high, not what I signed up for, etc. to which they reply back with a copy & paste response about PCI compliance, various discount fees associated with different credit cards, blah blah blah. (literally everytime I have contacted them, I get the same exact response back). Even when I contacted them as to why when I refund a customer’s credit card for a transaction it actually costs me more than what the customer was charged. Is that even legal?

    In addition, you need to be a financial guru to figure out their monthly statement and where the money is really going between what actually gets deposited into your bank account, then ultimately deducted by them. My merchant service provider who I signed up with (paybyweb) said the PCI compliance fee would be waived if I could present them with the compliance certificate, which I did, guess what, fee not waived.

    All of you who have posted here unfortunately know the drill. We have all been taken by this company. I own a small business and can’t afford what they are doing so I have been searching around trying to find out the real bottom line of who actually is the processor with different merchant accounts. It is like searching for a needle in a haystack. You don’t know who the processor is until your account gets approved by the merchant service provider, then its too late. Just spoke with Flagship and found out their processors are iPayment and First Data. It seems that no matter what Merchant account you go with, iPayment or First Data will be the processor and you will end up with more fees than disclosed. If anyone knows of any better merchant service provider, please post it. There should be a class action lawsuit against iPayment.

  • Chris

    Absolutely the worst merchant we have ever signed up with. We are cancelling our account having only been with them 2 weeks. They are complete liars and their risk department will find something wrong with your transaction, tell you you have broken your contract and withhold your funds… BY ALL MEANS STEER CLEAR OF THIS COMPANY!

  • Jill Rodriguez

    April, apparently the only person in the Activation Department asked me if I had anymore questions. When I asked if she could walk me through how many steps I needed to complete before I was able to collect payments online, she screamed,
    “I feel like we’re going around in circles!” Then she interrupted me when I tried to ask any other question ultimately hanging up in frustration.

    I have never had a worse customer service experience.

  • Tyler

    I-payment is responsible for the worst business relationship I have ever had in 20+ years. Here are a few of my top complaints with these thieves;
    > I had recieved a payment of $7K from a long time customer, I-payment requested all of my bank records, personal information and such, (this came in multiple request over three weeks) Finally they decided to not transfer the money to my acount, after three weeks! They told me to refund the money to my customer and thay I should request a check. They withdrew almost $300 from my account with out notice for processing fees! I called customer service and they could care less, and this was after multiple dropped calls and three days of trying to even get someone on the line.
    > I have 0 charge backs, and my whole sale customer has a 4 year relationship with me with four to three simular transactions per year.
    > hidden fee’s- the standard fee structure for I-payment is approximately $100 per month for not even running one transaction. here is what was explained to me
    – PCI non compliant fee $30
    – Statement fee $10
    – Tax ID # $14.95
    – Account FEE 4.95
    – on line statement access $ 14.99
    – minimum account fee $25

    > I was told over and over that there wasn’t a contract and it was a month to month. WELL not so much,,,,,, now to cancel, they will charge me $500. This can be taken from my account at will since I provided them a routing #.

    > I tried to dispute this with my bank and they said I had a contract with them, and all fees are legal. They also told me that this is really common and legally they can’t help. Though it was understood that I-payment are complete thieves.

    > My average fees from I-payment per month are approximately 19.5%. ( this isn’t counting my $7K experience.

    I hope this company gets what is coming to them.
    Extremely angry !
    Tyler Andersen

  • Eric Sams

    iPayment ripped me off for $558. I never used the service nor had a sale. They just kept charging my account anywhere from $45 to $179.90 even though I never made a sale or used it. When asked about the fees, they just made up a bunch of B.S. How are they charging extra fees on an account that is paying. They are a complete fraud and stay clear from them. They have had over 222 complaints made to the BBB. Please file a complaint now!

  • dennis

    I signed up a merchant account with Flagship and their payment processor is iPayment. Flagship will do anything for you to get you signed up. Once you are signed up, you are on your own. I have to jump thru hoops to close the account with Flagship & iPayment.
    Here is my experience – When I first signed up, I didn’t have the bank account info with me, and the Flagship rep said it is ok, just give me the account info later on. He entered a phantom bank account number to get me signed up. I send over a voided check to him later on to confirm the bank account number. 2 months later, I got a “return fee” charge from iPayment because their monthly charge was not going thru my bank. Come to find out the Flagship sales rep gave iPayment the wrong bank account number. Long story short, I called iPayment, they asked me to get with Flagship. I called Flagship sales rep, he asked me to talk to iPayment. I wasted so much time resolving an issue that was not caused by me. Come to closing of account, I called iPayment, they said I have to fax the request in to close the account. I faxed in the request. They said they never got it. I am emailing it now, and hopefully they can respond this time to close my account.
    Avoid Flagship and iPayment if all possible!!

    • laurel

      I tried to close this account with ipayment. I sent in the requested form 1/6/12. My Feb. bank statement had another debit from them. I checked with my bank and they had debited 3/5 also. I spent over an hour on the phone tracking this down. They found the email after I looked up exactly when I had sent it. Then they would only credit the 3/5 debit. Very hard to deal with and very time consuming. Get away from them ASAP.

  • Neo

    This guys are crooks, they make bogus “fees” and the lastest in the scam they offer “Free Merchant Services” .. I should have know better .. this guys are the worst – they have been charges for $ 60 last month November … now its $ 140 – and I have not processed a single card yet !! ( i’m a start up) — if someone planning to fall for their game – DON’T it is a company filled with crooks and thieves – period.

  • Bryan

    iPayment is absolutely the worst processor I have every had the misfortune to work with. They are completely unprofessional. Signed up 28 days ago and now finally process my first transaction and they are placing a hold on it!!!!!! These guys are crooks and I am getting out as quickly as possible.

  • Anonymous

    I have had a similar problem with 1st national processing and iPayment. They have held over $6k in payments for 18 MONTHS… William in the Risk Department will not refund them to me (merchant) or the card holder… And will not respond to any communication from me, my attorneys or even the California Attorney General, with whom we filed a complaint. There is a serious issue with this company, and if you have any problems, please file a complaint with the California Attorney General, and the FTC — 877-382-4357. They will do nothing until enough people lodge complaints, and your time is just as well spent there to help get this type of business stopped, as it is warning people to stay away!

  • Brenda

    Biggest misrepresentation of services ever! I originally spoke with Robert Denson, who instructed me to print the application and fax it. Having second thoughts, I did NOT fax the application yet I was approved and issued a merchant account. I read the “Welcome Packet” and see that the account is activated when you process your first sale, so I do NOT use their services and call to cancel the account. In the meantime, I am charged $5.00 monthly statement fee (of NO activity)???? I leave many voice mail messages, email messages…no response! I call AGAIN and send a letter demanding iPayment to cancel this account. Finally achieve that only later to be charged $350.00 cancellation fee! This charge gets me a $28.00 overdraft fee from my Bank! iPayment claims it could be up to 30 days for a refund. Again, I never faxed the application to iPayment. How can they conduct business this way? SCAM SCAM SCAM

    • Nicole Campbell

      I completely agree with you! This company is a Scam, we just recently changed merchant services from ipayment because we were tired of being charged outrageous fees… Well when we first were told about ipayment we could leave whenever we wanted NO CONTRACT. Well we found out the hard way and they took $350 from each of our stylist.There are 8 of us signed up for 1 machine. This story could go on and on. The most rediculous excuse for a business… they only word that I can use for them is criminal! Thank goodness my bank has my back!

      • Anonymous

        You NEED to contact the California Attorney General, or these types of people will continue to take advantage of people.

        My contact CLEARLY states what they can charge when the account is terminated, and they overcharged me. There is NOTHING legal about it, but until people speak up… they will continue to get away with it!

    • Cynthia

      Representative that came to my place of businesses Gregory Antonetti have learned changed contract after leaving my place of business ” Bait and switch ” he added my initials to the contract for the equipment lease even though he was told I did not want lease equipment!!!!! Also other things where changed. Called and spoke with Chris Chapman he says Greg is an independent contractor and nothing he can do ???????????? Have never even started processing with them but now they say I’m locked into the equipment lease for four years. Tying at this time to get out of that since equipment has NEVER been unpacked from box let alone any processing done. Stay away from this company !!!!!!!!

      • Eric McNamee

        Cynthia,

        Contact your bank and show them the initial page to stop payment through your bank as well as file a fraud lawsuit against the representative. If the first two payments for the lease aren’t made then the provider gets hit with a chargeback, which then takes the commission back from the representative.

        Also, all leases have to be verified either verbally or on a “acceptance of equipment and delivery” form. If you didn’t confirm the lease then they won’t deduct from your account. If they try to, contact the leasing company and explain to them that you never initialed the lease page and that the rep, Gregory Antonetti forged your signature.

        I’m not sure what it is but over the past few months I’ve come across a LOT of merchants that have been thrown into your exact scenario with iPayment, Eliot Group and Bankcard USA. It’s probably because independent reps are commission driven with terminals and have succumbed to high pressure tactics to get that quick buck because they know terminals are a dying breed in merchant services as most merchants are navigating to POS systems.

  • Herchel

    iPayment Inc., is simply the worst merchant processor in the US. They should be terminated for bad business practices and scamming their customers. Which ever comes first; being iPament changes your contract terms, fees and complementary add-ons. Therefore, don’t and I mean DON’T go with these guys.

    You want professional service and a ease processor go with First Data or another service if asked by Authorized.Net which merchant processor you can use. I cannot emphasize the revenue I lost by using this site. Never the less, the service I got with this company was rather worst. They charged me $59.99 “fee” with no name. A $49.99 for “MISC-MOTO Merchant ACCT” – very discrete when hiding those fees on your statement. When asked why? The risk department simply said “because your a risk”. I have just started using their service not even a week and I got this treatment. They closed my account and the guy even laugh over the phone when I told him, “this was illegal on every way”.

    I guess they just deserve the boot and I hope someone does something about it; the law department if you know what I mean. I just let it go, but I feel someone should not commit the same mistake I have.

    • Will

      I should have read your message before I signed up with them. I have a line for ** ADDITIONAL FEES of $79.90 and other fees that don’t make any sense.

      I tried closing the account; they will charge me again because it can take THEM up to 30 days to close the account. In the mean while they’ll charge me again because they’re in the process of closing my account.

      WORST experience I ever had with a merchant EVER!

      • Dianne Bey

        I agree. I had $79.90 taken out of my bank account on consecutive months. This company should be charged with fraud. They fabricated false application documents with my digital signature and sent it to Wells Fargo who won’t credit me for the unauthorized payments because this company provided them with this ‘application’…I can’t believe it…I have no recourse as Ipage hasn’t responded despite several phone calls and tickets..and the same with Ipayment…(Ipayment inc. not to be confused with Ipayment…separate companies I think..) I was told to phone the police and report it. I am hoping to get a refund. I got one salesperson to admit that I did not have a complete application and recorded on my phone…Help!!!!

  • Victor T

    Sales agents can change prices and terms. To get a good deal you need to find a combination of good middle size processor and honest, professional Independent Sales Agent (ISA). You will have lowest possible rates, no early termination fees, no batch fees, no minimum monthly fees, no hidden fees, free PCI compliance and no surprises.

  • Randy Steinberg

    Count me in – my business account got drained of almost $600 in the last 3 months for various fees – none of which are in their schedule of fees I signed up for and they cannot provide any documentation or evidence of any agreement or description of these fees or how they are charged, names, contact numbers or even an address of their company.

    This sounds like fraud in my book and I am pursuing as such.

  • Aaron M. Wilds

    I would recommend that every business STAY AWAY FROM IPAYMENT INC. This was my processor of 7 years. Like many small businesses I would review my statement from time to time and being busy perhaps I should have payed more attention.

    Bottom line is that they use “MISCELLANEOUS FEES”..to the tune of $60.00 per month..with NO explanation of what these fees are for. They will not answer questions regarding the “MISC. FEES”..only directing you to send them an email.

    They have very shady business practices including long funding times 3-4 days? no doubt so they can make money “on the float”. The worst is the hassle and way they rip you off when you try to cancel. When I finally wised up and decided to take my business elsewhere they would NOT take a cancellation over the phone. Instead they fax you a form and then you have to fax it back to them. Even then get this..they hit my account AGAIN. to the tune of $110.00. When I contacted them they said that all closures will take up to 30 days!!! so they can open an account in 1-2 days but it takes 30 Days to close it…NO this is simply a way of taking even more of your money or in hopes that you’ll forget about them and perhaps they will get 2-3 months more out of you.

    This is a TERRIBLE company with horrendous customer service STAY AWAY!

    Businesses BE WARE!…. They also failed to inform me when I cancelled that I needed to contact Authorize.net seperately to stop the 10.00 per month gateway fee I was being charged. UNLIKE ipayment Authorize.net was VERY professional and kind and took care of everything right over the phone.

    • Eric Gillette

      Aaron, sorry to hear about your experience with iPayment, er. . .ahem: “iStealYourMoney”.

      In any case I agree with you that Authorize.net had nothing to do with them, and is very professional — it is for this very reason, I simply kept my Authorize.net (since I got grandfathered into only paying $5.00 per month for their Automated Recurring Billing program), and I simply switched to a new payment processor (Cynergy Data).

      Cynergy is a bit more expensive (my rate is now 5.95% instead of the low 2.59% I had with iPayment), but to me it’s worth it in the long run to work with a company that I can call and get answers from, and when I charge a transaction — whether it’s $40, $400, or $4,000 — they simply deposit the funds into my account within the agreed upon 2 business days (if I put through a charge on Monday, funds are in my account on Wednesday like clockwork).

      I have now been processing through Authorize.net for 8 years, and have been processing with Cynergy for about 1 year and it’s like night and day.

      Cynergy had a questions about one of my transactions — guess what they did??

      Did they hold my funds? Did they cancel my account suddenly and label me a high risk?

      None of the above, they actually called me (there’s a novel idea) and asked what the transaction was for, and asked if I had documentation demonstrating that the client participated in the transaction and asked if they could call the client to verify.

      Of course my answer to all 3 questions was a resounding: “YES!”

      I simply faxed them the contract, they called the client to verify, and that was that.

      My client told me all they asked her was:

      – if she knew who I was.
      – did she authorize me to charge her credit card for $1,250.
      – did she receive the services I promised her (building and hosting her new website).

      Of course she answered yes to the first two questions, and for the last question she answered: “Eric is still working on it, but he told me it would be all done in about 2 weeks time as that is what we agreed upon from the beginning.”

      They didn’t hold my funds, they didn’t go crazy and suddenly cancel my account — they called me back, told me they spoke with my client, and that the transaction was successfully verified.

      I asked the VERY nice lady I spoke to if this was something they’d do with future transactions. Her response??

      “We may randomly choose transactions to verify based on the amount or other criteria that we feel make it necessary to verify the transaction, but we will always contact you to inform you of such. As long as you comply with what we ask for documentation wise, and we can verify the transaction with the client, we will *NEVER* (emphasis mine) hold your funds.”

      We also discussed my 0% chargeback rate a little bit, which she said was “excellent”, and that “as long as you take care of your clients, you should never have a problem with us holding your funds or anything like that.”

      My reply to her: “Wow. I really have to say you guys are a bit higher with the fees, but it’s good to breathe easy when it comes to my transactions. You guys give me the freedom I need to operate my business and do things I need to do on the fly, like process transactions using my cell phone when I meet with a client in person, or process online if a client faxes me their contract. That’s what I need.”

      Her response?

      “My pleasure Mr. Gillette — let us know if there’s anything we can do to help you with your processing needs in the future. Have a good day!”

      That is what I call customer service, and a good company to do business with.

      UPDATE: on the $250 iPayment owed me. . .I got the run around on that for awhile, until I eventually spoke to a CSR who told me they had to mail me a check, and that I’d receive it within 7 business days. It’s been 9 business days. I’m gonna call them on Monday and see what’s up and let you folks know how it turns out.

  • Eric Gillette

    Hey good news all, after waiting 6 months, iPayment *FINALLY* deposited the funds to my account after closing my account suddenly back in early November 2010 after I processed around $1,500 or so in transactions.

    They then charged me an “Early Termination Fee” — even though they were the ones who terminated my account ($500).

    I got them to refund $250 of this fee, but it still hasn’t yet hit my bank account more than a month or so later. . .

  • Mark Boyce

    Do not use iPayment. Fees are endless, statements are unintelligible and you can not get them out of your bank account. If I cannot get the bank to honor my stop payment I will have to change banks. Just do not use iPayment. You will be sorry.

    • Courtney W

      I’ve experienced the exact same issue. I’ve tried to cancel (was told no fee by salesman and nobody said anything about a fee when I called). I’ve asked the bank to dispute the last charges and I’m closing my bank acct monday.

  • Joan

    I made a purchase on my card on March 30, 2011. IPayment removed the funds from my account on April 6, 2011. As of today and NUMEROUS phone calls, they still have not released my funds to the merchant I made my purchase with. Since this was an ordered item, I had to pay for it in advance. Now, I am not sure if my merchant will give me my item when it does come in. This is a purchase of over $6,000. I do have my reciept and invoice. Do I have any recourse for this ?

    Joan

    • Eric Gillette

      Joan,

      Welcome to the world of credit card processing.

      In this world, the merchant is the one who takes absolutely 100% of the risk in doing business after accepting a credit card for the following reasons:

      1) The credit card issuer will not hold the customer liable for the charge if they claim it was “fraud” of if they simply say they “don’t recognize the charge”.

      2) If the merchant ships you a product and you claim your credit card “was stolen” or that you “don’t recognize the charge” and the merchant didn’t ship to your billing address and shipped instead to your work or other address, guess what happens?? The merchant loses the money you paid, and the merchandise they shipped you at an address other than your billing address.

      3) Under no circumstances will the processor be liable for any charges, nor will the credit card issuer, so if the customer claims “fraud” or “unrecognized charge” guess who takes the hit in *EVERY* case?? The merchant again.

      This is why I can say beyond a reasonable doubt that for a $6,000 charge, I highly doubt that whatever you bought for that price, if it is a tangible item, the merchant will likely not ship it — he’ll take a loss if he does.

      Think about it. . .you’ve been charged, so from your perception you “paid” already, however, since his merchant provider (iPayment) is holding his funds and not paying them out to him, he has *NOT* been paid from his perspective, therefore, why would he ship you a $6,000 item when he has no idea when iPayment may decide to release the funds back to him? Could be 90 days, could be 180 days. Either way, on a $6,000 item, I know me personally as a merchant, I wouldn’t wait 30 days for those funds, let alone 3 months, or even 6 months!

      I think your best bet at this point would be to contact the merchant and ask him what he thinks you should do.

      I know that in May if iPayment hasn’t released my funds from my clients, I will inform my clients to dispute the charges on their cards, and I will rebill them with my new merchant account.

      The good part about my business is that I work personally with all my clients, and have worked with most of my clients for 5-6 years or longer in most cases, so when they heard iPayment held my funds, yet I still performed the work I promised them, even without payment, my clients all understood how damaging it was to my business to have funds held by my merchant provider for no reason (I never had a single chargeback in the 19 months I had been processing with them, and my clients even called William to verify the transactions!).

      That said, each of my clients told me whatever I needed them to do in regards to the charge, they would do, so basically, I’m giving them until May to release my funds (that would be 180 days), if they don’t I’ll instruct my clients to take action.

    • Phillip CPO

      Hi Joan,

      This has likely happened for one of two reasons, or both:

      A single $6,000 charge may be over the merchant’s approved “high ticket” transaction limit, or unusual from in the merchant’s transaction history. In this case, most processors will place a temporary hold on the transaction to verify that the funds will be collected from the customer and that it wasn’t fraudulent. These type of holds usually only last 1-2 weeks.
      Or, The processor decided to establish a cash “reserve” with the merchant, which holds money as sort of an insurance policy against losses if the transaction is fraudulent, or the customer disputes the charge.

      The processor/merchant account provider actually does have a lot of risk is a situation like this because they are the middle man and can be left holding the bill. A merchant account is a line a credit and the processor pays the merchant before the money has been collected from the customer. If the transaction is fraudulent, or the customer disputes it after the merchant has been paid, the processor is the entity that takes the hit. The only recourse the processor has is to collect the disputed charge from the merchant. If they are unable to collect from the merchant, then they take the loss. This is why processors hold funds for unusually large transactions, or merchants they deem as “high risk.” The unfortunate part is that the merchant is often caught by surprise and many of these processors do a poor job of communicating why a hold is happening or a cash reserve is being placed.

  • victimized by ipayment inc

    Ipayment has been successfully sued and the owner appears to be dodging a $300,000,000.00 judgment against him. Maybe this is why the company has such a huge tract record or poor customer service and shady business activity.

    Ever since Ipayment began holding several thousand dollars of our money, we spoke to William in Risk management back in Sept of 2010. He was very rude on the phone and advised the funds would be on hold and they’d review the account in 30 days to see if they could be released. 30 days came and went, no funds released. We called William every 30 days for 6 months straight. Never answers phone, always goes to voice mail. Each time we were polite and asked for a call back. Not once did he attempt to call us. Either he doesn’t care about customer service or he is scared of a possible confrontation.

    6 months later they again held more funds. Called spoke to another person in Risk Management (who was actually a nice guy–you can still be nice and deliver poor news) and advised they were closing our account and here’s the kicker–they would be holding our funds (back from Sept. and recent) for another 7 months. He explained it would take 30 days to cancel the account then they can hold the funds for another 6 months beyond that date. Contract says they can only hold funds for 6 months. Can someone say fraud????

    Our business is now at the doors of bankruptcy and we’ve had to cancel and refund customer’s unshipped orders. William called us to see why we were refunding some orders. He was rude and proceeded to tell us how to properly run a business. Huh? He ended up hanging up on us during the phone conversation midway through my sentence. Didn’t even bother trying to call him back–why bother? Again, this was from a company we paid for a service. The good thing is we new what to expect from the conversation and recorded it!

    If your reading this, most likely you already use this company, so there is no sense in warning you to stay away. Here’s what you can do, won’t get you much results but if your having a problem report them to the better business bureau. This will not force things in your favor, but in the very least you’ll get a call back. Report it to there state’s attorney general. Once they get enough complains on file, they’ll open an investigation. Once a company is being investigated by the attorney general, they’ll always find areas to focus on. Close your bank account and end your relationship with this company ASAP.

    • Eric Gillette

      It’s disappointing to see that iPayment is still defrauding hard-working people out of their money by using the same deceptive practices over and over.

      If they continue at this rate, they won’t have any merchants left to process payments for in the first place!

      I can certainly agree with everything that has been said, and still have an open issue with iPayment where they held almost $2,000 in transactions from 3 of my clients, saying that my business model was “high risk”. I’d been processing with them for 19 months without a single chargeback when I got the phone call from William to let me know I was a “high risk” merchant. Oh, and to this day, I *still* have no chargebacks. Not even one, yet they’re still holding my funds which they’ve been holding since October of 2010. When I called in February of 2011 as William had instructed me to do to get my funds back (he told me to call after 90 days) he told me that their could still be chargebacks that they’d be liable for and that I need to call again in May 2011 to get my funds back. All this from me, a guy who has had NO CHARGEBACKS whatsoever, and still don’t to this day — even with my *current* merchant provider! My business is built on relationships that I develop with my clients to help them improve their businesses. This is the reason I don’t get chargebacks, because I provide a service that is invaluable to my clients. William couldn’t understand that. He also thought it was odd that I would use an app on my cell phone to process credit card transactions when I was face-to-face meeting with some of my clients. Either he lives in the stone-age, or doesn’t realize that it makes sense for me to process a card using my cell phone when I’m meeting face-to-face with a client.

      In any case, we’ll see what happens in May. . .I get the feeling he’ll give me the run around again, but I’ll keep an open mind and post back here with what the outcome is, since at that point, the time-frame for them to be held liable for chargeback will be over, so they’ll have NO excuse to try and keep my funds unless they are just as everyone here has been describing them — a fraudulent company.

      I’ll keep you all posted as to what happens in May when I call back — that’s about 2 weeks from today.

  • David

    Avoid Ipayment. My experience is that they use deceptive practices. If one looks, there are several investigations against them. Whatever you do, don’t supply them with your banking information. My experience is that they will debit your account without authorization and make it very difficult to recover your funds. There are many good companies out there to process your credit card; Ipayment is not one of them in my opinion.

  • J

    I have no idea how you could give this company an OK rating here. We’ve used this company for a while and has held over 10,000 worth of funds longer than 180 days per the contract. If you valid your business and financial goals, stay clear of this company!!!! If you are already a “customer” and you’re looking at reviews online because you are starting to have problems with them–don’t do what we did and hope the situation will get better. It will get much worse.

    They do not return phones calls.
    They are very rude when you ask them questions.
    They will not provide any written documentation.

  • Rick Ranelli

    ipayment is a rip off, there pci compliance program is a scam, i cancelled service because of it, six months later they debit my account $139.00 say it’s for previous years compliance fees. totally dissatisfied with this company.

    • Dianne Bey

      I totally agree with you. They fabricated an application and sent a copy to Wells Fargo…Wells Fargo wouldn’t credit me the fraudulent charges. I don’t recall filling out an application with them at all!!! I didn’t as a matter of fact. They took money out of my account for absolutely no services whatsoever…I didn’t agree to the money taken out, and had no services…no credit cards, no sales, etc… I didn’t need it in the first place. They pretended they were Ipage..and got my website name the day after I signed up, asked me how much volume, and started taking money out of my account. I said I am an artist and don’t plan to sell anything…I’m fuming.

  • Eric Gillette

    I spoke to the guy William at iPayment’s Risk Department. I had been processing with them for over a year, and HAD (and still have) NO chargebacks — none! Not one or two. . .NONE. I literally have a 0% chargeback rate. Most of my clients I have been working with for 5 years or longer. In November at the height of my business’ busy season, iPayment decided to suspend my account (and hold my funds for 180 days) because I was in William’s exact words: “A high risk merchant”. I laughed at first because I thought he was joking, and I mentioned to him that I had a 0% chargeback rate in the 19 months I had been processing with them. He said that didn’t matter, and that my business model (I’m an online business consultant and help new and existing business owners get their businesses online or enhance their business presence online) was “risky” as he put it. They of course dipped into my bank account for an additional $500 which they claim was to hold a “reserve” in the event of any chargebacks, and as I mentioned I have a 0% chargeback rate! I told my clients what transpired, and they all agreed it was crazy. I of course, did the work my clients requested me to do at no charge to them, since they had already “paid” me via credit card and iPayment held the funds, but I wasn’t about to penalize my clients for my processors insane actions. Instead I went back to my old processor, who accepted me with open arms, and even matched the rates that iPayment was giving me, since it was the reason I left them in the first place. Avoid processing with iPayment at all costs. If you go through a merchant service provider, ask them who their processor is, and if they tell you it’s iPayment, ask them to set you up with a different processor. You do have a choice.

  • Adam b

    This company does not give you a original copy of the contract. The salesmen gives you a copy from a small printer on the lab top. he adjusts the months form 12 to 48 on the lease. then gives you the copy of the original, after editing the sheet in the computer. Very bad. The state needs to move on first data global leasing that hires these jerks. ipayment says they are not linked to first data, but the salemen adjusts the contract to get commissions.

    • Cynthia winnie

      Complaint Information

      On 10/21/15 Gregory Antonetti representative of IPAYMENT ( credit card merchant provider) came to my place of business to talk about me switching to them as my provider. Actually it all sounded pretty good , we did tweek some things such as he wrote on the contract that I had a 90 day trial. How could you go wrong ? So we started the contract .he brought up that the lease on the equipment was $29.99 for 4 years. I told him no I can buy one for a lot cheaper then that.Greg says ” O no these new machines are around $ 2000.00 ” and to make it all better they would credit card my bill every month the $29.99 and that also with the leased equipment if there is any problems with the machine during that time that it is all covered and would send me out a new one no charge. So ok signed up.That evening got online just to check prices for the processing terminals found them for around $250.00. So was lied to about that.Called him first thing in the morning. no answer, left message. Told him to not turn in the equipment lease paper in.just going to buy one. Never heard back from him. Tried to call 2 other times no answer. Five days later here comes the processing equipment and a letter for the leased equipment stating that I could purchase equipment protection for $4.99 a month.,another lie that it would be covered for the length of the lease. Called GregAntonetti back he said if I had not leased the equipment through them that I would have been ” Raped on the fees”.I told him I was done & equipment had not been hooked up I had not done Any processing through them I want out. Greg said will you are on a 90 day trial you are free to do that .call the number on contract due to the fact that Greg Antonetti is not responding to me after numerous attempts. Speak with Chris Chapman, Now they say I’m locked into this lease for 48 months and that they don’t have a copy of my contract they just have a paper with my initials all over it for the lease? Asked Chris Chapman if he would he email me a copy. It’s the same one I have But has been changed !! omitted 90 day trial, omitted No annual fee ! initials added by the lease agreement ! signature page matches of course . Talked with Chris Chapman and informed me there was nothing he would do about it other then lowering my rates to keep me . Greg Antonetti is a representative of theirs and they don’t seem to care what practices he uses to get contracts signed.

  • John Griessen

    I “signed” up with National Merchant Bancard and when it came time to start, they had changed the prices from $8/month to $35/month with sortof the same terms, but with a $75 to $150 yearly PCI compliance fee.

    So they’re just a bait and switch sales tactic operation.
    They had started a process with authorize.net and with ipayments.com for a web based virtual terminal app, so if you wanted to you could get going for $35/month. I’m waiting until I have some internet sales volume to support it.

    Until then I’ll use paypal, google checkout, and amazon payments for
    small volumes of credit card sales, and probably even more sales by image check.

    John

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