Phone Swipe Review

Phoneswipe / Moblized Logo
3.5
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How did they treat you? ▼

Update 3/8/2019: Phone Swipe's website (phoneswipe.com) now redirects to PayAnywhere. As of May 2018, North American Bancard replaced its Phone Swipe mobile payment processing services with PayAnywhere, stating that the latter would offer the same services and functionality as Phone Swipe. For up-to-date information about this company, see our PayAnywhere Review.

Phone Swipe (phoneswipe.com) is a mobile payment processing service provided by North American Bancard. Created in 2007, Phone Swipe allows merchants and individuals to accept credit and debit card payments via their Android phone, iPhone, or iPad using a small magnetic stripe card reader. Phone Swipe does not appear to offer an EMV-compatible reader at this time. Phone Swipe is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Walnut Creek, California, and is located at 111 North Harbor Blvd. #2, Fullerton, California 92832. The president and CEO of North American Bancard is Marc Gardner.

Key Points

  • Sales & Marketing: Phone Swipe does not promote misleading rate quotes on its website, but it has received complaints about undisclosed fees.
  • Costs & Contract: Phone Swipe offers a free card swiper and fixed per-transaction pricing, but some merchants complain of undisclosed monthly minimum fees and fees upon termination.
  • Complaints & Service: Phone Swipe has received over 20 public complaints.
  • BBB Rating: Phone Swipe has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 15 complaints in the past three years.
  • Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Phone Swipe

Phone Swipe Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 20+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees

We are currently able to locate over 20 Phone Swipe complaints on this and other consumer protection websites, some of which accuse the service of being a ripoff or a scam. Common complaints include delayed or withheld funds, poor customer service, undisclosed fees, and problems with the app itself related to a software update. Delayed payment and poor customer service tend to be mentioned in the same complaints, as merchants report difficulty reaching representatives and having their funds delivered to them in a timely fashion. The company’s website offers a dedicated phone support number and email address, and these lines appear to be serviced by North American Bancard.

Phone Swipe Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints 5
Billing & Collection Complaints 8
Advertising & Sales Complaints 1
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints 0
Delivery Complaints 1

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, Phone Swipe is not an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau. The company holds an “F” rating and has had 15 complaints filed against it in the last 36 months. Five of these were filed in relation to problems with the company’s product or service, eight were due to billing or collection disputes, one was related to an advertising or sales issue, and one had to do with delivery. The company resolved five complaints successfully, while five complaints either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. The remaining five complaints received no response whatsoever from Phone Swipe. The BBB cites these unaddressed complaints as the primary factors lowering the company’s grade. Given the company’s complaint total and resolution ratio, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “D.”

Phone Swipe Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Cost & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate 2.69%
Keyed-in Rate 3.49%
Early Termination Fee None
PCI Compliance Fee None
Equipment Lease Terms Variable

Phone Swipe offers a service that is similar to Square and other smartphone-compatible processors. The company advertises no long-term service agreements, early termination feesPCI Compliance fees, or minimum monthly fees, but we have seen complaints alleging that the company actually does charge monthly minimum fees and an early termination fee. All swiped transactions are processed at 2.69%, and all card-not-present transactions are processed at 3.49%. Merchants should determine which type of transaction they are more likely to process when deciding whether to use Phone Swipe.

The majority of the complaints filed against Phone Swipe appear to be the product of the company’s fraud prevention policies. Like Square, Phone Swipe reserves the right to withhold merchant funds at its discretion to establish a cash reserve. Some merchants report surprise upon learning that a large portion of their payments have been withheld without notification, and they further express difficulty resolving the issue in a timely fashion through Phone Swipe’s customer service department. The Phone Swipe website claims that it differentiates itself from Square by having an automated underwriting process (as opposed to Square’s lack of underwriting), but the service still seems to be plagued by the same complaints.

Phone Swipe 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

Phone Swipe appears to primarily market its service through its website and online promotion. At this time, the company does not appear to employ independent sales agents, although it does allow sales organizations to resell Phone Swipe as their mobile payment solution. We are currently able to locate a handful of Phone Swipe reviews that describe nondisclosure of fees by the company’s sales team. The Phone Swipe website advertises a swiped transaction fee of 2.69% and a keyed transaction fee of 3.49%, and there are no merchant complaints online that challenge these rate quotes, although vaguely described “hidden fees” have been mentioned in complaints.

At the time of our previous update, the Phone Swipe website advertised a free terminal placement program for merchants who process over $10,000 per month. This $10,000 minimum was only described in the fine print of the page, and there was no mention anywhere of the additional costs listed in this full version of the company’s terminal placement agreement. The full agreement mentions that merchants whose monthly volume falls below $10,000 will be subject to monthly fees, which range from $19 to $99, and all merchants in the program will be charged an annual software license fee of $79. Failure to mention this information on the company’s website, which includes prominently placed signup forms, is a slightly misleading sales tactic in our opinion. As a positive sign for Phone Swipe, the company appears to have removed this promotion from its website.

Our Phone Swipe Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

Due mostly to its affiliation with North American Bancard and its low BBB grade, Phone Swipe rates as an average merchant services provider according to our rating system. The company’s credit card processing service is showing a low complaint total at this time, and it appears that the most persistent issues are the company’s cash reserve policy and its customer service network.

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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 Phone Swipe Treat You?

21 User Reviews

  • Steve flick

    This co.has the worst customer service I have ever dealt with. They send my app to an update and then tell me reader will no longer work. I asked them to send me the new reader to the show that I am at for three weeks and they tell me they can’t do that either. In the mean time I need to type in the cc numbers and then they are going to charge me a higher rate per trans.
    Very poor outfit. Dropping them as soon as I get home.

    From The Editor
    This Post Might Help: Best Mobile Card Processing Apps

  • C. Livingston

    We have never ever used this company. We have our own company. Yet this company is sending us information on customers we have never had. We are likely receiving card info from another company which is a giant security breach. Then, we received a reader we never ordered. I would not trust a company with security this lax, especially when they want to infiltrate your business.

  • Trace Durham

    I had issues right out of the gate with Phoneswipe. The reader broke twice and took forever to get a replacement. Then they would charge a huge amount to me if I had a good month and it wasn’t in the “norm”. So you get penalized for having a good month. To finish it off I sold the company. Called them to let them know, then get a bill 3 months later that they sent me to collections. They said I didn’t write them to cancel the service. But they never told me that when I called!!! So now I have to pay the fee to get the account closed. Wouldn’t recommend this company to my worst enemy.

  • Erin Burnett

    I wish I would have read these reviews before starting my “free” phone swipe account. I’m not sure how this company is legally still in business…they are nothing but a huge scam. They just charged me over $200 for absolutely nothing but their lies and hidden fees. I hope people will read this review before considering doing business with this company like I wish I had.
    PLEASE DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY!!!

  • Ron Klassen

    The app works great on my Samsung X5 phone.
    The processing stinks, in fact, it seems like a scam.
    They’ve held up our payment for nearly 3 weeks, continually asking more inane questions, demanding proof of this and that. Of the 4 CC processors we’ve worked with, they are 5th. As soon as we get this payment cleared, we’re gone, never to return.

    Now, after going thru hell, I’ve noticed several others having the same kind of issues. And low fees? 3.5% of $1,900?? Not low at all. There are far better processors out there, I’d suggest avoiding this one.

  • Frank

    Best service ever. Their customer service department is very helpful and always returns calls as well as send updated notes via e mail. I have tried several different merchant processors all shutting my business right down and holding funds, phone swipe is the only company that never gave me any issues. Their deposits always occur the next day with out fail. Best service ever!

  • Jen

    Be ware. Phone Swipe just allowed a sales company complete access to all my banking information in an attempt to charge me a $30 a month fee to see online reviews and the info that is available to me on my statement. I’ve recommended this company for years, but will get away from them asap since they are giving all my financial info to some con artist who represents that he is part of company. How incredibly dishonest!

  • Robert allegro

    This company is absolutely terrible I would not recommend using this company. They have been holding funds of mine for over one month. Their customer service is terrible and I don’t know what they’re talking about. They keep giving me the runaround and send me all these confusing emails and refused to pay me my money. As of today I still have not received my money


    Are you with Phone Swipe? Learn how to resolve this complaint.

  • Jeremy Robbins

    I would strongly suggest that no one uses this company. Their customer service is awful, they charge a monthly maintenance fee, and there’s better lower-cost options out there. Why use this when there’s Square or many others? North American Bancard services low credit people and treats everyone as if they’re in that category. No reason to use this thing.

  • William Letman

    BEWARE! Whatever you do don’t trust this company. They will tell you one thing to get you to sign up for the service but before you can complete the sign up process they will start drafting fees from your account and hold you liable for the fees. Then when you find that this has happened and try to resolve the isssue they drag their feet to correct it so you are close to the next month I tried for a month to get $128 credit back to my account only for the same thing to occur with a extra $100 they tried to debit after I cancelled the account now another fee. The employees and senior rep are very unprofessional, I honestly feel this place is being operated out of the Ghetto. I would not recommend this company to anyone. They tell me that they will credit my account back if I sent them a voided check after sending me 3 terminals that doesn’t work for the Government contract I have LOL .RUN!!!!!!

  • Kirk Lohse

    My experience with this company has been HORRIBLE. They tell you everything is FREE, but then they DEBIT YOUR BANK ACCOUNT for all of these mysteriously heretofore undisclosed FEES. Total BS ripoff. Go with SQUARE or PayPal Here for your card reading needs.

  • Roger jahn

    just got my first E-statement..the daily deduction of 1.68% from each swipe is fine, (as advertised)..the monthly charge of $12.95 for the “free pad” is tolerable, but finding out that my bank account was debited an extra 7% on top of that for a “min volume processing fee” brings my cost to do Swipe to 8.68% or 9.88% if I include monthly fees…we are getting funded next day for swipes before 5pm …so no problems there, but the minimum volume fees…that was not made clear in the signup process..

  • Ernie Radicchi

    Been in business for 31 years. They called me. They sent me their card reader. I still never responded. They called ME again and asked why I have not hooked up. The service rep said he would walk me through it. I had a couple of eBay transactions that I could have done with someone else but I said I would give them a try. One was for 462.50 and the other for 675. Both went through, I was told my money would be in my bank account the next day. Nothing.
    Got an email telling me my funds were on hold. I exploded on their answering machine, you never get a live person. I called for 5 days and finally I cancelled both transactions and will never use them again. Next day had a charge of almost $90 on my credit card. So they made $100. On me and made my stomach churn for two weeks. Plus my customers on eBay are not thrilled and I have a 100% feedback rating. THEY SUCK AND SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO OPERATE.

  • Larry Pfeil

    By “no monthly fee” they mean a $10 monthly fee, and by “no miminum monthly charges”, they mean there is a $25 minimum monthly charge. But wait, it gets better, by no long-term commitment and monthly renewals with no cancellation charge, they mean a minimum of one year commitment with a $350 cancellation penalty. I will not do business with Phone Swipe and I would not recommentd to anyone to do business with them.

    • Ron

      Phone Swipe is a bad credit card processor to deal with. Huge fees and delayed funding. Reported to the NJ Banking Commission and BBB. They are crooks and buyer beware. Use bank approved merchant services and stay away from Phone Swipe and Square! Both are crooks and should be shut down for stealing from customers.

  • Dimitry Borochin

    !!!!AVOID THEM!!!!!

    Wow, what a mess. Stay away!!!! You’ll get hidden fees and they will grow over the course of your contract…”If you don’t have any charges that month, you still have to pay fees”.. “Monthly Basic Service Fee”….. Contract? Phone Swipe has a contract? Yes contract … 3 yr contract. I’ve been able to figure out the following, PhoneSwipe->PayProTec->North American Bancard. To me, it looks like a bunch of shell companies that front for NAB. So, assume your payment terms will be NAB’s… Yes, they are the worst. Read the NAB review on this site. At the time of this writing, they got a D.

  • Robert L

    Phone Swipe… sounds like a good idea. Wow, what a mess. I have been waiting to receive my money for about 45 days and still no answers and a lot of excuses. I simply changed my bank account and they have not processed the information that I have updated and updated for the third time. The customer service is absolutely the biggest load of @$!&^ I have ever dealt with. If you want to effectively manage your merchant services, DO NOT go with Phone Swipe or North American Bancard. They will, at the least, cause delays in payment and over promise their services. They offer free equipment which is a crock, only if they feel that they will be able to delay or keep your first couple of months transactions to pay for this equipment. Or if they can determine by osmosis that you will be a high volume customer. So, no real value in that, go with the Square or PayPal Here. I can not stress how much this company has aggravated my merchant processing services. JUST WALK ON BY…

  • RD

    Phoneswipe customer service is terrible. They allowed information to be stolen and caused merchant accounts to become compromised. Because of their error I have had funds held for weeks with no notice of the hold. Merchants beware, do not use this company. The square has never given me a bit of trouble.

  • Mark O

    We have had NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS with PhoneSwipe (they seem to also go by the name “North American Bancard” and possibly Mobilized.com) since we signed up a month ago. We have not recieved payments, and every time I call in to ask why, I get a different reason. Lately I am told the money will be released, and the next day, still no funds. The time on hold has been up to 30 minutes EVERY TIME I GOT TRANSFERRED last week. Our account rep told me she doesn’t check her voicemail messages, which is why she did not respond to me last week. Today I can’t reach our “rep” as her phone is always busy, and I get the voicemail that I do not believe she listens to. I couldn’t talk to an Operator, since that goes to voicemail when I tried. Last week our rep said the money was to be released, but now I suspect I am in for more excuses. Now, I just hope I can get my money. They claim a one day payment but we are now at 14 days waiting for payment. IN MY OPINION THIS COMPANY MAY BE UNABLE TO DEAL WITH THEIR VOLUME OR IS IN TURMOIL. I WOULD RECOMMEND A DIFFERENT COMPANY FOR PROCESSING, AS THESE PEOPLE DO NOT APPEAR ABLE TO RELIABLY OPERATE, IN MY OPINION.

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