Anovia Payments Review

More Than 70 Complaints

We are able to locate more than 70 Anovia Payments complaints on this and other consumer protection websites, and some of these complaints accuse the company of being a scam or a ripoff. Complainants mention a wide range of different issues, including internal problems among employees, inaccurate pricing quotes, undisclosed contract terms, costly one-time and recurring fees, unreachable customer service, and unexplained fund holds.

Anovia Payments Lawsuits

We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against Anovia Payments. Dissatisfied merchants who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

Anovia Payments Customer Support Options

The Anovia website lists a phone number for general customer support and an email form for non-urgent issues. Given Anovia’s complaint volume and the content of the complaints, we will assign it a “C” in this category at this time.

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.

Over 30 Complaints

Anovia Payments currently has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since June 2014. The company has received 35 total complaints, with 13 related to billing and collection, 21 due to product or service issues, and 1 related to advertising or sales issues. Anovia has successfully resolved 10 of the complaints, while the remaining 25 either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the complainant.

What Merchants Say

Anovia Payments has also received 24 informal reviews from BBB users, with 17 of them negative and 7 positive in tone. The most recent negative informal review describes a $495 early termination fee:

I’m the Anovia user now. It’s a bad company. I just found that the sales agent signed a 3-year contract foe me without letting me know. I’ve already used two years. I want to terminate the contract now, but was told to pay $495 early termination fees. How terrible the agent is! If you are the sales agent who see the post, please deal with the problems as soon as possible. Otherwise, I’ll post your name here.

Early termination fees can cost merchants hundreds, if not thousands of dollars. Merchants in situations such as this would benefit from learning how to cancel their accounts without paying a fee.

A “C” Performance Overall

In light of the company’s increased complaint volume and resolution ratio over the past year, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C.”

Three-Year Contract

Anovia does not list its pricing and fees on its website, but we have been able to determine some of the company’s costs by reading merchant complaints. Anovia’s partnerships with TSYS and First Data mean that Anovia Payments likely offers contract terms that are very similar to the terms offered by those companies.

Typical contracts with First Data offer a wide variety of contract terms and pricing plans, but its standard agreement is typically a multiyear contract with an early termination fee of $495, a monthly PCI compliance fee of $19.95, and tiered pricing. Merchants who process up to $50,000 each month will receive a swiped rate of 2.69% plus $0.19 and a keyed in rate of 3.69% plus $0.19. Merchants whose monthly charges exceed $50,000 will receive a swiped rate of 2.29% plus $0.19 and a keyed in rate of 3.29% plus $0.19. Another facet of these contracts are non-cancellable, long term equipment leases through First Data Global Leasing.

TSYS website outlines three pricing plans. The “Pursue” plan listed a swipe rate of 2.5% plus $0.20 per transaction and a keyed rate of 3.5% plus $0.20 per transaction. The “Grow” plan listed a swipe rate of 1.99% plus $0.20 per transaction and a keyed rate of 3.1% plus $0.20 per transaction. The “Accelerate” plan listed a swipe rate of 1.7% plus $0.20 per transaction and a keyed rate of 3% plus $0.20 per transaction.

TSYS Merchant Solutions’ basic contracts also include a three-year service agreement that automatically renews for one-year terms unless the merchant cancels during a small window of opportunity. Merchants who cancel outside of the grace period will be subject to a $295 Early Termination Fee (ETF). This, with an automatically renewing contract, greatly reduces the company’s rating in this section as it makes avoiding paying an early termination fee difficult. In addition, merchants are charged a quarterly PCI compliance fee of $18.80 ($75.20 a year).

Other Anovia Fees

Recent complaints indicate that the company’s minimum early termination fee is $495, but that some merchants who terminate may face an additional cost calculated by multiplying the number of months remaining in the contract by the merchant’s average monthly processing fees. One complainant cited a $22 monthly service fee and a $30 monthly fee for a service called “Anovia Insights.” Merchants also mention issues with fund withholding, which may be related to account setup errors.

Pricier Than the Competition

Our reviews of Anovia’s backend processors describe those companies’ contract terms as average, and the merchant feedback we’ve received about Anovia confirms that the company is not a cheap merchant account provider. We will therefore assign Anovia a “D” rating in this section at this time. If you have any knowledge about the standard Anovia contract, please leave that information in the comment section of this review.

In-House Sales Team

Anovia Payments primarily hires in-house, W2-employed sales representatives to market its services directly. While this is preferable to the industry standard of hiring independently contracted agents, it is worth noting that Anovia has recently partnered with a telecommunications company called ACN to refer merchants.

Partnered With ACN

Although ACN has received numerous negative reviews online, an Anovia representative has stated that ACN sales reps do not have the ability to offer specific pricing or product recommendations to merchants. In addition, merchants interact with Anovia for the entire sales process, and ACN representatives are not involved directly with merchants. Anovia also has a referral program in place that allows business owners to make residuals by referring other merchants to Anovia.

Broken Sales Promises

This sales structure is designed to prevent merchants from experiencing deceptive practices when dealing with Anovia Payments. However, we have located a low-to-moderate number of negative Anovia Payments reviews describing issues with the account setup process and rate guarantees from Anovia reps. It seems that some Anovia reps promise to beat or match merchants’ current rates, but some merchants dispute whether this guarantee is fulfilled. Other complaints mention nondisclosure of the company’s contract length and expensive termination fee. If you suspect that you are paying an undisclosed fee from Anovia, we recommend that you obtain a fee reduction audit from an independent third party.

Mixed Merchant Feedback

All told, the number of complaints we’ve received since this review’s initial publication raises some concerns about Anovia’s sales approach. This has forced us to lower the company’s score in this section to a “C.”

Not a Recommended Processor At This Time

According to the company’s complaint trends, Anovia rates as an average merchant services provider. The company appears to have some issues related to customer service and sales tactics, and its pricing appears to be more expensive than average for the industry. Merchants are encouraged to inquire about all possible fees before signing up with Anovia, and to compare it to more affordable options with better reviews.