APS Payments Review

APS Payments Pricing

An APS Payments representative has stated that the company’s standard contract term is a three-year agreement through TSYS, although the company is flexible on the service length. For reference, typical TSYS rates vary around >a swiped rate of 2.5% plus $0.20 and a keyed rate of 3.5% plus $0.20. A standard TSYS contract also includes a PCI compliance fee of PCI compliance fee of $18.80 charged quarterly.

APS Payments Cancellation Policy

The company representative also stated that APS Payments will not charge early termination fees (ETF) if a merchant goes out of business, sells his or her business, or gives APS Payments an opportunity to match the better rates being offered by another company. In other words, a merchant will only experience an ETF if the merchant cancels service before the end of the contract without offering APS Payments a chance to match a competing offer. TSYS contracts typically include a $295 ETF in the event the company chooses to exercise the fee.

Early Termination Fee Complaints

At the time of a previous update, there was a Better Business Bureau complaint against APS Payments that mentioned an early termination fee of over $1,000, and another complaint filed in the comment section below our American Payment Solutions review describes a similarly large fee. This unusually high fee may indicate a liquidated damages clause. The Better Business Bureau complaint went unaddressed by APS Payments reps, but the complaint in our comment section received a response from a representative who denied that the merchant was an APS Payments client.

Few Contract Complaints

The low number of specific complaints about the company’s costs and pricing leads us to believe that most APS Payments clients are satisfied with the service they receive. We therefore assign the company an “A” rating for the time being, but we do not consider it to be an especially cheap merchant account provider.

Low Complaint Total

We are currently unable to locate any negative APS Payments reviews that accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam. In fact, there are only three negative reviews of the company outside of the Better Business Bureau at this time, and they mention unrealistic guarantees, questionable sales tactics, and poor customer service. One employee complaint describes unethical managerial practices and seems to confirm the company’s tendency for bait-and-switch tactics echoed in another complaint. APS Payments’ low complaint total indicates to us that the company employs a capable and responsive customer service staff that generally does an effective job of resolving complaints in-house.

APS Payments Lawsuits

We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against APS 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.

APS Payments Customer Support Options

It is also possible that some APS Payments complaints get redirected to the online profiles of its processor, TSYS, but there is no evidence that this is occurring. Additionally, complaints meant for APS Payments could be misdirected to other payment processors with similar names, such as American Payment Systems. The APS Payments website does not appear to list dedicated customer support contact information, which disqualifies it from consideration as a top-rated merchant account provider for customer service.

No BBB Complaints

APS Payments is listed with the Better Business Bureau as “American Payment Solutions” and has been an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau since 2009. As of this review, the company has an “A+” rating with the BBB and has not had any complaints filed against it in the last 36 months.

What Merchants Say

Although APS Payments has not received any complaints on its BBB profile, the company has received two informal reviews. One review is positive in tone while one is negative. The most recent review details undesirable contract terms:

Terrible lease, misrepresentation by sales, tech support never returns call or fix problem. Did not honor 30 day cancellation. Do not sign or read small print that they don’t tell you and lie about..48 month non cancellation fees and once sign don’t take responsibility for all the lies and bs problems. Terrible company only reason they get 1 star is because I had to in order to leave review

Merchant account contracts are intricately written and require a thorough review before signing. Equipment leases like those referenced in this complaint can be especially costly, which is why we always encourage merchants to purchase rather than lease equipment.

An “A” Performance Overall

Given the company’s clean complaint record and resolution ratio, we agree with the BBB’s rating. Merchants should still be aware that there are good reasons to be skeptical of the BBB’s reviews.

Inside Sales Team

APS Payments appears to market itself through its referral network and an in-house sales staff. According to a company representative, APS Payments does not utilize sub-ISOs or independent sales agents to acquire new clients. APS Payments does form strategic partnerships as a sort of reseller relationship (for instance, offering its services to various professional associations), but this is not the same as a standard credit card processing industry reseller.

No Deceptive Advertising

We are currently able to locate only one APS Payments complaint that is related to the company’s sales team, and this complaint states that APS representatives misrepresented the services they were capable of providing. To its credit, the company does not appear to engage in any deceptive advertising strategies in its official materials. If you suspect that APS Payments is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking a third-party statement audit to find and eliminate hidden costs.