- Sales & Marketing: Axis Payments appears to hire independent sales representatives and has received a moderate number of complaints about its sales practices.
- Costs & Contract: Axis Payments appears to offer a multi-year contract through First American Payment Systems with an early termination fee of up to $500.
- Complaints & Service: Axis Payments has received more than 15 public complaints.
- BBB Rating: Axis Payments (as Certified Payment Processing) has a "C" rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 189 complaints in the past three years.
- Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Axis Payments
Axis Payments Review
We take our role in providing guidance and education regarding the card payment industry very seriously. At our own expense, we have vigorously defended our right to continue expose unethical and predatory practices in the industry, successfully defeating every attempt to silence us. However, fending off frivolous lawsuits is costly. To sustain these efforts, one of the ways we generate revenue is through affiliate partnerships with ethical providers. This means that some of our outgoing links connect business owners to trustworthy, low-cost payment processors, which is what most of our readers seek. We see this revenue channel as a win-win-win for everyone involved. Business owners find good processors, processors get good clients, and we are able to continue to provide a valuable service to the small business community. We also recommend and link to many services that do not compensate us. Our priority is to guide you to the best solutions for your needs, regardless of potential revenue. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.
All mentions of rate and fee costs are estimations based on publicly available information and client feedback. Actual costs may vary based on a variety of factors unique to your business.
Axis Payments
Rating
Customer Reviews & Sentiment
We are currently able to locate more than 20 negative Axis Payments reviews, some of which explicitly accuse the company of being a scam or a ripoff. These complaints have been posted by merchants and former employees alike, and they commonly cite fake appointments, poor leads, aggressive sales tactics, hidden fees, and unreachable customer service. The company has consistently received complaints since we first published this profile in January 2016, and we see no information in these complaints that suggests that Axis Payments offers a better merchant experience than Apex Merchant Group or Certified Payment Processing. In light of these factors, we’ve assigned Axis a “C” rating in this category.
Industry Scores & User Ratings
| Product & Service Complaints | 28 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 14 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 57 |
| Guarantee & Warranty Complaints | 0 |
| Delivery Complaints | 0 |
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.
The Better Business Bureau currently lists Axis Payments as a DBA of Certified Payment Processing and funnels all Axis Payments complaints to the profile for Certified Payment Processing. The BBB profile for Certified Payment Processing currently has a “A-” rating and has received 99 merchant complaints in the past three years. Twenty-eight of these complaints were related to product or service problems, 57 had to do with advertising issues, and 14 were related to billing or collection disputes. Certified Payment Processing/Axis Payments resolved 28 complaints successfully, but 66 complaints either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. An additional five complaints did not receive what the BBB considered to be a good faith effort toward resolution. Although this profile absorbs complaints from all of Certified Payment Processing’s associated brands, there is no reason to believe that Axis Payments does not proportionally contribute to the total. We have therefore adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C” based on the company’s high complaint total and poor resolution ratio.
Processing Rates & Fees
There is very little information available about the standard Axis Payments contract at this time because the company does not list its rates and fees on its website. However, as a reseller of First American Payment Systems, the company probably offers pricing and fees that are similar to those offered by First American Payment Systems. As a result, merchants can probably expect a three-year agreement with automatic renewal for one-year terms, an early termination fee of $495 to $595, an annual fee of $95, a monthly minimum fee of $25, an annual PCI compliance fee of $124.75, and a number of other, miscellaneous fees. Some fees cited by complainants include a $12.95 monthly equipment rental fee, a “non-returned equipment charge” of approximately $700, a cancellation fee ranging from $250 to $500, and long-term equipment leases that charge the full cost of the remaining months of the lease upon cancellation.
In general, we do not see any reason to recommend Axis Payments’s pricing at this time. The company’s apparent affiliation with poorly rated providers inclines us to warn merchants to read all contract terms carefully and deal only with agents they trust. If you have any specific knowledge of the standard Axis Payments merchant agreement, please share that information in the comment section below this review.
Axis Payments Competitors
Compare Axis Payments to competitors that earned top marks.
Bottom Line
Axis Payments rates poorly as a merchant services provider according to our rating criteria. The company appears to simply be a DBA of Certified Payment Processing, which has a long track record of negative merchant feedback. We will continue to monitor this company and its associated businesses for any improvements or declines in their service.
