Cayan Merchant Services Review & Complaints | 2023

Cayan Logo
Overall Score
4.3
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Would you recommend them?

Updated: Cayan appeared to have been fully absorbed into TSYS as of 2019 and Cayan’s website (cayan.com) redirected to the TSYS homepage; however, the Cayan brand appears to have been resurrected as of at least June of 2023. The content below has not yet been updated to reflect the recent changes. If you have any further information regarding Cayan’s operations, please leave it in the comment section below. 

Cayan (cayanmerchantservices.com) is a merchant account provider headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Formerly known as “Merchant Warehouse,” the company rebranded at the beginning of 2015 to a name that “better communicated [its] bold vision.” The company was founded in 1998 and was an early leader in internet payments. It has since grown into a very large processor with over 30,000 merchants and $7 billion per year in payments processed. TSYS acquired Cayan in January 2018, but Cayan appears to operate as an independent brand for the time being.

Cayan’s flagship product is its cloud-based customer service platform called “Cayan Genius.” The company can provide payment processing for most business types and sizes. Cayan is a registered ISO/MSP of US Bank, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Walnut Creek, California. The company is headquartered at 1 Federal St, Boston, Massachusetts 02110. Henry Helgeson is Cayan’s CEO.

Key Points

  • Sales & Marketing: Cayan appears to hire independent sales representatives and has received a few dozen complaints about its sales practices.
  • Costs & Contract: Cayan offers a month-to-month contract through TSYS with no early termination fee.
  • Complaints & Service: Cayan has received more than 120 public complaints.
  • BBB Rating: Cayan has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 95 complaints in the past three years.
  • Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Cayan

Cayan Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 120+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees

Cayan (under the names Cayan and Merchant Warehouse) is showing over 120 total complaints across all consumer protection websites, some of which describe the company as a scam or a ripoff. Most complainants either cite undisclosed fees and higher-than-expected transaction rates or poor customer service experiences. One complaint from November 2014 mentions that after “calling several times and being put on hold for long wait periods over and over,” the merchant eventually received a PDF document that could be used to cancel service. Another complainant in the comment section of this review states the following: “I specifically asked the representative if the fees he described were the only fees and he swore up and down they were. NOT SO! All sorts of mystery fees started showing up.”

Despite these concerning trends, the overall number of complaints filed against the company is low relative to its size. In addition, company representatives appear to do a better-than-average job of responding to public complaints in an effort to resolve merchants’ issues. Cayan offers live chat support, email support, and phone support to its users, although merchants have reported problems with the live chat feature and the phone line on occasion.

Cayan Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints 42
Billing & Collection Complaints 49
Advertising & Sales Complaints 2
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints 0
Delivery Complaints 2

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.

Cayan currently has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been accredited since 2002. The company has received 95 complaints in the past three years, with 49 related to billing and collection, 45 due to product or service issues, two related to advertising disputes, and two having to do with delivery issues. Cayan has successfully resolved 23 of these complaints, while the remaining 72 either were resolved to the merchant’s dissatisfaction or did not receive a final response from the merchant. The BBB has also received 45 informal reviews about the company, with all of these being negative in tone. In light of these figures, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “B.”

Cayan Fees, Rates & Contract

Rates & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate Variable
Keyed-in Rate Variable
Early Termination Fee None
PCI Compliance Fee $99 Per Year
Equipment Lease Terms Variable

Cayan’s rates will vary depending on a merchant’s size, business type, and processing history, but the company’s standard contract does not include an early termination fee of any kind. This means that merchants will effectively enjoy a month-to-month agreement through Cayan. However, the company also charges an annual PCI compliance fee of $99 that is the subject of multiple complaints, and it appears to charge a few other monthly fees that may or may not be fully described to merchants before signup. Cayan offers equipment for upfront purchase or via a lease arrangement, and merchants are advised to almost always buy rather than lease. Cayan’s rating would normally take a hit in this section due to the complaints about undisclosed fees, but its cancellation policy mitigates most of the risk for merchants. Merchants are always encouraged to negotiate for the lowest fees and rates possible before signing up for service (see: “Fee Sweep”).

Cayan Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

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

Cayan relies primarily on lead generation, referrals, partnerships, and an inside sales force to market its merchant services. The company does enable outside sales agents to resell its products under the “Capital Bankcard” brand name (which receives an “A” rating on CardPaymentOptions.com) but the majority of its business is acquired through direct sales.

Cayan has received a few dozen sales-related complaints both as Cayan and as Merchant Warehouse. These complaints most often cite nondisclosure or misrepresentation of certain rates and fees such as the company’s Mid-Qualified and Non-Qualified rates. We have seen Cayan advertisements in search results that promote a rate of “0.28%,” which supports these complaints. Merchants should be sure to inquire about all possible rates and fees to avoid a negative experience. To its credit, Cayan does not list any misleading rates quotes on its website. Considering Cayan’s size relative to its complaint total and its lenient cancellation policy, we have given it a “B” in this section for the time being.

Cayan Review Summary

Cayan rates as a reliable merchant services provider according to all available information. The company’s acquisition by TSYS did not appear to involve any changes to its contract terms, so merchants can continue to expect a month-to-month agreement with industry-average pricing. Cayan is a solid option for most business types, but merchants are encouraged to inquire about all possible rates and fees. For more information, visit Cayan’s Website or call (888) 506-8019.

Top Performing Cayan Competitors

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Please note that we only suggest providers that adhere to strict ethical standards and offer top performing support at extremely competitive pricing. We may earn revenue if choose one of our recommendations.

Reader Comments, Testimonials & Complaints

70 User Reviews

  • Alberto

    Boldster LLC

    Dont use this card processor!!! they will steal your money soon or later. Merchant Warehouse was a good company but as soon the original ownership change, everything start going downhill. They start to charge me a monthly fee without advise (which I notice more than 1 year later… my fault) and even I still asking for a prove of my agreement with that “new” policy, nobody sounded worry or even interested in solve my claims, customer service is worst than bad and sound like they use a third part company overseas for most of the calls. They hold payments for days, weeks and months with no valid explanation as for example “fraud suspect” (after they approve the card transaction) and they bill me processing fees in the 6-7 % average. I decide to cancel my account but I am looking for legal advice. It should be some government entity which can control this kind of companies and help users… I will not stop until they answer my claims.

  • Janice davis

    None

    They have been taking money out of my mother account for years. I have taking over her account and notice it, she has never had a reason to use Cayan for any reason, never own a business. now that my mother is sick and cannot handle her own affair, I will be turning this over to my attorney.

  • Randy

    Total

    This company charged us high fee out of the blue. They added services to our account without permission and told us they do this and you have to cancel them or they continue to charge. If you use this company they will steal your money someway.

  • KTone

    Do not use this processor. They ripped me off $3,800 in fees, none of which were approved. Initially I signed on with Merchant Warehouse in 2013 because they agreed to charge my business per transaction. In 2018 Merchant Warehouse was purchased by Cayan and I was sent an email that my original agreement would stand. They charged me $3,800 in bogus fees and will not return my calls or offer any resolve other than crediting the last two months of their fees. This is only 12% of what is due to me. I have a complaint filed with the BBB and they will not respond. Do not use this company they will steal from you. Cayan, you can not deduct money from my bank account without my approval or without contacting me!!!! I will not stop writing complaints until this is resolved.

  • Cynthia Lodwig

    My shop closed in 2017, we used LightSpeed POS with an cc interface by Cayan Merchant Services. A year after my shop closed, Cayan began debiting my bank for services not rendered in the amount of $2,500. I have been fighting for reparations. Cayan customer service has been useless.

  • Breanna

    Horrible service- huge scam. Even after my contract was up, they kept charging me. I confronted them- they refunded my money. Then 3 months later they charged my account AGAIN for $1000 saying I didn’t return the terminals when I returned them with the same return label they sent me which states DELIVERED. So I sent back terminals, my contract is over & they’re still charging me. Huge scam. I will try to find every place I can to leave a review about them so others don’t make this horrible mistake to ever do business with these people.

  • Michael

    How do I make this clear…If you do business with Cayan, they will steal from you. They hold on to credit card transactions for weeks and months…they use their “small print” to steal from you. Read their slimy trickery in the small print and you will see that you are giving them permission to do whatever they want with “your” money. They trick you into giving them 120 days to pay you with no recourse, and if they don’t want to pay you at all they will let you sue them and waste more than they owe you to collect. When I called them to cancel they promised that the account was canceled and never mentioned any cancellation forms that must be signed and returned to them. They continued to charge me for 12 months afterwards with the deceptive line item ACH charge on my bank account “Merchant Services” so you will think it is your current processor. Then when you realize it is not your current credit card processor that you switched your gateway to so you can continue processing credit cards you can’t find out who is charging you without calling your bank and getting a “Company ID#” from your ACH department at your bank and tracking that company down only to find out that it is Cayan hiding behind the name “merchant services”. Not a single credit card was processed after I called them and asked them to cancel me, and they “never” mentioned any cancellation form that must be sent in. They got you to sign their deceptive small print remember? And it says that you agree to be screwed by them as long as it takes for you to call them and cancel…and when I did call them to cancel again, they “again” said no problem your merchant account has been canceled, and still mentioned “nothing” about sending me a form to sign to cancel the account. This company is practicing blatant fraud and theft from trusting consumers because their services are sooo horrible they can’t keep any customers. How can they? When they hold on to your money for nearly 120 days like they did to me, they are no doubt doing it to hundreds of other small businesses because they know they can get away with it, earning interest on “your” money until you threaten to sue them, then they will hold on to “your” money for another 120 days knowing that you can’t afford to collect on them. Anyone who wants proof of this company blatantly ripping me off, will provide you with a string of emails showing proof of Cayan withholding thousands of dollars from me for months at a time over the course of a year. If you want to be robbed and defrauded of your credit card charges and income and annual fees even after you cancel with them…be my guest. You have been warned.

  • Michael

    How do I make this clear…If you do business with Cayan, they will steal from you. They hold on to credit card transactions for weeks and months…they use their “small print” to steal from you. Read their slimy trickery in the small print and you will see that you are giving them permission to do whatever they want with “your” money. They trick you into giving them 120 days to pay you with no recourse, and if they don’t want to pay you at all they will let you sue them and waste more than they owe you to collect. When I called them to cancel they promised that the account was canceled and never mentioned any cancellation forms that must be signed and returned to them. They continued to charge me for 12 months afterwards with the deceptive line item ACH charge on my bank account “Merchant Services” so you will think it is your current processor. Then when you realize it is not your current credit card processor that you switched your gateway to so you can continue processing credit cards you can’t find out who is charging you without calling your bank and getting a “Company ID#” from your ACH department at your bank and tracking that company down only to find out that it is Cayan hiding behind the name “merchant services”. Then when you call them to find out why they are continuing to steal and defraud you of the monthly and annual fees for a whole year they say “haha, you should have sent in the signed form to cancel” and “we don’t have to give you refund because you signed a contract” letting us rip you off! Yes, that’s what they said! They said “we don’t have to give you a refund!” They would rather get sued and get bad reviews then refund a customer a year’s worth of fees that they stole from me! Not a single credit card was processed after I called them and asked them to cancel me, and they “never” mentioned any cancellation form that must be sent in. They got you to sign their deceptive small print remember? And it says that you agree to be screwed by them as long as it takes for you to call them and cancel…and when I did call them to cancel again, they “again” said no problem your merchant account has been canceled, and still mentioned “nothing” about sending me a form to sign to cancel the account. This company is practicing blatant fraud and theft from trusting consumers because their services are sooo horrible they can’t keep any customers. How can they? When they hold on to your money for nearly 120 days like they did to me, they are no doubt doing it to hundreds of other small businesses because they know they can get away with it, earning interest on “your” money until you threaten to sue them, then they will hold on to “your” money for another 120 days knowing that you can’t afford to collect on them. Anyone who wants proof of this company blatantly ripping me off, will provide you with a string of emails showing proof of Cayan withholding thousands of dollars from me for months at a time over the course of a year. If you want to be robbed and defrauded of your credit card charges and income and annual fees even after you cancel with them…be my guest. You have been warned.

  • Daniel

    Called in for some help due to my terminal being off line.
    Seamus was a huge help. He walked me through everything I needed to fix my issue. Seamus took the timeto update and fix the little things my terminal needed that I had no idea needed. Thanks again for the great customer service.

  • Panita Pechploy

    WORST. I Should have read these review before deciding to do a business witrh them. i have very bad experience changing my account after taking over business, i called over 5 times and took more than 3 hours in total tell representative what i wanted.
    1 I made a call on 27th Dec, 2018 notifying them that the new owner will take over business by 1st Jan 2019, i want to make sure my funds wouldn’t, go through old account , they told me to give them a call again on 31st to request for holding the fund on 1st and so on and they promised to do so
    2)previous owner called them and tell them to hold the funds also, and they asked him to let the new owner call instead. but when i called, they told me to have the previous owner call them… Wow!
    3)so i made a call back on 31st as they told me, and i asked if it is okay to process credit card transaction with the old machine,
    they said ‘Yes, i already hold the fund for you, it will be pause on the cayan’s central system so feel free to keep using the credit card machine’
    4) i called back again on 1st morning to make sure they got my request on note. They said it was olready on hold so no worry i’m good to process credit card transaction
    5)i called again on 2nd Jan to make sure it was on hold because we had some credit card transaction with our guest They said my application did not go through the system with some reason(i sent it 3 times) so i have to send it to one of operator’s personal email but that’s fine, but unfortunately! My fund went through the previous owner’s account and the operator didn’t see any note requesting holding funds there, i was already very disappointed by the moment as operator told me i didn’t suppose to process any credit card transaction until it got completely changed to my account, i can deal with it but the point is you guys told me to keep using it and no worry you will be taking care of it!
    so again…the operator promised he will put this on hold this time for sure, just no worry i can literally use it this time and it will be on hold
    6) i proceed credit card transaction again on 2nd and called them on 3rd the see where the funds went through. they told me it went through previous owner’s account again!!! And unfortunately Cayan is not being responsible for any of their own operator’s malpractice..this is really impressive. I still do not get back my money for almost $1000 that went through previous owner’s account until today As he is not paying me back.
    Only last time i called, the guy knew what to do with it, even i got a help this time but i completely lost all my trust and last chance for Cayan

    Your team are really not knowledgeable about your service, you can’t even give the proper advice, you practice untrustworthy service and i will cancel my other service with cayan soon , your staffs are untrained And never put guest’s request on note.. Worse is you are not responsible for any loss caused by your staffs, i will leave these reviews on my personal social media warning people not to consider using Cayan as a merchandiser

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  • Allen Steinfeld

    Their service is awful. First time I called this morning to see how much I am being charged the guy could not answer my question at all and I could tell he did not know what to do. He kept referring me to my POS provider and refused to get me to someone who knew what they were talking about. So I called again and got another man, an English Accent, and he was just as awful with customer service. He refused to help me because I did not have my checking account number on hand and he could not find my Federal ID number which is very easy to find and I gave it to him. Again I asked for a Supervisor or their security department and he refused. He said he would hang up on me if I didn’t give him my checking number which I do not have on me. Awful! If I can leave this service I will. Would be helpful to those who are in higher places with the company to try to call as if a customer so they can see what we have to go through. I don’t have this much time to waste!

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  • Brush Strokes Fine Art LLC

    A few months after I began using your swipe simple device my credit card chip would not go through with your device. Then I called over 7 times in the past couple of years to make sure I was getting a good price on my keyed transactions. One of these technical help staff Cayan had advised me to wait that Swipe Simple would be updating their app. But did not to my benefit. You did not help me nor resolved the issue. You are offering a device that does not work with an android 5.1.1. you say you do online but it does not work. I received 3 different devices thinking they were not charging or were malfunctioning. So disappointing!!!!!!!!!! by your swipe simple staff. Nor, your cayan staff knew how to fix the problem, the wait on the phone talking to each one of you were over 30 mins. each time. Swipe simple was not just a problem with my phone Samsung android Galaxy Grand Prime, but you state online that as long is over android 5.0 it would work. I went into this two year term thinking you could resolve the issue but you never did. Nor helped me with keying in the transaction fees. It is a scam. I am switching because your supervisors were not aware of this nor cared to help me.

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  • Lisa Green

    I have had Merchant Services/Cayan for almost 6 years. They have charged me every month, but when I attempted to process a credit card payment they told me I have to re-apply due to lack of transactions. Is it legal to charge a business for a service you do not provide?
    I called to ask what the problem was and was given a “case” number, needless to say no one called me back to inform me, I called them only to be told I needed to re-apply . How about crediting me the fees for the last 4 years?

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  • R Collier

    I share this purely to help others know of the challenges I experience with Cayan.

    If you have a website, I strongly advise to not use Cayan. It is incredibly difficult for software developers to integrate into your site code. I strongly advise you look at Stripe as they are known for their ease of use. My developers suggested I use Stripe but I ignored their suggestion as Cayan was less expensive on a transaction basis. But pleae trust me, the cost to implement Cayan (and Authorize.net) will cost you more than the savings you think you will get from a less expensive transaction fee.

    Additionally, I am confused as there are 6 different options to log-in when go to cayan.com. I never know which one to use.

    I have been double charged a few times and if I did not look at my accounts as closely as I do and call, I would not have known.

    Their customer service options include Chat and Email. Neither of these work as chat never opens and the email requires the user to select a reason from a drop-down, a drop-down which does not exist. I then had to look around until I could find a phone number. I prefer chat or email but they do not work.

    When my bank accounts are charged, the charges are not descriptive and the statements’ language does not correspond to the charges.

    The charged amount says the charge is from . . .MY Company?! None of the charges are from Cayan which is incredibly confusing and frustrating.

    While Cayan may be good if you operate a retail store with a credit card machine, please consider other options when used on a website. Please speak with your developers to know what they prefer, what is easier to integrate and who has better customer service when they have questions.

    I wish I would have gone with Stripe (or another similar service) and when we have the revenue to pay for the needed software changes, we will switch.

    Hope this helps. . . .

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  • peter picataggio

    Run, stay as far as you can from this company.
    As of this review they owe us over $50k, yes that is correct $50k+.

    The problem is they keep tryng to send the money to the wrong bank account number.

    They have asked us to fill out , to date, 4 forms, which are all the same, and they even asked for a letter from the bank to which the bank manager signed that shows the Routing number and Account Number.

    4 Forms and 17 days + later they can still not get our money to us.

    More forms they say. They wanted a NACHA form filled out today.
    The NACHA form turned out to be a duplicate of the other forms!!! Except it had the word NACHA on the Top Right ( I had to hold my breath so as not to scream ) everything else on the NACHA form is 100% identical!!!

    We have been keeping very careful records as I can see this might end up in a court room.

    Adam Wheeler our Rep has gone 110% radio silient about the whole matter which also gives you a hint on how you will be treated once you sign on the dotted line.
    Once a used car sales man gets you to sign they are done with you and hope that you will just go away.

    If anyone wants to hit me up to understand all the details I have very well documented and will to share it all.

    This company is horrible in every single way!


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    • Pauline

      Can you please tell me if you were able to resolve this? I changed processors in 2019 from Cyan to a new merch service for my business and as the fees read merch fees for two stores for the past 4 years, I thought they were the new company. The title on the charge changed to read Cayan last month so I reached out to my merch processing provider and they said it was not them. I called Cyan and even though they have not processed a single credit charge for me in 4 years, they have charged me 32K in fees. They claim I never closed the accounts and want proof that I “called” them even though I know that I did and I sent their equipment back to them. I don’t even understand or know where to begin. Can you tell me if you handled this and how it resolved?

  • sherry wakeford

    I was told by the representative that Cayan cc processing service worked with my present software so I signed up. He called the next day to tell me he made a mistake and it did not. He said he would cancel my application. My bookkeeper noticed a year later that Cayan continued to charge my account a total of $728.60. They have acknowledged the mistake and promised a refund. 9 months later still no refund. Every time I speak to a customer service representative, I’m left of hold for 30 minutes to one hour, then disconnected. This is a SCAM.


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  • Richard Stone

    They have overcharged me excessive fees for years and now they didn’t make a deposit for money they owe. What or that they owe isn’t a dispute, but instead of depositing the money in my account they are going through a never ending “several phase investigation” that never ends as to why I didn’t receive the funds. They blame a third party for the funds whereabouts, but that isn’t who my account is with and they just need to fix this issue and deposit the money to my account.


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  • William S

    Signed up with Cayan waiting 10 days after approval for creditals for authorize.net and the Cayan portal. Im off and running. Then I inquired about adding some products to my site which they consider High Risk. I did not add the products to the site – just an inquiry. I was immediately canceled without notice and without explanation. All decisions are final – I couldn’t appeal this action.

    So after investing time, money and building my inventory it has been a complete waste.

    DO NOT USE CAYAN – THEY ARE A FRAUD AND WILL CANCEL YOU WITHOUT NOTICE FOR ASKING SIMPLE QUESTIONS.

  • Samuel Adnani

    I inquired about getting a terminal for my credit card customers and found my self being ask all kinds of personal questions and after answering they do not believe anything from all legal documents about my business. I tried to work out however the moment they speak to you they suspect about their customers. They are very unprofessional company.
    They are rude and they always suspicious about informations given to them. They run you around and never give you any reasons if any document is necessary to get approval prior taking applications. They told me they will run soft credit and lying and running hard inquiries to damage your credit score.
    Extremely waste of time to deal with this company naming Cayan. They have no respect to their customers. Unprofessional conversation and do not know who really is looking to your business application. It is a rip-off company and they are very rude and damaging to your credit inquires. Stay from these low class unprofessional people for your business needs.

  • Raik

    Just got an e mail from Cayan they are closing the account, no notice, other than the e-mail. E-mail states that the account will be closed in two weeks. However cannot log in or anything. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY. I do not know how this company has received 4 stars since all the reviews are below 3 and most are 1. There customer service is pretty much useless.

  • Ray

    Worst possible administrative service since day one! Mistakes with my business name, and my bank account. Slow to respond to inform me of such. Two months later they are missing paperwork that I emailed to them 10 days ago. Pulled the plug. For me this was horrible. I would think twice before using this company.

  • Rita C.

    This company seems slimy. Their agreement/application contains contradictory information. In one section, it states they do not have early termination fees if you terminate before the 3-year contract ends. However, in another section, it states they do have fees for early termination. When questioning their employees about it, I got the runaround. They refused to have me speak with the CEO. Buyer Beware!

  • Tom

    Cayan (previously Merchandise Warehouse) was our processor until 2014. In June of 2016 we began to receive monthly charges from them. Our CPA did not figure out the charges until July 2017. They were debiting a monthly amount from our account and we were no longer using their service. We called to reconcile the situation and was put on hold for 40min. The representative said our account was not closed which is fraudulent as we did not receive any charges from dec. 2014 until June of 2016. They would not allow us to speak to a supervisor, continually put us on hold and would not resolve the problem. I would suggest to be very AWARE.

  • Element One Studio

    Horrible, Horrible customer service. They never reply to specific questions I ask. They are a actively depositing my money into the wrong account even though I provided the new account information along with multiple documents they keep requesting. I have requested a phone call from a human being multiple times with no luck. I plan to take action as this is costing me thousands of dollars.

  • Ardeshir Behdad

    It is a nightmare to deal with Cayan. If you want to get your company and yourself into trouble go ahead and deal with them. They use bait & switch tactics. They charge your account without your authorizations without any agreement. They have taken out over $800 dollars out of my account without any agreement. Beware. It is a nightmare to contact them and average hold is about 4 hours to talk to someone. Go ahead if you are looking for trouble deal with Cayan. I just do not want the same happen to some one else.

  • M. Ashley

    Cayman has the worst customer service. Once you sign with them it is impossible to get a good customer service. I have many complaints but here are a couple: My device no longer worked because they their system changed, they wanted me to either downgrade my phone or buy a new device from them which they refused to give for free- or pay the additional fees for key in transactions. They never bothered letting me know that heir system has changed so when I was not able to run a charge and or get a hold of their customer service and keyed in the transaction they were not willing to credit my account with the additional fees. Then back in February most of my clients paid with checks and I had one transaction of $400 which they charged me over $50 fee. Yes. $50 fee for one $00 transaction. Is that even legal? three days later after leaving voicemails and sending emails to my Cayan rep who his voicemail had his first and last name and his emails did not bounce, I was finally able to speak to someone. They said I did not get a response because my rep is “no longer with the company” to my question why his voicemail is still with the company Cayan had no answer and they refused to credit me for thcrazy amount of 12% for one transaction. If I had known and or was able to get a hold of someone I could have asked my clients to use a different form of payment but 3 days later would not be professional. I just called them now to ask for them to give me a dollar amount fee for a transaction of $750 in case that would be my only transaction for this month bt their rep refused and just kept saying “it will be just what in your contract” when I insisted on getting a dollar amount he still refused. I highly recommend to not do business with this company. Their reps are hardly ever available during business hours so if you run into a problem while your clients are next to you, you are out of luck. No one seem to care about you.

  • Joan Hayes

    I cancelled my account in December of 2016 and am still getting an automatic withdraw from my banking for billing. I have tried numerous times to get this resolved and get the same response that it is being corrected. It is not… this is unauthorized and illegal .
    I am now to the point of contacting my states banking and insurance commission to file a formal complaint for illegal banking.
    I would highly recommend any business to not work with this company.

  • Jenny

    I’m not sure if they are scammers, but for sure they are abusive and have a terrible outsourced customer service.

    – You ask for A and reply with copy paste answer for B, days later.
    – Rates are incredible high
    – Absolutely no details on reports of transactions
    – Chargeback paradise, they love to charge you the $25 dollars for any attempt for claims, even if you win and proof that you delivered signed for services, AVS matched, etc..
    – Incredible hard to talk to customer service that will not keep you on hold or transferring you from place to place.

    Plenty of other services to choose from, stay away from Cayan. Bad Review everywhere

  • Jena

    Since day one we have not had money transferred into our account the person who set us up set us up all wrong everything was wrong so now were paying for it. We’ll be on hold for several hours and it takes days/weeks to fix one issue only to lead to a new issue. This is a pathetic company very un-professional. The workers don’t know anything about what they’re doing and you can barely understand them in the phone. It’s been 2 months on going with out problems with the company. The supervisors know about as much as their workers. So pathetic
    Do not go to this company you will be very unhappy

  • G Gruen

    With guidance from a helpful sales rep, I signed up with Cayan at rates far more reasonable than I was offered from other credit card processors. But, to my surprise, additional monthly charges of $29.95 were made against my bank account. I was never informed by the sales rep that I’d be responsible for those additional charges. I feel like I got baited and switched. Watch out for these people!

  • Mike Swope

    Worst technical service I’ve ever experienced with a card processing provider. More than 5 hours on the phone to resolve what should be a simple problem, IMHO. Techs have foreign accent, so I suspect they are not native English speakers and thus have difficulty understanding the problem as expressed in English. I am currently on hold. If the problem is not resolved with this phone call, we will immediately cancel our service with Cayan. Up to now, have been fine. Too bad falls short on technical support and communication.

  • Dan McFalls

    Every interaction I’ve had with this company has been a huge disappointment. They say one thing and mean another or are just plain speechless. My recent beef is the new AMEX arrangement. I don’t want it. It clearly states that I can opt-out on the back of the letter. I called and was told there is no such option. Only to cancel accepting AMEX. That is my next step since AMEX has been such a pain in the butt. Then leave Cayan next.

  • Brian Tracey

    Too expensive and can not get rid of this company. Going on 9 months now. Each time you call they tell you its the last service charge I’ll get because I cancelled after the 3rd. They are very polite on the phone because they know they are stealing your money. They say you’ll get a confirmation e-mail but it never comes. I’m sure they all laugh out loud when they hang up.

  • sam kar

    This company is a fraud, stay away!! They have held my credit card depots for over 3 weeks and claim its to cover a chargeback on the account, however my deposits have passed the charge back amount and they still will not release my funds. I have called over a dozen times and they have insured me that they will be mailing me a check which amounts to about 5k however I have not received a check. every time all call customer service, they have a weak phone connection, provide terrible customer service, have to wait on hold for hours, and they promise to resolve my issue and never do.
    Pretty certain their business model is a fraud and illegal STAY AWAY!!!

  • Gary Brazzell

    We’ve been using Cayan (formerly Merchant Warehouse) for probably 13 years. We really like their online processing portal. It works much better than the expensive software that we used to have to keep on our computers. We process mostly card-not-present transactions.

    They have a few shortcomings. Wtih all their fees combined, I’m paying 4% to 5% on about $300K gross. That’s probably pretty hight, but I’m good with paying a little bit of a premium since they have the online portal, and I don’t have to install software on every computer. I haven’t noticed one of those surprise wierdo fees like Merchant Warehouse used to do all the time since the switch to Cayan.

    They are not efficient at relaying information in charge backs, leaving us flying blind on retorts, but chargebacks are rare with us.

    When they moved over from Merchant Warehouse to Cayan, their automatic billing contracts for weekly charges stopped running correctly. Customer service was very pleasant and pleasantly Scottish, but utterly inept and way too willing to make me waste my time. We overcame the the problem simply by deleting and re-entering the transferred contracts. But I will never get the money back I lost for the months that 25% of my weekly fees were randomly not running and not throwing any sort of alert.

    For recurring billing in their online system, if a card expires, the system simply turns off the contract with no email notification. You have to learn – with no manual – that there is a window tucked away in a a sub-menu of a sub-menu showing suspended contracts. Otherwise, you just go on providing service assuming that if there was a problem with a charge, the system would send you an email the way you checked the options. So over the course of several years, I lost a lot of money that I will never get back until we caught the systems oddity and learned to log in and check for expired cards monthly. It makes zero sense that their system would suspend a number of your billing contracts and not throw an email alert (like it does for successful or declined billing).

    Over the years, I’ve lost a very, very small percentage to weirdness in Cayan’s online portal, but they provide me a better rate than my last merchant, more convenience, and savings in software.

  • Nicole

    Cayan has misdirected over $10,000 of my money. Neither my rep nor a supervisor nor anyone at Cayan with the authority to recover these funds has called me to correct the error or initiate recovery. Cayan has known about this error, that someone at Cayan made, for 15 days.

  • Angela Sinnett

    STAY AWAY! This is a horrible company to do business with and their customer service is atrocious. I’ve called 4 times this week, each time I asked to speak with a manager. They said they would open a case for a manager to call me back. Not only did a manager not call me back, the request wasn’t documented. After the 4th phone call, 1 customer service representative gave me the option to refund a portion of the money owed OR open a case to speak with a manager. Again, horrible customer service!

  • Kalyan Mantri

    Worst service and never refer this to anyone. They charge your account with all unnecessary payments without your notice. This is so fraud. Never ever recommend to anyone. Please be safe and think twice before going to this provider. People working here are irresponsible and doesn’t know how it works either. They are dumb asses. They charged my account for almost $300 for just 3 months which should be actually $21. When I asked they said sorry and never refund it. Never ever go for this provider. Go for someone else other than CAYAN.

  • Marius

    They constantly experience “technical issues” which result in THOUSANDS of dollars being unaccounted for. I have now experienced a delay in funding 6 times in the last 5 weeks. Every time i call in for support their phones are answered my Scottish customer service representatives that how now sense of customer service of understanding of what is going on with your account.

    I have been blatantly told incorrect information several times, and I am still missing over $6,500.00 from the weekend.

    I have called several times and still can’t get a reasonable explanation for the delay in funding.

    It seems like they hold onto people money for the typical “Rob Peter to pay Paul” scheme.

  • Michael G

    I have never worked with a company with such horrible customer services. Getting started was fine, fee’s were explained, and the process when smoothly. Soon the charges kept coming in, and they were not at all what i had thought they might be. Customer service is pathetic. Tried to close my account, only to be told I they would review to see if they could provide a lower cost option. Never heard back, the fee kept coming in. Called to cancel again, and thought I was set up on a new program. But that never happened, but the charges kept coming. Signed the papers once again, nothing happened. Finally after several months, i called, someone actually answered, and he sent me a form to terminate and I gladly agreed. Hard to believe they are still in business.

  • Brian

    I definitely would not recommend Cayan. Some of their reps are great and knowledgeable and some are not at all. My sales rep said he would contact me after the account was set up, but he never did. I also emailed their risk department about what I thought was and turned out to be credit card fraud and they never even responded.

    If you can get someone who actually knows what they are doing (there were 3 or so out of like 6) they are good and everything’s fine, but otherwise you might end up like me and spend way too much time trying to figure out what the hell you are actually supposed to do or who you’re actually supposed to talk to.

  • Hari Matana

    Once you opened an account with them, they completely ignore you. I have been trying to change my account number, it’s been more than 2 month and I’m calling everyday to find out same answer ” 3-4 business days”.
    No one is communication with each other, information we need to send multiple times. Every rep. of this company is” trying” to help with the same answer. When I asked to speak with the supervisor, there is no supervisor, he will call you back. Never heard back from anybody.

  • John kalabich

    We where unable to process credit cards for 2 days because Cayan did not pay their isp Renewel I know this effected my software supplier which made us switch to them for the new cards. Their telephone developed a problem almost at the same time. Or didn’t want to answer the mass amount of call. That my take of it. I have called them on previous occasions and they did not call back as the said. Not a company of their word if you use them put a backup system in place. Don’t wait on them. Also equipment purchased from the showed up 5 months late . After telling my software company I was going to leave they showed up from Cayan in two days. They make promises they don’t keep.


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

  • David King

    So I called Cayan to get a quote for processing my credit cards for our company. Now I have been processing credit cards for over 23 years. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SCREWED THIS BAD EVER! They quoted me a rate of 1.7% to a max of 1.9% – so I told them my first transaction would be $16,400 and the gave me the cost of about $350 for the fee. WELL 10 days later they took $614 out of my account. I called and then the run around started. I called customer service and they said – this is the rate due to the amount of the charge. Then I called my sales person and he did not call me back, then I sent emails and finally the sales person sent me a generic email for me to call customer service. I called customer service and they were very nice, but said they would have to send my rate issue to a supervisor. Well she called me back and left me a message and said “this is your rate”!

    So the message here is if you want to get SCREWED then sign up for CAYAN!

    DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. If you do not think my story is typical, go online and review the HUNDREDS of people that have been SCREWED by CAYAN!

  • Jeff D.

    Our card processing machine failed. After 6 weeks of excuses why they could not get one to replace it we went with another company. How many businesses can go 6 weeks without taking a charge card. Fortunately our customers were understanding. Terrible customer service, minimum 20 minute hold time, phone transfers to an answering machine with no return calls.
    Save the head ache. Go with a company that actually gives some customer service.

  • Trung Le

    Bad service
    We have merchant service with Capital Bankcard/Merchant Warehouse. Now it’s become Cayan. No issue with billing but service . Anytime we need help from customer service or tech support , we are waiting from 45 minute to 1 hours and half. Time so important for every business but Cayan does not care . Our customer waiting long time for check out. If you call tech support customer service will pick up phone after15 minute then ask you some information then you will continue wait for tech up to 1 hours. If you want trouble with your business go with Cayan. They alway liar for them bad service by ” demand call ” , right now demand call because EMV chip card . It’s mean Cayan not ready for EMV that’s why demand call. My friend go with total merchant or heartland just call them they will pick up your call within 15 minute . When you need Cayan sleep at Boston and you will waiting until they wake up. Call agent, he is coming right away. But he have agent support line , he call them still same . Bad service

  • Chris

    Do not fall for anything a rep tells you unless you get it in writing from the start. We were told we would get certain rates only to find out later that we have been paying DOUBLE the amount we thought we were. There are so many hidden fees and overall no pricing transparency what so ever. Avoid this company to save your hard earned money.

  • Annette

    This company does not answer voice mails or emails in a timely manner. I ordered a new credit card processor over a month ago and still have not received it. I was told that it is programmed but has not shipped out, and they were unable to tell me when it would ship. I would strongly suggest to seek out a different provider.

  • Linda

    DO NOT GO WITH THIS COMPANY! I have been with them for 2 weeks now and I have spent at least 6 hours on the phone with them. They are telling me I sent them the wrong bank account number (I sent them a voided check twice!) It has been now 2 weeks and I have none of the money my company has charged in my bank account! I have been in business for 15 years and I have never dealt with such incompetent people in my life.

  • Joe

    Do not use this company, after u close ur account they will keep stealing your money from your account. Do not make business with them. And for you to claim the money will be a big fight.

    DO NOT USE CAYAN > If you hear from a sales representative called ( THOMAS )

  • Patricia Racine

    The technical service staff is very polite but have absolutely no idea about helping you with problems. They are also located in Ireland and it is somewhat difficult to understand their accents. They do however know how to put you on hold for extremely long periods if time listening to the same horrible song on a one song loop. We are changing processors tomorrow due to their incompetence.

  • Robert June

    WORST! – Cayan just wants your money. Don’t turn your back on them, because if you have a dispute with a client, this company will not stand behind you. They go to great lengths to get business, but then throw up a phalanx of detailed hurdles you must jump just to talk to them. They always send you to the same “complaint” department, where there is a continual stream of folks who well tell you why they don’t help . . . just take. I swear, you gotta look out for those fast-talking salesman at Cayan (formerly Merchant’s Warehouse).

  • Babak Hafezi

    After working with them for three month, they suddenly e-mail me a letter that we have determined that your account should have never been open. They are one of the worst Credit Card Companies around. RUN – JUST RUN Away….

  • Catherine

    All of a sudden, they took a large amount of money out of our business bank account. We called, and they tell us yea we agreed to all of these random fees in our contract. NO we didn’t. Bad customer service. The certain customer service rep they only want us to talk to never works. He is apparently always told to call us back and never does. Fees up the ying yang. Not convenient to get credit card swiper. Huge fee for that, hope it works for your specific device. They c an’t answer questions about things posted on their own company website. Not worth the headache at all. They will tell you they only charge certain fees, and then slap you with a huge bill and tell you that you agreed to it. Cancelled and switching to a totally different provider. Would NEVER recommend to anyone else.

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