- Sales & Marketing: Celerus Payments appears to hire independent sales agents but has not yet received any complaints about its sales practices.
- Costs & Contract: Celerus Payments appears to offer a multi-year contract with an early termination fee of $495 or more.
- Complaints & Service: Celerus Payments has received fewer than 10 public complaints.
- BBB Rating: Celerus Payments has an "A-" rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received zero complaints since its profile was created in February 2017.
- Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Celerus Payments
Celerus 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.
Celerus Payments
Rating
Customer Reviews & Sentiment
We are currently unable to locate any negative Celerus Payments reviews, but this is likely due to the short amount of time that it has been active. It also seems that Celerus is one of FPT Operating Company’s lesser-used brands, as the company specifically states that it has changed its name to Talus and does not mention Celerus on its website. However, Celerus lists its address at the same location as Future Payment Technologies, Park Central Company, and Crescent Processing Company, which indicates that is effectively the same organiation. For this reason, we consider all of the complaints filed against Future Payment Technologies and Talus to apply equally to Celerus. The available complaints against Future Payment Technologies allege deceptive sales tactics, nondisclosure of contract terms, poor customer service, expensive fees, and confusing cancellation policies.
Regardless of what this company chooses to call itself, the consistently negative experiences reported by merchants suggest that it does not offer quality service or support.
Industry Scores & User Ratings
| Product & Service Complaints | 0 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 0 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 0 |
| 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.
Celerus Payments currently has an “A-” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been BBB-accredited since April 2017. The company has received zero complaints to its BBB profile. Although the company’s new name has granted it a new BBB profile, we feel as though the profile for Future Payment Technologies (which has received 130 complaints in the past three years) should also apply to this review. In light of the full scope of complaints filed against this organization’s various BBB profiles, we have adjusted its grade to a “D” in this section.
Processing Rates & Fees
Since Celerus Payments appears to be a rebranding of Future Payment Technologies, it is highly likely that Celerus’s contract terms are identical to those offered by Future Payment Technologies. According to the company’s public responses to merchant complaints, the standard Future Payment Technologies contract is an automatically renewing agreement of up to four years that includes a $495 early termination fee and a monthly minimum fee that takes effect after a couple of months. Because the company provides its sales agents with smart tablets and encourages them to collect signatures digitally, many merchants complain of never receiving full hard copies of contract terms. It is unclear whether this practice continues under the Celerus brand. Merchants also report confusing cancellation policies that only provide a brief window of time for termination. With the exception of the use of tablets, these terms are also consistent with those described in complaints about Crescent Processing and Park Central Company.
An alarming number of merchant complaints describe sudden increases in fees without notification and incomplete provision of paperwork at the point of signing. This may be due to the company’s use of a small (eight pages or so) merchant agreement, which is presented to the merchant at the point of signing, and a much larger (over thirty pages) program guide, which is only provided after a period of time or at a merchant’s request. It appears that many complainants found their unexpected costs embedded within this larger document, so merchants are encouraged to specifically request it. Additionally, we were unable to find any mention of a specific PCI Compliance fee among complainants, but this fee may constitute some portion of the sudden rate increases that have been reported.
Celerus Payments Competitors
Compare Celerus Payments to competitors that earned top marks.
Bottom Line
Celerus Payments appears to be no more than a rebranding of Future Payment Technologies, a company that rates very poorly according to our criteria. We have accordingly given Celerus a “D” rating overall, and we will need to see a long track record of positive merchant feedback and transparency from the company before that rating will improve. Merchants should not expect Celerus Payments to be any different than Future Payment Technologies in its service or support.
