Century Payments Review
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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.
Century Payments
Rating
Customer Reviews & Sentiment
As of this review, there are approximately 30 Century Payments negative reviews filed online, many of which can be found in the comment section below. Some of these complaints make a point of calling Century Payments a scam or a ripoff. The company’s complaint total has tailed off since the WorldPay acquisition, but this is likely due to the fact that complaints are now filed against WorldPay instead. The common themes in merchant complaints are misrepresentations of costs and omission of important fees prior to account setup. Several also report that they were not made aware of the ETF and three-year service agreement. Most of these complainants claim to have received very poor customer service.
Additionally, there are a few complaints online from current and former employees and agents. Of the agent complaints, a couple report nonpayment of commission and state that they have engaged the company in lawsuits. Other employees, who appear to be telemarketing or inside sales staff, complain of a poor work environment and extremely high turnover.
Industry Scores & User Ratings
| Product & Service Complaints | 5 |
|---|---|
| Billing & Collection Complaints | 4 |
| Advertising & Sales Complaints | 3 |
| 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.
Century Payments is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau and is currently showing an “F” rating based on 12 complaints filed in the last three years. Of these complaints, five were related to products and services, three had to do with advertising and sales issues, and four were due to billing and collection disputes. The company resolved two complaints, while seven were resolved to the dissatisfaction of merchants and three received no resolution whatsoever. The BBB cites these unresolved complaints and the company’s time in business as the two primary factors lowering its rating. In light of the company’s complaint volume and resolution ratio, we have adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C-” for the purposes of this review.
Processing Rates & Fees
A blank copy of the standard Century Payments merchant account contract is available below. This document outlines a three-year agreement through iPayment with an early termination fee of either $250 or $350, monthly PCI Compliance fees of $9.99, monthly non-compliance fees of $30, and monthly regulatory fees of $4.95. Merchants have reported higher figures for some of these fees as well as additional costs that aren’t outlined in this document, and terms will vary from merchant to merchant primarily based upon the agent setting up the account. For this reason, merchants are encouraged to aggressively negotiate and thoroughly read the agreement before signing (See “Fee Sweep” to learn how to negotiate a merchant account contract). It should be noted that Century Payments appears to enforce these fees and contract terms even when merchants report that they were misled by a sales agent. See the Century Payments Merchant Application.
Century Payments Competitors
Compare Century Payments to competitors that earned top marks.
Bottom Line
Century Payments appears to have been completely absorbed into the WorldPay brand at this point, but it’s unclear whether the company still interacts with existing merchants under the Century Payments name. The company could improve its rating by removing undesirable fees and contract terms from its merchant account contract and eliminating future merchant and employee complaints.
