Century Payments Review

Century Payments Logo
2.3/5
full star idicating a 2.3 out of 5 star rating full star idicating a 2.3 out of 5 star rating empty star indicating a 2.3 out of 5 star rating empty star indicating a 2.3 out of 5 star rating empty star indicating a 2.3 out of 5 star rating

How did they treat you? ▼

UPDATE 3/4/2019: Century Payments was acquired by WorldPay in September 2013 and the company's URL is no longer active. It appears that WorldPay has decided to retire the Century Payments brand and board new merchants under the WorldPay brand. We therefore will no longer update this review. Up-to-date information about this company can be found at our WorldPay review.

Century Payments (centurypayments.com) appears to be a fairly new merchant account provider within the credit card processing industry. Based in Frisco, Texas, and founded in 2009, Century Payments has grown rapidly with a $50 million investment from venture capital firm Austin Ventures. Century is one of two providers (the other one being Mercury Payment Systems) to provide backend processing for SalesVu. Additionally, the company claims to have been listed in Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest growing U.S. companies list four years in a row, which would mean that it made the list in its first year of operation. The claim was not verified for the purposes of this review.

The company is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank and a registered agent of RBS Citizens Bank. Century Payments primarily uses RBS WorldPay and iPayment for its backend processing.

Century Payments Customer Reviews

Here's What Their Clients Say

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 30+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees

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.

Century Payments Online Ratings

Here's How They Rate Online

Online Ratings Summary
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.

Century Payments Fees, Rates & Costs

A Closer Look at The Contract

Cost & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate Variable
Keyed-in Rate Variable
Early Termination Fee $250-$350
PCI Compliance Fee $9.99 Per Month
Equipment Lease Terms Variable

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 Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs

Should You Work For Them?

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

Like many merchant services sales organizations, Century Payments hires independently contracted agents and sub-ISOs as a primary method for marketing its services. This lowers the company’s rating because quality control of the sales process with resellers is more difficult to manage and often leads to a higher complaint ratio for the provider. As of this review, it appears that both Century Payments and WorldPay are suffering from the typical complaints associated with this common marketing practice. The company also appears to engage in telemarketing.

Our Century Payments Review Summary

Our Final Thoughts

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.

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Which is Most Important for You?

If you had to pick one, which quality would you say will be the most important with your next credit card processor? Tap or click your selection to register your vote:

  1. Low Transaction Fees
  2. No Monthly Fees
  3. No Contract
  4. Reliable Customer Support
  5. Quick Signup

Testimonials & Complaints

How Did Century Payments Treat You?

28 User Reviews

  • Jerry

    These guys are downright crooked! Say whatever it takes to get you under contract. Then NEVER make themselves available.
    Switch clients, keep money, whatever else they can do. Everett Earles is the WORST I’ve seen in this business! Christine Ott isn’t far behind. BEWARE

  • Dan

    Century Payments locks you into a contract that THEY can change any time, but they charge you a HUGE cancelation fee if YOU opt out after their rate increases. DO NOT use these thieves for your processing!!!

  • Bev Robison

    I’m the office manager of a new small medical office. In order for us to be able to use the software program we needed to run our business we had to hook up with WorldPay/Century Payments. At first we were given a supposedly fair price of $9.95/mo with swipe fee charges. It was a nightmare from the beginning. The first issue was somehow WP had transposed our ID # so that all of our payments were being sent to a company by the name of Elite Painting. It took several phone calls, extremely long wait times on hold which tied up our office line so that patients couldn’t get through. We were given wrong info which blamed the bank for the error causing great confusion since we had to deal with numerous different representatives who surprisingly had different but incorrect solutions. Bottom line was it took over 2 months to straighten out we still aren’t sure we received all the payments that we should have. We had 2 monthly rate increases within 8 months of startup and yet another situation that when all is said and done cost us over $1,500.00, incorrect reports sent to the IRS stating we had income exceeding $26,000 when in fact we were barely clearing any profit. We finally faxed them our termination notice after only 9 months which is the protocol they require. We have 2 providers who each have their own business therefore they each had their own account ID # but used the same terminal swipe box and software. We completely stopped taking any and all credit/debit/health saving cards etc which caused a hardship both for the providers and their patients. WP/Century acknowledged cancelation of one of the Providers but not the other. Keep in mind the early termination fee is a rediculous amount of #. After we found out that they were still taking monies out of our account for fees each month we stopped their access to the account. When they tried to deduct their fees and were denied they added additional fees and turned us over to a collection company that used illegal tactics in contacting us and also informed us if we would pay the one time amount of $88.00 (or close to it without looking it up) we would be done with WP once and for all. We paid the amount and then 2 or 3 months later found out from another collection agency that we now owed WP $200.00 +. While this was all going on I was reaching out to WP who directed me to Century after several attempts stating that our account was never terminated. I spoke with agent at Century who gave me a confirmation # and date along with a bogus website, disconnectmyaccount.com or something like that. Still was receiving notices from collections so finally was able to speak with a rep at WP that was appalled at all that had happened to us and informed me that I needed to again get in touch with Century and have them fax WP the termination info that I had been given. I tried for 3 weeks making several calls to Century but never able to reach someone. I finally found an email address where I sent my requests to and actually got an answer back that no one by the name of the rep that I had talked to 3 months ago worked there so they couldn’t verify my info therefore I needed to pay. I sent a response back via email but have yet to hear anything. I’ve also attempted to reach them by phone where now you sometimes will be answered by a recording that says to leave a message and someone will call you back soon. To date I’ve left an estimated 15 requests some at extensions that I randomly tried when given the company directory. We are so completely frustrated, angry to say the least that we’re now contacting every outlet we can i.e. FTC, BBB, local news channel that has a consumer complaint committee, Dateline and even legal counsel. Our business is to help people with their mental health issues and we have a busy practice with many very satisfied patients. I believe that the National Alliance for Mental Health would also be interested in hearing what we’ve had to go through in order to be able to provide a much needed service to those in our area. I don’t expect any results to come of this message/complaint but I’ve always been an optimist with lots of hope that in the end those that try to do the right thing and help others will somehow prevail against those that don’t.

  • Joe

    This is another company who robs the small business owner. I am having the same problem as Nicole (May 14th 2012) we have barley uesed them for 6 months , debiting my account at will, compliance fees and when ytou call they want $350 cancellation fee ??? Salesman Matt Thomas assured us no contract, no compliance fee. Are they being recorded, oprobably not. What they say are all lies. Low life theives.

  • George

    My experiences will CenturyPayments:

    In May 2013 I signed up with them via OfficeAlly (a medical Electronic Health records clearinghouse). I trusted OfficeAlly to offer a respectable and honest processing company. A Century Payments sales rep named Marshall Nation told me how switching to them (WorldPay is their processor) would save me a considerable amount of money. He made a point about how I was being charged a PCI fee and there is none with Century Payments.

    First month (May) I get my bill I see it my effective rate is 3.3% (previous was 2.4%), next month effective rate was 3.5% because they started charging me a PCI fee.

    I tried contacting Marshall but no return email. I tried calling Century Payments, but could not get a live person.

    I let it sit through July and Aug just to see, but the effective rate was always considerably higher than my previous processor. (always 3.3-3.5%)

    In September I got the “Fee Sweep” book (awesome!) and started collecting bids. So then I decided to cancel my account and pay the $495 early cancellation fee. Going to a different processor would end up saving me about $500 after 12 months.

    I tried calling Century Payments but it is very difficult to get hold of a live person. (try it call 866.706.4066 and see how long you are on hold).

    Now I cannot seem to cancel my account.
    When I did finally reach a live person on September 18th I was told to send an email to [email protected] with my account number and it would be cancelled.
    However it is not cancelled as of today.

    Now I am on hold trying to reach a live person with Centruy Payments. I’ve been listening to their hold elevator music for 100 minutes so far. Yes so far 100 minutes on hold – no joke. (It is Monday September 30th made call at 11:30am EDT now it is 1:10pm EDT). It says you can press 1 to leave a messge – but it doesn’t work!

    I would think thrice before considering having a business relationship with Century Payments. If my experience is indicative of the typical customer service I do not understand how this company can be in business.

  • Betsy

    I would advise anyone looking at this company to ask about fee and rates changes in the future. The sales person gives the impression that it is what it is but not so..
    I was very disappointed with my experience with this company. It started out OK but you could not count on any of the fees they charged staying the same. I would call and complain and they would drop the fee temporarily but it always went back up. Every few months, I got a letter stating something had changed. Never went down as you might guess. So if you sign their contract they basically get to do what they want and in the end you will have to even pay a fee to get rid of them.

  • A

    DO NOT USE CENTURY PAYMENTS !

    They tried raising the fess on me even though they were clearly stated in my contract ! and then when I called them out on it gave me a bunch of excuses and grumblings about why the tier rates were being raised.

    SUPER HIGH Monthly payment costs.
    Over $30 a month for Misc. fees + addition to their Tier 1,2,3,4 classification systems that can range up to %4.

    SUPER HIGH Early termination fees.!!!!

    No One EVER Answers the phone there. Average on hold times to get a rep 16-20 minutes.

    Rigid and inflexible customer service.

  • Lorilynne

    When I signed up I did so as an off season facility and was to be charged 10.00 per month until I went full season. They got the charge right for one month in a row. The next month I was charged 40.00, the next 50.00 the next was at 60.00. I called and got no where with customer service. I finally ended up closing my bank account and then they charged me a 550.00 severance fee. THEN they sent my account to a collection agency. I am beyond furious. When I called EACH month they said they’d take care of it. My business has yet to open the doors and bring in any revenue. This company has stolen over 550.00 from my bank account AND slapped me with a 500.00 severance fee. I have yet to swipe one credit card. Please beware…..

  • Luis

    RSB Worldpay id the front end of Century Payment Systems. When you signed a contract withRSB Worldpay, do you think that worldpay will close your account as requested? No it did not do a thing; you need to talk to a third party, Century Payment Systems/ NCR payment Systems. Their names did not appear in print anywhere on the contract papers. Then why do we have to deal with the third party to solve problems? The sales person will inflate the average sales volume and maximum sales volume on the contract, so that is a trap for you. You will pay additional fees when your sales volume is not met. Beware!!!

    RSB Worldpay or a third party will charge you about $120 to $150 per year for PCI compliance; other charged only $40.00. Century payment systems/ NRC payment Systems will charge you $120 to $150 annually for reporting sales volumes to IRS, other none. Beware!!

    I have a problem to cancelling the services as requested in writing mailed in more than 90 days before the end date of the contract with RSB Worldpay, also calling in a week before the end of contract. They kept charging the monthly minimum service fees for no services rendering. I did call in the Worldpay to dispute the fees; agent said that my account was just close recently and they do not have any records showed that I requested in writing or calling in to close account. Check out other processors.

  • Matt

    I have been trying to cancel for months. I statement says Merchant Processing Center Suite 100 12202 Airport Way Broomfield, CO 80021. Merchant Support 800-654-9256. I told them that we don’t need there services anymore. Have been with them over a year. They said that we couldn’t terminate our contract! They said we had to talk to Carrie Boysen with Century Payments. At 877-695-6502. I googled Carrie Boysen and found these comments. I am worried that this is going to be difficult. I am ready to fly down to Texas and deal with this mess. I don’t understand why it’s so difficult to cancel. People beware who you go with.

  • Jim Kurtz

    We signed up with Century Payments based on a cold call to our company from a former employee, who now works with Century.

    In a nutshell, my advice is READ THE FINE PRINT! And, read all of the contract. Within a month of signing the contract, they added a $12.95 monthly fee for PCI compliance. Our rep had initially promised that this service was built into the cost. After going through several people, we eventually got to a customer specialist who explained that there is a clause on page 2 of the contract that stipulates that Century and/or Worldpay (the actual provider) may charge additional fees at any time (I’m paraphrasing the legalese). Of course, this was never mentioned during the sign-up phase, nor was it on the fee summary sheet. Shame on me for not being thorough.

    This month, there is a $129 annual fee on our bill. Another fee that was nowhere on the fee sheet while we were signing up. When I called, they offered to reduce it to $99, as if that makes up for charging us without cause. So, my options are to pay $99 and hope I don’t get another fee before my contract expires, or pay $195 to cancel the contract and deal with a reputable company.

    I have nothing against a company making a profit. I just feel they should be honest enough to tell their customers and prospects what they are going to charge, rather than use a “gotcha” clause.

  • FoleyPLEX LLC

    THIS IS THE WORST FRAUD COMPANY out there…I WILL NEVER WORK with this Merchant company again! They have POOR communication they debit you account at will…with no notification. They then turn around and flat out LIE…telling you there is no contract as others have stated…their FRAUD detection suite is the worst in the business. I don’t know how they have a C+ rating on this site. They should have an F…they lie about what they are going to charge you a month told me $9.00 I just got debited $162…? For what! If I was big enough as a company I would SUE them into bankruptcy.

  • Steve

    This company has reneged on its obligations to employees. I hold a $7300 judgment against them issued by the State of California. They have ignored it for 18 months. Others I know were equally “screwed” out of earned income.

  • Tanissa Carmon

    So far century payments had a screw up in Dec 2011 during Christmas where I did not receive $700 I credit card sales. They told it would 7-14 data before it would be resolved. It was finally resolved in about 7 days. I haven’t had any issues since then!

  • Chuck

    I signed up with Century in 2010. I was told there was no contract and I specifically asked if there was a penalty if I decided to close the account and was told no that I could close at any time. I was also told that I would never be charged more than $30 a month for the services plus the percentages. My first statement was well over the $30 and it took about 2 months to get the refund. From then on my fees kept gradually getting higher and higher until they reached around $130 per month with several of those months . Century, I believe, was acting as an agent for I-Payment because That is who my statements were from. The representative in the Frisco office either didn’t know what she was talking about, blatantly lied to me or ‘conveniently’ left out the way the fees would be assessed. It appears I signed up with them in their infancy and it showed. Perhaps with a couple years experience they have figured the system out and may be a bit more open and honest. Then on the other hand, I’m not so sure integrity was in the requirements or the training manuals for the job.

  • Sheri King

    DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!
    The rates promised are not the rates received. When it’s time for a correction, it took months to put $700 back in our account. They put OVER $15,000 into the wrong account. When we expressed we didn’t want to work with them, not once did they mention we needed to write a termination letter. They charged me for 4 months after my last transaction. A supervisor, CARRIE BOYSEN, told us she would take care of everything then stopped returning our calls. She didn’t open tickets on conversations concerning our company and stopped returning our calls. Then she lied to her colleges about the nature of our conversations. The place is just horrible!!!

  • Steve

    I have a judgmment against this company in California for non-payment of earnings. I know of several others who had the same experience with a few suing and the others not pursuing it because of the difficulty in collecting from an out of state corporation which claims TX as its base and yet registered as a FL company for health benefits.

    • kahli

      I recently filed a suit against them as well for Non-payment of Residuals. It seems because they are knew in the market this company will try everything to get the volume and accounts they need even if it means taking some ones livelihood and creating negative and unlawful ways to get there.

  • Sara

    I just started using Century Payments, through the gateway “Transengen”, because the payments could be integrated with business management software that I had begun using. The rates were competitive and I was also told there was no contract. It turns out, the sales rep’s don’t know much about the equipment needed. I told them I intended to use my iPad2 and they told me to buy a certain card reader, through a third party distributor. When the equipment didn’t work, they said they had just realized that other customers have had the same problem, and “they did not know why” that was the case. When they recommended another device, also through a distributor, I called the manufacturer who said that I could not use it without the company first programming it for their system. Another “detail” that the sales rep was unaware of. So, the rep basically told me she would waive the early termination fee (either $195 or $495 depending on which part of the contract you read) if I cancel now, and recommended I go to square. My review: a big minus for not knowing what equipment to use and leading me on a wild goose chase, a plus for telling me to get out now, which probably saved me hundreds of other headaches in the future.

    • George

      Sara –
      Also issues although my equipment worked. I am wondering if you were using OfficeAlly for your business software? OfficeAlly is using Transengen, which I guess is really Century Payments which uses WorldPay.

      It sounds like you had some honesty. I’ve had nothing but dishonesty from a guy names Marshall Nation from Century Payments. Not sure how they can sleep at night knowing they are ripping off small businesses.

  • Susie

    BEWARE! Charging outrageous fees, we were promised $8 a month and ended up paying hundreds. Trying to close the account and now they want to charge me $350 cancellation fee. DO NOT CHOOSE THIS COMPANY FOR MERCHANT SERVICES.

    • Nicole

      Did you pay the cancellation fee? I’m about to terminate my contract with them early because of the fees and terrible service. I feel like I’ve been throwing away money since I signed up with them. I’ve only used them for 4 months and have to pay a $350 cancellation fee. I’m so angry! I asked to speak to a manager and was told there was nobody I could speak with!

  • Kathy

    I am having alot of trouble getting a problem solved with Century Payments. There sales person lied when he came in to my store, now they say that I have a contract when the sales person told me that there was no contract. Beware!!

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