Merchant Services Reviews

CHI Payment Systems Review: Fees, Complaints & Lawsuits

Updated:
Maintained Since: September 28, 2015
▼ 2 User Reviews
CHI Payment Systems Logo
Overall Score
4.2
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Would you recommend them?

Note: As of August 2021, the CHI Payment Systems website appears to be down. It appears the company is out of business, so we will no longer be updating this profile. If you have information that the company is still in business, please let us know in the comment section below.

A CardPayment Solutions/iPayment Reseller

Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California, CHI Payment Systems is a merchant account provider that appears to be a DBA of CardPayment Solutions, which is itself a reseller of Paysafe (formerly iPayment). The website for CHI Payment Systems has a large amount of text that is identical to the text found on the CardPayment Solutions website, and some early versions of the CHI Payment Systems logo are very similar to the logo for CardPayment Solutions.

Shared Address With CardPayment Solutions

An even more significant link between the two companies is the fact that the Better Business Bureau profile for CHI Payment Systems provides the same P.O. box address that CardPayment Solutions and iPayment use to receive their mail correspondence.

CHI Payment Systems Location & Ownership

CHI Payment Systems is a registered ISO of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Concord, California. The company does not list a specific address within Thousand Oaks, but both CardPayment Solutions and iPayment are headquartered at 30721 Russell Ranch Rd, Westlake Village, CA. According to LinkedIn, Johnny Vozzella is the operations manager at CHI Payment Systems, while Chris Waymon is the company’s director of sales. Susan Peterson and Leyton Service are both listed as CEO on LinkedIn, though this is not confirmed elsewhere.

CHI Payment Systems Review Table of Contents

  • Costs & Contract: CHI Payment Systems appears to offer a three-year contract through iPayment with no early termination fee and a payment gateway through Authorize.Net.
  • Complaints & Service: CHI Payment Systems has received fewer than 10 public complaints.
  • BBB Rating: CHI Payment Systems has an “A+” rating and has received 3 complaints and 0 reviews in the past 3 years. The company is not accredited by the Better Business Bureau.
  • Sales & Marketing: CHI Payment Systems hires independent sales agents and has received some complaints about its sales practices.

CHI Payment Systems Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints <10
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint N/A

Low Complaint Total

We have located fewer than 10 negative CHI Payment Systems reviews, and the reviews we have found do not describe the company as a ripoff or a scam. Common issues cited by complainants include misrepresentation of rates, nondisclosure of fees, and poor customer service. Overall, the company’s complaint total is much lower than those of other iPayment companies, but this may simply be a function of its short time in business thus far. We have assigned it an “A” for the time being.

CHI Payment Solutions Lawsuits

We have not found any outstanding class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against CHI Payment Systems. Dissatisfied merchants who wish to pursue a non-litigious course of action against the company should consider reporting it to the relevant supervisory organizations.

CHI Payment Systems Customer Support Options

CHI Payment Systems offers phone and email support to its merchants, but it’s unknown whether these lines are serviced by CHI Payment Systems or by iPayment. In either case, merchants should not expect a level of service comparable to the top-rated payment processors for great customer service.

CHI Payment Systems Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints 2
Billing & Collection Complaints 1
Advertising & Sales Complaints 0
Guarantee & Warranty Complaints 0
Delivery Complaints 0

Declining Complaint Total

CHI Payment Systems currently has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and is not accredited. The company has received 3 complaints in the last 36 months. 1 complaint related to billing or collection and 2 were due to product or service issues. 0 complaints were successfully resolved. All 4 complaints were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or received no final response.

What Merchants Say

In addition to those 3 complaints, CHI also has 0 negative informal reviews on its BBB profile. It should be noted that these reviews are not subject to authentication by the BBB. A previous review described issues with chargebacks:

very bad customer service ,i have alot charges back ,i try call ,fax to them every thing they want but they don’t do any thing ,i lost money , i cancel services get another company better than them ,

Merchants can avoid these situations by learning how to fight chargebacks and win.

An “A” Performance

Given the company’s complaint total and resolution ratio over the past 36 months, we agree with the BBB’s rating of an “A.”

CHI Payment Systems Fees, Rates & Contract

Rates & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate 1.00% - 4.99%
Keyed-in Rate 1.00% - 4.99%
Virtual Terminal Rate 2.90% + $0.30
Payment Gateway Fee $25 Per Month
Batch Fee $0.10
Early Termination Fee None
Annual Fee $159
Equipment Lease Terms 48 Month (locked)

Variable Contract Terms

There is very little publicly available information about the standard CHI Payment Systems contract at this time. The company does not provide pricing specifics in its marketing materials except for the claim that it does not charge cancellation fees. Even though this is the only concrete information listed about CHI’s standard contract, it directly contradicts the terms of the standard iPayment contract. iPayment typically offers a three-year contract with an early termination fee that ranges from $250 to $350 and may include equipment leases through First Data Global Leasing.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

In addition to its storefront payment processing services, CHI Payment Systems also advertises its virtual terminal and payment gateway on its website. Pricing on either of those services is not disclosed. However, a standard iPayment contract offers a payment gateway through Authorize.Net. Typical rates under Authorize.Net’s payment gateway include rates of 2.90% plus $0.30 for transactions made through virtual terminals, a payment gateway fee of $25 per month, and a batch fee of $0.10.

Merchant-Reported Fees

According to merchant complaints filed through the Better Business Bureau, CHI Payment Systems imposes early termination fees in excess of $495 despite the companies claims to the contrary. Additionally, the company charges an annual fee of $159. It’s also possible that these fees could be higher or lower depending on which independent sales agent a merchant interacts with. Given the scant details available about the company’s pricing and its relationship with iPayment, we do not expect its pricing to compete with the cheapest merchant account providers.

We also encourage merchants to check out our list of the providers of the best merchant accounts.

CHI Payment Systems Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

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

Outside Sales Team

CHI Payment Systems primarily utilizes independent sales agents to market its services, a strategy that has resulted in high complaint volumes for CardPayment Solutions and iPayment. CHI Payment Systems itself is showing only a couple of complaints related to nondisclosure of rates and fees, specifically its recurring monthly fees and early termination fees. There is also a complaint from a former agent that describes inadequate training, poor service rendered to the merchant, and meager payouts for closed accounts. Overall, the company has a much lower complaint rate than its apparent affiliates, although it is unclear how long the CHI Payment Systems brand has been active.

This compares favorably to our list of best credit card processors.

Multiple Brand Aliases

This raises another important point about CHI Payment Systems’ marketing strategy. iPayment, the company’s likely backend processor, is known to utilize a large number of sub-ISOs to sell its services, and many of these ISOs are among the worst-rated providers on CardPaymentOptions.com. This is because they tend to receive a steady stream of complaints related to nondisclosure of contract terms, long-term contracts, expensive products, and poor customer service. iPayment’s use of numerous sub-ISOs also has the effect of spreading complaints across multiple brand names, despite the fact that many of them simply resell identical iPayment contracts.

Questions About Corporate Structure

As a result of these factors, we cannot be sure that all of the complaints intended for CHI Payment Systems are actually finding their way to CHI Payment Systems’ online profiles. In addition, we have no real knowledge of how long or how frequently the CHI Payment Systems brand has been used to sell merchant services. In light of these factors, we have assigned CHI Payment Systems a “B” rating in this category. If you suspect that you were deceived by a CHI Payment Systems representative, you can double-check your pricing with a third-party statement audit.

CHI Payment Systems Review Summary

An Average Option for Most Business Types

CHI Payment Systems rates as an average merchant services provider according to our rating criteria. The company is showing a lower complaint rate than most iPayment resellers, but it appears to be fairly new to the industry, though it may already be out of business. In addition, the few contract terms that have been mentioned in merchant reviews are not especially competitive for the industry. Merchants are encouraged to request and review all documentation, and to compare the company’s pricing to that offered by top-rated credit card processors.

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Reader Comments, Testimonials & Complaints

2 User Reviews

  • Terri

    Bad Customer Service, could not reach salesman who was our representative. never recieved our PCI compliane funds on two different accounts-lost $150.00 there. Changed mecrchant companies approximately 6 months go and am still being charged by them. now I just recived a notice that I need to do the PCI compliance for thier company in which I am not involved with anymore

  • Jaron Rice

    I’ve been approached by CHI payment systems to sell for them a number of times. I can provide you with a copy of their agreement if you’d like. It is true that there’s no cancellation fee. However, my biggest concern is actually how much they pay their agents. They offer up front bonuses of $300-400 per account and monthly unit and volume bonuses. I actually have friends who sell for them and they definitely pay what they say they’re paying. However, having been in this industry for a while my concern is where they’re getting all that money. Granted their residual share at 40% is rather weak, but when you’re paying agents close to 5k in total compensation for closing 10-12 accounts in a month, something’s got to give.

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