Clearwater Payments Overview
Clearwater Payments May Have Overcharged You
If you accepted credit cards through Clearwater Payments or any other credit card processing company between 2017 and 2019, recent changes to the law may entitle you to refunds of certain debit card and credit card processing errors and overcharges. See this post to find out if your were among the businesses affected and to learn how you can get your money back.
A New Venture From A Familiar Team
Founded in 2015, Clearwater Payments is a payment services provider that is owned and operated by former executives of Crescent Processing Company, Park Central Company, Future Payment Technologies, and Talus Pay. In fact, “Clearwater Payments” is a registered trademark of Future Payment Technologies, which could mean that the company is technically structured as a DBA of Future Payment Technologies. There is also a possibility that Clearwater Payments is associated with Merchant Processing Company, a revived version of the Crescent Processing Company website.
Clearwater Payments Management
The executive management team of Clearwater Payments includes David Kesler (owner), Jon Frankel (owner), Chad Smith (CEO), Bob Wilson (Chief revenue officer) Bob Stephens (COO), and Sunnye Goldston (compliance officer), all of whom held the same positions at Future Payment Technologies and Talus Pay prior to December 2016. The owners also were executives at Crescent Processing Company and Park Central Company prior to operating Future Payment Technologies. Talus was purchased by a private equity firm prior to 2017, and Talus is now operated by a different ownership group separately from Clearwater Payments. This history has been included in Clearwater Payments’ review because the aforementioned businesses are some of the lowest-rated processors on CPO.
Claims Regarding Payment Processing
Following this review’s initial publication, a Clearwater Payments representative contacted us to state that Clearwater Payments is not a merchant services company and does not engage in that industry in any way. Rather, the representative stated that Clearwater Payments is focused on providing third-party bill payment services to the utility, insurance, and consumer finance markets. Although billing software may be the company’s primary focus, the Clearwater Payments website currently features the following language:
- “Support for all Payments – Accept credit cards, debit cards, and echeck payments made over the phone, through our online interface, via mobile devices/smartphones, or by way of a live agent.”
- “Instant Payments and eReceipts – Your customers can make their payments in real-time and instantly receive payment/confirmation receipts via email or text messaging.”
- “Simplified Reconciliation – All prior days’ payments are delivered in ONE daily settlement report – no more reconciling from multiple sources.”
- “our convenient online portal gives your customers a choice of making one-time, scheduled or recurring payments”
- “Multiple Payment Options – Your customers can pay their bills via credit card, debit card or ACH/echeck.”
- “With Clearwater POS, accepting walk-in payments is both simple and convenient. Our robust terminal is secure, easy to use and packed with numerous features to help support the needs of your business.”
- “Flexible Pricing – Convenience fee, flat rate, cost-plus, or hybrid model“
These are all payment processing services, and a merchant account will be required to accept credit cards through these services. Whether Clearwater Payments provides that merchant account, refers merchants to a Clearwater Payments partner, or requires merchants to obtain their own merchant account separately is not explained on the Clearwater Payments website. Given the fact that Clearwater Payments offers billing tools and its executive leadership team has an extensive background in merchant services, we feel it is in the interest of merchants to review this company on CPO.
Clearwater Payments Location
Clearwater Payments does not list its acquiring bank or its address on its website, but some sources state that the company is located at 12377 Merit Dr #1530, Dallas, Texas 75251.
Clearwater Payments Review Table of Contents
- Costs & Contract: Clearwater Payments appears to offer variable contract terms that will depend on each merchant’s business type and processing history.
- Complaints & Service: Clearwater Payments has received fewer than 10 public complaints.
- BBB Rating: Clearwater Payments does not have a profile with the Better Business Bureau at this time.
- Sales & Marketing: Clearwater Payments does not appear to hire independent resellers and has not received any complaints related to its sales practices.
- Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Clearwater Payments
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About Phillip Parker
Thank you for reading my review. I hope that it has helped you with your research.
Why I'm Qualified to Write About Credit Card Processing and Merchant Account Services
I'm a former credit card processing sales director who left the industry because I didn't like how it takes advantage of small business owners. It feeds like a leech on businesses and thrives by imposing fees that are nearly impossible to comprehend. Seeing a need for change, I left and built this website help business owners better understand the industry, research merchant services providers, and get refunds of excessive merchant account fees. My experience of working "behind the curtain" in the industry, and using that knowledge for good, has resulted in millions of dollars returned to hard-working small business owners as well as enterprise-level companies.
From the time that I starting working in the merchant services industry to when I left to create this website, I've been on the pulse of payments for nearly 15 years. It didn't seem fair to keep this "insider" knowledge to myself. To lift the fog, I've reviewed hundreds of companies, read thousands of user reviews, and learned the pricing tricks of every provider. If you have questions about credit card processing, you can find the answers on this website.
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