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Does Gravity Payment Help Merchant Simplify Credit Card Processing? Find Out In This Article

Name: Gravity Payments
Item: Gravity Payments
Rating: 4.5
Author: Phillip Parker

Author: Phillip Parker

Updated: September 28, 2025

Maintained Since: June 28, 2011

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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.

Gravity Payments

Rating

4.5/5

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Pros

Transparent pricing

No hidden fees

Month-to-month contracts

Quick setup

Secure processing

Cons

Early cancellation fees

Potential equipment costs

Limited advanced features

Variable processing rates

Not for high-risk

Overview

In this Gravity Payments review, we’ll provide a clear overview of their credit card processing services, including point-of-sale (POS) systems, mobile payment tools, and e-commerce solutions. We’ll outline which types of businesses may benefit most from their offerings and highlight customer reviews to show common feedback, praises, and concerns. Along with services, we’ll cover pricing, contract terms, and overall performance so you know what to expect. By the end, you’ll have the insights you need to decide whether Gravity Payments is the right fit for your business’s payment processing needs.

About Gravity Payments

Screen Capture of Gravity Payments Homepage — Gravity Payments Homepage

Gravity Payments is a small merchant account provider based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in 2004. According to a representative of Gravity Payments, the company primarily uses First Data and Cynergy Data as its processors but services the accounts directly. Gravity Payments markets its services nationally, but most of its customers are in the state of Washington. The company made headlines when it announced that it would pay all of its salaried employees at least $70,000 per year.

Customer Reviews & Sentiment

Low Complaint Volume

We found about 10 negative Gravity Payments reviews, with no allegations of scamming or fraud. Common issues include fund holds, application denials, dissatisfaction with early termination fees, misleading advertising claims, and inadequate employee support. Interestingly, two complaints received identical responses from a company representative in a very short time frame, leaving the resolution status of these complaints uncertain.

Fund Hold Complaints

Complaints related to fund holds at Gravity Payments suggest that merchants with sudden significant revenue increases or those in high-risk sectors might consider looking for a top-rated high-risk merchant account instead. Despite these specific concerns, the overall low volume of complaints and the lack of a recurring theme imply that the majority of Gravity Payments clients are content with their service.

Gravity Payments Lawsuits

No major class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints have been identified against Gravity Payments. Merchants looking for amicable solutions to issues with Gravity Payments are encouraged to report them to relevant supervisory organizations.

Industry Scores & User Ratings

Online Ratings Summary
PaymentPop	5
BBB Rating	5
Google Maps	4
Average Rating	4.5

PaymentPop Rating for Gravity Payments

Negative Feedback

There are no negative reviews published about Gravity Payments on the PaymentPop website.

Positive Feedback

Gravity Payments has been steady and transparent from the beginning. The onboarding was simple, and the team explained everything clearly without pushing extras. Our payment system has been reliable, and support has been easy to reach when needed.

Gravity Payments BBB Rating

As of this review, the Better Business Bureau is reporting accreditation since 2005 and an “A+” rating for Gravity Payments with 2 complaints filed in the last 36 months. Both complaints are related to billing and collection disputes and were either resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. Gravity Payments has a 5 out of 5 star rating based on 1 user reviews on the Better Business Bureau website.

What Merchants Say

At the time of our last review, Gravity Payments had also received 1 negative informal review through the BBB. The review described difficulties serving high risk merchants:

They discriminate according to what the risk may be, based on their ’emotional’ evaluation of a business, not based on facts, credentials, degrees, certificates etc. What they do, is considered ILLEGAL in Massachusetts and they should be careful in how they assess high and low risk businesses. In 16 years that I have been in business and merely based on $500.000 in the past few years, I have only had one dispute of $200 (two hundred) yet they decided to discriminate and assess my business as high risk, despite credentials, licensing and degrees and certificates. Shame on you Gravity, shame on you to discriminate in this way.

Merchants who have a similar experience may benefit from researching reasons why your application can be denied.

An “A” Rating

Given the company’s low complaint volume and resolution ratio, we agree with the BBB’s rating at this time.

Google Maps Rating for Gravity Payments

Gravity Payments has a 4 out of 5 star rating based on 49 user reviews on Google Maps.

Positive Feedback

I have nothing but positives to say about the service, the representatives, and tech support. This company is wonderful and its people pleasantly surprise me time and time again.

Negative Feedback

The poorest customer service I have ever experienced. Instead of working with me to make a name change they wanted me to jump through hoops with people no longer involved in the business.

Processing Rates & Fees

Gravity Payments Pricing

Gravity Payments customizes contract terms, including the length and cancellation fees, to fit the specific needs of each merchant. A sample contract available shows a three-year agreement with First Data featuring an early termination fee of $495. This contract also specifies a monthly minimum fee of $35 and a flat rate pricing model of 4%. Additionally, Gravity Payments offers a PCI Compliance program at an annual cost of $85, according to its website.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

Gravity Payments offers virtual terminal and payment gateway services as part of its e-commerce solutions, though detailed pricing for these services is not publicly listed on the website. It is common for services like these to include additional charges, such as gateway fees, technical support fees, batch fees, and extra transaction rates, which are standard across e-commerce platforms.

Comparing Costs with Industry Averages

The terms outlined in Gravity Payments’ sample contract suggest pricing that may exceed industry averages, potentially making it less competitive compared to the most affordable merchant account providers. However, the flexibility in contract terms indicates that costs can vary widely, potentially offering very favorable conditions based on the merchant’s industry, business size, and duration of operation. Feedback concerning the company’s contract terms is limited but includes some dissatisfaction with the early termination fee.

Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

Inside and Outside Sales Staff

Gravity Payments appears to hire W2-employed inside and outside sales agents to market its services, although it is possible that the company also employs independent sales reps in some cases. We are currently unable to locate any Gravity Payments merchant complaints that accuse the company’s agents of unethical conduct, but we have found one complaint from a former employee who felt that she did not receive adequate support from her employers. However, this complaint appears to be an isolated instance.

Transparent Pricing

It also appears that the company actively markets Interchange Pass-through rate pricing to all of its merchants, which is the most transparent pricing model available. As an additional point in its favor, the company does not appear to engage in deceptive advertising strategies in its official materials. However, if you suspect that Gravity Payments is charging you hidden fees, we recommend a third-party statement audit to eliminate undisclosed charges.

Gravity Payments Competitors

Compare Gravity Payments to competitors that earned top marks.

Pricing

Bottom Line

Gravity Payments rates as a dependable merchant services provider based on our evaluation standards. The company maintains a strong reputation with very few complaints across consumer protection sites and offers a diverse array of contract terms. We encourage merchants to carefully compare their application with their program guide to ensure they have a clear understanding of the fees involved. Even when engaging with an “A” rated provider, we recommend comparing the terms and pricing of any given contract against those of the top providers overall. This approach will enable merchants to make well-informed decisions and negotiate more favorable arrangements that best suit their business needs.

Read Actual User Reviews

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All user reviews have been moved to our partner, PaymentPop.com

Contact Gravity Payments

Contact & Customer Support
CEO	Dan Price
Headquarters	5601 22nd Ave NW, Suite 200, Seattle, Washington 98107
Customer Service	(866) 701-4700
Additional Support Channels	Online Contact Form
Website	gravitypayments.com

About Us

CardPaymentOptions.com

Established 2009

My name is Phillip Parker, and I started this website back in 2009 as a simple blog to call out shady credit card processors that were taking advantage of small business owners. At the time, I had no idea this side project would grow into a leading voice pushing for transparency and integrity in the payment processing industry. I also didn't anticipate just how far some of these companies' owners would go to try to silence me.

I was recruited out of college for a sales role with a credit card processor. At the time, I didn't realize the “training” was really about tricking me... into selling business owners expensive processing with hidden fees and long-term service agreements. In my first few sales, I unknowingly cost friends and family thousands of dollars after they trusted me to switch their services. When it finally clicked that something was seriously wrong, I was furious. I quit immediately and made a promise to expose that company and any others operating the same way. That promise is what led to the creation of this website.

As I wrote about these processors, their tactics, and the people behind them, the articles started to spread among business owners. News organizations picked up the stories, readers shared them online, and traffic to the blog took off. Unsurprisingly, that also caught the attention of the companies and individuals I was exposing.

Over the last 17 years, I've received several anonymous death threats and defeated four lawsuits meant to intimidate me into taking my blog down. Their efforts to muzzle me only made my determination to expose them even stronger, leading me to work with state authorities to help shutdown some of the worst offenders.

I'm proud to say that of the millions of people who have read my work, thousands have taken the time to write and thank me for helping them narrowly avoid a very costly mistake. This blog has played a small role in pushing the industry toward more ethical practices - but there are still bad actors out there, which means the work isn't done.

If I can offer one piece of advice, it's this: get every promise in writing, and take the time to review contracts carefully. Tools like ChatGPT can help surface red flags and uncover expensive surprises buried in the fine print.

If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I truly appreciate you being here, and I wish you every success with your business.

Our Research Methodology

Pricing & Fees

We analyze all costs including rate structures (interchange-plus, tiered, flat-rate, etc), monthly fees, equipment costs, early termination fees, and hidden charges. This data is gathered from service agreements, statements and client feedback.

Features & Technology

Evaluation of POS systems, e-commerce integrations, mobile capabilities, reporting tools, recurring billing..., and developer resources. When possible, we directly test services and hardware. Otherwise, we rely on client feedback and public information.

Customer Support

We evaluate availability across phone, email, chat, and social channels. Measuring hold times, night and weekend availability, and client feedback regarding effectiveness, professionalism, and resolution rates.

Contract Terms & Conditions

We review service agreements and equipment contracts for reasonability, transparency, and fairness. We focus on uncovering any predatory clauses, such as unjustified early termination fees, hidden costs, and unclear cancellation policies.

User Experience

We comb the internet and interview current and former clients to evaluate the overall user experience and identify any common pain points that may impact the user experience.

Sales & Marketing Practices

We evaluate sales tactics, marketing materials, and client feedback to determine the level of transparency and ethical nature of the provider's approach. Does the provider publicly disclose pricing? Do they use teaser rates? We score based on these and other factors.

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