Intrepid Payment Processing Review

Intrepid Payment Processing Logo
Overall Score
2.5
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Would you recommend them?

UPDATE 2/8/2019: The Intrepid Payment Processing website (intrepidpaymentprocessing.com) is not active at this time, nor are the websites of its affiliated companies Certified Payment Processing (cpp-360.com) or Axis Payments (axispayments.net). It is possible that Intrepid Payment Processing’s management has shifted its focus to Cypress Bay Solutions, which shares the same address as Certified Payment Processing. We will therefore no longer update this review.

Intrepid Payment Processing (intrepidpaymentprocessing.com) is a merchant account provider that appears to be a DBA of Certified Payment Processing and a reseller of First American Payment Systems products and services. A former employee of Apex Merchant Group has stated in the comment section of our Apex Merchant Group review that Apex Merchant Group’s portfolio was merged with Certified Payment Processing following the March 2015 settlement of a legal action against Apex in the state of Minnesota, and that Intrepid Payment Processing and Axis Payments are newly launched DBAs of Certified Payment Processing. The commenter further states that the CEO of Apex Merchant Group, Andrew Frankel, is now “running” Certified Payment Processing. There is some evidence that a new company called “Cypress Bay Solutions” has been created as yet another DBA of Certified Payment Processing.

Intrepid Payment Processing claims to have existed for over 10 years, but its social media profiles have only been active since August 2015. The Intrepid Payment Processing website lists an address at 3350 Boyington Dr., Suite B, Carrollton, Texas 75006, which is also the address for Certified Payment Processing, Summit Merchant Solutions, TransTech Merchant Group, and Axis Payments. The company is a registered ISO of Fifth Third Bank, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Key Points

  • Sales & Marketing: Intrepid Payment Processing hires independent sales agents and has received a high number of complaints about its sales practices.
  • Costs & Contract: Intrepid Payment Processing appears to offer a multi-year contract through First American Payment Systems with an early termination fee of $495.
  • Complaints & Service: Intrepid Payment Processing has received more than 20 public complaints.
  • BBB Rating: Intrepid Payment Processing has a “B-” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 25 complaints in the past three years.
  • Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Intrepid Payment Processing

Intrepid Payment Processing Customer Reviews

Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints 20+
Live Customer Support Yes
Most Common Complaint Hidden Fees

We are currently able to locate more than 20 negative Intrepid Payment Processing reviews, some of which explicitly accuse the company of being a scam or a ripoff. Merchant complainants commonly cite aggressive telemarketing tactics, hidden fees, unreachable customer service, expensive equipment leases, and fund holds, while employees describe fake appointments, poor leads, and late payouts. The company’s low overall complaint total is actually disproportionately high for a business that appears to have been operational for only a few years. In addition, the available complaints are severe in nature and strikingly similar to complaints that have been filed against Certified Payment Processing, Axis Payments, and other First American Payment Systems companies. This has earned it a “C” rating.

Intrepid Payment Processing Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints 8
Billing & Collection Complaints 7
Advertising & Sales Complaints 10
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.

The Better Business Bureau currently assigns a “B-” rating to Intrepid Payment Processing and has not granted the company accreditation. The BBB has received 25 complaints related to Intrepid in the past three years, with 10 related to advertising or sales issues, eight having to do with product or service problems, and seven due to billing and collection disputes. Intrepid has successfully resolved 13 complaints, while the remaining complaints either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. In light of Intrepid’s complaint total and resolution ratio, we have slightly adjusted the BBB’s rating to a “C” at this time.

Intrepid Payment Processing Fees, Rates & Contract

Rates & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate Variable
Keyed-in Rate Variable
Early Termination Fee $495
PCI Compliance Fee Variable
Equipment Lease Terms Non-Cancellable

The Intrepid Payment Processing website does not disclose any of the company’s pricing or fees. However, as a reseller of First American Payment Systems, the company probably offers pricing and fees that are similar to those offered by First American Payment Systems. More specifically, employee complaints indicate that Intrepid operates as a DBA of Certified Payment Processing under the same ownership as Apex Merchant Group, which would mean that it likely offers a three-year agreement with automatic renewal for one-year terms, an early termination fee of $495 to $595, an annual fee of $95, a monthly minimum fee of $25, an annual PCI compliance fee of $124.75, and a number of other, miscellaneous fees. Some fees mentioned in merchant complaints about Intrepid include a $95 annual fee, a $495 early termination fee, and a monthly equipment lease fee of $90 for a single terminal.

In general, we do not see any reason to recommend Intrepid Payment Processing’s pricing at this time. The company’s affiliation with poorly rated providers suggests that merchants should request and review all contract terms and rate disclosures. If you have any specific knowledge of the standard Intrepid Payment Processing merchant agreement, please share that information in the comment section below this review.

Intrepid Payment Processing Employee Reviews & Sales Practices

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

Intrepid Payment Processing markets its services through a combination of preset telephone appointments and independent sales agents. These combined strategies are typical of companies within the Certified Payment Processing network and are often linked to elevated complaint totals from merchants. We are currently able to find a relatively high number of Intrepid Payment Processing complaints that describe persistent, irritating telemarketing calls, misrepresentation of rates, and undisclosed fees. Specifically, multiple merchants claim that they were initially pitched a per-transaction fee of 1.65% or so with a flat monthly fee, only to discover that the full contract terms also included annual fees, other monthly costs, equipment leases, and per-transaction fees well above 2%. There are also three public complaints from current and former employees that describe fake preset appointments, unreceptive leads, and discomfort with the company’s reputation among merchants.

Some older complaints describe sales calls in which Intrepid representatives went to great lengths to conceal the name of their company, instead leading the merchant to believe that they were with the government or with the merchant’s current processor. A few more recent complaints mention threatening or abusive face-to-face interactions with sales reps. Many complainants directly state that Intrepid is simply a rebranding of Certified Payment Processing, so it seems likely that the company’s sales model is not too different from Certified’s “D” rated sales practices. We will therefore assign Intrepid a “D” rating in this section.

Intrepid Payment Processing Review Summary

Intrepid Payment Processing rates poorly as a merchant account provider according to our rating criteria. The company’s sales approach and contract terms appear to be indistinguishable from those used by First American Payment Systems, Certified Payment Processing, and Axis Payments. We will continue monitoring merchant feedback for this company and its associated companies.

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Reader Comments, Testimonials & Complaints

20 User Reviews

  • Cameron Post

    I “worked” for the company years ago. The hire process was the easiest thing ever. No experience necessary, like, at all. I had a telephone interview, then basically was offered the “job” on the spot. Honestly, at first I was excited. I thought, hey, here’s a new job, I’ll be getting in early with a newer company and make great money! The pay was advertised on Indeed.com for $1800/week. I didn’t know at the time about it being “too good to be true”. For “Orientation” they basically just go over their products and what their products do/are for. Once you actually start, they’ll have you driving all around town(gas is unpaid, they don’t actually pay you for anything other than if you make a sell, which I never did.)hitting up businesses talking to them about debit/credit card machines. Which they already had those, have had them for years and were totally satisfied with their current provider. Mind you, the company sends you to locations where they say they are “warm” leads, but over half the time, they either didn’t know who you were or what company you worked for, wasn’t expecting you, told them they weren’t interested or told them they were completely happy with what they had. Just try to imagine the awkward tension in the air when I just try to do my job and show up, introduce myself and tell them why I’m there just for them to say “Oh, I told them not to send anybody.”. Us “employees” were set up for failure from the very beginning. They didn’t care what the business owner said. They were gonna send us anywhere and everywhere because we were straight commission. So, the company had literally nothing to lose while the employees had gas, money, time, dignity and reputation to lose. Also, when people turned us down and said no, we had to call our “team lead” and get them on the phone to talk to the business owners. So they can try to do what we just tried doing, a second time. Well, half the time, the people I met up with were not the owner. It was just an employee or a family member that wasn’t the decision maker. This whole time they’d give you a few addresses daily to go by to try to sell to. When those few never amounted to anything, they’d say “Well look around you and go to other places”. They wanted you to go cold prospecting and cold selling off of established businesses that would not care to take the time to switch all of their machines over to a completely new company. When a “sale” went south(if you could even call it that: I couldn’t.), they got angry with you and scolded you. I remember years ago, when I was in the field trying to sell, I had to call my team lead to tell him that I went to the places he mentioned and they weren’t interested and the other places I went to didn’t want anything to do with it either. I can’t remember his exact response but it was highly along the lines of “Man, what are you doing out there?”-and he hung up on me. I guess that was the end of my employment with that company. I would never recommend this sleazy company. To anyone. No wonder they had to change their name so much over the years.

  • Outraged

    Just beware, if you sign up with Intrepid, and you decide to go to another processor, they will not only try to get $495 from you which is a reasonable fee for closing a processing account, but they are threatening me with penalties in the tens of thousands. I have contacted a lawyer who is now involved, but I’ve never seen a processor who is morally bankrupt like them. Stay away…

    • David Emery

      Avoid this company. Terrible reviews online. Many BBB complaints. Bait and switch sales tactics. They claim to have lower rates but they don’t, and there are many monthly fees that are not explained. Plus they make you sign a three year commitment.

  • Cody

    I was out of work and found out about this company. Seemed pretty good to work for so I gave it a shot.
    On my first day out, I was given 3 locations to visit for a sales call. The first location was a house/towing company that no one was present at. I called my rep to ask about it, and he “placed me on hold” while he spoke with the owner and came back and said that the owner was “unexpectedly out of town and wouldn’t be back for a week”. I went to the next location, a wrecker company. When I introduced myself, the owner yelled at me for 5 minutes about how Intrepid had been harassing him for months about getting the card readers and didn’t know why they kept bothering him. I apologized and explained it was my first day and I was just told to do my pitch. I called my rep again to let him know what happened and said “since this is your first day, I’ll let that slide but you’re not supposed to leave when they say no. Call first,” even though I had just had my ass chewed out. The last location was nicer, but the owner politely declined my pitch.

    The very next day, my rep gave me a new location to go to. When I entered the address on google, the result came up that the company had closed down. I decided to give the benefit of the doubt, and went anyway. It was an electronics department store, locally owned, in a really rundown part of town. The door was chained shut, windows were busted out, and it looked like no one had been there in years. Very clearly, it supported the google result I had earlier. I called my rep and told him. He once again “put me on hold” to speak with the owner, and then said that the owner had told him I was lying and the business was still open. Which was obviously false.

    I quit the very next day. This place is a scam and it’s unreal that they can still be in business when they’re sending their sales agents on bogus, fake calls. They should be shut down immediately.

  • Brenda

    This company lies about rates to get you to sign a contract with them. I have only used their services ONE time and stuck with it for a year. I needed to close bank account due to unauthorized charges from another company and I was hit with an early termination fee as well as collection fees from Intrepid totaling $805.91. I get constant harrassing phone calls from Kassi at Intrepid about this balance. DO NOT sign up with this company no matter what they tell you…save yourself and your business a great deal of money and headache.

  • Reggie

    IPP Intrepid makes promises they do not keep. The said my monthly fees would be lower and my rates would be better. My fees more than tripled and the rates had hidded fees attached. Canceled 3 months later due to the fact I was paying 2 processors as my previos processor had never been contacted. IPP Intrepis said they would pay all cancelation fees but account was never contacted or closed. Today I find out they are hitting my account for a $495.00 account termination fee. They do not do what they say and will try to take advantage. Do not use this bait and switch processor. P.S. when asked if they still had the recording of my sign up so we could review it Laticia stated its been 6 months and they don’t keep them that long. Their math on how long ago we signed up is just as bad as their math on their sign up speeches.

  • Veronica

    Business owners need to be ware of this scammers. They promised me that I was only going to be charged $20 a month plus 1.65% per transaction amount, what a BIG LIE. For the first month, as we were new, I just charged $185 to a customer. What a surprise when I saw that for that month they charged me $98 dollars, more than half of what I charged the customer. And on top of that they charged me $95 for annual fee. I called them to cancel my contract and they told me that I have to pay $520 for cancelling before the first three years. NEVER SIGN A CONTRACT WITH THIS COMPANY, if you don’t want to loose the money that you hardly earn to support your family.

  • Intrepid is horrible

    This company is horrible!!! They prey on small business owners who are trying to provide for their families. They pitch this amazing, life changing, money saving sales pitch. The sales man was relentless, which he should be. He made several visits to our place of business. He would get on the phone with one of the cronies who works at the main office and Texas and want me to talk to him and he had the same pitch. He was there everyday, and I could call him at anytime. So we thought this was legit…….boy were we wrong. As soon as we received the equipment and got it half way working…*poof*….he fell off the face of the earth. There system is crap!!! I wish I would have done my research. They have a Better Business Bureau rating of a “F”!!!!!! They have horrible business ethics and terrible customer service. They threaten you with taking you to court if you break contract. I have reached out to other business owners who has experienced the same headaches that I have had and 3 out of 4 agreed that this company is a low budget, under staffed, backwoods hole in the wall type of business in Texas. The 4th one didn’t experience all of this because he did his research and told them to scram!!! They claim they have excellent feedback from hundreds of business owners. I went to a conference that was full of business owners and I couldn’t find one that had a good experience with Intrepid. So if someone knocks on your door with a pitch that sounds to good to be true, and especially if they mention Intrepid POS…….slam the door in their face!!!

  • Sam

    THIS COMPANY IS A BIG FRAUD!!! The sales rep and their manager promised me a rate and no other hidden charges despite repeated questions and concerns. They charged me $80.00 within first 2 days of service and I fought to get it refunded and the sales rep admitted if was for another customer. HOW RIDICULOUS. My first month’s fees are 11% instead of the 1.69% promised. NOW NEITHER THE SALES REP, THE MANAGER OR THE COMPANY IS RESPONDING. BIG FRAUD COMPANY

  • Eric

    I made the mistake of falling for the intrepid pitch to become a sales rep. Made my first sales call to a prescreened lead. The business never knew I was coming and was on guard. The owners were cautious about disrupting their business with a new system and needed more time, we had a nice visit and I promised to get back to them with more info.

    Intrepid assigns a team leader to each rep and wants communication before and after each “bogus lead” they provide. Basically every call you go on is a cold call or a business owner who’s been antagonized by someone relentlessly using a phone dialer to try to set up an appt. My team leader wanted me to tell the owner of the business that he would not be able to use there current equipment after the first quarter of 2016…a complete lie ! I said I wouldn’t and he gave me some attitude. When I talked with him after the call his remarks were….what the F*** did I fuc**** tell you to say ? Why the F*** would you not do what I told you to do ? If I could have jumped thru the phone I would have. Instead of focusing on service and capabilities and selling in a consultative manner, this company has an awful, car salesman mentality. What a joke….I quit after the first call.

  • maya

    An Intrepid salesman just made a cold-call at my store. I told him politely I am very happy with my card processor and that I wasn’t interested. He asked who I use and I said “Square.” Then he starts handling my card terminal, which sits on the counter, saying how it’s not encrypted or secure (it is) and how Intrepid’s rates are around 2%, where square is 2.7%. I smiled and pointed out that Square has no hidden fees, no contracts, no yearly or monthly charges, and reiterated that I was VERY happy with my service. He got very rude and started telling me how “I’d be sorry” in this creepy sing-song voice. It was the most disturbing and, quite honestly, threatening sales meeting I’ve ever had.

  • Amanda

    I man came into the shop I work at saying he had an appointment. It was not written in my bosses calendar, nor was she her. He called his supervisor, I am guessing that is who it was and he wanted to talk to me. He was quite rude and did not like hearing no. I don’t appreciate being bullied on the phone and I did get nasty back. It is very rude to act this way. The man through the door was Matt Hendricks, it is his second day and he was very nice and polite. I will tell my boss he stopped in because he was not rude but she will not be changing to your company. Manners Matter.

  • Julie Overton

    Do not sign up with company! The lack of transparency in the contract along with the horrendous “customer service” is appalling. We reviewed and agreed to their initial contract but after we received the equipment we discovered that we had to adhere to another online contract in order to activate the system. This itself automatically nullifies the original contract. We were extremely uncomfortable with the agreeing to the new terms that were not in the first ocontract and immediately contacted Intrepid. We requested to return the equipment and cancel the contract, as it was not what we signed up for, but instead (for weeks) we were transferred from one agent to another. They continued to ignore our repeated requests to pick up the equipment. Without any warning they deducted $1132 from our business account. After our bank reversed the charges, we eventually got them to take back the unused equipment, but they sent a notice stating we owed $668 in fees for a system we never used. Their practices are beyond unethical and I have turned this over to the states attorney.

  • Former employee

    I had just started as a sales rep for this company, and all I can say is stay away from them. Every lead that was generated and verified as an appointment was total BS! The customers I saw told me that they told the phone rep not to send a rep out to them! Others places I was sent to were vacant! When I put my sales manager on the phone with the customer to verify that an actual appointment was never set, I could hear him swearing at the customer.
    You have been warned!

  • R Lewis

    So, a representative from Intrepid came out to our business to convince us that we could save us a ton of money by switching to their processing service. As we were talking, I looked up their website and the reviews that other people had taken the time to write. When I shared the reviews with him, ” Silver” became extremely agitated and told me not to read these reviews, but to only look at their BBB reviews. I told him I look at all reviews. I feel like if people take the time to write reviews, I should take the time to read them. When I attempted to explain this to ” Silver” he said, ” people can write whatever they want… He began demanding I go to the BBB website and now had an attitude. I then said, Ok, we’re done. I don’t like what I just heard. He said I don’t care what you think. I asked him to leave and he began calling me names and commenting on the car I drove? I said what does that have to do with how you represented your company and he said look at my watch, I have a “Rolex” I told him I didn’t care what type of watch he had and he could still leave my property. He literally began cussing me out, at which point I returned the insults. My point is, if this is the best representation a company has as a first impression, then THANK GOD, FOR THOSE WHO TOOK THE TIME TO LEAVE A REVIEW. Please be warned there are better companies out there and we currently use US Bank and LOVE them!!

  • Patrick

    I.P.P. tried debiting $641.00 from our business account for ” failure to return equipment”. So when asked their response was “you were supposed to turn in your last cc processors equipment to us”….I HAVE TO TURN IT INTO THEM. Also, upon submitting original carbon copied documents to 5TH THIRD BANK, an IPP Employee changed some terms of my application. I requested submitted copies from the bank and sure enough, no match. I HIGHLY suggest you just go ahead and stay clear of this company.

  • B.Anderson

    Intrepid are liars, well the sales reps in Mobile, Alabama are. They call you like they have something to do with the Government and Merchant services. This is actually a sales call instead. They came into my business of course, because my account manager thought they were here for other reasons. After a long hour of the representative talking back and forth with her sales manager, they out right lied and promised things they could not do. This could have been a pleasant transaction, but noooo they had to lie and make things difficult. The sad part is customer service is great and of course they nothing to do with the sales team….go figure, so their sales team are liars and go ones at that. My company is very disappointed in Mobile’s sale team and I have contacted a lot of people in my industry and warned them of their sales personal.

  • Tammy Pena

    Their sales reps aren’t very bright… for someone who WANTS my business, they spend an awful lot of time arguing with me – or worse, hanging up without so much as a “thank you, for your time”. Our CEO has a daughter that manages a processing company, and we have used them for many, many years. When I explain that to these Intrepid Sales Reps, they begin interrogating me, arguing with me or just plain hanging up.
    As long as this young woman represents the company we use (and they continue to meet all of our needs) we will not be changing companies, however, if we ever decided to, INTREPID has definitely made itself stand out – as a company we will NEVER use. Bravo!

  • BonnieC

    Just had a call from a very aggressive Intrepid rep trying to set up an “appointment” for someone to come to my place of business to advise me of new “government” lower credit card fees for merchants. The call was very deceptive in nature and at no time stated it was to set up a marketing appointment for Intrepid. I’m very happy with my credit card system. I have no monthly minimums or added fees. I am also on the National Do Not Call List. That was 10 minutes of my valuable time wasted and makes me angry.


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