Paya Review

Variable Pricing

Pricing and fees of a Paya merchant account appear to vary based on a merchant’s business type, processing volume, and the agent or sub-ISO setting up the account. A copy of the company’s standard terms and conditions under the name Sage Payment Solutions is publicly available. Paya charges a Liquidated Damages early termination fee, which is calculated by multiplying the remaining months in a merchant’s contract by $25. This can result in very expensive penalties for termination that essentially force merchants to buy themselves out of contracts. Additionally, the company is reported to charge an annual PCI compliance fee of around $100.

Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway Pricing

In addition to its storefront payment processing services, Paya also dedicates a portion of its website that advertises its virtual terminal and payment gateway services. However, pricing on either of those services is not disclosed. Additional rates and fees, including gateway fees, technical support fees, batch fees, and additional transaction rates typically apply to these e-commerce services.

Worse-Than-Average Terms

Paya scores a “C” rating in this section due to its high cancellation fees and automatically renewing contracts. Merchants have not filed many public reports against Paya due to the brief amount of time that the company’s new name has been active, but its track record under the Sage brand was consistently marred by reports of high costs. We do not consider Paya to be a cheap merchant account provider at this time.

Low Complaint Total

Considering Paya’s size and time in business, the company has a relatively low amount of complaints under both of its names. We have found approximately 40 negative Paya reviews on various online forums and consumer complaint websites. Most complained of undisclosed and unexpected fees, poor customer support, high cancellation fees (ranging from $100 to $700), and the company’s auto-renewing contract. Most of the company’s recent complaints are related to unreachable or unhelpful customer support, which is a big reason why we do not consider Paya a top merchant account provider for customer service.

Paya Lawsuits

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

Paya Customer Support Options

Paya earns an above average rating in this section because of its low complaint count in comparison to industry averages for a company of its size. The company offers phone, email, and live chat support to new and existing customers.

Over 10 Complaints

Paya has been accredited with the Better Business Bureau since 2006 and currently maintains an “A+” rating. The company has received 11 complaints in the past 36 months, with 3 related to product or service issues and 8 due to billing or collection complaints. Paya has successfully resolved 2 complaints, while the other 9 complaints either were resolved to the merchant’s dissatisfaction or did not receive a final response from the merchant.

What Merchants Say

Paya has also received 7 informal reviews through the BBB, all of which were negative in tone. The most recent negative review describes excessive charges:

While processing a customer payment for a smaller invoice, a larger down payment invoice was mistakenly included with the transaction. The transaction was flagged by Paya’s risk system, they informed us they could not allow the transaction. We confirmed the transaction was unauthorized, and asked Paya to reject the payment. Paya informed accounting to run a credit on our end to reject the payment, never informing us of the fees to do so. Had we done nothing, then the original request would never have been completed because of it being unauthorized by Paya as it was over the approved amount both by us and Paya. Paya proceeded to charge the full fee as if the sale went through. Secondly, they also charged us the full fee to process the credit that they had instructed us to do. The funds were not deposited to our bank account, we also contacted our depositing bank and they confirmed the funds were never received by them to deposit to our account. The amount charged for the first transaction was $6,059.37 and the amount charged for the processed credit was $4,423.05. A customer support supervisor was contacted, requesting a refund. We received confirmation that their executive team authorized a refund to us. The refund was never received. The original customer support supervisor was removed and now follow-up emails and phone calls are going unanswered. This has been going on since June, Paya’s support ticket # is 3A6D4B. They also reference A564B6.

Merchants should research contract terms to avoid to escape unnecessary charges like those mentioned in this review. Long term equipment leases can be avoided by purchasing equipment outright. Choosing to own equipment is a prudent decision as merchants are often charged thousand of dollars upon what the cost of purchasing the equipment would be through lease terms.

No BBB Adjustment Necessary

In light of Paya’s complaint total and resolution ratio, we see no reason to adjust the BBB’s rating at this time.

Many Third-Party Resellers

Paya markets its services via several different types of sales partnerships. These include independent software vendors, value-added resellers, independent resellers and agents, and sub-ISOs. Paya’s sub-ISO program allows other merchant account sales organizations to resell Paya credit card processing services. These third-party organizations can partner with Paya as either a “non-registered ISO” or as a “registered ISO.” Registered ISOs are allowed to operate under their own separate brand names while reselling Paya’s services. A non-registered ISO must sell under the Paya brand and present itself as an independent representative of Paya.

Paya Sales Agent Complaints

Several reports from Sage users indicated some problems with sales agents using deceptive sales tactics. Although there is no evidence that Paya condones these types of tactics, it’s apparent that the company did at one point enforce contracts even when merchants claimed to have been deceived. Since this does not appear to be a widespread problem with Paya, we have not lowered the company’s grade in this section. If you suspect that Paya is charging you undisclosed fees, we recommend seeking a free third-party statement audit.