In the late 2000s, as a broke college student struggling to make ends meet, I was contacted by a merchant services company after uploading my resume to a job listings website. This company promised substantial commissions and ongoing residual income for simply persuading businesses to accept credit card payments. It seemed straightforward enough—after all, what business doesn’t need to process credit card payments? Following a phone interview with a persuasive “sales director,” I found myself embarking on what I believed would be an easy job that would significantly boost my bank account with reliable monthly income and large sales commissions. However, the lessons I learned would profoundly change my life in ways I could never have imagined.
After completing my sales training, I hit the ground running, eager to make sales. This broke college student was determined to improve his financial situation! My first attempt at a cold call, with no prior appointment, ended with a burly man in his 50s yelling at me to leave, claiming he had been “totally robbed” by someone like me before. As I hastily exited, puzzled and intimidated by his reaction, I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant. Throughout the day, I encountered similar hostility from other business owners, all expressing disdain for the industry I had been so excited to join that morning. Confused and curious, I decided to shift my approach from selling to listening.
I quickly uncovered that the merchant services sector was riddled with unethical practices, including hidden fees, deceptive marketing, fine-print traps, and much more. It dawned on me that I had nearly been tricked by a dubious company into selling overpriced services under contracts with long-term commitments, all without being fully aware of what I was promoting. Outraged, I resigned from that company but learned that there were indeed ethical credit card processing companies that treated their clients fairly. Over the next four years, I worked for one such company, assisting hundreds of businesses in securing cost-effective processing solutions. Yet, I also met many more who had been misled and trapped in onerous service agreements. Determined to help people steer clear of these unscrupulous providers, I launched this website in my spare time, dedicating myself to researching and sharing my findings on every merchant account provider I could investigate.
Gradually, more and more business owners began to discover my articles. As word spread, search engines started to rank my content highly, amplifying its reach. My efforts were making a difference! Eventually, the website garnered enough traffic to enable me to leave my job and focus on it full-time, a journey that has now spanned over a decade. This path has not been without its challenges; unscrupulous company owners have tried to intimidate and sue me into silence on several occasions. Yet, I have stood firm against each threat. Here I am, continuing to publish reviews and articles, hoping to safeguard others from the pitfalls of the credit card processing industry.
If you believe in my mission and wish to contribute, please share my articles on your websites and social media. Thank you for visiting!
V. Shorter
I purchased a walk in tub thru power pay total to be financed was 1500. down financed 8000. 8.99 interest rate 18 mo. ago my balance still 7000. don’t use this co.
Victor Reyes
THANKYOU I think I got sucked in on my roofing the damn gal was a liar she never came back to check the work
Anton Rukhlin
Stay away! You agree to pay them $15/mo when you sign up, but end up paying $50/mo because they hit you with all kinds of fees.
patricia
In the 3 years I was a customer of theirs I never received an account confirmation notice, a single transaction receipt, account summary, email update or phone call. TERRIBLE customer service. Then when I called to cancel my account they gave me the runaround and said I had to FAX an official closure request – seriously? What year is this? 1990?? Please use a more modern company that cares about you as a customer because PowerPay is appallingly bad.
Mitch
Stay Away! They will close your account and try to steal your money. My only notification of my account suspension was an email in my spam folder. Payments were still being processed as usual on my site, but Power Pay kept the funds and did not release them. They said they will review it in 30 days to see if they can be released. Customer service will disconnect you after 10-15 minutes on hold, waiting for a supervisor. Their website complaint form does not work, and gets error messages. Your worst nightmare as a CC processor. I am amazed that this company can legally exist. I urge the many other accounts having problems to contact the Maine Attorney General’s office. These guys need to be shut down.
Lona Freer
I signed on with Power Pay in Sept of 2012. In Dec of 2014 I called them to end the contract because we were moving out of state and I was not going to keep the business going. The rep said I had another year on my contract, that there was nothing they could do. The business has been down all this year. The merchant account was not used. I called on Nov 9th because the monthly fees had gone up from 36 to $41.00. I wanted to know why and how could I terminate the contract. She said it had auto-renewed for another year in Sept and the fees were raised accordingly? I told her my circumstances, she was gone talking to her boss, then she said they they would waive the fee of $250 under the circumstances. She told me to send in the ETF cancellation form back with notes on it. I received the form by email and it didn’t give me any promise of waiving the fee. I didn’t trust that. I sent the rep two emails on needing email verification they would waive the fee. No answer back. I then called her and she said that her boss refused to waive the fees. I did not find out until I called them after receiving no reply to my emails about the form. She gave me no explanation on why they increased the fees either. She then said there was nothing she could do. I called in Dec 2014 letting them know that I wanted to end the contract. The rep today admitted on the phone that if they sent notices of the auto-renewal that a business might want to cancel, and they would lose money. Their site advertises no long term contracts and ETF but it depends on what office the contract came through. Some of them charge ETF and contracts and some don’t. That means their online ads are only true depending on the sales agent you go through. That is misleading advertising and confusing to customers. They got their 3 years of payments with the last year no work on their part. No processing all this year so they did not do any work. They just collected the money. Now the rates have been raised on an account that is not even being used. This is unfair.
Josh
Do not do business with these people. They will do whatever they need to do to hold onto your reserves, while they jerk your chain every step of the way. They tell you one thing, and the next time you call, they tell you there has been a misunderstanding. These are disgusting people, who should be left to themselves to wither and die. For the sake of your business, do not darken their door.
kaustuva Mukherjee
I have complained to BBB and Attorney general’s office . This is what I have complained about “Powerpay has held significant amount of funds from my company transactions for more than 180 days money that has been held in a reserve account and has not been released even after an year.Even after my repeated requests these funds were not released.
2. Powerpay has not refunded amounts to my company that my company has already refunded to its customer.This way my company is double charged as they are withdrawn both as a chargeback and a refund. These funds were supposed to be released after a maximum holding period of 45 days and it has been more than few months and they have not been released.
3. Powerpay has not released any funds on those chargebacks that were reversed
These actions In addition to the fact that account was closed without warning has caused significant damage to my company both in reputation and in monetary losses.”
I would request you to release the funds held by your organization for over 180 days immediately without further delay.
Ben
Be AWARE !!!
they are crooks ! this company will take your money and will not give it back.
the worse customer service.. including management. ALERT!!! they act as multiple company’s they all under one company.if you as been forwrd to another company they are all working under one roof and act as they not.
they all CROOKS. they will give you the run around and hold you money for ever.
take your businesses else were and stay away from this company.
Be AWARE !!!
Upscale Charter
Dustin
I agre NOT to use Powerpay. They have HORRIBLE customer service.
The guy on the phone basically argued with me about the language on their website regarding account setup, as if we were in court or something. That’s like 3rd world country customer service.
Another rep basically said she didn’t know and to call a partner company to ‘figure it out.’
I’m surprised this company has been recommended by others because my experience with it has been awful.
kaustuva Mukherjee
They are holding over 131k and are not returning them. Some of these funds are being held from 2012 and were never released even after 6 months. Now they are threatening to hold funds till Spetember. Is there any legal recourse?
Kaustuva Mukherjee
I am currently processing through power pay. I need a high volume account but i am unable to get one due to high chargeback. Please suggest an alternative. Also powerpay has been holding reserve of 10% o each batch they release for the past 1.5 yrs and not released any reserve.
CPO
Hi Kaustuva, it sounds like you might need a provider that specializes in high-risk merchant accounts. You can find our recommendations on this page, and you may also want to request quotes on this page.
Michele Stapleton
I’m really surprised to read these complaints. I’m a small business, have been with Power Pay for several years, went from just having a terminal so I could take numbers over the phone to setting up an online store (to take orders and receive payments online.) They’ve been stellar. Customer service is 24/7, they’ve always been helpful, anything I’e asked for has always been delivered ASAP. I give their name out all the time, one of the best vendors I work with.
Ellen
I used them for years but beware I called to close the account which was fine then 1 week later they TOOK $250.00 from our account. I called to find out what happened and they said it was because I didn’t send a letter with 30 days notice. Well no told me I had to give 30 days notice, I hadn’t used them in months so what’s another 30 days. So the bill the month before was for $11.95 how do they figure $250.00. These people are crooks how does $11.95 translate into $250????
John W
They did the exact same thing to me too, but I did send in a letter, filled out their form and got the closing notice from them. These guys are just vile and dirty and will charge you hidden fees when you’re not looking. I paid more in hidden fees with them than anyone else. I switched just after two weeks but it took them almost 2 months to finish all the paperwork to get out under them.
Shellyb
Boy Ya’ll have that right. Not only do they hold large amounts of money they won’t return phone calls timely. My business is almost 2yrs old now. If you have a website then you know how long it takes to get seen and up there on google to be noticed. Not to mention the money you spend doing it.
Finally my business receive a substantial sale. My products are a specialty item.
you have to know what you want. They are not a piece of clothing that if it doesn’t fit then return it. They’re very heavy and I pay the shipping. I have never in 2 years had to return money for a product.
They claim they won’t give me my money for 30 days, maybe and only part of it, then the rest in 60 days. I believe that’s illegal. they have my customers money sitting there.Thats just it. It’s the customers money. The credit card company of the customer approved the large sale.
They didn’t even contact me til after the sale was 2 days old. They re suppose to be on our side. They didn’t say not to ship. 4 days went no answer. 1hr before I had to leave the country for 10 days. they notified me they would not except the sale.
Are they crazy? over 1100 pounds of product already shipped.
I called and email constantly, the customer service rep said she was in but on a line but could not put me on hold. Now I’m boarding a plane. 5 days later she finally answered my email. Claiming it was to late to do anything or negotiate. She was rude, accusing me of possibly creating fraud charges later to keep my daily sales down. There advertizing claims prompt, immediate customer service 24/7/
WRONG. Now all of my sales have been blocked. I have lost over $8K in sales in one day.
I can’t believe that there showing any good ratings for this company, maybe to many just change companies and move on. It’s such a nightmare!
shellyb
Mark
We are conducting an audit where we have to provide copies of merchant statements. We had some months missing for 2 accounts. Other merchants provided the copies needed at no charge. Banks charge a little $5 a copy per month. This company charges $250 a month per account. We needed 6 months ($1500). Were a small co. trying to ensure proper accounting.
I don’t know how these people live with themselves. They had us, we have to pay their fees to finish our audit. Don’t let those months accounts get away. They are worth more than platinum per ounce.
Jon
PowerPay withheld a 20k transaction from our small business so they could properly verify the transaction, as they should. What really caused us problems was PowerPays neglegence. THEY WOULD NOT RETURN CALLS. For over a week we called and called our representative and he NEVER called us back. I started calling relentessly but he never once answered or returned my call. I finally resorted to getting another department on the line that had to place me on hold untill they could finally get the representative handeling my issue on the phone. A delay like this in not only bad customer service it is an unexceptable business practice. No business can afford this kind of poor service! – Note, because of this delay we finally had to ask our good corporate customer to pay with a check instead of a credit card. – This was very embarrassing for us and a hassel for our customer.
frustrated business owner
Cynthia
This Power BIZ and Interchange Plus merchant service are just beyond belief. I filled out an informational application and was suppose to sign digitally and provide a voided bank check in order to go to the next step. But I never followed through , because when I got the application, the price quoted was different than what we agreed on the phone and there was another company’s name on the application.
Well you can imagine my surprise when there was a $25 on my bank account for an account I supposedly opened with them.
They are scammers Powerbiz
I am in shock, beyond shock.
Thanks
Russell
Do not use Powerpay. They have withheld money from my business without notification, and then when they did release it they decided to keep a portion of it as a security deposit.
When I asked why the funds hadn’t been released and paid into my account, despite the account being in good order, the customer service person told me, “they probably just haven’t got around to doing it yet”.
What? This is my BUSINESS cash flow, and they only see it important enough to look at giving me my money ‘whenever they get round to it?’.
Don’t use them just because they are easy to an account with, do a little research and find someone that actually cares. I’d rather use Paypal even!
Dan
Power pay is bunch of idiots. They turn off your account for no reason at all. They hold your money. They will get you up the fastest, but they do not work with you. They told me my account was being shut off but gave me no reason why. I was dumb enough to get another account with them in the future. They let it run for about a month and then shut it off and again no legitimate reasons why. They are out to hose people. Dont put your trust in these guys ever.
jeff
Received a call today from PowerPay closing our account based on things found online without regard to truth or validity. Seemingly they want to hold large sums of merchant money for long periods of time without regard to the impact on the local business or community. Take your business elsewhere.