Sage Payment Solutions Review

Considering Sage’s size and time in business, the company has a relatively low amount of complaints. This reviewer located approximately 40 Sage negative 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-$700+), and the company’s auto-renewing contract. The majority of these complaints appear to originate with an agent who failed to verbally disclose important terms and conditions of the merchant account agreement. In particular, ICON Payment Solutions, a now-shuttered sub-ISO, is named in several of the older complaints. Sage 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 and time in business.

Sage Payments is not accredited with the Better Business Bureau and is currently showing an “A+” rating. Sage has received 28 complaints within the last 36 months. Of the total, 10 are regarding problems with products and services, 15 with billing and collection, and three with advertising or sales issues. Sage has successfully resolved 10 of these complaints, while the remaining 18 either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. Given Sage’s complaint total and resolution ratio relative to its size, we agree with the BBB‘s rating at this time.

Pricing and fees of a Sage Payment Solutions 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 is available below. Sage scores a lower than average rating in this section due to its high cancellation fees and automatically renewing contracts. Sage Payments 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. See the Sage Merchant Agreement.

Overall, Sage Payment Solutions appears to perform well in comparison to many of its competitors that have similar histories and sizes. The company has a relatively low complaint count, and a decent ratio of its complaints with the BBB have been resolved, which seems to indicate a well-functioning customer support department. Sage can improve its rating in this review by eliminating its automatically renewing contract, liquidated damages cancellation fee, PCI compliance fee, and future merchant complaints.