UPDATE 5/21/19: Excel Corporation (now OLB Group) sold Securus Payments’s operations to Chyp, a newly created company that shares ownership, employees, and a location with Securus. Existing Securus merchants will be serviced by eVance, a subsidiary of OLB Group. Securus is not an active business despite its website still being up. For more information, see our Chyp review.
Securus Payments (securuspayments.com) is a Portland, Oregon-based merchant account provider that appears to be an ISO of First Data. Launched in 2009, the company shares ownership with the now-defunct Portland company Payprotec, which was the subject of a warning issued by the Better Business Bureau in 2013. In 2014, both Payprotec and Securus were acquired by Excel Corporation, and it appears that the Payprotec brand was retired while the Securus brand remained active. Securus Payments is located at 7724 SE Aspen Summit Dr., Suite 300, Portland, Oregon 97266 and is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. in Walnut Creek, California. Steven Lemma is listed as the founder and CEO of both Payprotec and Securus Payments.
Key Points
Sales & Marketing: Securus Payments hires independent sales agents and has received a moderate-to-high number of complaints about its sales practices.
Costs & Contract: Securus Payments offers a three-year contract with an early termination fee of $495.
BBB Rating: Securus Payments (as Excel Corporation) has an “A+” rating with the Better Business Bureau and has received 29 complaints in the last three years.
Rates & Fees: How Merchants Got The Best Rates With Securus Payments
Securus Payments Customer Reviews
Customer Reviews Summary
Total Online Complaints
80+
Live Customer Support
Yes
Most Common Complaint
Hidden Fees
We are currently able to locate at least 80 non-BBB Securus Payments complaints, many of which accuse the company of being a ripoff or a scam. Common themes among complainants include deceptive or high-pressure sales tactics by sales agents, expensive contract terms such as large, undisclosed termination fees, and difficulty reaching customer service representatives. Many merchants indicate that their greatest expenses while processing through Securus are related to their equipment leases, which can cost thousands of dollars to cancel. This is a rather high complaint rate for a company that has only been active since 2009. The company lists a direct phone line on its website, but this line is probably handled by eVance or Chyp at this point.
Securus Payments Customer Satisfaction Ratings
Online Ratings Summary
Product & Service Complaints
4
Billing & Collection Complaints
0
Advertising & Sales Complaints
25
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.
No Current BBB Profile
The Better Business Bureau no longer maintains a profile for Securus Payments. Instead, it has folded complaints for Securus into its profile for Excel Corporation. The BBB currently gives Excel Corporation an “A+” rating and has not granted it BBB accreditation. Excel Corporation has received 29 complaints in the past three years, with 25 related to advertising or sales and 4 related to product or service issues. 7 complaints were successfully resolved, while the other 22 either were resolved to the dissatisfaction of the merchant or did not receive a final response from the merchant. One complaint did not receive a good faith response from Excel Corporation in the BBB’s estimation.
A Disappointing “D” Overall
Although Excel Corporation’s profile includes complaints that have been filed against companies besides Securus, we believe it is still a reliable source of merchant feedback about Securus and its affiliated companies. We have therefore adjusted the BBB’s rating according to how our criteria would score it.
Securus Payments Fees, Rates & Contract
Rates & Fees Summary
Swiped Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Keyed-in Rate
1.00% - 4.99%
Early Termination Fee
$350+
PCI Compliance Fee
$80 Per Month
Equipment Lease Terms
48 Months (locked)
Note: The following information reflects eVance’s pricing structure as it will continue to serve merchants with existing Securus Payments’ accounts since the company’s sale to the Chyp.
Beware Liquidated Damages
According to the eVance Processing terms and conditions (available below), the company’s standard contract is a two-year agreement with automatic renewal for two-year terms and a liquidated damages-style early termination fee that is calculated “by multiplying (a) the number of months remaining from the date of termination to the end of the current Term, by (b) the average monthly processing fees paid by Merchant to Provider, plus Provider’s costs and attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with Merchant’s termination of this Agreement.” The company does not provide further pricing or terms on its website, but this uncapped cancellation fee alone is enough to warrant a “D” rating in this section.
Potentially Varied Terms
These are merely the company’s terms and conditions through Merrick Bank. It’s possible that eVance might also offer contract terms similar to those offered by Calpian Commerce’s subsidiaries (a three-year term with a $350 early termination fee and a PCI compliance fee of up to $185) or those offered by Securus Payments and Chyp (variable merchant account contract terms with 48-month, non-cancellable equipment leases). The company’s use of independent sales agents may allow for further variation in its pricing and fees.
Higher-Than-Average Pricing
We have located multiple merchant complaints that mention unauthorized billing and fees. The track records of Pipeline Data, Calpian Commerce, Securus Payments, and Chyp are also uniformly negative in this category. In our view, eVance Processing’s merchant agreement terms are not competitive with those offered by the cheapest merchant account providers. See the eVance Processing Terms and Conditions.
Securus Payments appears to utilize in-house telemarketing and independent sales agents to market its services. Though common in the credit card processing industry, the use of independent sales agents is often a cause for complaint among merchants, as it can be difficult for any company to regulate the conduct of its independent sales entities. Securus appears to be no exception, as we have located numerous negative Securus Payments reviews that describe misrepresentation of rates, nondisclosure of terms, and aggressive or manipulative tactics by Securus sales agents. Additionally, some of these complaints have been filed by former employees of the company, who allege a lack of support for agents, non-payment of owed residuals, and an unprofessional workplace.
The Securus Payments website also contains a table promoting rates “as low as 1.59%” for swiped, internet, and MOTO transactions. While it’s entirely possible that these quotes accurately refer to the company’s “Qualified” rates, the website makes no mention of the “Mid-Qualified” and “Non-Qualified” rates that merchants would pay for the majority of their transactions. We consider this type of rate quoting to be deceptive, since it could give merchants an unrealistic expectation of the effective rate they will pay. Multiple merchant complaints confirm that there is sometimes a difference between the rates represented by agents and the rates that merchants ultimately pay to Securus.
Securus Payments Review Summary
Securus Payments rates as a substandard merchant services provider according to our rating system. The company’s overall rating suffers from complaints about its sales practices, its contract terms, and its complaint resolution record. Merchants are advised to examine their contract terms carefully and only deal with agents they trust.
Top Performing Securus Payments Competitors
Reader Comments, Testimonials & Complaints
86 User Reviews
Joe Ziska
Worst customer service there is! I can not remember my login username or merchant ID number. They then ask for my business telephone number and name which they can not find. They then located my account by the last deposit they made. So now that they finally found my account, they transfer me to a completely different company and hang up the phone. This company obviously cannot help me because they are not First Data/Securus. So when I call back the new guy says he can’t locate my account and won’t look it up by last deposit. They tell me there is no way to get my account if i don’t have that information. But they continuously service us and charge loads of fees every month so they obviously have our account. Completely lost on where to go from here. Terrible company.
My contract ended March 2019. I faxed a cancellation to them June 3, 2019. My business account was charged July, August and September even though I have been with another company since June 1, 2019. This company is not reputable and milks money from small businesses. Looked you up on BBB and you have a D rating! I should have researched more thoroughly before giving Securus my business.
Stupid me for not reading the reviews before I signed with them. Hidden fees, worst customer service and so much more. Stay away from this company. They are the worst!
they make all kinds of promises tell lots of lies going to make same-day deposits, (my old company did ) yet they said they would do too but nope if you total after 5pm they won’t then they say they can’t change industry standards, yet the other company did if you need support you will be on hold for hours, your customers can’t wait that long. Do not believe anything they say they say there is no time length to their contract but its 4 freaking years they will hold you to all their lies and fine print but not live up to any of their promises. WORST IN THE INDUSTRY
Stay away from this company !!!! No one knows what they are doing . All are a buch of liars I called spoke with some guy at customer service put me in hold 5 times for 1 hr total waiting time . Ask to speak to a manager nobody was available . Worst company ever . U SUCK SUCK SUCK
Nicole Broome
STAY AWAY from Securus Payments…I would never recommend a company that would charge you for not using there product for over 3 years & neglect to contact you. My father who is 76 years old didn’t notice the extra charge every month & this company who we cancelled with in January of 2015 was of no help what so ever (2018 now). Not in returning any of the extra money spent or sending proof that a cancellation had or has again taken place. They are very costly & customer service sucks, plus your lucky if you even get someone to answer the phone after being on hold for 5 minuets.
Mike Mitchell
Biggest crooks around.
Sorry they took advantage of your dad. They screwed me, too.
Steve Beyerlin
I had been with Securus Payments for over 5 years. Silly Me! My fault. When Securus Payments deducted $99.00 from my account in June 2017 for inactivity fees (always active) I complained and they agreed to replace funds within 6 weeks!!! This of course pissed me off and I went looking for another processer. I bank at Chase and got a flat rate no fees of any kind for 2.75% which cut by over 1/2 what I was being charged by Securus Payments so I switched. Now Securus refuses to refund the $99.00 stolen out of my account. Even if you have not had issues with these jerks you should heed this info and cancel your account there are much better options.
janice paulsen
This is the WORST company EVER. I am currently on hold again, these people just play music while your “on Hold” then when you dont hang up out of frustration they tell you to leave a message and they dont call back. Tomorrow I am filing a report with the Attorney Gernal and Federal Trade Commission. This company never sent corrospondence, just took money out of my account. After my contract was over I shut that gravy train down and I received a notice saying I was refunded money which of course has not made it into my account. Do NOT use this company.
Rick
Did you get a response on legal action?
Randy
Let me tell you about securus or chyps, they are very shady, they have convicts and heavy drug users working for them, how do I know this, I once worked for them. They are cheap, liars. Swindlers, a guy by the name Robyrd is one of the owners, he hides behind his military background, his management does more drugs than anyone… please be aware, this company is shady as hell
John
I would rate this company in the NEGATIVE star range.
The business I manage has a contract with them….if the termination fee wasn’t so high I would fire them. NO CUSTOMER SERVICE…….typically on hold for at least a half hour……..hire some customer service reps!!!!!
Jesse
Without a doubt the bottom of the barrel of credit card processing. We have been with Securus for a little over two years. When the account was originally set up, the owner of the company who is unfortunately susceptible to having the wool pulled over his eyes, was locked in to a four year contract. The Securus rep assured him that at any time we could cancel if we found better rates, what he failed to mention was that was a total lie. He also failed to mention that he was locking us in to a FOUR YEAR contract at $120 A MONTH for the rental of a processing terminal that purchased at retail would be less than $500.
Long and short of it is Securus is the epitome of the dregs of society. It is impossible to get them on the phone, currently their security certificate on the their merchant portal is expired which means we can’t even log in to see our transaction history safely.
Stay away stay away stay away.
Mike mitchell
Horrible. Lie about savings. Trump up charges. No customer service! Even charged my account two months after I ended my service. Avoid at all costs.
Mike Mitchell
Plus they lock you into a lease on the terminal without explaining you can’t cancel the lease, even if you cancel their service. A rip off.
My new provider gave me two terminals. Securus had me locked in for five years at $70 a month. Dern thing is only worth a couple hundred. Lesson learned the hard way.
Robert Joseph
Easily one of the worst business decisions I’ve ever made. The rep that started me out with this company has now left to help start another and he has told me that the entire SECURUS organization is a disorganized sham with no customer service. I’ve had a batch worth thousands of dollars stuck in our system for over a month. Customer service is simply unreachable. I’ve even stopped payment on their fee transaction and they haven’t noticed enough to contact me. In additon, they stuck me with my SECOND “lease” which is one of the most crooked schemes in the industry.
Jesse
Did they send you a new machine out of the blue and hope that you wouldn’t notice that it re-upped your contract? They tried to pull the same scheme on us. Luckily I caught it before any of my employees hooked up the machine and started processing with it.
Jon Davis
This is the worst CC processing company we’ve ever worked with. Claimed to have the lowest rates but failed to tell us that we would be locked in to a 5 year lease for equipment even though they knew that our POS software didn’t require us to use their external hardware. These guys are slimy.
Kevin Heck
An ABSOLUTE scam!!! Be warned. Stay away from. They mis communicated information and did not live up to what they said. There is a monthly PCI compliance fee that is never communicated, switching account is like the biggest deal ever, the help and resources from CHYP are rude, unprofessional and will just ignore you as they know they are wrong! STAY AWAY!!!
Julie
Securus Payments is very unethical and has the worst customer service. I too was promised lower rates than my previous merchant account that I did not receive and had to pay fees that were not in the original contract. I also tried to get out of the 4 year lease with First Data and the 3 year contract with Securus. Before I finished the contract with Securus I did talk to Chris Adams supervisor/manager of customer service and he agreed to reimburse me a year of the lease with First Data in the amount of $908.87. When the 3 years was up with Securus Chris Adams was no longer worked in the department of customer service and I was working with David Jackson the new supervisor/manager and he did get approval from Leah Embry, Director of Operations, to send out $908.87 in check form this this was noted in the email was dated June 17, 2016. I would call every week to see when my check would be coming and they assured me that I was on top of the list and I would receiving the check. In November I was informed that I would not be receiving the check because I no longer process with them and there is nothing that they could do because corporate did not approve it and did not send out checks. I did report them to the FTC. Securus Payments is now Evance Processing and do not do business with them or any company associated with Securus or First Data Global Leasing Company.
Mike Ahn
Thieves. Liars. Crooks. Bait and switched and my rates were WAY worse than my previous processor and what I was promised. When I went to complain to the rep, he was non-responsive and long gone. Then they want $6000 from me for the privilege of cancelling because I was lied to, saying I am breaching the contract that I signed! Just…..wow. If anyone wants to start a class-action against these guys, count me in. I wish I had found and read some of these reviews before I had signed. That was probably a $8-9k mistake plus a whole lot of hold time and headache on my part.
Victimized By Chyp
Unbelievable… Gonna file a complaint with the Georgia DAs office. Absolutely unbelievagle
janice paulsen
Yes, I would love to join a lawsuit
Rick
Did you get any takers on filing an action. I think my situation would be a good case but the legal would likely exceed judgement
Diana
I too have an issue with this company, they offered to buy out my current processor, but after checking into them, I canceled the order and did not accept the equipment. I new there was a problem with the sales rep would not respond or follow up about buying our my other POS system. Once I saw they were shipping a system and to my old address, I knew there was going to be problems. We did not accept the order we called the company and explained that the order was cancelled when the sales rep did not respond. I was hoping that was the end of it, but after I saw $100’s of dollars coming out of my account I blocked the ach. Now First Data is calling me and I explained the issue, they were able to give me the numbers of the direct company to follow up with. But now one will return my call’s now they are trying to charge me for something I never received. I’m now looking into a lawyer to resolve the issue. This company needs to be stopped, they are really killing small business. I’m just hoping to solve the issue without killing my credit and costing me money I don’t have. I also do not have copies of the paperwork, it was never mailed to me. This is a true case of not letting your information out. I thought I was just shopping and getting a better deal,
I never received paper work either. They just deducted money out of my account, which is now shut down to them. I never received correspondence from their either.
Kathy H
I have not seen one good thing anyone has had to say about this company. I wish I had seen these reviews before I signed up. Ditto to everyone who has posted their horror story about them, I too have been through it. This is the most unprofessional, unethical, dishonest, deceptive company I have ever seen. There greed in stealing your money to profit themselves maybe instant gratification now but in the long run it will be the demise of the company. When they file that class action suit I will be there. Beware!! do not sign up with this company.
I was just hired by this company to make sale calls.. I am now going to walk away from this company. I will not be a apart of deceiving small businesses.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Do not use this company. I have used 2 other merchant services in 10 years. Thought I would save some money with Securus. It has been nothing short of a nightmare. If you have terminal issues, gift card issues, or receipt issues, you will get pushed all over trying to get answers. You think that you will be dealing with 1 company(Securus) but they farm everything out to other companies and each company will tell you that you will have to contact Securus then Securus will tell you to contact them. This company is so not qualified to be handling your money. I will give you two examples. They once ran my credit card batch twice for the same day. Thats right, my customers got charged twice. Now I had to go back and call every customer, get their credit card number and refund that money. How does that make me look to my customers. And what did I get from Securus? “Sorry, but there is nothing we can do about it.” This one is even better. the terminal was allowing our gift cards to be redeemed for whatever the customer said was on the card. I was able to take a gift card with $0 balance and redeem it for $100. Do yourself a favor and do not even consider these guys.
kcheema
To
David Jackson
Today at 5:51 PM
David Jackson
This is to bring to your notice, the way your staff is treating your customers.
Today at 5 pm on Saturday ( busy day), my terminal stopped working with a sign on the screen.”Security error call service provider”
I called 1-866-649-1324 and got the message that office is closed and call back on Monday.
I called 1-800-228-1122 and was informed by the person there that the terminal is expired and I should call for the new terminal on Monday.
FUNNY
I was shocked, that on Saturday night, my terminal is expired and I have no news of that by e-mail or phone.
In fact a new terminal should have been sent to me in right time and i would have sent the old one back.
I had to send 2 customers back as they were not having cash and my machine was out.
I tried again and was told that I have to dial 1-800-228-1122 every time I need to use a credit card.
SIR, what is this, I understand that I am already paying the monthly lease fee for my terminal and now that one is dead too!!
I have already 2 transactions in this dead machine now as PREAUTH. and do not know what will happen to that.
My customers are laughing at me and asking me who is your merchant provider?
Some of them have even taken your phone #s to lodge the complains.
Please make your firm more professional and, I am still at no way to go now…..
Thanks for your this business..
Kuldip cheema
Westhaven Inn
Can't Fool Me
I am so on to all these shady companies I decided to waste their time and money.
All started with the typical phone call “We can save you money”. I have my processing set up on interchange pass thru with a overall effective rate of 2.36% to 2.48% , I average about $22,500 +/- amont in transaction with a average ticket about $83.00 +/-. I also own my machine EMV compliant with pin pad, Cost $450.00. To make this simple on $20,000 I pay a total of about $486.00 in fees. here is a simple break down of my fees.
This is a brake down per $20,000
$350.00 a month that do not go to the processor. (interchange, assessment,swipe etc) These fees are non-negotiable, everybody has to pay them. i also included Amex and I also take alot of rewards cards. Which have a higher interchange.
$136.00 to the the processor. ( monthly fees, markup, yearly fees divided out. etc.) This is only .68% I am paying the processor.
So the sales agent shows up and gives me all the BS about Securus, Agent sends in copies of my statements (I blacked out all account numbers, make sure you do this). Sales agent is from out of town, Securus flies her around the country ( agent is all proud of this). Sales manager calls agent and says they can save me about $200.00 a month with a overall effective rate of 1.4%. I pretend to like these rates sales agent thinks they got a sale, but I have some questions for sales manager. Agent gets manager on phone and hands phone to me ( I put it on speaker and lay it on my desk). Manager explains how if I lease/program fee a machine thru them for $99.00 I get special rates. Here is a list of some of the out right lies he tells me.
They get special rates from Visa, MC, and Amex. They get these rates because they are one of the largest processors in the country. (150,000 active merchants, agent told me 14,000 active when I asked her when she 1st came in.)
Lease is nothing more than a special program fee for low rates.
#1 rated in the industry in customer services.
etc. etc. etc. all lies.
I now feel its time to lower the boom on them. I ask him to explain how they can negotiate interchange rates when visa mc have set rates for everyone and they would be losing money at those rates including lease. Tell him to look at my statement its right there in black and white. SIMPLE MATH. Lease is a lease not a program fee. All the complaints about customer service. What happened to the other 136,000 active merchants.
I am having so much fun at this point, because he is mad as hell at me. he is also making fun of sales agent for not knowing certain things, phone is still on speaker. He proceeds to belittle me and attack my knowledge of the CC industry. I tell him that is is not a polite way to treat someone you are trying to make a sale to. He cusses me out for wasting their time and hangs up. Sales agent packs up and also belittles me. I tell her I can’t believe a nice person like her works for a bunch of scumbag lying scammers (she just stomps off). I stayed polite thru this 2.5 hour process.
If I saved just 1 small business thru this, I won. If you have been taken by a shifty lying CC processor, make sure you file with the feds (FTC, Attorney Generals and local agencies). DO NOT WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO FILE CHARGES, THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS.
Still Can't Fool Me
I can not believe these clowns did a follow up call trying to sell me. He said they will lower effective rate to 1.1%. I explain to this idiot that I pay more than that in interchange rates to Visa MC Discover and Amex. This guy is lying so bad I think he believes himself. They must be just hurting for business, after the first meeting I would have fiquired I would have been put on the no contact list. Watch out this company is just trying to rip you off. In part I blame First Data and Wells Fargo for letting them continue. FD and WF are not performing their audits completely that are written by the FDIC and the OCC. If you read this link it will explain a lot. https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/credit_card/pdf_version/ch19.pdf The last 1/3 of this is the most important pertain to the third parties aka ISO’s.
I am simply a merchant who is tired of being harassed by unethical merchant providers. So I let them do a cost comparison and evaluate. The Securus estiment I was given was total rubbish. I have been approached by other ethical processors and once they look at my rates tell me things like. “I can match them but if you like your current provider I would stay with them, Call me if you change your mind.” This next statements are directly from the fdic link above the examiners they are talking about aquiering bank. “Examiners should look for evidence that due diligence processes, in general, include: Then a few lines down “Assessing the third party’s marketing practices and the types of merchants targeted. ” Right there in black and white shows a brake down in the system. Bottom line is Securus Payments acquiring bank are not following FDIC protocol and Securus is using unethical business practices.
This is a letter I sent this morning to our supposed ‘Sales Representative”.
Magaiva,
When we agreed to allow Securus Payments to provide credit card processing services to our business it was conditioned upon several things.
#1. I was very specific in that our combined costs from Securus or First Data were not to exceed $80 a month or I would cancel the service and send all of the equipment back. To reiterate, you promised a flat fee of $80 for all charges of any kind whether it be from the devices in use, transaction fees, gateway fees et.al. That is not the case our combined costs are close to $150 per month. Our current credit card processing costs are higher than we have had from any other provider.
#2. We were supposed to be able to process the same cards and checks as we had been with the prior processor. That is not the case. We are unable to process American Express cards. We contacted technical support who told us that the only person that could address that issue was you. I have called and talked to you personally and left messages for you repeatedly over the last month regarding this issue yet it remains unresolved.
#3. Some of the initial costs were to be compensated as cash back to us in the form of a prepaid Visa card ($300 as I recall) this was never received.
#4. I told you that the primary driver behind our consideration of Securus Payments as our credit card processor was the incredibly inept technical support we were receiving from our provider at the time. It was hard to believe there could be a company with even worse support, the bar was so high. Yet Securus pulled it off. Besides the internal confusion within Securus regarding which terminals and software versions they support which results in a never ending series of phone calls and hand-offs only to be told in the end that the issue can only be solved by our sales representative; and that my friend is certainly not ‘service’.
#5. It seems the only way to be sure your company does not continue to ACH funds out of our business account is to close the account. I will close the current account as soon as I get setup with a different processor, hopefully, next week. I need an address to return the First Data equipment to (VeriFone vx520 no-pin pad). I told you I did not want to lease equipment unless the total combined cost of equipment and services would never exceed $80 per month, yet you signed us up for one anyway. Our combined costs since switching to Securus have never been under $125 in any given month.
#6. You have not saved me any money, in fact, you have cost me $100’s of dollars in lost sales since we cannot accept American Express. You have not saved me money in processing charges either. You owe me $500 for my time, time that was wasted by Securus Payments!
I will be filing a complaint with the FTC regarding your companies deceptive practices.
Peter Boice
This sounds so familiar to me. The salesman lied to me…repeatedly and shamelessly. The bummer is that unless you read the contract very carefully you probably signed a contract with a stiff penalty for early termination and you will NEVER get someoe on the phone to answer any of your complaints. Sorry to be a downer but I spent 3 months trying to get a call answered meanwhile the charges kept being taken out of my account until they started charging me $150/month for “Lack of activity ” (I had changed my service when I realized how badly they were treating me). I finally gave in and paid $500 to get the nightmare to end. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with and the worst “Scam” experience I have ever had. These guys need to be stopped!
bhavesh
same thing happened with me too. lies when they come to you. once they start machine they charge more then your exiting processor . cancellation fees $12096 . crazy lier
Jeff Stein
Decided to allow Securus to give us a quote. The quote came back and looked good but after finding a better deal I let them know we were not interested. The sales manager proceeded to berate me. There is no professionalism in this company. Even if they would have saved us money, it would not be worth it to be a part of a company like this.
Bill
I work in the payment processing industry and have had plenty of experience dealing with the damage that Securus inflicts on merchants especially in the area of equipment leasing.
According to LINKEDIN The National Sales Director of Securus from 2011-present is/was Andrei Wirth.
Andrei is now the founder of another ISO, National Paymentech. National Paymentech, like Securus, is a First Data ISO, and uses First Data Global Leasing. Today they told one of my merchants they would save them $185/mo by switching to them INCLUDING THE $150/mo LEASE!
When I pointed out to the sales rep (who had only been with the company for 6 days) that based on the numbers, the most anyone could save the merchant (after the cost of the lease and statement fee) would be $39/mo EVEN IF THEY GAVE AWAY THE PROCESSING AT THE WHOLESALE COST (I.e., interchange) they both kept saying “We guarantee we’ll save him $185. We guarantee it.”
National Paymentech seems a lot like Securus. It’s been in business 2-1/2 months. Maybe NP actually can buy out my $295 ETF with the merchant, save them $185/mo (though there’s currently only $194/mo in total markup in the deal above interchange) All of this means that NP MAKES $9/mo BEFORE BUYING OUT MY CONTRACT. AFTER BUYING OUT MY CONTRACT THEY WOULD MAKE $21 over the 3 year contract.
That’s right, folk, the National Sales Director of Securus would be content with having a client that paid $7/year before commission payout, fees paid to First Data, cost of doing business, etc.
Remember, kids: if something sounds too good to be true, it is. If you’re approached by a rep who has been with a company for less than a week working for a processor/ISO that has been in business less than 3 months, you might want to be careful about giving them access to your merchant funds….
Michael
I was cold called by a sales representavive and agreed to a meeting because they told me they could save us a lot of money on our processing. I told them I was happy with my current processor but agreed to hear what they had to say anyway. They came in and analyzed my most recent statement and said that Securus could save me about $190 a month. I then asked them about POS systems, as we were just using a cash register and credit card terminal. She showed me a knew system called Clover and that I could lease it for $170 a month – basically still saving us $20 a month. Before I agreed, I asked about their funding time and the Clover POS functions. She told me the funding would be the same as our current processor and that the Clover had the functions that we needed. After processing with them for a week I was extremely unhappy because the funding was not the same which created a cashflow issue and the Clover did not have the functions that I specifically asked about.
Whenever I contact them they are extremely rude and basically tell me it doesn’t matter what their sales rep said even if they completely misrepresented their product – which legally should void the contract.
Do not do business with these people!!! They will lie and tell you what you want to hear just to sign their contract. I now owe First Data Global Leasing over $8500 to get out of the piece of junk Clover contract and owe Securus $999 to get out of theirs. Needless to say, I will be speaking to an attorney today.
mark
Great company. No hidden fees and easy to read statements. …saved me money! !
CPO
Hi Mark,
Please reply to this comment with your business name and location in order to authenticate your testimonial. Thanks!
Watch Out
Using the name “Mom And Pop Merchant Solutions” now. Same everything except phone #.
Tammie Holper
I’ve actually have had a great experience with Securus. So far I have used them for 18 months and have been really happy.
Phillip CPO
To authenticate your testimonial, please reply to this comment with your business name and location, and/or website URL. To learn more about this policy see: Why We Verify Testimonials
Thomas .L
I own a small business and I swear I get calls every month from a different named Credit card possessing company. They spew the same garbage line about lowering my rates and blah blah blah. The first saleswoman came to me trying to push her contract on me and I asked if i could read it thoroughly first. When I started reading over it she seemed really fidgety. I told her I’d give her my answer in the morning I had to think about it. after she left I researched her company and found out it was a big fat scam just like this “Securus payments” company. When they called back I told them about what I’ve read and they immediately hung up on me. After that event I have a new card company contact me every month trying to sell me some contract the online reviews are the same for each one. (I was ripped off, they don’t return my calls when I try to cancel, they continue to charge me after I canceled. ) I was contacted by Securus Payments about a week ago and they didn’t state who they were only that they worked for my current card company and wanted to go over new policies. Well when he came her gave me his fake little card and spiel about lower rates and I brought this website up and had him read some of the comments. He was very displeased to say the least. eight diffrent card companies in the course of nine months trying to make me sign their fraud of a contract. hopefully this guides people to read the fine print before signing. Also if they call you first to set you up with a card machine they are most likely conning you so please stay away. These people are legally allowed to steal your if you sign their devil contract.
Bob Brill
alsi lied to by the securus sale person who is conveniently no longer with he company. I was never told of the equipment lease, and when I got my first lease payment taken from my account I called him. “Well that’s not right,” he said, ” I’ll get right on that.” And that’s the last I heard from him.
Now that I’ve gone the full term with my processing contract I find out that the lease extends a full year beyond the processing contract! Who, in their right mind, would lease equipment a year beyond the service being provided?? I’ve spent two days on the phone between securus and fdgl and continue to get the run around. One woman at securus, Sylvia, transferred me to her manager, Marshall. But when I called back the next day and asked for the manager Marshall, I’m told by Sarah that Marshall is not a manager. Shady dealings by an unethical company.
cassidy sutter
We tried Securus out because a rep came into our spa. We signed a contract on the terms of $30 per month for a year, but it would be void if we lost money using their service within 30 days. We ended up paying more using their service and we have tried to contact customer support for months with no end result. They are triple charging my boss, over double charging me, and an employee who has never used their service is still being charged. We have been able to get ahold of them once, but we never got anywhere and they never called us back again. Still trying to sort it out, but this is the worst company I have ever dealt with.
Karen
I am looking into a new cc processing company, and was asked to send previous month statement. I am not in billing dept. so I took a really close look at previous months bill. We were being charged $14.95 a month for a non valid TIN number. I called to check into it and the girl said we have been contacting you on this matter for months and you won’t reply so we have to keep charging you. I asked how they tried to contact me,she said email. I said ok, what dates, I should have record. She then admitted they didn’t have my email address. They said that even though the IRS has postponed the requiring a matching TIN I have been billed $14.95 for 2 years!! I know it is my fault for not looking more closely at the bill, I will own that. I believe they did have my correct TIN number, they just slid in the fees after being with them for a year. Other complaints,: lied to about terminal lease agreement, impossible to speak to human unless waiting 30 minutes +. These guys need to be stopped.
Bill Fox
Salesman promises to lower your credit card processing fees including $100.00 per month equipment lease. Then you find out you are paying about the same or slightly higher for credit card processing before the $100 lease payment. Then you are required to purchase insurance for equipment at $9.95 per month leased from first data for 48 months NON CANCELABLE forget about the promise of saving money. Also First Data says value of equipment is $3,000 plus when it is actually $250.00. Stay away from Securus, First Data and First Data Global Leasing. SCAM. Was just in Transunion class action lawsuit, will contact lawyers involved in that suit in the morning.
Peter Boice
Please tell me more about the law suit. I am so completely disgusted with this company. I was cold called and promised many things by the sales person which to be frank were total lies. I have paid my $495 early termination fee 45 days ago, they are still accruing fees (including a $95/month fee for not using the service) and now ai am completely un able to contact anyone from the company. I try every day and after following all the prompts and entering my merchat ID, I get a busy signal. Worst business experience I have ever had. Worst company I have ever dealt with.
sam schuepbach
the exact same thing is happening to me
kirsten okeefe
I have been with Securus for 1 year. The company made many promises that they have never delivered on. My rate with Securus, which should have been substantially better that my previous credit card processor has been substantially higher. It has cost me thousands of dollars, and now I find out I am in a contract. To get out I need to give Securus the opportunity to beat my new rate. They never beat the old rate. I pay equipment rental fees that I never paid before, for equipment I don’t need. I end up on hold at least 10 to 30 minutes everytime I call in. The customer service representatives are ignorant, I receive contradicting information from everyone I speak with and the manager Chris Adams is a demeaning and difficult.
Zaman
Has anyone been able to break out of contract. They got me with a contract recently and I want to get out of it
tom
put a stop payment in with your bank so they can no longer withdraw funds from your account.
Christi
This company is not forth right. They have been taking money ( and still attempting to) from our account for months, and we never even activated the account!! First Data, their equipment company is doing the same! They actually have had their equipment back and after proving that they still continue to take money out because Securus refuses to tell them we are not involved with they’re company. They never mention the equipment rental in the original agreement, but we caught it when reviewing the contract to sign. This is they whole reason we chose NOT to do business with them! F is the rating they deserve! They swindled us and we now are paying the bank for stop pays. DO NOT believe anything their representatives say!
Mark
salesman came in and promised to save me 17.54% on fees. no hassle switch-over with a letter of guarentee that if I didn’t save money, I could terminate contract with no questions asked. I received first fees for partial month’s participation. Fees were larger than promised. Salesman replied that you can’t judge by partial month.
Went another full month. Fees were more than previous processor and my terminal quite working. Called support about machines. They said I have to hook-up to internet. Thats not what I signed up for. Going to stop payment and get a lawyer. Problems: Money was not getting into my account. took 2 weeks to get it straight. Tech. assistance on weekends were slow to respond. equip. does not work. am not saving money. Locked into lease that has faulty equipment. Customer service gave me run-a-round. Letter of quarentee has VP phone number to call if problems which is not valid. Salesman said from beginning that I could terminate if fees were not cheaper than other processor. Fees were higher. I called Company and am told that someone will call me which has not happened. You can call me at my business at [Redacted – Phone numbers not allowed] to verify. In fact, this company is costing me more money than previous processor. Do Not Sign Lease Agreement.
Anonymous
I was an employee until recently, and I’m going to be honest about this company. You will find a team of customer service and tech support personnel who work hard to assist the customers. However their hands are tied by the policies and procedures set by management. My advise to any merchant is simple, don’t sign the app because it’s really a contract. Don’t sign a lease, because it will cost you way more then you need and can’t be cancelled only bought out. Don’t process with them at all because then you’ll be locked in contract. A contract they do not want cancelled, I have been told in the past to not send any cancellation documents to merchants if their contract is less then 30 days old. This company is designed to make money, as all companies are. But I have seen this company send small business owners to collections for fees that weren’t explained by their reps, and then those same business have gone under. It is my advise to process with anyone else but Securus Payments.
Marsha
I just got an offer to work with them. I’m glad I’m reading the reviews before I do anything with them. Was the pay as good as they are making it sound? I’ve been involved in a scam before and I’m not trying to go down that road again.
Edward Louie
We have been in business for 25 years and this is by far the worst company we have ever done business with. Total rip off. It cost us about $14,000 to get rid of them.
robert
worst company ever, representative said it will be no contract, now i have to pay $495.00 not only that those people will not help you at all, not professional, we set up a time to talk about and they never called, never send me the card reader, never send the paper work, no emails, worst merchandise service.. I will not recommend this merchandise service to any one.
Peter Boice
Like several of the comments abve, I am embarrassed to have been taken advantage of to the degree that this company has done to me. I was not born in a tree and I have not been living under a rock but I was flat out bald faced lied to by the sales person! There is simply no other way to describe it. ANd when I finally realized what was happening …(hundreds of dollars in charges that were never revealed to me … worse yet … charges that I specifically asked about over and over during the sales process and was assured that they would not be an issue for me) … I was unable to get ahold of any of the agents for weeks at a time. When I finally did get ahold of them I was lectured about the responcibilities of signing a contract without thoroughly reading the fine print and told to pay the $495 if I wanted out. THis has been a terrible experience. Never use this company for any reason!!!
Chris Wright / Central Montana Bail Bonds
Sales personnel have to know that they were committing Fraud in the Inducement.
They sent comparative statements which purported to show a small savings of about $80 per month. The total processing credit was correct. but the interior numbers were plugged to equal the total cards processed. When I costed it out using the correct interior numbers they had increased our card processing cost by $200 per month. They were immediately told to cancel the contract. So far they have declined., if they successfuly steal any funds from our account. Their salesman may not know that the company is doing fraudulent analyses. That is what can make this fraud so effective. I am considering filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and if injury occurs requesting prosecution by the California Attorney General. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! I signed up with them with a “no cancellation fee” agreement Securus can be reached at 1-866-649-1324 I signed up with this credit card processing company…wished that I looked at these reviews first there has to be laws and rules the ISOs have to follow. How does a company get away with lying?? This industry makes my heart sick. if you have to lie to get a sale… fine another line of work. this is peoples lives and money and families that are being messed with.Highly unethical and exploitative business practices, extremely poor customer service. merchants beware
Jan Franklin
I agree totally with Chris and the other complaints that I have read against Securus Payments. I am willing to join in on filing a class action lawsuit against this company. I was told today that I am being charged for a second account for my web sales and was emailed the information to set it up. I asked what email they sent it to since I have not seen any information on this. Chris with Securus said that information was not available for them to tell me. They do lie about everything from the set up of the terminal to the fees. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS COMPANY.
Mike S.
I’m stuck with these jerks right now! Have you been successful in breaking your contract and how.
Ruth
this is by far the worst lying company I have ever ever ran across. I have a business owner that cancelled his account within 3 days… the machine arrived the next day..(if only they were they quick to return a phone call.)
they never left the orginial contract with the merchant. why do you think that you would be? giving the benefit of the doubt… we called to get a copy of the contract. Nope.. they emailed a blank contract. requesting numerous times in the same day … we received an email with some of the rates included in the email. not what my business owner was told. not at all. He was told he would pay only 89.00 a month to process up to 16,000. Knowing this business we KNOW that there is no way.
So, making sure I could explain what he was told.. or seeing it in writing.. then we could go over exactly what he was going to get.
they said there is NO contract. None at all. nothing to risk. I told the owner to NOT process on that machine. we called to send it back.and we could not get anyone to give us an address. we had no paperwork.
finially a few days later we received a contract in the email. there was a lease and LEASE of 89.99 for 48 months. plus processing fees. when his mother called them. they were horrible and disrespectful. I heard the conversation. he was talking about tiered pricing and didn’t even make sense. I don’t think he understood what he was saying.
they have yet to follow through and now the business gets a confirmation from first data global leasing.
he never ever ever agreed to a lease. He said it was all inclusive for 89.a month. how can a company get away with lying? the new rep was a day on the job. he repeated whatever the business told him to say. they are horrible and to train a new rep this way is disgraceful.
there has to be laws and rules the ISOs have to follow. How does a company get away with lying?? This industry makes my heart sick. if you have to lie to get a sale… fine another line of work. this is peoples lives and money and families that are being messed with.
I do need help and need to know who to reach out to to help make this right for my business.. and other businesses that have been messed over. if you want to sell a lease.. explain it so they know what they are signing. to sign people up without their knowledge is plain fraud and should be punishable. maybe that company should pay for their processing fees for 48 months for lying. shame on you!! Securus shame shame on you.
I need to know who to report them to as this needs to be corrected immediately and not be on their credit report as well. we have yet to get a letter that is was cancelled. sme email acknowledgment would be great. and also a letter to let First Data leasing to know that this whole transaction was misleading, fraudulent and is has been promised to be canceled in full completely.
please someone…. I will uncover every person and write emails to every source to fix this. this is the only reason why I am still in this business is to help businesses understand and learn and do whats best for them. Not scam them.
tom
Securus is a complete scam they promise the best rates but their system does not work, they charge a compliance fee of $170 a year and $25 per month and I have not been able to process through securus’s service but once during a test in over a year. if you get a call from them and you answer the phone they will call you repeatedly.
caution stay away from this scam
brenda swenson
Received a bill have no ideal who they are. I do not have a business. Is there a way to call? Who an what are they
sandy
Securus can be reached at 1-866-649-1324 I signed up with this credit card processing company…wished that I looked at these reviews first
Jack
Had a resume posted and got a phone call for a job. Asked why territory was open for six months. He said I would be trained thoroughly by a two day live online training session. WAS I EVER GOING TO SEE ANYONE FROM THIS COMPANY IN PERSON. Said he would email company info by email. Guess I asked too many questions never received anything.
Steven Mathews
Horrible Company!!! I just got charged around $400 in fees that they can not tell me why and also say they can not refund them. CROOKED COMPANY!!!!!! Customer service was HORRIBLE and DID NOT WANT TO HELP!! Kept running me in circles. Did not care I was going to get my attorney involved. When I said cancel, they did not care and only said “You will be charged $495 SIR!!! Horrible!!! Horrible reviews on Ripoff Report also.
Arturo
In San Diego, Ca. the company reps may have started their own ISO company. The company may be named Coastal Pay. Does any one know anything about this newer company? I’ve checked w/ Ca. Secretary of State regarding articles of incorporation, but I’ve not discovered the new entity name. Two Securus Payments reps have visited my place of business. I’ve signed nothing.
Who left the Securus company? The good eggs or the bad eggs?
kim
Highly unethical and exploitative business practices, extremely poor customer service. merchants beware!
CPO
Hi Kim,
Can you provide some examples of what you experienced as “unethical and exploitative business practices” by Securus?
Jill Tustian
This company is a TOTAL RIp-off. It’s been 3 years and 2 days I’ve had to pay 52.95 monthly plus 2000.00 for a machine that I did not use. Their liars, they don’t answer the phone and when they do they laugh at you. My very last statement had a 99.00 charge added to it for a “lack of use fee” what kind if a company does that. When signing my contract J.P. Sturis crossed out and initialized my contract to void out the early term fee and several other changes we both initialed only to see the smudged fine print on the last page that states any markings or change slashes in the contract are not accepted. This company is a discrace to all businessEs. Close your bank account and save yourself!!!!!
josh
total criminals. do not sign anything. they promise the world and then switch the terms on the contract.
then they start taking money for no reason until you cancel. then they take money because you cancelled.
Tom Harvey
Sales personnel were very sincere and may not have know that they were committing Fraud in the Inducement.
They sent comparative statements which purported to show a small savings of about $80 per month. The total processing credit was correct. but the interior numbers were plugged to equal the total cards processed. When I costed it out using the correct interior numbers they had increased our card processing cost by $200 per month. They were immediately told to cancel the contract. So far they have declined. We will see them in court, if they successfuly steal any funds from our account. Their salesman may not know that the company is doing fraudulent analyses. That is what can make this fraud so effective. I am considering filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and if injury occurs requesting prosecution by the California Attorney General. Thank you for your time and service.
Anonymous
Tom- You are correct about some of the Sales Reps and inhouse employees. Unfortunately, some sales reps this is their first introduction to merchant services so really they have nothing else to compare it to and Securus has anwers for each & everyone of the “bad reviews”…till you are in the trenches and learn differently. Many Sales Rep disappear very quickly BECAUSE they do have morals, ethics and a conscience but after signing an independent contractor agreement they are bound to silence for fear of being sued.
I spoke to a paralegal at the FTC today since on their website there is recently an exact case similar to what everyone has experienced here (it closed in November of 2014 take a look on the website- CASE NO. 13-CV-0279-TOR). If you would like to make a difference for everyone past & present, meaning merchants as well as past employees then everyone needs to come together; put in a valid complaint with full details of what you know. He indicated that the more valid complaints they receive it raises awareness that Securus needs to be investigated to the full extent & prosecuted. Giving your reviews here is great to prevent new merchants from signing on and offering comardarie but we all must make the stand to prevent which is the key word here, Securus from continueing to monetarily hurt anymore merchants. When making your complaint keep it to the facts, emotions do not get anywhere…of course you have every right to be upset because this is certainly an issue no business owner should have to be distracted by nor any past employee that does carry morals, ethics & integrity that was lied to should be labeled with. So in an effort to assit here keep your complaint to the following and make sure you have all of your facts as well as much documentation as possible. READ the CASE, pull out what applies to you and put a list together so when you call the hotline you do not miss any points. Deceived & Unfair Trade Practices, Fraud…see details from the case below, do any or all apply to you?
CASE NO. 13-CV-0279-TOR
A. Misrepresent or assist others in misrepresenting, any material fact, including but not limited to:
1. Settling Defendants’ affiliation with the merchants’ current payment processors;
2. The savings any merchant will obtain if the merchant purchases Card Payment Processing Goods or Services from Settling Defendants;
3. The fees or rates merchants will be charged for any Card Payment Processing Goods or Services; and
4. That merchants who sign applications or leases with Settling Defendants for Card Payment Processing Goods or Services either are not contractually bound by their signatures or they can cancel at any time without penalty.
B. Conceal or fail to disclose, or assist others in concealing or failing to disclose, clearly and prominently, to any merchant any material fact, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Costs, rates, charges, or fees any merchant will be required to pay; and
2. That merchants who sign applications, agreements, or leases are signing binding and non-cancellable contracts;
C. Alter, add, or delete any term relating to costs, rates, charges, or fees of any binding document, or assist others in altering, adding, or deleting such terms of any binding document previously signed by merchants, without obtaining a new signature from the merchant; and
D. Fail to furnish merchants, before submitting any application for processing, with a complete copy of each contract or other document requiring the merchants’ signatures.
E. Make any representation or assist others in making any representation about the fees, rates, costs, terms, savings, or benefits of any Card Payment Processing Goods or Services, unless, at the time such representation is made, Settling Defendants possess and rely upon a reasonable basis to substantiate that the representation is true.
The FTC Complaint Assistance Hotline is 1-877-382-4357.
Make sure you also follow Phillip’s instructions to open a NEW checking account after you have a new provider. After you have successfully cleared all checks or transferred your automatic withdrawals to the new account (minus Securus & FDGL) then instruct your banker close the account due to FRAUD. Very important to make this clear to your banker as some institutions will as a courtesy see an attempt to withdraw funds off the old account and think that you may have accidentally forgot about that charge then they allow it to clear off your new account. You must treat this like you have had your checkbook stolen! Many of the processors carry multiple names…Securus Payments is a DBA for Payprotech. If they can’t ACH your funds with Securus’s information, they will try their other entities to get your monies. First step is to defend yourself, your company and protect your funds…stop the bleeding.
Just some comardarie advice since we are all in this battle together! Please I can not stress enough the importance of reporting this to the FTC as well the Attorney General’s office of your state or even Portland, OR. This company needs to be held accountable for their actions and lack there of.
jerry
I just got scam by securus sale man carson cook. I was promised to get free equipment and and free paper, lower rate than my previous merchant company by carson cook from securus. it ended up i had to pay 150.00 per month for renting the equipment from first data and over paying from 80 to 90.00 dollars more than my previous company every month, I was told that if i was not satisfied i could cut ties with this company with no penalty. It turns out they use collection company to threaten me to pay 8,960.00 for them, when i cancel with them. what an “good company” to make money by doing. what an ashamed
Edward Fine
Securus Payments absolutely and underhanded company. Hidden charges. Do not live up to contractual promises nor do they intend to. Don’t re-imburse charges even they agree are invalid. Charges over 2% above what they promised. Difficult to reach by phone. No follow-up to promises. Bored with my complaints. Next step is to spend even more money for an attorney to represent me. They are unethical.
Leah
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! I signed up with them with a “no cancellation fee” agreement. Upon receiving our terminals we discovered they do not accept our current gift cards nor did the ones that I purchased from them work. It was one problem after another. When I went to cancel my “agreement”, I find out there is a 500.00 cancellation fee and also a 9000.00 cancellation fee for the terminals. Trying to resolve the issue professionally I have called numerous times and left messages and can’t get a return phone call to save my life! Very unprofessional.
debra polen
wish I would have read this before I signed up with these people. same thing happened to me only it was more. makes me sick!!! where you able to get out of it? I am seeing an attorney tomorrow.
P
I have a complaint in to the BBB on Securus Payments right now. A saleman came to our small family business. Told me all kinds of great things about their credit card processing. NO lease, no ëxtra fees on top of %. On and on…. Had me sign papers, then took papers with him to bring back later. He forged my initials all over the place on the papers and then when I read stuff, everything was just the opposite as what he had stated. I have been on the phone with their Oregon offices for almost 2 weeks and bottom line now is. For me to cancel it will cost me $495. As they stated, “They have a signed contract from me and they were not there when I talked to their rep” It’s my word against his. I can not believe, at my age, I got swindled like this. I feel so stupid. Is there any help out there for me???
Professional Center 205 Pharmacy
Do not use this company! They offerered us great rates, and even claimed that they worked with the company that handles our POS transaction software and claimed that there would be no compatability issues. When we attempted to set up up the processing through them, there were multiple issues due to incorrect processing information given, rude customer service when attempting to rectify the situation, and we ultimately found out that they were not compatable with our processing software and that no such claim was given. In addition, fees which were not listed in the contract have been charged to us, and multiple attempts to contact the company have been ignored, including multiple messages on the personal lines of two different managers including Darin Docker. Every attempt to rectify the situation rebuted, we recommend that every business think twice before they decide to allow this company to handle their card processing!
Greg
They wont STOP calling me! I told them politely, I was not interested and to remove me from their call list. Each day that goes by seems to multiply the number of calls I get! I have received 4 calls from them today (so far) alone! I am filing a complaint with donotcall.gov when I get done here. This is rediculous! I have a business to run! NO MEANS NO!!!!! This ranks right up there with GOOGLE’s BS! I would not do buisness with them even if it were FREE because of this!!!!!!
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Joe Ziska
Worst customer service there is! I can not remember my login username or merchant ID number. They then ask for my business telephone number and name which they can not find. They then located my account by the last deposit they made. So now that they finally found my account, they transfer me to a completely different company and hang up the phone. This company obviously cannot help me because they are not First Data/Securus. So when I call back the new guy says he can’t locate my account and won’t look it up by last deposit. They tell me there is no way to get my account if i don’t have that information. But they continuously service us and charge loads of fees every month so they obviously have our account. Completely lost on where to go from here. Terrible company.
CPO
Joe,
This article should help: Best Merchant Accounts for Great Customer Service.
-Phillip
Dorthey Rape
My contract ended March 2019. I faxed a cancellation to them June 3, 2019. My business account was charged July, August and September even though I have been with another company since June 1, 2019. This company is not reputable and milks money from small businesses. Looked you up on BBB and you have a D rating! I should have researched more thoroughly before giving Securus my business.
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Tanae
Stupid me for not reading the reviews before I signed with them. Hidden fees, worst customer service and so much more. Stay away from this company. They are the worst!
This post will help: Find and Eliminate Hidden Fees From Your Monthly Bill
-Phillip
Brian Hale
they make all kinds of promises tell lots of lies going to make same-day deposits, (my old company did ) yet they said they would do too but nope if you total after 5pm they won’t then they say they can’t change industry standards, yet the other company did if you need support you will be on hold for hours, your customers can’t wait that long. Do not believe anything they say they say there is no time length to their contract but its 4 freaking years they will hold you to all their lies and fine print but not live up to any of their promises. WORST IN THE INDUSTRY
This post will help: Cancelling a Merchant Account Without Paying a Fee
-Phillip
Vilmos Tarjan
Stay away from this company !!!! No one knows what they are doing . All are a buch of liars I called spoke with some guy at customer service put me in hold 5 times for 1 hr total waiting time . Ask to speak to a manager nobody was available . Worst company ever . U SUCK SUCK SUCK
Nicole Broome
STAY AWAY from Securus Payments…I would never recommend a company that would charge you for not using there product for over 3 years & neglect to contact you. My father who is 76 years old didn’t notice the extra charge every month & this company who we cancelled with in January of 2015 was of no help what so ever (2018 now). Not in returning any of the extra money spent or sending proof that a cancellation had or has again taken place. They are very costly & customer service sucks, plus your lucky if you even get someone to answer the phone after being on hold for 5 minuets.
Mike Mitchell
Biggest crooks around.
Sorry they took advantage of your dad. They screwed me, too.
Steve Beyerlin
I had been with Securus Payments for over 5 years. Silly Me! My fault. When Securus Payments deducted $99.00 from my account in June 2017 for inactivity fees (always active) I complained and they agreed to replace funds within 6 weeks!!! This of course pissed me off and I went looking for another processer. I bank at Chase and got a flat rate no fees of any kind for 2.75% which cut by over 1/2 what I was being charged by Securus Payments so I switched. Now Securus refuses to refund the $99.00 stolen out of my account. Even if you have not had issues with these jerks you should heed this info and cancel your account there are much better options.
janice paulsen
This is the WORST company EVER. I am currently on hold again, these people just play music while your “on Hold” then when you dont hang up out of frustration they tell you to leave a message and they dont call back. Tomorrow I am filing a report with the Attorney Gernal and Federal Trade Commission. This company never sent corrospondence, just took money out of my account. After my contract was over I shut that gravy train down and I received a notice saying I was refunded money which of course has not made it into my account. Do NOT use this company.
Rick
Did you get a response on legal action?
Randy
Let me tell you about securus or chyps, they are very shady, they have convicts and heavy drug users working for them, how do I know this, I once worked for them. They are cheap, liars. Swindlers, a guy by the name Robyrd is one of the owners, he hides behind his military background, his management does more drugs than anyone… please be aware, this company is shady as hell
John
I would rate this company in the NEGATIVE star range.
The business I manage has a contract with them….if the termination fee wasn’t so high I would fire them. NO CUSTOMER SERVICE…….typically on hold for at least a half hour……..hire some customer service reps!!!!!
Jesse
Without a doubt the bottom of the barrel of credit card processing. We have been with Securus for a little over two years. When the account was originally set up, the owner of the company who is unfortunately susceptible to having the wool pulled over his eyes, was locked in to a four year contract. The Securus rep assured him that at any time we could cancel if we found better rates, what he failed to mention was that was a total lie. He also failed to mention that he was locking us in to a FOUR YEAR contract at $120 A MONTH for the rental of a processing terminal that purchased at retail would be less than $500.
Long and short of it is Securus is the epitome of the dregs of society. It is impossible to get them on the phone, currently their security certificate on the their merchant portal is expired which means we can’t even log in to see our transaction history safely.
Stay away stay away stay away.
Mike mitchell
Horrible. Lie about savings. Trump up charges. No customer service! Even charged my account two months after I ended my service. Avoid at all costs.
Mike Mitchell
Plus they lock you into a lease on the terminal without explaining you can’t cancel the lease, even if you cancel their service. A rip off.
My new provider gave me two terminals. Securus had me locked in for five years at $70 a month. Dern thing is only worth a couple hundred. Lesson learned the hard way.
Robert Joseph
Easily one of the worst business decisions I’ve ever made. The rep that started me out with this company has now left to help start another and he has told me that the entire SECURUS organization is a disorganized sham with no customer service. I’ve had a batch worth thousands of dollars stuck in our system for over a month. Customer service is simply unreachable. I’ve even stopped payment on their fee transaction and they haven’t noticed enough to contact me. In additon, they stuck me with my SECOND “lease” which is one of the most crooked schemes in the industry.
Jesse
Did they send you a new machine out of the blue and hope that you wouldn’t notice that it re-upped your contract? They tried to pull the same scheme on us. Luckily I caught it before any of my employees hooked up the machine and started processing with it.
Jon Davis
This is the worst CC processing company we’ve ever worked with. Claimed to have the lowest rates but failed to tell us that we would be locked in to a 5 year lease for equipment even though they knew that our POS software didn’t require us to use their external hardware. These guys are slimy.
Kevin Heck
An ABSOLUTE scam!!! Be warned. Stay away from. They mis communicated information and did not live up to what they said. There is a monthly PCI compliance fee that is never communicated, switching account is like the biggest deal ever, the help and resources from CHYP are rude, unprofessional and will just ignore you as they know they are wrong! STAY AWAY!!!
Julie
Securus Payments is very unethical and has the worst customer service. I too was promised lower rates than my previous merchant account that I did not receive and had to pay fees that were not in the original contract. I also tried to get out of the 4 year lease with First Data and the 3 year contract with Securus. Before I finished the contract with Securus I did talk to Chris Adams supervisor/manager of customer service and he agreed to reimburse me a year of the lease with First Data in the amount of $908.87. When the 3 years was up with Securus Chris Adams was no longer worked in the department of customer service and I was working with David Jackson the new supervisor/manager and he did get approval from Leah Embry, Director of Operations, to send out $908.87 in check form this this was noted in the email was dated June 17, 2016. I would call every week to see when my check would be coming and they assured me that I was on top of the list and I would receiving the check. In November I was informed that I would not be receiving the check because I no longer process with them and there is nothing that they could do because corporate did not approve it and did not send out checks. I did report them to the FTC. Securus Payments is now Evance Processing and do not do business with them or any company associated with Securus or First Data Global Leasing Company.
Mike Ahn
Thieves. Liars. Crooks. Bait and switched and my rates were WAY worse than my previous processor and what I was promised. When I went to complain to the rep, he was non-responsive and long gone. Then they want $6000 from me for the privilege of cancelling because I was lied to, saying I am breaching the contract that I signed! Just…..wow. If anyone wants to start a class-action against these guys, count me in. I wish I had found and read some of these reviews before I had signed. That was probably a $8-9k mistake plus a whole lot of hold time and headache on my part.
Victimized By Chyp
Unbelievable… Gonna file a complaint with the Georgia DAs office. Absolutely unbelievagle
janice paulsen
Yes, I would love to join a lawsuit
Rick
Did you get any takers on filing an action. I think my situation would be a good case but the legal would likely exceed judgement
Diana
I too have an issue with this company, they offered to buy out my current processor, but after checking into them, I canceled the order and did not accept the equipment. I new there was a problem with the sales rep would not respond or follow up about buying our my other POS system. Once I saw they were shipping a system and to my old address, I knew there was going to be problems. We did not accept the order we called the company and explained that the order was cancelled when the sales rep did not respond. I was hoping that was the end of it, but after I saw $100’s of dollars coming out of my account I blocked the ach. Now First Data is calling me and I explained the issue, they were able to give me the numbers of the direct company to follow up with. But now one will return my call’s now they are trying to charge me for something I never received. I’m now looking into a lawyer to resolve the issue. This company needs to be stopped, they are really killing small business. I’m just hoping to solve the issue without killing my credit and costing me money I don’t have. I also do not have copies of the paperwork, it was never mailed to me. This is a true case of not letting your information out. I thought I was just shopping and getting a better deal,
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janice paulsen
I never received paper work either. They just deducted money out of my account, which is now shut down to them. I never received correspondence from their either.
Kathy H
I have not seen one good thing anyone has had to say about this company. I wish I had seen these reviews before I signed up. Ditto to everyone who has posted their horror story about them, I too have been through it. This is the most unprofessional, unethical, dishonest, deceptive company I have ever seen. There greed in stealing your money to profit themselves maybe instant gratification now but in the long run it will be the demise of the company. When they file that class action suit I will be there. Beware!! do not sign up with this company.
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Cedric Patterson
I was just hired by this company to make sale calls.. I am now going to walk away from this company. I will not be a apart of deceiving small businesses.
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James
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE. Do not use this company. I have used 2 other merchant services in 10 years. Thought I would save some money with Securus. It has been nothing short of a nightmare. If you have terminal issues, gift card issues, or receipt issues, you will get pushed all over trying to get answers. You think that you will be dealing with 1 company(Securus) but they farm everything out to other companies and each company will tell you that you will have to contact Securus then Securus will tell you to contact them. This company is so not qualified to be handling your money. I will give you two examples. They once ran my credit card batch twice for the same day. Thats right, my customers got charged twice. Now I had to go back and call every customer, get their credit card number and refund that money. How does that make me look to my customers. And what did I get from Securus? “Sorry, but there is nothing we can do about it.” This one is even better. the terminal was allowing our gift cards to be redeemed for whatever the customer said was on the card. I was able to take a gift card with $0 balance and redeem it for $100. Do yourself a favor and do not even consider these guys.
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T P
This crook is the guy who signed us up for our account. These people outright SCAM you into signing an agreement.
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Kuldip cheema
kcheema
To
David Jackson
Today at 5:51 PM
David Jackson
This is to bring to your notice, the way your staff is treating your customers.
Today at 5 pm on Saturday ( busy day), my terminal stopped working with a sign on the screen.”Security error call service provider”
I called 1-866-649-1324 and got the message that office is closed and call back on Monday.
I called 1-800-228-1122 and was informed by the person there that the terminal is expired and I should call for the new terminal on Monday.
FUNNY
I was shocked, that on Saturday night, my terminal is expired and I have no news of that by e-mail or phone.
In fact a new terminal should have been sent to me in right time and i would have sent the old one back.
I had to send 2 customers back as they were not having cash and my machine was out.
I tried again and was told that I have to dial 1-800-228-1122 every time I need to use a credit card.
SIR, what is this, I understand that I am already paying the monthly lease fee for my terminal and now that one is dead too!!
I have already 2 transactions in this dead machine now as PREAUTH. and do not know what will happen to that.
My customers are laughing at me and asking me who is your merchant provider?
Some of them have even taken your phone #s to lodge the complains.
Please make your firm more professional and, I am still at no way to go now…..
Thanks for your this business..
Kuldip cheema
Westhaven Inn
Can't Fool Me
I am so on to all these shady companies I decided to waste their time and money.
All started with the typical phone call “We can save you money”. I have my processing set up on interchange pass thru with a overall effective rate of 2.36% to 2.48% , I average about $22,500 +/- amont in transaction with a average ticket about $83.00 +/-. I also own my machine EMV compliant with pin pad, Cost $450.00. To make this simple on $20,000 I pay a total of about $486.00 in fees. here is a simple break down of my fees.
This is a brake down per $20,000
$350.00 a month that do not go to the processor. (interchange, assessment,swipe etc) These fees are non-negotiable, everybody has to pay them. i also included Amex and I also take alot of rewards cards. Which have a higher interchange.
$136.00 to the the processor. ( monthly fees, markup, yearly fees divided out. etc.) This is only .68% I am paying the processor.
So the sales agent shows up and gives me all the BS about Securus, Agent sends in copies of my statements (I blacked out all account numbers, make sure you do this). Sales agent is from out of town, Securus flies her around the country ( agent is all proud of this). Sales manager calls agent and says they can save me about $200.00 a month with a overall effective rate of 1.4%. I pretend to like these rates sales agent thinks they got a sale, but I have some questions for sales manager. Agent gets manager on phone and hands phone to me ( I put it on speaker and lay it on my desk). Manager explains how if I lease/program fee a machine thru them for $99.00 I get special rates. Here is a list of some of the out right lies he tells me.
They get special rates from Visa, MC, and Amex. They get these rates because they are one of the largest processors in the country. (150,000 active merchants, agent told me 14,000 active when I asked her when she 1st came in.)
Lease is nothing more than a special program fee for low rates.
#1 rated in the industry in customer services.
etc. etc. etc. all lies.
I now feel its time to lower the boom on them. I ask him to explain how they can negotiate interchange rates when visa mc have set rates for everyone and they would be losing money at those rates including lease. Tell him to look at my statement its right there in black and white. SIMPLE MATH. Lease is a lease not a program fee. All the complaints about customer service. What happened to the other 136,000 active merchants.
I am having so much fun at this point, because he is mad as hell at me. he is also making fun of sales agent for not knowing certain things, phone is still on speaker. He proceeds to belittle me and attack my knowledge of the CC industry. I tell him that is is not a polite way to treat someone you are trying to make a sale to. He cusses me out for wasting their time and hangs up. Sales agent packs up and also belittles me. I tell her I can’t believe a nice person like her works for a bunch of scumbag lying scammers (she just stomps off). I stayed polite thru this 2.5 hour process.
If I saved just 1 small business thru this, I won. If you have been taken by a shifty lying CC processor, make sure you file with the feds (FTC, Attorney Generals and local agencies). DO NOT WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO FILE CHARGES, THERE IS POWER IN NUMBERS.
Still Can't Fool Me
I can not believe these clowns did a follow up call trying to sell me. He said they will lower effective rate to 1.1%. I explain to this idiot that I pay more than that in interchange rates to Visa MC Discover and Amex. This guy is lying so bad I think he believes himself. They must be just hurting for business, after the first meeting I would have fiquired I would have been put on the no contact list. Watch out this company is just trying to rip you off. In part I blame First Data and Wells Fargo for letting them continue. FD and WF are not performing their audits completely that are written by the FDIC and the OCC. If you read this link it will explain a lot. https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/examinations/credit_card/pdf_version/ch19.pdf The last 1/3 of this is the most important pertain to the third parties aka ISO’s.
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Not a Fool
I am simply a merchant who is tired of being harassed by unethical merchant providers. So I let them do a cost comparison and evaluate. The Securus estiment I was given was total rubbish. I have been approached by other ethical processors and once they look at my rates tell me things like. “I can match them but if you like your current provider I would stay with them, Call me if you change your mind.” This next statements are directly from the fdic link above the examiners they are talking about aquiering bank. “Examiners should look for evidence that due diligence processes, in general, include: Then a few lines down “Assessing the third party’s marketing practices and the types of merchants targeted. ” Right there in black and white shows a brake down in the system. Bottom line is Securus Payments acquiring bank are not following FDIC protocol and Securus is using unethical business practices.
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Jonathan Kiehle
This is a letter I sent this morning to our supposed ‘Sales Representative”.
Magaiva,
When we agreed to allow Securus Payments to provide credit card processing services to our business it was conditioned upon several things.
#1. I was very specific in that our combined costs from Securus or First Data were not to exceed $80 a month or I would cancel the service and send all of the equipment back. To reiterate, you promised a flat fee of $80 for all charges of any kind whether it be from the devices in use, transaction fees, gateway fees et.al. That is not the case our combined costs are close to $150 per month. Our current credit card processing costs are higher than we have had from any other provider.
#2. We were supposed to be able to process the same cards and checks as we had been with the prior processor. That is not the case. We are unable to process American Express cards. We contacted technical support who told us that the only person that could address that issue was you. I have called and talked to you personally and left messages for you repeatedly over the last month regarding this issue yet it remains unresolved.
#3. Some of the initial costs were to be compensated as cash back to us in the form of a prepaid Visa card ($300 as I recall) this was never received.
#4. I told you that the primary driver behind our consideration of Securus Payments as our credit card processor was the incredibly inept technical support we were receiving from our provider at the time. It was hard to believe there could be a company with even worse support, the bar was so high. Yet Securus pulled it off. Besides the internal confusion within Securus regarding which terminals and software versions they support which results in a never ending series of phone calls and hand-offs only to be told in the end that the issue can only be solved by our sales representative; and that my friend is certainly not ‘service’.
#5. It seems the only way to be sure your company does not continue to ACH funds out of our business account is to close the account. I will close the current account as soon as I get setup with a different processor, hopefully, next week. I need an address to return the First Data equipment to (VeriFone vx520 no-pin pad). I told you I did not want to lease equipment unless the total combined cost of equipment and services would never exceed $80 per month, yet you signed us up for one anyway. Our combined costs since switching to Securus have never been under $125 in any given month.
#6. You have not saved me any money, in fact, you have cost me $100’s of dollars in lost sales since we cannot accept American Express. You have not saved me money in processing charges either. You owe me $500 for my time, time that was wasted by Securus Payments!
I will be filing a complaint with the FTC regarding your companies deceptive practices.
Peter Boice
This sounds so familiar to me. The salesman lied to me…repeatedly and shamelessly. The bummer is that unless you read the contract very carefully you probably signed a contract with a stiff penalty for early termination and you will NEVER get someoe on the phone to answer any of your complaints. Sorry to be a downer but I spent 3 months trying to get a call answered meanwhile the charges kept being taken out of my account until they started charging me $150/month for “Lack of activity ” (I had changed my service when I realized how badly they were treating me). I finally gave in and paid $500 to get the nightmare to end. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with and the worst “Scam” experience I have ever had. These guys need to be stopped!
bhavesh
same thing happened with me too. lies when they come to you. once they start machine they charge more then your exiting processor . cancellation fees $12096 . crazy lier
Jeff Stein
Decided to allow Securus to give us a quote. The quote came back and looked good but after finding a better deal I let them know we were not interested. The sales manager proceeded to berate me. There is no professionalism in this company. Even if they would have saved us money, it would not be worth it to be a part of a company like this.
Bill
I work in the payment processing industry and have had plenty of experience dealing with the damage that Securus inflicts on merchants especially in the area of equipment leasing.
According to LINKEDIN The National Sales Director of Securus from 2011-present is/was Andrei Wirth.
Andrei is now the founder of another ISO, National Paymentech. National Paymentech, like Securus, is a First Data ISO, and uses First Data Global Leasing. Today they told one of my merchants they would save them $185/mo by switching to them INCLUDING THE $150/mo LEASE!
When I pointed out to the sales rep (who had only been with the company for 6 days) that based on the numbers, the most anyone could save the merchant (after the cost of the lease and statement fee) would be $39/mo EVEN IF THEY GAVE AWAY THE PROCESSING AT THE WHOLESALE COST (I.e., interchange) they both kept saying “We guarantee we’ll save him $185. We guarantee it.”
National Paymentech seems a lot like Securus. It’s been in business 2-1/2 months. Maybe NP actually can buy out my $295 ETF with the merchant, save them $185/mo (though there’s currently only $194/mo in total markup in the deal above interchange) All of this means that NP MAKES $9/mo BEFORE BUYING OUT MY CONTRACT. AFTER BUYING OUT MY CONTRACT THEY WOULD MAKE $21 over the 3 year contract.
That’s right, folk, the National Sales Director of Securus would be content with having a client that paid $7/year before commission payout, fees paid to First Data, cost of doing business, etc.
Remember, kids: if something sounds too good to be true, it is. If you’re approached by a rep who has been with a company for less than a week working for a processor/ISO that has been in business less than 3 months, you might want to be careful about giving them access to your merchant funds….
Michael
I was cold called by a sales representavive and agreed to a meeting because they told me they could save us a lot of money on our processing. I told them I was happy with my current processor but agreed to hear what they had to say anyway. They came in and analyzed my most recent statement and said that Securus could save me about $190 a month. I then asked them about POS systems, as we were just using a cash register and credit card terminal. She showed me a knew system called Clover and that I could lease it for $170 a month – basically still saving us $20 a month. Before I agreed, I asked about their funding time and the Clover POS functions. She told me the funding would be the same as our current processor and that the Clover had the functions that we needed. After processing with them for a week I was extremely unhappy because the funding was not the same which created a cashflow issue and the Clover did not have the functions that I specifically asked about.
Whenever I contact them they are extremely rude and basically tell me it doesn’t matter what their sales rep said even if they completely misrepresented their product – which legally should void the contract.
Do not do business with these people!!! They will lie and tell you what you want to hear just to sign their contract. I now owe First Data Global Leasing over $8500 to get out of the piece of junk Clover contract and owe Securus $999 to get out of theirs. Needless to say, I will be speaking to an attorney today.
mark
Great company. No hidden fees and easy to read statements. …saved me money! !
CPO
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Watch Out
Using the name “Mom And Pop Merchant Solutions” now. Same everything except phone #.
Tammie Holper
I’ve actually have had a great experience with Securus. So far I have used them for 18 months and have been really happy.
Phillip CPO
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Thomas .L
I own a small business and I swear I get calls every month from a different named Credit card possessing company. They spew the same garbage line about lowering my rates and blah blah blah. The first saleswoman came to me trying to push her contract on me and I asked if i could read it thoroughly first. When I started reading over it she seemed really fidgety. I told her I’d give her my answer in the morning I had to think about it. after she left I researched her company and found out it was a big fat scam just like this “Securus payments” company. When they called back I told them about what I’ve read and they immediately hung up on me. After that event I have a new card company contact me every month trying to sell me some contract the online reviews are the same for each one. (I was ripped off, they don’t return my calls when I try to cancel, they continue to charge me after I canceled. ) I was contacted by Securus Payments about a week ago and they didn’t state who they were only that they worked for my current card company and wanted to go over new policies. Well when he came her gave me his fake little card and spiel about lower rates and I brought this website up and had him read some of the comments. He was very displeased to say the least. eight diffrent card companies in the course of nine months trying to make me sign their fraud of a contract. hopefully this guides people to read the fine print before signing. Also if they call you first to set you up with a card machine they are most likely conning you so please stay away. These people are legally allowed to steal your if you sign their devil contract.
Bob Brill
alsi lied to by the securus sale person who is conveniently no longer with he company. I was never told of the equipment lease, and when I got my first lease payment taken from my account I called him. “Well that’s not right,” he said, ” I’ll get right on that.” And that’s the last I heard from him.
Now that I’ve gone the full term with my processing contract I find out that the lease extends a full year beyond the processing contract! Who, in their right mind, would lease equipment a year beyond the service being provided?? I’ve spent two days on the phone between securus and fdgl and continue to get the run around. One woman at securus, Sylvia, transferred me to her manager, Marshall. But when I called back the next day and asked for the manager Marshall, I’m told by Sarah that Marshall is not a manager. Shady dealings by an unethical company.
cassidy sutter
We tried Securus out because a rep came into our spa. We signed a contract on the terms of $30 per month for a year, but it would be void if we lost money using their service within 30 days. We ended up paying more using their service and we have tried to contact customer support for months with no end result. They are triple charging my boss, over double charging me, and an employee who has never used their service is still being charged. We have been able to get ahold of them once, but we never got anywhere and they never called us back again. Still trying to sort it out, but this is the worst company I have ever dealt with.
Karen
I am looking into a new cc processing company, and was asked to send previous month statement. I am not in billing dept. so I took a really close look at previous months bill. We were being charged $14.95 a month for a non valid TIN number. I called to check into it and the girl said we have been contacting you on this matter for months and you won’t reply so we have to keep charging you. I asked how they tried to contact me,she said email. I said ok, what dates, I should have record. She then admitted they didn’t have my email address. They said that even though the IRS has postponed the requiring a matching TIN I have been billed $14.95 for 2 years!! I know it is my fault for not looking more closely at the bill, I will own that. I believe they did have my correct TIN number, they just slid in the fees after being with them for a year. Other complaints,: lied to about terminal lease agreement, impossible to speak to human unless waiting 30 minutes +. These guys need to be stopped.
Bill Fox
Salesman promises to lower your credit card processing fees including $100.00 per month equipment lease. Then you find out you are paying about the same or slightly higher for credit card processing before the $100 lease payment. Then you are required to purchase insurance for equipment at $9.95 per month leased from first data for 48 months NON CANCELABLE forget about the promise of saving money. Also First Data says value of equipment is $3,000 plus when it is actually $250.00. Stay away from Securus, First Data and First Data Global Leasing. SCAM. Was just in Transunion class action lawsuit, will contact lawyers involved in that suit in the morning.
Peter Boice
Please tell me more about the law suit. I am so completely disgusted with this company. I was cold called and promised many things by the sales person which to be frank were total lies. I have paid my $495 early termination fee 45 days ago, they are still accruing fees (including a $95/month fee for not using the service) and now ai am completely un able to contact anyone from the company. I try every day and after following all the prompts and entering my merchat ID, I get a busy signal. Worst business experience I have ever had. Worst company I have ever dealt with.
sam schuepbach
the exact same thing is happening to me
kirsten okeefe
I have been with Securus for 1 year. The company made many promises that they have never delivered on. My rate with Securus, which should have been substantially better that my previous credit card processor has been substantially higher. It has cost me thousands of dollars, and now I find out I am in a contract. To get out I need to give Securus the opportunity to beat my new rate. They never beat the old rate. I pay equipment rental fees that I never paid before, for equipment I don’t need. I end up on hold at least 10 to 30 minutes everytime I call in. The customer service representatives are ignorant, I receive contradicting information from everyone I speak with and the manager Chris Adams is a demeaning and difficult.
Zaman
Has anyone been able to break out of contract. They got me with a contract recently and I want to get out of it
tom
put a stop payment in with your bank so they can no longer withdraw funds from your account.
Christi
This company is not forth right. They have been taking money ( and still attempting to) from our account for months, and we never even activated the account!! First Data, their equipment company is doing the same! They actually have had their equipment back and after proving that they still continue to take money out because Securus refuses to tell them we are not involved with they’re company. They never mention the equipment rental in the original agreement, but we caught it when reviewing the contract to sign. This is they whole reason we chose NOT to do business with them! F is the rating they deserve! They swindled us and we now are paying the bank for stop pays. DO NOT believe anything their representatives say!
Mark
salesman came in and promised to save me 17.54% on fees. no hassle switch-over with a letter of guarentee that if I didn’t save money, I could terminate contract with no questions asked. I received first fees for partial month’s participation. Fees were larger than promised. Salesman replied that you can’t judge by partial month.
Went another full month. Fees were more than previous processor and my terminal quite working. Called support about machines. They said I have to hook-up to internet. Thats not what I signed up for. Going to stop payment and get a lawyer. Problems: Money was not getting into my account. took 2 weeks to get it straight. Tech. assistance on weekends were slow to respond. equip. does not work. am not saving money. Locked into lease that has faulty equipment. Customer service gave me run-a-round. Letter of quarentee has VP phone number to call if problems which is not valid. Salesman said from beginning that I could terminate if fees were not cheaper than other processor. Fees were higher. I called Company and am told that someone will call me which has not happened. You can call me at my business at [Redacted – Phone numbers not allowed] to verify. In fact, this company is costing me more money than previous processor. Do Not Sign Lease Agreement.
Anonymous
I was an employee until recently, and I’m going to be honest about this company. You will find a team of customer service and tech support personnel who work hard to assist the customers. However their hands are tied by the policies and procedures set by management. My advise to any merchant is simple, don’t sign the app because it’s really a contract. Don’t sign a lease, because it will cost you way more then you need and can’t be cancelled only bought out. Don’t process with them at all because then you’ll be locked in contract. A contract they do not want cancelled, I have been told in the past to not send any cancellation documents to merchants if their contract is less then 30 days old. This company is designed to make money, as all companies are. But I have seen this company send small business owners to collections for fees that weren’t explained by their reps, and then those same business have gone under. It is my advise to process with anyone else but Securus Payments.
Marsha
I just got an offer to work with them. I’m glad I’m reading the reviews before I do anything with them. Was the pay as good as they are making it sound? I’ve been involved in a scam before and I’m not trying to go down that road again.
Edward Louie
We have been in business for 25 years and this is by far the worst company we have ever done business with. Total rip off. It cost us about $14,000 to get rid of them.
robert
worst company ever, representative said it will be no contract, now i have to pay $495.00 not only that those people will not help you at all, not professional, we set up a time to talk about and they never called, never send me the card reader, never send the paper work, no emails, worst merchandise service.. I will not recommend this merchandise service to any one.
Peter Boice
Like several of the comments abve, I am embarrassed to have been taken advantage of to the degree that this company has done to me. I was not born in a tree and I have not been living under a rock but I was flat out bald faced lied to by the sales person! There is simply no other way to describe it. ANd when I finally realized what was happening …(hundreds of dollars in charges that were never revealed to me … worse yet … charges that I specifically asked about over and over during the sales process and was assured that they would not be an issue for me) … I was unable to get ahold of any of the agents for weeks at a time. When I finally did get ahold of them I was lectured about the responcibilities of signing a contract without thoroughly reading the fine print and told to pay the $495 if I wanted out. THis has been a terrible experience. Never use this company for any reason!!!
Chris Wright / Central Montana Bail Bonds
Sales personnel have to know that they were committing Fraud in the Inducement.
They sent comparative statements which purported to show a small savings of about $80 per month. The total processing credit was correct. but the interior numbers were plugged to equal the total cards processed. When I costed it out using the correct interior numbers they had increased our card processing cost by $200 per month. They were immediately told to cancel the contract. So far they have declined., if they successfuly steal any funds from our account. Their salesman may not know that the company is doing fraudulent analyses. That is what can make this fraud so effective. I am considering filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and if injury occurs requesting prosecution by the California Attorney General. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! I signed up with them with a “no cancellation fee” agreement Securus can be reached at 1-866-649-1324 I signed up with this credit card processing company…wished that I looked at these reviews first there has to be laws and rules the ISOs have to follow. How does a company get away with lying?? This industry makes my heart sick. if you have to lie to get a sale… fine another line of work. this is peoples lives and money and families that are being messed with.Highly unethical and exploitative business practices, extremely poor customer service. merchants beware
Jan Franklin
I agree totally with Chris and the other complaints that I have read against Securus Payments. I am willing to join in on filing a class action lawsuit against this company. I was told today that I am being charged for a second account for my web sales and was emailed the information to set it up. I asked what email they sent it to since I have not seen any information on this. Chris with Securus said that information was not available for them to tell me. They do lie about everything from the set up of the terminal to the fees. DO NOT SIGN UP WITH THIS COMPANY.
Mike S.
I’m stuck with these jerks right now! Have you been successful in breaking your contract and how.
Ruth
this is by far the worst lying company I have ever ever ran across. I have a business owner that cancelled his account within 3 days… the machine arrived the next day..(if only they were they quick to return a phone call.)
they never left the orginial contract with the merchant. why do you think that you would be? giving the benefit of the doubt… we called to get a copy of the contract. Nope.. they emailed a blank contract. requesting numerous times in the same day … we received an email with some of the rates included in the email. not what my business owner was told. not at all. He was told he would pay only 89.00 a month to process up to 16,000. Knowing this business we KNOW that there is no way.
So, making sure I could explain what he was told.. or seeing it in writing.. then we could go over exactly what he was going to get.
they said there is NO contract. None at all. nothing to risk. I told the owner to NOT process on that machine. we called to send it back.and we could not get anyone to give us an address. we had no paperwork.
finially a few days later we received a contract in the email. there was a lease and LEASE of 89.99 for 48 months. plus processing fees. when his mother called them. they were horrible and disrespectful. I heard the conversation. he was talking about tiered pricing and didn’t even make sense. I don’t think he understood what he was saying.
they have yet to follow through and now the business gets a confirmation from first data global leasing.
he never ever ever agreed to a lease. He said it was all inclusive for 89.a month. how can a company get away with lying? the new rep was a day on the job. he repeated whatever the business told him to say. they are horrible and to train a new rep this way is disgraceful.
there has to be laws and rules the ISOs have to follow. How does a company get away with lying?? This industry makes my heart sick. if you have to lie to get a sale… fine another line of work. this is peoples lives and money and families that are being messed with.
I do need help and need to know who to reach out to to help make this right for my business.. and other businesses that have been messed over. if you want to sell a lease.. explain it so they know what they are signing. to sign people up without their knowledge is plain fraud and should be punishable. maybe that company should pay for their processing fees for 48 months for lying. shame on you!! Securus shame shame on you.
I need to know who to report them to as this needs to be corrected immediately and not be on their credit report as well. we have yet to get a letter that is was cancelled. sme email acknowledgment would be great. and also a letter to let First Data leasing to know that this whole transaction was misleading, fraudulent and is has been promised to be canceled in full completely.
please someone…. I will uncover every person and write emails to every source to fix this. this is the only reason why I am still in this business is to help businesses understand and learn and do whats best for them. Not scam them.
tom
Securus is a complete scam they promise the best rates but their system does not work, they charge a compliance fee of $170 a year and $25 per month and I have not been able to process through securus’s service but once during a test in over a year. if you get a call from them and you answer the phone they will call you repeatedly.
caution stay away from this scam
brenda swenson
Received a bill have no ideal who they are. I do not have a business. Is there a way to call? Who an what are they
sandy
Securus can be reached at 1-866-649-1324 I signed up with this credit card processing company…wished that I looked at these reviews first
Jack
Had a resume posted and got a phone call for a job. Asked why territory was open for six months. He said I would be trained thoroughly by a two day live online training session. WAS I EVER GOING TO SEE ANYONE FROM THIS COMPANY IN PERSON. Said he would email company info by email. Guess I asked too many questions never received anything.
Steven Mathews
Horrible Company!!! I just got charged around $400 in fees that they can not tell me why and also say they can not refund them. CROOKED COMPANY!!!!!! Customer service was HORRIBLE and DID NOT WANT TO HELP!! Kept running me in circles. Did not care I was going to get my attorney involved. When I said cancel, they did not care and only said “You will be charged $495 SIR!!! Horrible!!! Horrible reviews on Ripoff Report also.
Arturo
In San Diego, Ca. the company reps may have started their own ISO company. The company may be named Coastal Pay. Does any one know anything about this newer company? I’ve checked w/ Ca. Secretary of State regarding articles of incorporation, but I’ve not discovered the new entity name. Two Securus Payments reps have visited my place of business. I’ve signed nothing.
Who left the Securus company? The good eggs or the bad eggs?
kim
Highly unethical and exploitative business practices, extremely poor customer service. merchants beware!
CPO
Hi Kim,
Can you provide some examples of what you experienced as “unethical and exploitative business practices” by Securus?
Jill Tustian
This company is a TOTAL RIp-off. It’s been 3 years and 2 days I’ve had to pay 52.95 monthly plus 2000.00 for a machine that I did not use. Their liars, they don’t answer the phone and when they do they laugh at you. My very last statement had a 99.00 charge added to it for a “lack of use fee” what kind if a company does that. When signing my contract J.P. Sturis crossed out and initialized my contract to void out the early term fee and several other changes we both initialed only to see the smudged fine print on the last page that states any markings or change slashes in the contract are not accepted. This company is a discrace to all businessEs. Close your bank account and save yourself!!!!!
josh
total criminals. do not sign anything. they promise the world and then switch the terms on the contract.
then they start taking money for no reason until you cancel. then they take money because you cancelled.
Tom Harvey
Sales personnel were very sincere and may not have know that they were committing Fraud in the Inducement.
They sent comparative statements which purported to show a small savings of about $80 per month. The total processing credit was correct. but the interior numbers were plugged to equal the total cards processed. When I costed it out using the correct interior numbers they had increased our card processing cost by $200 per month. They were immediately told to cancel the contract. So far they have declined. We will see them in court, if they successfuly steal any funds from our account. Their salesman may not know that the company is doing fraudulent analyses. That is what can make this fraud so effective. I am considering filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and if injury occurs requesting prosecution by the California Attorney General. Thank you for your time and service.
Anonymous
Tom- You are correct about some of the Sales Reps and inhouse employees. Unfortunately, some sales reps this is their first introduction to merchant services so really they have nothing else to compare it to and Securus has anwers for each & everyone of the “bad reviews”…till you are in the trenches and learn differently. Many Sales Rep disappear very quickly BECAUSE they do have morals, ethics and a conscience but after signing an independent contractor agreement they are bound to silence for fear of being sued.
I spoke to a paralegal at the FTC today since on their website there is recently an exact case similar to what everyone has experienced here (it closed in November of 2014 take a look on the website- CASE NO. 13-CV-0279-TOR). If you would like to make a difference for everyone past & present, meaning merchants as well as past employees then everyone needs to come together; put in a valid complaint with full details of what you know. He indicated that the more valid complaints they receive it raises awareness that Securus needs to be investigated to the full extent & prosecuted. Giving your reviews here is great to prevent new merchants from signing on and offering comardarie but we all must make the stand to prevent which is the key word here, Securus from continueing to monetarily hurt anymore merchants. When making your complaint keep it to the facts, emotions do not get anywhere…of course you have every right to be upset because this is certainly an issue no business owner should have to be distracted by nor any past employee that does carry morals, ethics & integrity that was lied to should be labeled with. So in an effort to assit here keep your complaint to the following and make sure you have all of your facts as well as much documentation as possible. READ the CASE, pull out what applies to you and put a list together so when you call the hotline you do not miss any points. Deceived & Unfair Trade Practices, Fraud…see details from the case below, do any or all apply to you?
CASE NO. 13-CV-0279-TOR
A. Misrepresent or assist others in misrepresenting, any material fact, including but not limited to:
1. Settling Defendants’ affiliation with the merchants’ current payment processors;
2. The savings any merchant will obtain if the merchant purchases Card Payment Processing Goods or Services from Settling Defendants;
3. The fees or rates merchants will be charged for any Card Payment Processing Goods or Services; and
4. That merchants who sign applications or leases with Settling Defendants for Card Payment Processing Goods or Services either are not contractually bound by their signatures or they can cancel at any time without penalty.
B. Conceal or fail to disclose, or assist others in concealing or failing to disclose, clearly and prominently, to any merchant any material fact, including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Costs, rates, charges, or fees any merchant will be required to pay; and
2. That merchants who sign applications, agreements, or leases are signing binding and non-cancellable contracts;
C. Alter, add, or delete any term relating to costs, rates, charges, or fees of any binding document, or assist others in altering, adding, or deleting such terms of any binding document previously signed by merchants, without obtaining a new signature from the merchant; and
D. Fail to furnish merchants, before submitting any application for processing, with a complete copy of each contract or other document requiring the merchants’ signatures.
E. Make any representation or assist others in making any representation about the fees, rates, costs, terms, savings, or benefits of any Card Payment Processing Goods or Services, unless, at the time such representation is made, Settling Defendants possess and rely upon a reasonable basis to substantiate that the representation is true.
The FTC Complaint Assistance Hotline is 1-877-382-4357.
Make sure you also follow Phillip’s instructions to open a NEW checking account after you have a new provider. After you have successfully cleared all checks or transferred your automatic withdrawals to the new account (minus Securus & FDGL) then instruct your banker close the account due to FRAUD. Very important to make this clear to your banker as some institutions will as a courtesy see an attempt to withdraw funds off the old account and think that you may have accidentally forgot about that charge then they allow it to clear off your new account. You must treat this like you have had your checkbook stolen! Many of the processors carry multiple names…Securus Payments is a DBA for Payprotech. If they can’t ACH your funds with Securus’s information, they will try their other entities to get your monies. First step is to defend yourself, your company and protect your funds…stop the bleeding.
Just some comardarie advice since we are all in this battle together! Please I can not stress enough the importance of reporting this to the FTC as well the Attorney General’s office of your state or even Portland, OR. This company needs to be held accountable for their actions and lack there of.
jerry
I just got scam by securus sale man carson cook. I was promised to get free equipment and and free paper, lower rate than my previous merchant company by carson cook from securus. it ended up i had to pay 150.00 per month for renting the equipment from first data and over paying from 80 to 90.00 dollars more than my previous company every month, I was told that if i was not satisfied i could cut ties with this company with no penalty. It turns out they use collection company to threaten me to pay 8,960.00 for them, when i cancel with them. what an “good company” to make money by doing. what an ashamed
Edward Fine
Securus Payments absolutely and underhanded company. Hidden charges. Do not live up to contractual promises nor do they intend to. Don’t re-imburse charges even they agree are invalid. Charges over 2% above what they promised. Difficult to reach by phone. No follow-up to promises. Bored with my complaints. Next step is to spend even more money for an attorney to represent me. They are unethical.
Leah
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!!!! I signed up with them with a “no cancellation fee” agreement. Upon receiving our terminals we discovered they do not accept our current gift cards nor did the ones that I purchased from them work. It was one problem after another. When I went to cancel my “agreement”, I find out there is a 500.00 cancellation fee and also a 9000.00 cancellation fee for the terminals. Trying to resolve the issue professionally I have called numerous times and left messages and can’t get a return phone call to save my life! Very unprofessional.
debra polen
wish I would have read this before I signed up with these people. same thing happened to me only it was more. makes me sick!!! where you able to get out of it? I am seeing an attorney tomorrow.
P
I have a complaint in to the BBB on Securus Payments right now. A saleman came to our small family business. Told me all kinds of great things about their credit card processing. NO lease, no ëxtra fees on top of %. On and on…. Had me sign papers, then took papers with him to bring back later. He forged my initials all over the place on the papers and then when I read stuff, everything was just the opposite as what he had stated. I have been on the phone with their Oregon offices for almost 2 weeks and bottom line now is. For me to cancel it will cost me $495. As they stated, “They have a signed contract from me and they were not there when I talked to their rep” It’s my word against his. I can not believe, at my age, I got swindled like this. I feel so stupid. Is there any help out there for me???
Professional Center 205 Pharmacy
Do not use this company! They offerered us great rates, and even claimed that they worked with the company that handles our POS transaction software and claimed that there would be no compatability issues. When we attempted to set up up the processing through them, there were multiple issues due to incorrect processing information given, rude customer service when attempting to rectify the situation, and we ultimately found out that they were not compatable with our processing software and that no such claim was given. In addition, fees which were not listed in the contract have been charged to us, and multiple attempts to contact the company have been ignored, including multiple messages on the personal lines of two different managers including Darin Docker. Every attempt to rectify the situation rebuted, we recommend that every business think twice before they decide to allow this company to handle their card processing!
Greg
They wont STOP calling me! I told them politely, I was not interested and to remove me from their call list. Each day that goes by seems to multiply the number of calls I get! I have received 4 calls from them today (so far) alone! I am filing a complaint with donotcall.gov when I get done here. This is rediculous! I have a business to run! NO MEANS NO!!!!! This ranks right up there with GOOGLE’s BS! I would not do buisness with them even if it were FREE because of this!!!!!!