SumUp Overall Rating
Last Updated: January 31, 2014
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SumUp Overview
SumUp Logo
SumUp (sumup.co.uk) is European mobile credit card processing application for iPhone and Android users that launched in mid-2012. The service is similar to its U.S. predecessors like Square and GoPayment, and includes a card reader for £19.95, a phone app, account setup, and a flat processing fee of 1.95% for all card types and transactions with no additional fees. Currently, SumUp is available in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Brazil, the Netherlands, and Austria, but appears be planning a wider expansion across Europe. The company hopes to compete with mPowa and iZettle, two other similar services that entered the European market earlier in the year.
SumUp Sales & Marketing Tactics | A+
SumUp appears to primarily market its services through its website and traditional advertising. The company’s website advertises very simple pricing of 1.95% on all transactions, and this rate does not appear to be contested by merchants. We were able to locate one SumUp review in which the merchant felt they had been misled as to what kind of card reader they would receive, but this appears to have been a shipping error rather than false advertisement. The company does not seem to engage in deceptive advertising strategies in its official materials.
SumUp Costs & Contract Terms | A
SumUp appears to offer a very transparent pricing model of 1.95% on all transactions in addition to £19.95 up front for the card reader. The company’s terms and conditions state that merchants may cancel service at any time, and they also outline the company’s cash reserve policy. Under this policy, the company may withhold portions of payments in order to establish a reserve account as a fraud prevention measure. This policy is similar to those used by other mobile/smartphone processors and does not appear to be a major source of merchant complaints. Generally speaking, the company’s contract terms do not appear to frustrate its merchants.
SumUp Complaints & Service | A
We are currently able to locate a total of six SumUp complaints, none of which allege that the company is a ripoff or a scam. Common issues for merchants include the app’s complicated process for swiping Visa cards (a protocol imposed by Visa Europe) and withholding/late delivery of funds. A SumUp representative has responded to most of these complaints by stating that company is working to improve its lengthy Visa payment process, which requires customers to receive a text message and then click a hyperlink in the message to enter their payment information. Additionally, the complaints about late payment or withholding of funds appear to be either related to confusion about the company’s cash reserve policy or simply the product of isolated billing mishaps. Much like Square, SumUp primarily offers customer support via email and social networks, which could cause problems for some merchants. In general, though, SumUp does not appear to be plagued by the issues with customer service that trouble some of its competitors. If you have any experience with SumUp’s customer support and risk policies, please leave it in the comment section below.
SumUp BBB Report | N/A
SumUp is based in the UK and is therefore not subject to review by the BBB. We will not factor a BBB rating into this review.
Bottom Line
According to all available information, SumUp rates as a worthy alternative to its mobile payment app competitors in Europe and the US. The company is showing very few complaints at this time and appears to offer fairly transparent, affordable contract terms. The major drawbacks of SumUp at this time appear to be its card reader and its Visa payment process. The SumUp app is still fairly new, and its overall rating is therefore subject to change as its use spreads.
Leave your review of SumUp in the comment section below:
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The verification process is ridiculously long winded and they do not understand UK business law.
They are based in Germany and are very German centric.
They have £500 of our that they let us take and are now threatening to never allow us access to this money.
I think they may be a scam where they make their money from merchants who get sick of jumping through their hoops and give up.
They never return calls and just keep asking for further documentation. Some of which does not exist in the UK.
SCAM or just not very good I’m not sure but they have £500 of ours and we need the money.
This company have taken payments and not moved them into my account.
they are not answering there phones, all very worrying
Hi Paul,
I am having the same trouble with them. No one answering the phone or email really worried. Might stop taking payments through them to be on the safe side. Let us know if you had a luck getting through
Waste of time for me too unless it takes VISA via the reader. As a London taxi driver I need AMEX as well.
Shame all the instructions were not clear at the beginning.
Hello Rob,
As I mentioned in my comments below, we are continuing to work with Visa Europe to allow acceptance of Visa cards also through a card reader in the future. Also, we have recently announced that we will be accepting American Express as well in the near future (https://sumup.co.uk/sumup-to-accept-american-express/?lang=en_GB).
Regards,
Chris
My problem with sum up is the time it is still taking for me to receive the money I took nearly 3 weeks ago now. In the faqs sum up says it will make ‘daily deposits’ once you’ve met the threshold and your account is verified – both of these I had met.
It then goes onto say it may take 7-10 working days for you to receive your money. In fact what i’ve established from emails to/from sum up support is that deposits are made 7-10 working days with an email sent confirming the same (infuriatingly this hasn’t happened in my case), with a further 2-3 working days possibly needed for the money to show in your account.
Factoring in the long bank holiday 11 working days have nearly passed and I’ve still not received the money. Having chased support I’ve now been told the bank details they’d used were incorrect and it could take another 7-10 working days for me to receive my money. Given that I had sent them a copy of a letter from my bank (certified by a solicitor) that confirmed my account details I find it hard to see how a mistake has been made and why I have to wait potentially a further two weeks for my money. As a small business this is not feasible and causes a lot of problems.
Even more infuriating is that when I initially queried where my money was I asked to check the bank details they had – I received no response to this particular question which is a shame because the problem I am now faced with could have been avoided.
As a side note, when I initially discovered it could take up to 10 working days for me to receive my money I looked elsewhere for another card reader and found intuitpay – it had just been released and they were giving them away for free. I subsequently ordered one, received it, took a test payment which arrived in my account yesterday! Needless to say I’ll be using this one instead of sum up from now on.
Hello Gemma,
I’m sorry you experienced delays in your deposits. If you can email me your email address and/or merchant ID, I will investigate the problem personally. [email protected]
Best,
Chris
I feel like Ive been mis sold or mislead. The card reader I received wasn’t the card reader I signed up for. Isn’t that false advertisement, shouldnt it be illegal to do that. I am severely disappointed I was really excited at the prospect of this product but that has been a big let down. Most of my customers will probably Debit card owners so a chip reader is what I need not a swipe..thingy.
Sigh Rant over.
Hi Victoria,
Not a problem. Send an email to [email protected] and they will get a chip reader out to you immediately.
Thanks,
Chris
Signed up for this a week or so ago. Whilst the account set-up went well, it’s just been a disappointment since then.
I did not receive a chip and pin reader as shown on their website, but a mag stripe reader. Most people in the UK are wary of their card being swiped nowadays (as it has associations with card skimming), so that’s a major negative.
Secondly, from looking at their site you’d believe you can accept Visa & Mastercard. Here’s the process for accepting a Visa card as provided by their customer service staff:
· When you want to accept a Visa card, simply select “Visa” from the choice of payment methods and enter your customer’s mobile phone number.
· Your customer immediately receives a text message with a unique link to a secure website that opens on the customer’s mobile phone browser.
· On this website, your customer enters the Visa card’s details and completes the transaction.
So, if your customer doesn’t have a smart phone or can’t remember all their account access details then the transaction will fail.
This is not currently a card solution for small businesses, it is a halfway house that will leave customers and businesses frustrated. At lease it doesn’t cost anything to sign up!
Hi firebird_uk,
Chris Campana here from SumUp.
Different card associations (such as Visa and MasterCard) have different rules regarding how transactions can be accepted through mobile devices. Because of Visa Europe’s rules, Visa card acceptance is currently not possible via the SumUp card reader, but can be completed by manually entering the Visa card’s details on your customer’s phone.
We are working together with Visa Europe to allow acceptance of Visa cards also through a card reader in the future.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact me at [email protected].
Best,
Chris
Customer service does not answer emails and no phone number provided. Visa payments only work on a smart phone as the swipe doesn’t work on Visa cards. Takes Mastercard OK … Sorry waste of time at present.