SwitchPay Review

We are currently able to locate only two SwitchPay negative reviews, neither of which accuses the service of being a scam or a ripoff. One customer noted problems logging off the application, while another cited the app’s unavailability in Canada. We also found a handful of positive reviews about SwitchPay, and there does not appear to be a problem overall with the customer service offered by either SwitchPay or Switch Commerce. It is possible that complaints about both entities are instead redirected to the online profiles of Sage Payments, but in the absence of any concrete evidence that this is occurring, we are currently awarding SwitchPay an “A” in this category.

Switch Commerce is an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau. As of this review, the company has an “A+” rating with the BBB and has had zero complaints filed against it in the last 36 months. The company has also not received any informal reviews on its BBB profile, although it should be noted that these reviews are not subject to verification by the BBB. Since it is our philosophy that “A+” ratings should be reserved for companies with zero complaints, we agree with the BBB’s rating in this case.

SwitchPay offers payment processing through Sage Payments that can be cancelled at any time without incurring an early termination fee. The company does not appear to charge a monthly minimum fee unless merchants sign up for Premier Pricing, and the company also does not charge a PCI Compliance fee. SwitchPay’s processing rates are at or close to the average prices offered by the service’s mobile payment processing competitors, and SwitchPay appears to provide the added benefit of an approval process. While easy signup and near-automatic approval are major selling points of services like Square, they usually cause issues for merchants who would never have qualified for merchant accounts in the first place. Since SwitchPay is offered through a traditional credit card processor (Sage Payments), SwitchPay clients are subject to underwriting upon application, which helps to prevent fund freezes and account termination for approved accounts.

We are currently unable to locate any complaints about SwitchPay’s contract terms, indicating that most of the company’s clients are satisfied with their pricing. If you have had any specific experiences with SwitchPay, please describe the service in the comment section of this review.

SwitchPay appears to utilize its referral program, reseller program, and website to market its services. The SwitchPay service itself does not rely on a team of independent sales agents, but Switch Commerce, LLC does appear to engage in this hiring practice. While the use of independent sales agents is typically linked to elevated complaint rates for businesses, it does not appear to be an issue in this case. We are unable to locate any negative SwitchPay reviews that mention unethical conduct by the company’s sales team.

The SwitchPay website advertises its service by quoting two specific rates. According to the page, merchants can either pay a flat 2.75% on all transactions (“Select Pricing”) or $12.95/month and 1.70% on all transactions (“Premier Pricing”). Upon clicking the “Compare Your Options” button, though, merchants will find that these quotes aren’t entirely clear.

The 2.75% quote sports an asterisk that leads to the following disclaimer: “Plus any dues, fees, or regulatory charges assessed by the Card Networks.” What this likely means is that merchants will pay 2.75% on each transaction plus the Dues & Assessment fee associated with all Visa and MasterCard transactions, which is roughly an additional tenth of a percent. “Regulatory charges” is another fairly nebulous term that could possibly be construed to include further undisclosed charges. The “Compare Your Options” button also reveals that the 1.70% rate available on the “Premier” plan is only applicable to “Qualified” transactions, while merchants will pay 3.70% plus the footnoted fees mentioned above on all “Non-Qualified” transactions. While these terms are technically disclosed by the company, they aren’t immediately visible, and it’s possible that merchants could fail to notice these distinctions when signing up for SwitchPay. We therefore award Switch Commerce a “B” in this category.

SwitchPay rates as a reliable mobile payment processing service according to our rating criteria. The service is offered by the merchant services provider Switch Commerce, which is showing a low complaint volume both outside of and with the BBB. Additionally, the contract terms of SwitchPay seem to be more competitive than those of its mobile competitors in some ways. The service’s grade may be subject to change as it gains traction and generates more reviews online.