Verotel Credit Card Processing Reviews & Complaints
Company Overview
Founded in 1998, Verotel is a merchant account provider that specializes in high-risk e-commerce transactions with an emphasis on selling digital goods and viewer subscriptions. The company also does business as GayCharge, which allows merchants to accept credit cards while protecting customers' sexual identity.
Issues with Fund-Holds
High-risk businesses face a unique set of challenges compared to standard-risk businesses. Fund-holds are among those issues. Dozens of merchants have had their payments frozen by Verotel. If you're one of them, then you might find these resources helpful:
- How To Make Your Payment Processor Release Your Money
- How to Fight Chargebacks
- Best Merchant Accounts for Hard-To-Place Business Types
Verotel Payment Processing
Verotel advertises that they process credit and debit cards for standard and high-risk businesses, with a specific focus on online adult entertainment and other sexual industries. They advertise a multilingual 24/7 support system, business IBANs, processing of multiple currencies (USD, GBP, EUR), the ability to payout talent easily, and the Bitsafe platform of payment tools, which includes a business debit card, mass and automated payments, payout reporting, and pairing accounts. They have a focus on being able to payout adult talent worldwide with ease.
Verotel's Online Payment Gateway
The company provides an online payment gateway service that enables businesses to accept and process online transactions. This service is integrated into the business's website, allowing customers to make payments conveniently and securely.
Subscription Billing Service by Verotel
Verotel offers a subscription billing service, enabling businesses to set up recurring payments for their customers. This service is particularly useful for companies that provide ongoing services or products on a subscription basis.
Fraud Screening with Verotel
To protect businesses and their customers, Verotel provides a fraud screening service. This service helps detect and prevent fraudulent transactions, thereby safeguarding the interests of all parties involved.
Location & Ownership
The company was initially based in San Francisco but has since relocated to its current headquarters in Amsterdam. Verotel does not publicly list an acquiring bank, and the company is headquartered at Danzigerkade 23D, 1013 AP, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Joost Zuurbier is listed as the most recent CEO of Verotel.
| Pros: | Cons: |
|---|---|
| Dedicated Support: Responsive, helpful customer service. | Limited Public Information: Less transparency on services. |
| Advanced Fraud Prevention: Minimizes chargebacks, protects transactions. | Limited Industry Focus: Primarily for high-risk businesses. |
| Multi-Currency Support: Simplifies cross-border transactions. | Restricted Payment Methods: Not all methods supported. |
| Alternative Payments Supported: Flexible payment options. | Variable Pricing Structure: Rates may be higher. |
| Insightful Reporting/Analytics: Sales performance, customer insights. | Complex Integration: Can be time-consuming. |
| Flexible Integration: Easy website/application integration. | |
| High-Risk Business Focus: Specializes in high-risk industries. | |
| Global Reach: Serves international customers. | |
| Subscription Management: Simplifies recurring payments. |
Verotel Customer Reviews
Here's What Their Clients Say
| Total Online Complaints | 10+ |
|---|---|
| Live Customer Support | No |
| Most Common Complaint | Fund-Holds |
| Recent Lawsuits | No |
Exploring Verotel Customer Reviews
Analysis of Verotel reviews shows over ten negative accounts in the past three years, with a history of complaints dating further back. A notable division in these reviews emerges between Verotel’s operations in San Francisco and Amsterdam. In San Francisco, issues were primarily centered around fraudulent transactions and frozen accounts, without indications of the company being a scam. Since relocating to Amsterdam, complaints have shifted towards poor customer service, billing inaccuracies, and abrupt account cancellations. Some issues also pertain to products sold by Verotel merchants. We welcome readers to add their own Verotel review in the comments for a more complete picture.
Significant Shift in 2012
In 2012, Verotel revised its pricing to a multi-tier model and abruptly canceled accounts not aligning with its Basic plan. This change led to numerous customer complaints, some highlighted in a discussion on WebHostingTalk.com. Affected businesses might have been better suited to a high-risk merchant account specialist.
Trend in Customer Feedback
Considering its size and specialty, Verotel has a relatively low to moderate complaint volume. However, a growing trend of grievances about customer service issues necessitates lowering its overall rating to a “B.” The company provides comprehensive support through email and several international phone lines, catering to a global clientele.
Verotel Legal and Compliance Status
There are no current class-action lawsuits or FTC complaints filed against Verotel. For those preferring non-litigious resolutions, reporting to relevant supervisory organizations is advised.
Verotel Customer Support Accessibility
Verotel offers multiple support channels, including email and dedicated phone numbers for different geographic regions, demonstrating a commitment to accessible customer service.
Verotel Contact Information
- 877-925-1877 – Toll-Free Customer Support (US)
- 00-800-44229999 – EU
- 020-5315757 – Netherlands
- +31 20 5315757 – Other Countries
- +31 20 5315758 – Fax
Additional Support Resources
- [email protected] – Customer Support
- [email protected] – End-user Support
- [email protected] – Payments
Verotel Online Ratings
Here's How They Rate Online
No Dedicated Profile
The Better Business Bureau no longer maintains a profile for Verotel due to the company’s relocation to Amsterdam. We will therefore not factor a BBB rating into the company’s overall grade.
Verotel Fees, Rates & Costs
A Closer Look at The Contract
| Cancellation Penalties | No |
|---|---|
| Monthly & Annual Fees | Yes |
| Processing Rates | Variable |
| Equipment Leasing | No |
Higher-Than-Average Rates
Verotel specializes in serving high-risk e-commerce businesses, particularly those requiring subscription payment capabilities for a global clientele. Consequently, its pricing is structured differently from traditional payment processors. Verotel’s Basic plan includes an annual fee of €500 and a 15.5% transaction fee for subscription payments, alongside a six-month rolling reserve of 10%.
Premium Pricing Option
The Premium plan, catering to recurring and unique transaction amounts via Verotel FlexPay, substitutes the annual fee for a weekly processing requirement of €1000. Failing to meet this threshold incurs a monthly minimum fee of €25. This plan also maintains the six-month rolling reserve of 10%, with processing fees ranging between 13% to 14% based on weekly transaction volumes.
No Long-Term Contracts
Verotel’s plans do not include early termination fees, and PCI Compliance fees are integrated into the annual fees for both account types.
Reasonable Pricing for High-Risk E-Commerce
While Verotel’s fees are notably higher than many competitors, it remains a vital option for high-risk sectors such as adult content, nutraceuticals, and weapons industries—markets with substantial overseas dealings. Verotel’s higher rates and cash reserve requirements are measures to mitigate the risks associated with high chargeback ratios, a common concern in these industries. Negative feedback primarily centers around these policies, which seem to be applied judiciously rather than exploitatively. Business owners are advised to thoroughly understand Verotel’s fraud prevention policies before agreement.
For alternatives offering potentially more favorable terms, merchants are recommended to explore our list of the best merchant account providers.
Verotel Employee Reviews & Sales Tacitcs
Should You Work For Them?
| Uses Independent Resellers | No |
|---|---|
| Telemarketing | No |
| Misleading Marketing | No |
| Discloses All Important Terms | No |
No Misleading Tactics
Verotel appears to market itself primarily through its website and through affiliate partnerships. There is no indication at this time that the company utilizes a team of independent sales agents, and we have found no negative Verotel reviews that mention unethical conduct by the company’s sales team. According to Verotel reviews, Verotel is a popular processing option among digital content businesses that need to collect subscription payments from a global customer base—a typically underserved industry with limited options for payment acceptance. Given the lack of Verotel complaints about the company’s sales force and the absence of any misleading rate promotion on its website, we will award Verotel an “A” in this category for the time being.
This compares favorably to our list of best credit card processors.
Our Verotel Review Summary
Our Final Thoughts
Verotel rates as a decent offshore credit card processing provider according to all available information. The company provides payment processing for businesses that typically cannot obtain merchant accounts, so its contract terms should not be expected to compete with those offered by its traditional, U.S.-based competitors. That having been noted, Verotel is showing some complaints related to poor customer service and payment or billing issues. High-risk businesses should be sure that they understand all conditions of their agreements before signing up for service through Verotel.
If you found this article helpful, please share it!
GDS
I wrote to Verotel in January 2024 to report a transaction issue. I never heard back from them. That led me to suspect it might well be part of a scam, a facade of a website. As they say in documentaries: the production invited so-and-so to participate, but they declined. #avoid
John Jake
scam scam scam especially the sales person named “Roberta” she acts friendly until you send them the registration fee of 500 dollars (they are a credit card processing company, still make you pay with bank transfer, one of the million red flags) they act like you didnt send them any money, scam scam scam. Not helpful at all. So stay away!
Violet
Verotel is a nightmare. They support a scam site that does fraudulent charges on a subscription that was immediately canceled despite my emailing the site asking for a refund. With 0 communication I was forced to do a charge back for the fraudulent charge and instead of working with me they blacklisted me. They support scammers. If you see anything affiliated with them check your bank statements and RUN!
jammz
I use a website where billing is done by Verotel (SkyPrivate). They use my IP address to identify that I live in Canada and automatically convert my purchases from USD to CDN, at an exchange rate in excess of 40%!!!. My bank charges 32%. Clearly they are making a huge FX profit off we Canadians and any other user not living in the USA. I have a USD VISA account that they could charge me in USD but they refuse. Very unhappy customer here.
JOE
Was payment forwarded to seller by VEROTEL???I was called by my bank warning of possible scam!
Martin
Working with Verotel since 2012, thanks God everything is doing well, they respond emails also, and they helped me to set up the processor in my sites, there are some restrictions though because Mastercard don’t allow any kind of adult (they have key words can’t be found in your sites), Verotel send payments to my banks in Peru and in USA. They are working now with Bitsafe (not sure why), so it’s Bitsafe which send me the money now, but for suscriptions is Verotel the one in charge, I have 3 membership sites with Verotel. But it’s quite expensive, maybe you can recommend me another adult processor which works with Peru (no complains with Verotel at all, but it’s expensive (average15%) per transaction initial and recurring)
Paul
Used them for a processor for a subscription-based website. The website never worked from day one and they never answered the numerous emails I sent. I then reached out to Verotel to see if they could assist. Verotel never replied to my request for help. It appears their customer service is nonexistent. Now I’m left to wonder if they will cancel my subscription as requested. Use this processor at your own risk. You have been warned.
This post will help: Best Merchant Accounts for Subscription-Based Services
-Phillip
Stefano Dellanoce
Verotel is very dangerous .
They bill every month, even you have cancelled your account on websites.
Pay attention: you will lock and cancel your credit card to avoid this.
Vincent
Verotel detained our money and did not pay them back referring to various arguments. Do not believe them. them. They scammers
Geoff North
I bought a three day access to a fileserver as there was just one file I wanted. I paid my fee but could then not d-load the “special” software required to access the file I wanted. D-load failed ten times. Even my password failed and there was no password resend facility either. Locked out, I emailed Verotel – I want my money back – but they have failed to respond. I smell a nice fat scam.
Ed Nigma
Purchased a web site membership and then canceled it. Got a verification number but they charged me AGIN the next month. I submitted a report to the support email. NO RESPONSE. Canceled again, got another confirmation number & got charged AGAIN the next month. Had to cancel my credit card to get them to stop charging me. AVOID.
Tony Lawrence
Jimmy Gee is wrong. Several years ago many of us merchants who were once ‘happy’ with Verotel service suddenly had all their accounts cut off at the same time by a new ruthless management. No doubt the original management staff all quit due to whatever heartless new policies were coming into effect at Verotel at that time. Fact is that Verotel was cutting away merchants that other bill process companies did not; credit card companies never gave a crap either for those sites that Verotel wiped off its list so abruptly – and as the original comment stated- it was how fast Verotel banned sites without reason – not allowing website owners to warn their customers of the cutoff.
Jimmy Gee makes an irrelevant conclusion on shoddy customer service and log-in issues that many customers have had to deal with; there’s no denying this was too common a problem.
—
Are you with Verotel? Learn how to resolve this complaint.
WILLIAM TRAVIS
Verotel can work, but if you experience any kind of problem, Verotel is totally unresponsive!
—
Are you with Verotel? Learn how to resolve this complaint.
Joe Krystal
Excellent and accurate review; Thanks for telling us why Verotel actually cancelled merchant accounts immediately. At the time when they suddenly without any warning to clients and website members- Verotel sent out emails after the fact LYING to merchants about why they did that horrible devastating decision; lies included ‘names not conforming to credit card policies’. The new Verotel staff that took over are incompetent, rude, lying, and totally untrustworthy. Stay away from Verotel and use the other payment processing companies instead. Verotel has contempt for merchants and website customers who thought they could trust Verotel to be professional. Big mistake if you think that – and your website members OFTEN have log-in issues to sites when they use Verotel for access.
Jimmy Gee
Most of what you say Joe is false. Credit card companies were being pressured to be more stringent with what sort of websites they would bill for, and so any domain ‘names not conforming to credit card policies’ would be banned. For example any websites that contained the word “Lolita” in them were not allowed, and for good reason obviously. This was something that Mastercard, VISA and the rest sprung upon billing companies like Verotel all of a sudden, it’s not their fault your sites were dropped. Verotel were actually one of the lucky ones that survived, take a look at an old billing company like Globosale for example who went out of business because of the credit card companies decision.
In regards to your other statement “your website members OFTEN have log-in issues to sites when they use Verotel for access”.
It’s more likely due to Verotel not being able to connect to your glitchy server and add users to the htpasswd file.
In reegards to this sites review on customer service. I have used Verotel for more than 10 years as a billing merchant and have been paid on time every week and have had nothing but great help from their support. Rating : 5/5
Ryan Vandamme
Hi Jimmy. You are in error. Of all the billing companies Only Verotel was being harsh and severe – no other company was doing what Verotel did. It is clear Verotel had a hidden agenda. Most ex-Verotel merchants who were abruptly cut-off without warning will vouch for that reality they were shocked by – You were not one of those merchants so don’t sit there trying to deny what realities and facts merchants knew first-hand. You can speculate all you want but Veritel’s new management screwed over merchants and other billing companies did no such thing – this is reality you did not face nor were aware of. Your happy experience is not what many other merchants and customers have unhappily endured from Verotel’s new crew. The ‘credit card company penalize policy’ was merely a facade for their hidden agenda; and there was no sane reason for them to abruptly cut-off formerly loyal merchants with no warning. It’s no joke seeing livelihoods vanish overnight because of Veriotel’s inhumanity.