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Worldpay reaches a global market, based in the U.K. with an office in Atlanta, Georgia. They offer a wide range of features, and - although they handle processing for many small merchants - their services are best suited to larger corporations, particularly those who want to conduct international transactions.
Based in the UK, Worldpay's reach is global. Worldpay services merchants ranging from small businesses and to multinational corporations, and according to their website, they sign up 450 customers every day and conduct 26 million transactions daily. This company supports 120 different currencies and more than 200 payment types, including American Express, Mastercard, and VISA. Despite these benefits, some very vague fine print and "gotchas" makes this company more suited to larger corporations than to small businesses.
Founded in 1989 as "Streamline," the company's name was changed to WorldPay a few years later. Worldpay launched its U.S. branch in 2001. The following information is based upon rates and features that Worldpay offers to U.S. merchants.
Below is a detailed review of Worldpay Merchant Services offering. The review is broken down into the following categories.
Depending upon the type of business you own, some of the following features may or may not be important to you. To learn more about any given feature, just click on it.
| Software Compatibility: | |
|---|---|
| Intuit Quickbooks | Yes |
| Sage 50 | No |
| Microsoft Dynamics GP | No |
| Hardware Compatibility: | |
|---|---|
| Windows / Blackberry | Possible |
| iPhone / iPad | Probably |
| Android | Probably |
| Alternative Transaction Types: | |
| Phone Orders | Yes |
| Internet Orders | Yes |
| Wireless Orders | Yes |
| Mobile Orders | Yes |
| Snail Mail Orders | Yes |
| American Express (AMEX) | Yes |
| Add Tips to Bills | Yes |
| eCommerce / Shopping Cart | Yes |
| International Sales | Yes |
| Recurring Payments | Yes |
| EMV Chip Cards | Yes |
| Contactless Cards | Yes |
| Loyalty / Gift Cards | Yes |
| eChecks / Electronic Checks | Yes |
| Welfare Benefits (EBT/SNAP/TANF) | Yes |
| Security / Fraud Prevention: | |
| AVS Fraud Protection | Yes |
| PCI DSS Secure Transactions | Yes |
| Industry Specific: | |
| HIPAA Compliance (Healthcare) | Yes |
| Trust Account Debiting (Legal) | No |
| Fleet Cards (Petroleum) | Yes |
| Online Menu Orders (Restaurants) | Yes |
| Countries Served: | |
| U.S. | Yes |
| Other Countries | Yes |
| International | Yes |
WorldPay supports most payment equipment and systems across industries, including InstantAccept for QuickBooks. They keep a growing list of providers(third-party integration) for the retail, petroleum, restaurant, and supermarket industries. Worldpay also offers ATM services, cash advances, and terminal supplies. We weren't certain about the types of mobile phones they service, as we could not contact customer service by phone.
Almost every merchant account services company uses either Interchange Plus or Tiered Pricing (to learn the differences read here). Where companies allow us to disclose pricing information, we show the deals that our secret shoppers were able to achieve. When companies offer both Interchange Plus and Tiered Pricing, we try to get a quote on both options.
Worldpay isn't transparent about their pricing, which is understandable for a global market company. We do understand that they offer Interchange Plus pricing (one offer shows "Low rates start as low as 0.99% with $0.20 per item fee"), but we don't know if they offer tiered options.
Worldpay concentrates on that global market aspect with their "global bank account network." They state that merchants can see up to 90% of cross-border payments arrive faster, and they can help cut those global payment costs by up to 85% compared to traditional payment channels.
We also understand that merchants often receive better deals for Worldpay services through resellers, as Worldpay offers their "agents" plenty of flexibility. Those prices also will vary depending upon the merchant's business type and whether or not the merchant knows to ask for pricing on various services. Some of those fees are included below in our "Fine Print."
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| Fine Print Fees: | |
|---|---|
| Termination Fee | $295 Maximum |
| Setup / Application Fee | Perhaps |
| PCI Compliance Fee | $129 Annually |
| PCI Inaction Fee | Yes |
| Gateway Fee | $8 minimum/month |
| 1099-K Fee | None |
| Statement Fee | Perhaps |
| Online Reporting Fee | None |
| Monthly Minimum Volume Fee | Perhaps |
| Accept International Pymt Fee | Yes |
| Voice Authorization Fee | Possible |
| Monthly Min. Process Fee | None |
| Daily Batch Fee | Possible |
| ACH / Direct Deposit Fee | Possible |
| ACH Charge Fee | Possible |
| ACH Return Fee | Possible |
| FANF Fee | Yes, Variable |
| Chargeback Fees | Standard |
| Freebies: | |
|---|---|
| Free Setup Consultation | |
| 24/7 Free Customer Support | |
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Worldpay offers services via Virtual Terminal, Swiper, and by TerminalWhile your transactions take place electronically, the actual device that you use to swipe a customer's card is referred to as "the equipment." This equipment includes hardware and, often, software or apps for that hardware to function properly.
Worldpay offers countertop terminals, wireless terminals, and a swiper for mobile payments. They also offer a virtual terminal with an Authorize.Net gateway. They aren't transparent on the brands that they carry in their hardware, but we did find out - after some deep digging - they carry Verifone products. While they're not very clear on their hardware, they are very explicit about the functionality of these options. Those features are listed under our "Features" section.
Worldpay focuses on the U.K. and the U.S., but they serve over 40 other countries and support 120 different currencies.
I generally don't like long-term contracts or termination fees in merchant services agreements, because the ability to cancel keeps the credit card processor on its best behavior, including the willingness to make you happy if there's a dispute. Plus, this ability to cancel gives you the ability to move on if you find a better deal.
We're hearing plenty of complaints about the Worldpay contract, which runs for three years along with an early termination fee (ETF), and auto-renews annually after that initial three-year term. This is the worst kind of contract, because they also require a 90-day termination notice that needs to be certified mail. Even if you can waive the early termination fee in writing on your contract, Worldpay states that they can change their terms at any time without notice. That's a sticky one.
The merchant account services industry is multi-layered. Understanding how those layers fit together can be confusing (Read More in this Article). A good thing to know, however, is whether or not your company is a direct processor (good if yes) or, if not, then to know who they process with and whether or not that processor is reliable. The second thing to know is whether or not the service or sales staffs are in-house or outsourced. In-house staffs are preferable for you, as these staff members may have more access to sources that can resolve your issues.
Processor: Worldpay US, Inc. is a registered ISO/MSP of Citizens Bank, N.A. Their U.S. office is based in Atlanta, Georgia, and they use Authorize.Net as their primary gateway.
Account Sales: WorldPay uses inside sales staff and markets indirectly through resellers and sub-ISOs. Since this outside marketing and sales is a common strategy among merchant account services, we know that those resellers are probably the source of many of the complaints against this company. Although Worldpay's resellers seem to have a lot of flexibility with pricing (sometimes resulting in a lower price than what Worldpay would offer directly), it appears that Worldpay is not proactive in training their outside agents. This lack of knowledge can result in horrible service.
Account Service: Worldpay offers 24/7 customer support, but that support is separated into merchant support and gateway support. There are few complaints about tech support. Most of the complaints center on customer support both in the U.K. and in the U.S.
As part of our review process, we try to test merchant account service companies' claims by placing test calls and working through the customer service process.
3/23/2015; TIME: 2:45 pm EST
Call to Customer Support
All of Worldpay's phone numbers offered throughout their site are open only to their merchants, as you need a merchant ID to continue with the call. So, we tried the chat window, and sat for ten minutes while watching "All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly" roll down the screen.
Our Take: We can see why some customer complaints center on lack of service. If I, as a prospective merchant customer, can only contact Worldpay by email initially, I would be leery of their lack of ability to communicate.
We scoured the web to find past and current customer complaints about Worldpay's services. Then, we investigated those complaints that seemed legit, and provide our verdict on how well the processor handled the issues.
Considering its size, Worldpay has a moderate number of complaints. On the BBB site alone, they have 262 complaints closed within the past three years (maintaining an A+ rating). But, we found numerous other complaints online outside the BBB. Most of those complaints centered on billing and collection issues and product service. Worlpay has a complaint section online for merchants and for customers, but there's no way to tell how many complaints are lodged directly with the company.
Most of the complaints here centered on the early termination fee and the hoops that merchants jumped through to cancel their contracts.
Worldpay isn't up front about their contract terms, but they are hidden in the contract fine print. As we mention above, that contract is fairly sticky, so beware.
We saw our fair share of this complaint, mainly in the U.K.
Worldpay, like any other merchant account service, watches accounts for suspicious activities, such as large ticket item returns, chargebacks, and sporadic rather than consistent sales. Most of the complaints we saw here had to do with large-ticket returns.
The hidden fees complaint was riddled throughout all the complaints we found.
Again, the devil is in the fine print. Merchants need to be wary of a company that doesn't list its fees or rates online. This lack of knowledge on the front end can account for surprises down the road - usually with the first statement.
| Overall | |
|---|---|
| Price | |
| Customer Service | |
| Customer Reviews |
| Setup Fee | $0.00 |
|---|---|
| Monthly Fee | $0.00 |
| PCI Compliance Fee | $10.75 |
| Online Reporting Fee | $0.00 |
| Batch Fee | $0.00 |
| Gateway Fee | $8.00 |
| Chargeback Fee | $25.00 |
| Termination Fee | $295.00 |
| Contract Length | 3 Year Contract |
DISCLOSURE: Advertising, Affiliate and Conflicts of Interest: Merchant Negotiators accepts advertising via the Google Adsense platform, directly from advertisers, and has common parent ownership interests with other payments related companies leading to conflicts of interest. Read our Affiliate / Conflicts / Advertising Disclosure for a more detailed disclosure.
About the Reviews: These reviews, and for that matter any reviews, are inherently subjective, and should be regarded as our opinion, not as a statement of fact. Selecting a merchant services provider is an important decision, and we urge you to use no single source of information as the basis of that decision.
About the Pricing: This pricing is an estimate based on limited available information. In some cases, the Processors' pricing information was provided directly by the company, in others, we obtained it from public information, through calls to the company, or through past or current clients of the company. Where, despite these efforts, we were unable to obtain any information about certain fees, we used estimates based on similar providers in the industry. While we're working, in some cases, with the company directly to get more accurate pricing, even in those circumstances, we can't guarantee the pricing's accuracy. Complicating all of this, is that for some companies individual salespeople are given authority to modify terms on a deal by deal basis. In any case, if you know of an error, please let us know and we'll fix it.
About the Calculations: With respect to your estimated savings, this is based on a lot of factors and some hard math. The reason we do it, along with the "Actual Gross Rate" calculation is that every Processor prices their product differently (e.g. interchange v. 3 tier v. 4 tier v. flat v. membership, etc.) and some make it intentionally complicated or opaque. Trying to convert their pricing structure to a consistent "Overall Cost of Processing" is the only way you, the merchant, can do an apples to apples pricing comparison and know whether an offer is actually a good deal. Our system isn't perfect but we're trying.
Conclusion: In sum, these rankings, ratings, and scores are inherently subjective, and should be regarded as our opinion and not as a legal statement of fact. Moreover, use these prices and estimates at your own risk, and make sure to verify the pricing you see here in any formal contract you receive. Finally, if you do find something wrong in our pricing, terms, etc., tell us and we'll try to fix it.
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