Paymentsense Review

Paymentsense that offer card machine rental, online payment gateways and payment processing services. The company was set up in 2008 to provide payment solutions focused on small and medium-sized businesses in the UK and Ireland and now have more than 70,000 customers and processes over £10 billion in sales every year.

Paymentsense is an independent sales organisation (ISO) which typically play the “middleman” in acquiring new customers for their acquirer partner firms, as well as handling the payment processing and technical support on behalf of banks.

Paymentsense Card machines

Paymentsense offers a range of countertop, portable and mobile credit card machines depending on your business needs and where you need to take payments. All of its card readers can accept contactless cards and devices, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay.

The company provides free setup and says it can have your card machine system up and running in three days. Merchants receive till roll refills automatically based on approximate transaction numbers.

What card machine models can you get from Paymentsense? Paymentsense’s card machine offering centres around models from Ingenico and Dojo — its card machine subsidiary launched in 2020.

Countertop

Paymentsense provides the Ingenico iCT250 as its countertop option. The machine connects to the POS system over the cloud in an integrated payment system. The Ingenico iCT250’s features include:

• Ethernet or Wi-Fi connection
• Easy to set up and use
• Secure transactions
• Fast receipt printing
• Free weekly reports
• Accepts all chip & PIN cards and contactless

Portable

The Ingenico iWL 250 allows merchants such as restaurants, cafes, bars and salons to take payments away from the till while remaining connected for fast cashing up. Features include:

• 100m range over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
• Compact and lightweight
• 10-hour battery life
• Secure transactions
• Fast receipt printing
• Free weekly reports
• Accepts all chip & PIN cards and contactless

Mobile

For merchants that need to take card payments in a variety of locations, such as taxi drivers, mobile food vendors, and contractors, the Ingenico Move 3500 operates with a SIM card connection. The machine features:

• Built-in GPRS SIM for 3G/4G connectivity
• Long battery life
• Robust yet lightweight
• Easy-to-use display and keys
• Secure transactions
• Fast receipt printing
• Free weekly reports
• Accepts all chip & PIN cards and contactless

Point of Sale integrations

Paymentsense card machines integrate with POS systems from a network of other providers, such as TillPoint, Vend, and ShopTill-e. These partnerships enable merchants to sync transaction data between their POS and card machines, reducing the need for manual entry at checkout and managing end-of-day reconciliations.

Integrated payments

Paymentsense has an integrated payment software product, Connect, which uses cloud-based application programming interfaces (APIs) to sync the card machines and POS without manual input.

Connect works with Paymentsense’s portable and mobile card machines, regardless of the software the EPOS uses. It has omnichannel options for card present, card not present, and eCommerce transactions. The terminals are set up with either Connect Pay at Table for hospitality settings or Connect Pay at Counter for retail and service locations.

Connect Pay at Table allows restaurants, cafes, bars and other hospitality businesses to take payments efficiently and improve the customer experience. The software enables the card machine to initiate transactions directly for tables provided by the POS. The machine can print the bill, split the bill by person or amount, and process cash and card payments.

Connect Pay at Counter option allows shops, salons and other retail businesses to reduce queues, and eliminate entry errors. The POS initiates transactions on the card machine.

Online payment tools

For merchants that also need to take payments online, Paymentsense provides ready-made plugins that integrate the merchant’s Paymentsense account with online checkouts and web developer tools for custom-built shopping carts.

Payment gateway

Paymentsense’s online payment gateway allows merchants to take card payments through their website, by phone, or over email.

There is a hosted gateway option that redirects customers to a Paymentsense page to pay, which can be branded, and then directs back to the merchant’s website for order confirmation. Alternatively, there is a self-hosted version that requires a higher level of PCI compliance and an SSL certificate.

Virtual terminal

Merchants can take payments over the phone with a virtual terminal that runs on a computer, laptop, tablet or mobile phone. The customer’s payment amount, card details, name and billing address are entered into the Merchant Management System, which takes the payment and creates a receipt to send to the customer. Virtual terminals provide an alternative way of accepting card-not-present payments for businesses that do not have a website or eCommerce store.

Paymentsense’s virtual terminal uses end-to-end encryption between the merchant’s browser and its web server and uses security checks such as an Address Verification System (AVS) to confirm the customer’s billing address and comply with PCI DSS standards.

The virtual terminal saves customer details securely so that they can be processed for recurring payments without re-entering them each time.

Pay by link

Email invoice links are another way to receive secure card payments without a website. A merchant can log in to the Paymentsense Merchant Management System from any device and a customer’s details and payment amount to send them a branded email with an invoice and a link where they can make the payment. The system tracks the payment and sends the customer a receipt when the transaction is completed.

Customers can pay using any major debit or credit card, and payment links can be sent internationally.

Paymentsense app

Paymentsense provides merchants with a mobile app to view and filter transactions, transfers and billing for an overview of their business performance. The app can:

• Review payments, including date and time, card details, location, charges and fees
• Create and download CSV or PDF reports
• Filter transactions to find specific payments or identify trends
• View invoices and account statements

This is useful for gaining insights into net sales, refunds and chargebacks, and spending trends.

Fees & contracts

How much does it cost to use Paymentsense? That will depend on your business type, card transaction volumes, the types of cards you want to accept and how many card terminals you will need.

Paymentsense provides tailored pricing based on your requirements, which means you will need to contact them for a quote to compare what you would pay with other service providers.

On a standard settlement contract, you would typically receive the funds from card payments in your account within three to five working days. Your business may be eligible to receive next-day transfers depending on account information such as your acquiring bank, business type and card turnover.

Pricing

The monthly price for Paymentsense card machines depends on how many you use, in addition to card processing fees charged for each transaction. The more payments you expect to process, the better the rate you will be likely to negotiate.

The cost for Paymentsense’s online products, such as its payment gateway, virtual terminal, and pay-by-link offerings, are based on the monthly subscription tiers published on its website.

Paymentsense does not charge setup fees, but there are other charges you should be aware of that will affect the overall service cost, including:

• PCI DSS Compliance
• Refunds
• Chargebacks
• Authorisation fees
• Currency conversion
• Early termination fees

According to its contract terms, Paymentsense charges a cancellation fee of £120 plus VAT to customers that do not have Connect Free, Enterprise or eCommerce agreements. And it charges £450 for unreturned and/or replacement card terminals.

Paymentsense says that if you switch to using its service from another provider, it could cover the cancellation fee for your existing contract up to £3,000.

However, you should make sure to read the small print, as there are often conditions attached to this that can make it difficult to prove eligibility for the payment or may mean having to pay back some of this money in the future (such as if certain card turnover levels are not met).

Contract length

Paymentsense does not have fixed-term contracts for its online and virtual terminal services, so you can opt-out at any time without having to pay early termination fees. For its other services such as card machines, Paymentsense previously only had contracts of between 18 months and five years, but it now offers rolling 30-day contracts to new customers, as such long-term contracts were too much of a commitment for many small businesses.

Paymentsense can offer competitive pricing for some businesses, and capped rates mean that most customers are generally happy for the duration of their contract. If you do go to the direct we’d recommend you try to negotiate the contract length down though, because of the steep early termination fees.

Customer service and technical support

Like most ISOs, Paymentsense uses independent sales agents to sell its services and onboard new merchants, which comes with some headaches for merchants. These reps are different from the customer service team that merchants deal with during their contract, which provides 24/7 support.

Most payment firms use independent agents to promote their services. As always, we recommend you deal with the firm directly, get everything in writing and make sure you fully understand the terms before you sign anything.

In terms of the quality of customer services and technical support, the overall response from existing customers is largely positive. That is unusual for a firm of this size and, while there are some complaints, Paymentsense’s support setup is a huge asset to the firm and its customers.

Security

As a merchant taking card payments you must comply with PCI DSS regulations for secure customer data handling or face hefty fines. For small businesses that may be overwhelmed by the requirements, Paymentsense offers a PCI compliance phone validation service.

Paymentsense’s advisors help you to choose the right PCI DSS assessment form to complete and talk you through the questions to make sure you answer them correctly. If the assessment identifies areas where your business needs to make changes, the advisors can inform you how to become compliant. This is an especially helpful service for new businesses.

Reviews & reputation

Is Paymentsense a good company? How does its offering stack up? Let’s look at some recent customer reviews.

Positive testimonials

Paymentsense gets positive reviews on UK Trustpilot, where it scores 4.4/5 from more than 6,600 customer reviews. Much of the praise comes down to its overall service and customer support and numerous reviews mention support staff by name, which is always a good sign.

“Over 2 days, I dealt with 4 members of staff at Paymentsense. Katie, Ben, Annaliese and Jaslin. Their consistent approach, great patience and sense of humour was appreciated. All of them had an excellent knowledge base and all of them were able to work through unseen problems and give clear and relevant advice. Their customer service was outstanding. Thank you” – Sara Riley, UK Trustpilot review.

“Switched from another provider and it was a great move. Rates are great, reliable service, excellent customer service and a top-notch terminal. The smoothest and quickest setup. Keith was very helpful from the first step on. Also, my Paymentsense terminal can be fully integrated into my new Epos, Keith and customer service (Adam) were great help with that as well. Thank you. I highly recommend this company” – Zetman, UK Trustpilot review.

Negative reviews

The first thing we should say about the negative reviews is you’ll find far fewer of them compared to many firms in the payment industry. This could be because Paymentsense positions itself as a firm that targets smaller businesses specifically or because they have been proactive in keeping these hidden.

It is possible for companies to manipulate their average score on Trustpilot by challenging negative reviews so they are removed. That’s not to say you won’t find negative reviews about them, typically surrounding hidden charges, longer-than-expected contracts and problems with terminals.

“I was a Paymentsense customer for 3 years. The salesperson that set up the account made many false statements and misinformed me about extra charges I incurred over subsequent years. I finally moved my business to another company but had difficulty extricating myself from lease agreements that had been set up initially, again by the independent salesperson who gave false information about the contracts. Beware of all the small print and contract lengths, extra charges and yearly rate rises! Independent salespeople will only tell you what you want to hear, buyer beware!” — Deborah Leach, UK Trustpilot review.

“Shockingly poor company. Terminal issues that they couldn’t fix or be bothered to fix (6 months ago). 30 days before contract expired I e-mailed them to tell them we would not be renewing, then telephoned them and confirmed. They said they would send bag to return the terminal. No bag and they are still trying to take money out of our bank” – Karen Owen, UK Trustpilot review.

Paymentsense also gets negative reviews in discussions on UK Business Forums, where users report unexpected charges and high termination fees.

“In my experience, they are incredibly difficult to deal with. I don’t know if they still do it, but they have 2 separate contracts for merchant charges and terminal rental. Makes it very difficult to get out of the contract without hefty termination charges. Their charging regime is opaque at best, and appears to increase without rhyme or reason. They may be no worse than any of the other providers, but there’s nothing about my dealings with them that would cause me to recommend them, the opposite in fact.” BristolBiz, UK Business Forums review.

What is not always clear from the reviews is how carefully the customer reviewed their legally binding contract before signing it. However, we do see a lot of complaints about firms in this industry that suggest customers have signed contracts without fully understanding the terms. So we can’t emphasise enough how important it is you know what you’re signing up for.

Final verdict

Paymentsense is an ISO firm that targets small business owners specifically, which sometimes get forgotten by the bigger names in payment services. The firm offers tailored packages for its card machines and online payment products, so the amount you pay will depend on your individual business needs. Its POS and online integrations are designed to streamline the transaction process and give you insights into your business performance that can help to boost sales growth.

Paymentsense has responded to complaints about the length of its contracts by introducing a rolling contract option, which will suit some merchants better.

Another selling point is the speed the company gets merchants up and running with its services — not to mention the customer support team, which gets good reviews even when customers have complaints about other aspects of the service.

Paymentsense fees and other contract terms can be opaque and are a recurring issue in negative customer reviews, so we recommend enquiring about additional fees and checking any contract closely before you sign it.

Contact Merchant Savvy for your payment processing needs

Paymentsense is a popular choice of ISO for SMEs in the UK, but Merchant Savvy can often secure lower fees. If you are considering using Paymentsense for your card machine and/or online payment services, please get quotes from us first. Fill in our online form to compare payment processors and get the best deal for your business.

How we evaluated Paymentsense

In this Paymentsense review, we break down the details of the company’s payment processing product offering. To evaluate the services, we looked at the firm’s card machine models, point-of-sale (POS) integration, and online payment offerings. We then considered its pricing structure and contract length to identify factors merchants should keep in mind when comparing its fees with competitors. We also looked at Paymentsense’s reputation among new and long-standing customers. Read on for our findings.