If you’ve already done some research on merchant account providers and similar payment services firms, Worldpay’s offering of services will probably look very familiar. Unfortunately, the company’s website doesn’t do a very good job of categorising its services and making it clear exactly what’s available.
In fact, behind a relatively modern design, the Worldpay website is a bit of a mess in terms of navigation and getting any kind of useful information proves difficult. We’re going to do our best to clear things up throughout this review, starting with a clear breakdown of the services Worldpay provides.
Merchant account services
One of the biggest advantages of working with Worldpay is that it’s a direct processor, which means it handles all of your transaction in-house – nothing is outsourced. Most payment services companies work with third-party merchant account providers to authorise and/or process payment, but this isn’t the case with Worldpay.
In theory, this should make your contract situation more simple (more on this later), as you’re only dealing with the one company.
It also simplifies the technical side of your business accepting payments, as the company you deal with actually handles everything for you – especially important if you run into any technical problems. Another benefit of this is that you only need to have a single merchant ID for all of your card transactions.
Normally, to accept card payments for different types of transactions (face-to-face, by mail, cheque or phone and online) you will need a different merchant ID for each. With a WorldPay online merchant account, you will only need one merchant ID for all types of transaction payments.
Card Machines
Worldpay offers three different types of card machines for face-to-face transactions: countertop, portable and mobile. Essentially, the main difference between them is how portable they are and this decision mostly comes down to where you need to accept card payments.
- Countertop card terminals: Designed for over-the-counter and till payments, these card readers are connected via phone/broadband, which means you can only use them at fixed locations. The upside is they generally take payments and print receipts faster than any other type of card reader.
- Portable payment machines: More suitable for restaurants, pubs and cafes that need to accept payments at the till and customers’ tables. Bluetooth connectivity should give you enough mobility to accept payments within 50m from your base unit but you sacrifice a bit of speed and also need to keep the battery charged.
- Mobile card machines: Allow you to take payments anywhere in the UK with a mobile network connection – ideal for businesses with no fixed premises or professionals visiting customers on-site or at home.
Worldpay has a decent selection of card machines, including popular models like the Verifone VX 520 and Ingenico 200 while it also offers its own mobile card reader (even smaller than mobile card machines) for accepting payments anywhere with your smartphone or the device itself.
Worldpay’s range of card machines should be more than enough to meet your needs but there are better mobile card readers if you’re only processing a low volume of transactions every month. If this sounds like you, take a look at our iZettle and Square reviews for two of the best mobile card readers on the market right now.
One final thing we should mention is we highly recommend buying card machines up-front – if at all possible – rather than leasing them out. Contracts on card machines can be a messy affair without all kinds of cancellation fees and hidden costs. Companies like Worldpay don’t lease card machines out for the fun of it; they do it to make money and things can easily end up being more expensive for you in the long run.
This doesn’t only apply to Worldpay either, by the way.
Online Payments
Worldpay offers extensive online payment services for businesses of all sizes and you’re well-covered regardless of whether you’re an online-only venture or need to add online payments to your existing business.
Here’s what you get:
- Payment gateway: Take online card and PayPay payments with Worldpay’s secure payment gateway.
- Email payments: Save time chasing unpaid invoices with Pay By Link emails.
- International payments: Accept payments from countries all over the world – ideal for online retailers targeting a global customer base.
- Alternative payments: PayPal isn’t the only popular alternative payment choice and Worldpay supports a wide range of options to help you maximise sales.
- Fraud and risk management: One of Worldpay’s biggest strengths is its fraud and risk management capabilities, helping you and your customers do business securely.
- Data and analytics: You can also get detailed reports on how your business is performing online to help you spot opportunities for improvement.
Worldpay’s online payment services should cover all bases for most business types and the company is particularly strong when it comes to supporting payment types (international payments, alternative payments, etc.) and the security side of things.
Virtual terminal
Sometimes you need to accept payments over the phone or by mail and this is where Worldpay’s virtual terminal proves its worth. Essentially, it turns your computer into a secure payment point, allowing you to enter the card details your customer provides and process their payment in a matter of moments.
Keep in mind that you can also do this using a regular card machine and Worldpay’s virtual terminal will cost you an extra £9.95 per month. The advantage of having the terminal is that you can keep your card machine free for in-store customers to use and accept payments in other locations (you just need internet access).
You have to decide whether this adds value to your business or not.
POS System
Worldpay now offers a point of sale system, which it’s calling Worldpay Hub. This gives you a simple tablet-based checkout system designed for small businesses that only need a single or few points of sale. This is generally suited to pubs, restaurants, cafes and other small businesses such as small retailers and hairdressers.
7 Comments
Been 3 years trying to close an account
I have been a customer since 2009, originally with a card save gateway. I didn’t experience any problems until 2017 when I was contacted by Worldpay sales. They told me they could put me on a lower rate product that would suit my needs and close the existing gateway account that I had been using. I was happy with the new service and it worked perfectly. However it wasn’t until much later that I realised that they were now charging me for 2 accounts. I contacted them and they confirmed it was a mistake and offered to refund the monies owed to me. I have been going back and forth on the phone and email for months and still have not received all the monies owed. Even more concerning is that the account is still not closed and I am still being charged! I can’t remember how many times I have asked them to close the account – what is the problem? I sent them another email yesterday asking to close the account and now they say I need to give 30 days notice and will be charged until Feb 18th 2021!!!!! What is going on? I gave them notice 3 years ago!!!
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We have been using Worldpay for several years now and generally are happy with their service. Technical Support is ok and have not experienced any issues so far. Their online documentation is something they need to update or make more user-friendly.
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Thieves
zero stars, they rob you. They invented new fees and premium charges just to take as much money as they want from your account
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Horrendous Company to deal with
Was sold with there lower rates. Don’t be fooled, was messed around from the start. Passed around various so called “customer services” departments to try and resolve problems with no resolution. I’m thankful I found out early enough to cancel before being messed around any longer. Takes ages to get any response, phone calls on hold forever and passed through loads of departments without any answer…
“DO NOT WASTE YOUR PRECIOUS TIME ” and more so your companies money with Worldpay.
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Beyond horrid
Credit card processing stopped working mid morning. Turned out Worldpay decided to make changes to our account without any notification or, as far as we can tell, reason for doing so. Ten hours later, they still cannot resolve the issue. No one there gives a damn and their tech support is worthless, if you can even get them on the phone after lengthy hold times. Costing our business thousands of dollars in lost sales and they go home without any resolution. Stay away from this company!
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Don’t bother
Cancelled our contracts with Worldpay and the last bills where double what they should have been. I was told that someone had setup a premium billing dashboard, yes that’s right they charge you for seeing your own bills! when I pointed out that the email address that was on the premium dashboard didn’t have the authority to make this change so it couldn’t have been correct, customer services told me all you need is the bank sort code and account number, I was gobsmacked, as a business I send cheques out to suppliers with this information on, I give it to customers to pay me by BACS and this is all that is needed to be able to access and make changes to a Worldpay account. This desperate company also charged me PCI non compliance on accounts that are closed.
There are much better and cheaper card processors out there that don’t charge a monthly fee, don’t charge you for seeing your bills, take care of PCI compliance and have a per transaction fee below what Worldpay charge you now they have raised their price per transaction. In short read other review and then don’t bother, keep clear of worldpay and find a provider who doesn’t charge you for viewing your bills and ripping you off with other fees!!
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Worst Company I have ever worked with!!!
Horrible Company! Unethical! They increase and add additional fees. But still give you no recourse to cancel the agreement. Customer service harass and bully you, because they are big and you are small. NEVER! EVER! consider singing up with this company. You will regret it!
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