Clearly Payments Review

Pros

• No long-term contracts
• Transparent pricing
• Free payment gateway & virtual terminal
• Accepts some high-risk merchants
• Same- or next-day funding

Cons

• Hardware fees not disclosed
• Not suitable for low-volume businesses

What Is Clearly Payments?

Established in 2018, Clearly Payments is a Canadian merchant services provider that offers transparent pricing and flexible contract terms. In 2023, the company expanded into the United States, giving US-based merchants another option for full-service payment processing.

Clearly Payments offers cost-plus pricing in both Canada and the US, while its membership pricing is available only to Canadian businesses.

As a small and relatively young company, Clearly Payments hasn’t accumulated much in the way of user feedback yet. However, the few reviews we’ve found have all been quite positive.

Products & Services

Clearly Payments offers a full range of products and services to support both in-person and online transactions. Key features include the following:

Features Overview

Clearly Payments Fees & Rates

Clearly Payments offers Canadian merchants a choice of either interchange-plus (which they refer to as “cost-plus”) pricing or membership pricing, whereas US merchants can only access the interchange-plus plan. Customized pricing is also available for businesses processing over $250,000/month.

Clearly’s published cost-plus pricing starts at $150,000 in annual card sales, or about $12,500 per month.

Pricing Overview

Equipment prices are not disclosed, but Clearly says that terminals are available for rent.

Monthly Plans

Clearly Payments offers interchange-plus pricing to Canadian and US businesses. Its membership option is only available to Canadian businesses at the time of this review.

Clearly provides custom pricing for businesses processing more than $250,000 per month, but the company does not publicly disclose the rates or fee structure.

Extra Costs

Clearly promises you will not pay the following fees:

• Account setup fee
• Annual fee
• Early termination fee
• PCI compliance fee
• Payment gateway fee

Because EMV terminals in Canada are not designed to be resold or reprogrammed, Clearly offers most of its processing hardware through a terminal rental program. This is not the same thing as a credit card terminal lease, as your rental contract is month-to-month, and you can cancel at any time.

While Clearly offers extensive information about each of its hardware options, there are currently no pricing disclosures to buy a machine outright.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

Clearly Payments appears to use a combination of its website and social media presence to market its services. Clearly Payments uses an online contact and onboarding form rather than offering fully automated account approval.

We consider this to be a good practice, as full-service merchant accounts require extensive underwriting and documentation before they can be approved. It’s better to establish contact with a provider’s sales team to work out the details before submitting a formal account application.

While Clearly claims that you can set up an account without needing to negotiate its terms, this isn’t entirely true. The company doesn’t disclose pricing for its various equipment choices on its website, and you’ll definitely want to know what those costs are going to be before signing up for an account. Also, enterprise-level users will need to negotiate their terms and pricing if they choose the custom pricing option.

We haven’t found any negative feedback from customers regarding Clearly’s sales practices, which is a good indication that merchants are generally happy with the process.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

Clearly Payments advertises month-to-month service with no cancellation fees. Just note that even with month-to-month contracts, you might be required to provide up to 30 days’ notice before your account can be shut down.

Terminal rental contracts, while not requiring a long-term commitment, usually provide a fairly short window in which to return the equipment to your provider before a penalty (often the full retail value of the machine) is assessed. Clover users should also be aware that Clover products cannot be reprogrammed to work with any other processor outside of the Fiserv network.

Overall, Clearly Payments’ contract policy is a very good deal for merchants, giving you the flexibility to close your account for any reason without having to worry about having to pay a heavy penalty for doing so.

Customer Service & Technical Support

Clearly offers support by phone, email, and an online support form. Publicly listed support hours and live-chat availability are not disclosed.

Most importantly, user reviews praise the high quality of Clearly’s customer service. Moreover, the lack of complaints is a good indication that existing users are satisfied with the level of support they’re receiving.

Clearly does not appear to offer a traditional searchable support knowledge base, although its website includes a large collection of payment guides, FAQs, and research articles.

Clearly Payments User Reviews

Clearly Payments reviews are great overall, though being a newer company, there aren’t that many reviews in total. The limited number of reviews makes it difficult to identify consistent complaint patterns.

The company has a 4/5 rating on G2 based on a single review, a 2.8/5 rating on Trustpilot based on a handful of reviews, and holds an A+ rating with the BBB.

Negative Reviews & Complaints

Reviews are limited, but on third-party review sites and forums like Reddit, complaints surround:

• Application denials without explanations
• Interchange fees

Positive Reviews & Testimonials

Users most like:

• Competitive rates
• Excellent communication
• Transparent pricing

Final Verdict Of Clearly Payments

Clearly Payments stands out for its transparent pricing, month-to-month agreements, and broad hardware support. Its cost-plus and membership pricing models can work especially well for established businesses with steady processing volume.

However, Clearly Payments is not designed for very small or low-volume merchants. Its published pricing starts at higher processing thresholds, and it does not offer a simple flat-rate plan for businesses that prioritize low monthly costs and straightforward pricing.

Overall, Clearly Payments is best suited to mid-sized and larger businesses that want a full-service merchant account, flexible contract terms, and pricing that can become more cost-effective as transaction volume grows.