PayKings Review

Pros

• No setup or application fees
• Multicurrency options
• eCheck processing offered
• PCI-compliant solution
• Good for high-risk merchants

Cons

• Untransparent tiered pricing
• Early termination fee

PayKings Overview

PayKings is a merchant services provider specializing in high-risk merchant accounts. That means PayKings will service companies in industries that many other payment services shy away from.

PayKings has been active within its niche since 2011, forming partnerships with many of the bigger platforms in the eCommerce space. High-risk merchant accounts tend to come with conservative terms and contracts, which means you want to select your provider carefully. Chances are, you’ll be locked into a multi-year contract.

While PayKings seems to check all the boxes you’d look for from a high-risk merchant services company, it also doesn’t yet stand out from the pack.

Read our full PayKings review for the complete breakdown.

PayKings High-Risk Merchant Account & Services

Let’s take a closer look at some of PayKings’ core features.

High-Risk Merchant Account

PayKings is a high-risk specialist, meaning it’s willing to take on merchants that other payment processors often turn away. High-risk businesses generally include any that deal in vice: adult entertainment and cannabis, for example. It also includes industries with a high risk of non-payment, such as debt collectors, payday lenders, and credit-related services.

Low-risk businesses can also get a merchant account with PayKings, although it won’t be the optimal choice in most cases.

For POS, PayKings supports TSYS USB smart terminals and the iPS Enterprise Encrypted mobile reader. These, and several PC-compatible devices, can be purchased directly through PayKings.

High-Risk Payment Gateway

PayKings is eCommerce ready. Customers can choose between Authorize.Net and NMI for their payment gateway services.

Payment gateways are necessary if you want to process eCommerce transactions, and they generally offer a number of security and customer management-related perks. Authorize.Net is a solid payment gateway, especially when packaged as a bundled deal with your merchant services.

Shopify Integration

PayKings touts its Shopify integration, particularly in the context of enabling merchants to sell CBD products through the popular eCommerce platform. Shopify uses Stripe for payment processing by default.

Like other third-party payment processors, Stripe generally doesn’t support cannabis-related businesses. Shopify does, however, allow customers to swap Stripe out for high-risk processors such as PayKings.

High-Risk ACH Processing

The automated clearing house (ACH) is the primary way money is transferred directly between banks in the US. Though old and slow, ACH and echeck payments tend to be considerably cheaper than credit card transactions. Additionally, they’re a common way to set up recurring payments if you offer subscriptions or memberships.

International Processing

PayKings can set you up with an offshore merchant account. In fact, this isn’t uncommon practice when it comes to high-risk merchant accounts. In many cases, foreign banks are more open to industries considered high risk in the US.

Additionally, payment gateways such as Authorize.Net — which is compatible with PayKings — offer currency conversion and the ability to accept payments from around the world.

Developer Support

In an unusual move for a high-risk payment processor, PayKings makes its documentation publicly available. It’s not as exhaustively laid out as you might find with Stripe or Braintree, but there’s enough here for programmers to get a sense of what it’s like to work with PayKings before signing up.

Code examples are provided in ASP, C#, ColdFusion, Java, Node, PHP, Python, and Ruby.

PayKings Fees & Rates

Like most high-risk and instant approval payment processors, PayKings does not divulge its pricing upfront. While we prefer to see pricing schemes disclosed, the fact is that high-risk processors tend to shop client profiles around to different merchant account providers until they find one willing to take the client. A PayKings representative told me the company works with approximately 28 different banks. That means rates and even the pricing scheme itself can vary greatly between customers.

PayKings does advertise rates “as low as 2.49%.” Usually, when you see that phrase, it implies tiered pricing. That means only certain transactions will qualify for the lower rate, while others will be charged at higher rates. We don’t like it as a pricing model, but it is common in the high-risk processing world. That said, it never hurts to request interchange-plus pricing.

PayKings appears to charge a monthly fee, but the amount is not disclosed publicly.

Now for the good news. PayKings does not charge any application or setup fees. PayKings offers chargeback protection, though it’s unclear whether this is a base service or an add-on.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

PayKings offers about as much information as you can expect from a high-risk payment processor. We tend to be more forgiving with high-risk processors because the nature of their business makes it harder to offer definitive rates.

PayKings’ website offers a decent breakdown of its features, as well as a lot of general information on credit card processing.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

High-risk merchant account providers usually require a long-term contract. Depending on the bank PayKings pairs you with for your merchant account, that contract could be two or three years.

Likewise, the early termination fee for breaking your contract may vary by each bank; PayKings does not set this number. Early termination fees usually run between $300 and $500.

PayKings Customer Service & Technical Support

PayKings seems to have a solid public reputation for customer service. During my interactions with customer service, the company representative was willing to answer my questions to the best of their ability with no aggressive sales tactics. Each customer will have their own representative assigned to them, a common practice amongst high-risk processors.

As mentioned earlier, developer documentation is posted online and, while slim, is easy to parse. Support is available by phone and email. PayKings maintains social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube.

PayKings High-Risk Merchant Account Reviews & Complaints

Negative PayKings Reviews & Complaints

PayKings is currently not rated nor accredited by the Better Business Bureau. There are no complaints currently filed either, although eight reviews rate PayKings 3.86 out of 5 stars in aggregate. There are also a handful of reviews on Trustpilot, where it scores 2.3 out of 5. With such a sparse footprint for PayKings reviews, it’s hard to say whether the problems are widespread or not.

Issues customers raised about PayKings include:

• Compliance Issues: PayKings’ bank partners sometimes seem to micromanage the presentation and layout of merchants’ eCommerce sites.
• Held Funds: One customer reported that they had to agree to a large percentage of their funds being held for the first six months of their contract.
• Application Issues: These seem to be related to the compliance issues above. Some customers reported difficulty getting approved, with PayKings’ partner banks rejecting the applicants’ paperwork.

Positive PayKings Reviews & Complaints

While there are complaints online, there also don’t appear to be any major company scandals. PayKings doesn’t seem to toot its horn with testimonials either. Still, there are a handful of positive user reviews floating around.

Here’s some of what PayKings customers liked about the service:

• Fast Approval: Customers reported a relatively quick turnaround time (two days) to open an account with PayKings.
• Good Customer Service: Several customers reported getting excellent customer service from PayKings. These reps helped walk businesses through the compliance issues mentioned above.
• Integrations: PayKings integrates with popular services such as WooCommerce and Magento.

Final Verdict

Much maligned high-risk businesses can have a tough time finding merchant services, so it’s always nice to see players such as PayKings stepping up to meet their needs. PayKings doesn’t reinvent the niche, but it offers its customers a complete suite of services. A deciding factor here could be how much of a hands-on approach you want your payment process to take in terms of keeping your merchant account active and compliant.

PayKings also appears to have particular expertise when it comes to selling CBD products on Shopify, so businesses using that platform for eCommerce may find this company especially well-suited to their needs.

We give PayKings 4 stars. If PayKings doesn’t sound right for you, be sure to check out some of our favorite high-risk processors.

Our Top Pick To Get Your Merchant Account Approved

PaymentCloud	Visit Site Read our Review

PaymentCloud has an excellent track record for both service quality and account approvals. Start your application.

Our Top Pick To Get Your Merchant Account Approved

PaymentCloud	Visit Site Read our Review

PaymentCloud has an excellent track record for both service quality and account approvals. Start your application.

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