Payline Data Review
- Phone Number
- (888) 994-2804
- Date Established
- 2009
- Location
- Chicago, Illinois
Overview:
Payline Data is a merchant account provider headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. A relatively new company, they’ve been in business since 2009. Like many of our other favorite vendors, Payline Data strives to stay on the leading edge of market trends and technological developments. They have several features that genuinely set them apart from the many run-of-the-mill providers in the industry, including the following:
- Interchange-plus pricing for all merchants (except developers using their Payline I/O service, which has flat-rate pricing)
- Month-to-month billing with no long-term contracts and no early termination fee (ETF)
- Standardized (and fully disclosed) pricing plans based on your business type
- Free terminal equipment with some plans
- Excellent customer service and support
The company has recently redesigned its website and not only does it look very polished and professional, but it also makes it easier to find the information you seek quickly. You’ll also find an excellent knowledgebase full of information to help you understand payment processing and solve some of the more common problems that can come up on your own.
Payline Data has a well-deserved reputation for transparent and honest sales practices – something that’s all too rare in the credit card processing industry. The standardized pricing packages also eliminate most of the negotiating over rates and terms that you’ll have to deal with when signing up with a more traditional provider. With Payline Data, you can just pick a plan that’s right for your business, and you’ll know your rates, fees, and terms ahead of time.
Another thing that separates Payline Data from the overwhelming majority of merchant account providers in the industry is their deep commitment to giving back to their community through charitable contributions and volunteer work. Their Payline Giving program partners with reputable charities to support twelve highlighted causes each year (one cause for each month). Current issues the company is focusing on include environmental protection, veterans’ issues, and Alzheimer’s Disease research. Payline Data donates a portion of its profits to each of these causes, and also grants their employees three days of paid time off every year to perform volunteer work.
In addition to charitable giving, Payline Data also offers special discounted pricing on merchant accounts for registered 501(c)(3) charities. Nonprofit, charitable organizations can also collect recurring referral payments as part of the company’s “Commercial Co-Venture” program. Contact Payline Data directly for details on this program.
Payline’s Spark, Surge, Shop, and Connect packages offer an excellent combination of equipment, features, and competitive interchange-plus pricing. Their retail and eCommerce offerings are up-to-date, including support for EMV and NFC-based payments for retail businesses. The Spark pricing plan stands out, offering new or low-volume businesses a full merchant account with interchange-plus pricing and no monthly account fee.
Overall, Payline Data earns a glowing 5 out of 5 stars rating and our strongest recommendation. Five-star doesn’t mean perfect, but it does mean that the company offers the best combination of products, features, pricing and service to meet the needs of most merchants. The company’s top-notch products and competitive pricing provide some of the best overall value you’ll find from any provider. Check them out!
Products & Services:
As we’ve noted, Payline Data provides a wide variety of products and features to meet the needs of most merchants, including retail, eCommerce, and omnichannel businesses. Here’s what they have to offer:
- Merchant accounts: These are Payline Data’s core products, and despite the low, simplified pricing, they’re full-service merchant accounts complete with unique merchant ID numbers for each business. The company is not a direct processor but uses Vantiv as their primary backend processor.
- High-risk accounts: If your business falls into the high-risk category, Payline Data can help you get a merchant account. In fact, they’re one of our favorite high-risk merchant account providers. However, you should be aware that pricing and contract terms may differ significantly from the standard pricing plans advertised on their website. You will probably have to accept higher processing rates and stricter contract terms, but these should still be reasonable. Note that the company no longer prominently advertises the availability of high-risk accounts on their website.
- Non-profit accounts: As we mentioned above, registered 501(c)(3) charities and non-profit organizations are eligible for discounted processing rates. If you are a non-profit, you can also take advantage of the company’s “Commercial Co-Venture” program to gain recurring donations by referring business customers to Payline Data. There are no additional costs to you or your customers to sign up for this program.
- Payment gateway: Payline Data offers their proprietary Payline Gateway, which is included in their Payline Shop and Payline Connect pricing plans. The gateway includes features like recurring billing, electronic invoicing, and a customer information vault to store your customers’ payment method data. There are no separate gateway fees or per-transaction charges for this product.
- Virtual terminal: Included for free with all four standard pricing plans, Payline Data’s virtual terminal allows you to accept card-not-present payments from any internet-connected computer. The terminal software can process card-present transactions as well when coupled with a USB-connected card reader, in some cases eliminating the need for a credit card terminal.
- Credit card terminals: The Payline Shop plan comes with a free terminal – either the Verifone Vx520 or the Ingenico iCT220. Both are rugged, up-to-date machines that support EMV payments. If you need more than one terminal, Payline will sell them to you outright for $309.99 each. They’ll also reprogram your existing equipment if you’d like to use that option. Additionally, the Ingenico iCT250 is available for $349.99 if you’d prefer a more advanced model. Note that, unlike many “free” terminal offers from their competitors, Payline Data’s terminals really are more or less free. You’ll pay a higher monthly fee (about an extra $10 per month), and you’ll have to return the terminal if you close your account, but those are the only restrictions. It’s a far better deal than being trapped in a noncancelable terminal lease.
- POS systems: Unlike their credit card terminals, Payline Data doesn’t offer any POS hardware as part of their standardized pricing plans. However, they can integrate their processing system with your existing equipment. Contact your sales representative to ensure compatibility.
- Mobile payments: For customers wishing to use their smartphone or tablet as a mobile credit card terminal, the company offers their free Payline Mobile app with either the Payline Spark or Payline Surge plans. It’s available for both iOS and Android. If you sign up for the Payline Spark plan, you’ll receive a free Ingenico GX5 card reader. This is a basic, magstripe-only card reader that connects via the headphone jack. Additional readers are $49.99 each. Under the Payline Surge plan, you’ll be upgraded to a free Ingenico RP457C card reader. This reader can support magstripe, EMV, or NFC-based payments (such as Apple Pay), and connects either through the headphone jack or Bluetooth. We highly recommend this reader if you want to future-proof your mobile payments system. Additional readers are $149.99 each.
- Shopping cart integration: eCommerce merchants can use Payline Data’s free shopping cart/donation button/payment link, or integrate their website with any of their shopping cart partners. There are currently over 60 third-party shopping cart options available.
- eCheck (ACH) services: Like almost all merchant account providers, Payline Data also includes support for eCheck (ACH) payments. This is a good option to include with your account, giving your customers an additional payment method to choose from and saving you money in processing costs.
- Fraud protection: Payline Data offers several anti-fraud features designed to lower the risk of chargebacks with all of their pricing plans. The company partners with Ethoca and Verifi to provide specialized programs aimed at preventing chargebacks before they occur.
- Payline I/O: This is a developer toolkit aimed at developers who want to accept credit card payments from their B2B clients. According to the company, it’s “a full-stack payments API which offers secure payment integration, instant merchant onboarding, and flexible funding for integrating payments into software platforms that connect businesses with their customers.” Pricing is under a separate plan for this option.
Fees & Rates:
Payline Data offers five standardized pricing plans designed to appeal to most merchants. Payline Spark, Payline Surge, and Payline Shop are optimized for retail businesses, while Payline Connect is designed for eCommerce merchants. Payline I/O is a specialized plan for developers working in the B2B sphere. The company also offers customized Enterprise pricing to large businesses that want to save even more on their processing costs.
Except for Payline I/O, which uses a flat-rate pricing model, all four of the company’s primary pricing plans feature interchange-plus pricing. Rates vary with each plan, with low-volume and eCommerce merchants paying higher rates and high-volume retailers paying lower ones. Payline Data features a “price match guarantee,” so you might be able to get lower rates if you’re switching from a different provider.
The retail plans also include month-to-month billing and one free terminal or mobile card reader with lifetime equipment protection. Payline Connect substitutes a free payment gateway for the terminal. Let’s take a closer look at the details of each plan:
Payline Spark:
Designed for retail merchants who are just starting out, Payline Spark includes the following features:
- Payline Mobile app and Ingenico GX5 mobile card reader
- Free virtual terminal
- Interchange + 0.50% + $0.20 per transaction
- No monthly fee
- $25.00 monthly minimum
Payline Surge:
This plan combines in-store and mobile processing for retail businesses and represents the best value for most retailers. Features include:
- Payline Mobile app and Ingenico RP457C EMV-compliant mobile card reader
- Free virtual terminal
- Interchange + 0.30% + $0.20 per transaction
- $9.95 monthly fee
- $25.00 monthly minimum
Payline Shop:
Designed for larger retailers who want a traditional countertop system, this plan includes the following features:
- Free terminal (Verifone Vx520 or Ingenico iCT220)
- Free virtual terminal and payment gateway
- Interchange + 0.30% + $0.20 per transaction
- $19.95 monthly fee
- $25.00 monthly minimum
Payline Connect:
For eCommerce-only merchants who don’t need credit card terminals and process card-not-present transactions exclusively, Payline Connect includes the following:
- Free payment gateway with virtual terminal included
- Interchange + 0.65% + $0.20 per transaction
- No monthly fee
- $25.00 monthly minimum
Payline I/O:
Payline I/O is a special, API-only plan for developers who want to be able to accept credit card payments in their B2B application. Features include the following:
- Flat-rate pricing: 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction
- No monthly account fee
- No monthly minimum
In addition to these standard features, Payline Data also offers several optional add-ons. Payline mPOS, which integrates your POS system with Payline’s payment processing, is available for $59.99 per month under the Payline Shop plan. Users of Payline Connect can add a suite of fraud tools (which includes iSpy Fraud, Payer Authentication, and Verifi/Ethoca) for $19.95. Subscription billing (including Invoicing, QuickBooks Sync, and Account Updater tools) is also available under the Payline Connect plan for $29.95.
Payline Data’s all-in-one pricing means you won’t pay any annual fees, gateway fees, or PCI compliance fees under any of these standardized plans. The company does, however, charge for PCI non-compliance, so keep your account in compliance. We encourage you to read your contract documents very carefully before signing up, as there will inevitably be other, minor fees (such as the Visa FANF fee) that will be passed on to you at cost.
Overall, Payline Data’s pricing plans represent a great bargain for the majority of small to medium-sized businesses. While their interchange-plus rates aren’t the lowest we’ve seen, the low fees and free equipment mean that your overall costs will be significantly lower than with most other competing providers.
Contract Length & Early Termination Fee:
All of Payline Data’s standard contracts come with month-to-month billing and no early termination fee (ETF). In other words, you can close your account at any time – and for any reason – without having to pay a penalty and without having to worry about being charged for months after your account is closed. Naturally, you’ll have to return any free equipment that came with your account. This is the best arrangement you can hope for in the processing industry, where long-term contracts and expensive cancellation fees have long been the norm. One word of caution: If you’re a high-risk merchant, you probably won’t be on a standard contract, and you might or might not be offered such flexible terms. Be sure to read your contract very carefully so you’ll know your contract length and whether you have to worry about an ETF.
Sales & Advertising Transparency:
Payline Data has recently revamped their website, and it’s very professional looking. Information is laid out very well, and the site is easy to navigate. The information provided isn’t as extensive as it could be, but pricing and contract terms are fully disclosed, which is better than what you’ll get from most of the other merchant account providers out there.
While Payline’s website is an excellent advertising vehicle to get potential customers in the door, the bulk of the work of setting up accounts is done by a sales team composed of both in-house and independent sales representatives. While the use of independent agents frequently leads to problems in the merchant accounts industry, that’s not the case with Payline Data. You’ll get the same high level of support and integrity whether you’re working with one of the company’s employees or an independent agent. While the company deserves plenty of credit for providing adequate training and supervision to all of their agents, it also helps that many of the issues that frequently get independent agents in trouble – such as rates, contract length, and early termination fees – are already fully disclosed by the company before you ever talk to an agent. Note that high-risk merchants and large businesses seeking enterprise pricing will probably still have to negotiate the best rates and terms they can get, as these businesses won’t be on one of Payline’s standardized pricing plans.
Like most newer companies, Payline Data has a very robust presence on social media. They have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even Instagram. Here, you’ll find plenty of frequently-updated content, including blog posts and educational materials. They also have a YouTube channel, which includes numerous videos about the company and a handful of educational videos as well. Their interchange-plus pricing video is a very good overview if you’re still kind of hazy as to how that pricing model works.
Customer Service & Technical Support:
Payline Data provides customer service and support through email and a phone line that’s available from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM (CST), Monday through Friday. While we like to see 24/7 telephone support to cover the inevitable after-hours emergencies, the truth is that most companies providing around-the-clock support rely on outsourced help to cover their non-business hours, meaning you won’t get the same level of expertise and helpfulness at 3:00 AM as you would during the day. With Payline, the quality of their telephone support is top-notch, and it’s one of the areas where its customers have frequently praised the company.
You’ll also find a handy FAQ on the company’s website. While it’s not as extensive as a full-blown knowledge base, it’s educational and will answer the most common questions new merchants will have. For developers, there’s also a very extensive API Reference available online that will be invaluable in integrating Payline’s payment platform with your customers’ websites.
Negative Reviews & Complaints:
Payline Data has been accredited by the BBB since 2014, and currently, has an A+ rating. The company has had eight complaints in the last three years, with five of those complaints being filed within the last twelve months. This is a low complaint volume for a company of Payline’s size, and a good indication that they’re keeping most of their customers happy. The company also responded to every complaint and attempted to resolve this issue to the customer’s satisfaction wherever possible.
You’ll also find five complaints against Payline Data on Ripoff Report. While there’s no clear pattern of specific issues to beware of, it appears that almost all of the complaints were filed by high-risk merchants. The high-risk category presents its own unique set of challenges for both merchants and providers. If you’re in this category, the best advice we can give you is to be completely honest about the nature of your business when negotiating to get approved for an account and read your contract thoroughly (this applies to non-high-risk merchants as well) before you commit to opening an account. Many of the complaints noted above could have been prevented if the complaining merchants had read their contracts ahead of time.
Also, be aware that issues such as a funding hold or the imposition of a rolling reserve are the responsibility of the backend processor (usually Vantiv in this case), not Payline Data. These problems are most likely to come up with high-risk businesses, but for the vast majority of non-high-risk merchants, the lower processing rates and more flexible contract terms available through Payline Data make them a much better choice than signing up directly with a massive direct processor.
Positive Reviews & Testimonials:
Payline Data doesn’t blow its own horn very much, and you won’t find any testimonials from customers on their website, although a few of their more prominent clients – such as Ace Hardware – are mentioned. On the company’s YouTube channel, you’ll find a few unusual “testimonials.” They’re unusual because they’re offered by Payline employees speaking on behalf of some of the businesses they represent. While it’s nice to see that the company is paying attention to their customers in this way, it doesn’t have quite the impact that an unscripted testimonial from an actual client conveys.
Positive feedback from business customers on the internet is always rare, even for the best of companies. Nonetheless, you’ll find a few enthusiastic reviews of Payline Data scattered about on the web, including in our Comments section below. Areas that generated the most praise include fair rates, high-quality customer support, and a positive sales experience with Payline’s sales team. The latter is a pretty rare compliment in the merchant accounts industry.
Final Verdict on Payline Data:
Interchange-plus pricing? Check. Month-to-month billing? Check. No early termination fee? Check. These features alone make Payline Data stand out from the vast majority of merchant account providers in the industry. Throw in free equipment, no gateway fees, and a low (sometimes $0.00) monthly account fee, and they move to the top tier of providers. A reputable sales team and solid customer support are even more reasons to do business with Payline Data.
Overall, we’re impressed enough to award Payline Data a coveted 5 out of 5 stars rating. That’s as good as it gets, but it doesn’t mean that the company is perfect or that they’ll be a great fit for everyone. There’s no such thing as a perfect processor – ever. Also, a pricing model that works great for one business might be too expensive for another. You’ll have to run the numbers and see how much a merchant account with Payline will cost you, as well as how that estimate compares with other providers.
Payline Data may not quite be the cheapest credit card processor out there, but we think that the overall value they provide puts them among the best of the best. Small businesses that are just starting out and are processing less than $5,000 per month often go with Square to save money. However, the Payline Spark pricing plan gives you a full-service merchant account with interchange-plus pricing for about the same cost. In fact, you’ll probably save money over Square’s fixed processing rates, especially if your business takes a lot of debit cards. You’ll enjoy more reliable account stability and be able to upgrade to Payline Surge or Payline Shop as your business grows and your needs change.
We also can’t help but be impressed with the way that Payline Data has made charitable giving a cornerstone of their business. They’re one of only a very small number of providers that pay any attention to charitable causes and are an excellent choice for a nonprofit looking to incorporate credit card acceptance into their operation.
One word of caution: If you’re a high-risk merchant, you need to understand that although Payline Data specializes in supporting high-risk businesses, those accounts are handled and set up very differently from their advertised pricing plans. While we consider Payline to be one of the best high-risk providers in the industry, you will probably have to pay higher rates and fees than businesses that aren’t high-risk.
Do you have any insights about Payline Data? Reviews, testimonials, complaints, questions, and any other pertinent remarks are always welcome!
Frank Kehl
Latest posts by Frank Kehl (see all)
- The Cheapest Credit Card Processing Companies - February 24, 2017
- What the iPhone 7 Means for Mobile Credit Card Processing - November 22, 2016
- The Worst Credit Card Terminal Leasing Companies - November 18, 2016
- The Best High-Risk Merchant Account Providers - November 11, 2016
- The Best Retail Credit Card Processing Companies - November 4, 2016
55 Comments
There’s a not advertised batch fee that you nor any other review site I’ve seen is mentioning.
There is also a $25 charge for not processing anything in a month. As a photographer with a part time sporadic business, this is not ideal.
Hi Chris,
That’s the monthly minimum fee. We mention it in our review and provide a link that explains how it works. We agree that it’s not ideal for businesses processing sporadically. If your business is seasonal, Payline should be able to help you schedule certain months as your off season so you can avoid the fee. If you do not believe that this fee was disclosed to you before signing up, I’d encourage you to file a complaint with Payline and see if you can get a refund on it. I would guess they’d be amenable.
We consider the batch fee to be low-priority because it is a low-value fee, and therefore do not include it in our review. Our reviews are not a substitute for a complete, accurate, up-to-date, individualized fee and rate quote – which you should have been provided with prior to signing up. If you were not, we would again strongly encourage you to file a complaint about that with Payline. It may have been an error or an oversight. It is our experience that this information is provided by Payline when its sales process is carried out properly.
Thank you for your comments. Let us know how it goes.
Would give them less than 1 star if possible. Similar experience with many reviewers above. Great helping to open account, but things turned bad quickly. Few weeks into using card reader, we got flagged with a repeat customer. Payline and their sister company Vantiv decided to hold the flagged charges and all other charges. We refunded larger charges on machine and had customers to write checks instead. Was not worth the trouble tracking down all smaller customer charges. Payline actually cancelled my account and told me they would hold all funds for 6 months. 1 year later, we are doing reconciliations and found they did not even fund the small charges they held. Experience with Vantiv was mostly filled with rudeness and incompetence. They actually accused me of criminal activity when they seem to be the criminals here. Not sure how they can get away with this but looks like a good case for an attorney general or class action suit. I'm sure they are holding a lot of customer money. Would recommend an accountable service, I switched to the one associated with my bank to avoid this nightmare. It was only a little more but worth it to avoid the abuse I received from Payline/Vantiv.
Thank you for your feedback. I wanted to take the time to respond to some of the concerns you addressed about your experience with Payline.
While I am glad to hear there were some successes in opening the account, it’s unfortunate to hear that this experience did not continue after the approval. At Payline, we strive to create a great experience at every moment that a customer works with us and it sounds like we may have missed the expectation here. I apologize for that misstep and I can assure you that we act on the feedback our customers provide so that we can continue to improve as a service provider.
We also place a high priority on the security of our customers and, in turn, their customers. As a result of pursuing these high standards in an industry where there is fraud, we sometimes have to make difficult decisions about whether or not we continue a relationship with a merchant who has been working with us. While these decisions are difficult, we certainly plan to have this transition handled professionally and respectfully.
If you are still having issues with funds not being credited to your account, we would be grateful to have the opportunity to review your account and resolve these concerns. At your earliest convenience, please send an email to support@paylinedata.com so that we can investigate further.
David Suffolk
Client Experience Manager
Payline Data
I have been very pleased with payline until today.I discovered entirely accidentally that I have been charged a noncompliance fee for the entirety of my account history with Payline. this was never broached when i signed up. Additionally some sort of year end "wrap" fee was charged my account to aid me with record keeping. I was never informed of the compliance questionairese charges nor was asked to authorize this "wrap" fee.Before today I could unequivocally endorse this company as excellent, especially in the area of support.I hope to be able to return and upgrade my rating from 1 star to 5 based on this service experience, however, without this charge being adjusted I feel I have been hustled, nickeled and dimed, by these "hidden" extras, which has been a serious breach of my goodwill and trust.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Dear Geoff,
Thank you for your feedback. At Payline, it is very important to us that we have transparency with any fees that may be charged to your account.
We always want the opportunity to align with our customers about any billing questions that arise. I see that you have already been in contact with our Support Team and that we are in the process of resolving some of your concerns. I also see that a refund of some fees is in process and I will track this refund to make sure it is processed correctly.
We hope that your experience with our Support Team will help to make things right.
Thank you,
David Suffolk
Client Experience Manager
I initiated an account with Payline 3 weeks ago. So far it's been a total nightmare. After providing multiple documents and going through a pre-approval process for a charge that I'd attempted to put through that was initially rejected (they neglected to mention that they didn't approve me for the charge limit that I'd requested), I was finally able to process the transaction and I received a confirmation for the charge. Then 2 days later I received a call from a third party requesting all of the same documentation that I'd already provided for Payline for the "pre-approval" of the charge. It has been a week since I processed this charge yet I have been told that the funds are on hold pending verification. I called Payline to find out what I needed to do to have the funds released and after being transferred to 3 different people I ended up in a voicemail. I did not receive a call back and there is still no sign of the $12,000 charge that should have been deposited into my account. Truly a horrible experience, and for a small business, quite detrimental to have a $12k payment held captive.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hello Melinda,
Thank you for sharing your feedback! We understand that you are frustrated and we would love to take the opportunity to look into this further. Please contact us at support@paylinedata.com so we can review the charges and find a resolution. We look forward to assisting you in this matter.
Sincerely,
David
Client Experience Manager
Payline Support Team
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I run a B 2 B company and process small volume, large dollar transactions. I researched and chose Payline's Swipe Simple. I am no longer a customer. I processed a $10,000 charge for a customer on a US Bank credit card. Payline says it went through. It doesn't show up in my bank account. I get a call from a company called Vantiv. I've never heard of Vantiv. They tell me that they need all of my customer's US Bank credit card information in order to release the funds because they say that the funds are drawn on a foreign bank and it looks suspicious. I don't feel comfortable releasing my customer's US Bank credit card information to someone I don't know. My customer and I try to call Vantiv multiple times to get clarification. We get no answer. We decide to refund the transaction. On November 8th, I am charged $360.49 by Payline. I call to ask why. They say because it's a processing fee and can't do anything about it. I close my account. December 5th, I am charged a $10.00 monthly fee. I email support and ask for immediate reversal. I get generic "ticket opened" email. I get a follow up email that says "If you are entitled to a refund, please allow 5-10 business days." It's December 15th. I have not received a refund. I am extremely dissatisfied.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hello Michael D,
Thank you for sharing your feedback! We understand that you are frustrated and we would love to take the opportunity to look into this further and clear up any confusion. Please contact us at support@paylinedata.com so we can review the charges and find a resolution. We look forward to assisting you in this matter.
Sincerely,
David
Client Experience Manager
Payline Support Team
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Terrible to work with! Everything was peachy keen to get you to sign up with them. Their interest charge is an amazing rate BUT they neglect to tell you about all the other fees involved! I was assigned 2 accounts with a $10 minimum each month per account. The one account says $25 per month minimum on the statement.
We were at a festival and our processing would not complete any transactions! Called and they were closed and provided an emergency number. I phoned the emergency number and they had no record of my account! They really put us in a bad situation. I emailed there during their regular office hours and no one ever replied back. I have now been slapped with a non compliance fee for 2 accounts and now telling me since I just cancelled the accounts I cannot get a refund for this. NEVER was I told that I needed to complete a questionaire over the phone until now!
Can’t believe this company is still in business!!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Good afternoon,
Thank you for sharing your feedback. One of the ways that we are able to offer industry low pricing is based on the expected volume of our merchants. It definitely appears that due to your processing volume, that the package your on is not appropriate. Please contact us back so we can review your account and get you moved to an account that better fits your needs. We will be happy to review past charges and make those right for you.
Thanks again,
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Terrible. Just terrible. The hidden fees never stopped coming. I run a small start up that is low on cash flow, as are most. They were unable to tell me when I would be charged each month. It happened "between the 1st and the 10th of each month" which meant that I had to just let my capital sit in the account each month and wait for them to take it. They abused their access to my bank account. There are at least half a dozen charges that were never explained to me. Customer service was clueless too. I would get different answers each time I called. I would not recommend this service to anyone who doesn't have a very healthy balance. I also had a couple of large transactions ($100-150) that they just didn't deposit into my account. They just kept the money. So I was forced to call in each time and demand it be transferred. Zach Dillman was a very good sales rep though. I think this company could be a good solution for large businesses with a healthy balance and am accountant who will verify each deposit was received in a timely manner. I also enjoyed the quick deposit times. I'm displeased with my experience. It seems it could have gone differently under other circumstances though.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I come from a situation where I am transitioning from my 3rd credit card company because of poor customer service and no response to occasional emails. I chose Payline because of the lack of complaints on the web. I encourage anyone searching for company to search “complaints _____” where the blank is the company you think you want. My initial contact with Payline was a bit questionable because they do not provide a phone number to talk to a real person. Rather, you have to enter your email and cell phone info for a call back. That was for me strike one, but I was thrilled with the result. I was contacted within 2 hours from my main man Zach Dillman who solved all my issues and made the transition seamless. He explained the program flawlessly, and when I had strange questions I talked to a supervisor that resolved the issues. For anyone considering coming from another program. I have this to say. The pricing structure is absolutely clean. You know exactly what you will be paying with no hidden surprises. The communication is virtually immediate, which is very important for me. I have a $5 million business and I feel after 3 failed attempts with other companies that I am in the right place.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
It seems Payline is more concerned about looking good to charities than being an honest service to their customers. I guess it is easy to give to charity when you just take it from your customers. When Flint went out of business ( too bad they were the best ) I switched to Payline.I have been taking credit cards since 1988, so I know how crooked these companies are. I have never had an issue, chargeback or otherwise. I asked all the right questions including if I could do my own PCI maintenance. I have always done my own maintenance and have never had to pay for it through other merchant providers. The salesman said I could do my own, which I did immediately in Feb. However in May I received a bill for 99.00 dollars from Payline for PCI maintenance. I have called and emailed, called and emailed, etc. etc. no response. Now I have been dealing with these companies long enough to know it is just another fee that puts money in their pockets. Payline has good low transaction fees, but then they go and ruin it by charging a Maintenance fee, and this after telling me they wouldn't. I had a lot of hope for Payline, but this incident has shown me they aren't concerned about their service. When they refund me my $99 dollars I will give them their other 2 stars back. I need it worse than their nonprofit, do no work, live off other people's sweat, fat cat.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hello Jack,
Thank you so very much for taking the time to talk. And thank you again for your patience and understanding for this unintentional charge, which we have refunded.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or with anything you may need.
We value our merchants very much and strive to provide great support to all of them.
Kind Regards,
Buffy
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
According to the response from Buffy (I’m assuming she’s from Payline), they’ve refunded your $99. Just wondering, because I notice that you haven’t adjusted the rating, as you stated you would. Did you indeed get your refund? Just curious.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I just had a poor experience after a year of so much love. It is my fault for trusting the representative that told me there were no PCI compliance fees as long as I kept up with it. He told me verbally that I had the option to self maintain my compliance and that he was putting it in the contract. Pity I trusted him and did not read the fine print. My statement last month included a $99.00 "PCI Service" fee. I called customer service and was told that ALL merchants pay this fee and that it is a "convenience" to us. I call BS! It is a far cry to consider filling out a short questionnaire once a year to being so inconvenient that the service would be valued at $99.00. I feel duped and disappointed.
PayLine was exceptional in providing me with prompt results and tremendous customer service. I originally was referred to a different merchant account which became a nightmare, they made false promises, their customer service was horrendous, and they wasted a lot of my valuable time. PayLine was the exact opposite. With the help of my account manager, Tyler Heugly, I was able to obtain my merchant account in a timely manner and Tyler’s customer service skills were tremendous. I can’t thank Tyler and PayLine enough. Now my new business is thriving and has taken off entirely more than I could ever imagined. I definitely give them an: A+A+A+
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Our company needed an eCommerce solution that was a little out of the ordinary. Zach Dillman worked with us to understand our needs and get our account approved. I am really glad Zach took the time and worked with us. Payline has been there every step of the way, I would recommend to anyone who needs a great payment processor that is easy to work with.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Payline Data is a great company to work with. I have found their staff to be very knowledgeable, patient and eager to help! I would recommend Payline Data and Inside Sales Manager Zach Dillman to anyone looking to process credit cards online. 5 out of 5 stars! - Jessica / Co-Owner monksgunshop.com
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I took on your advice and called Payline Data on 2/17/2016 right before Flint was stopping for transition. I got to talk to a sales rep called Joel and signed up the application for the gateway service right away. My account was approved on 2/19/2016 but I didn’t run my first transaction until 3/1/2016.
I just logged in to my gateway today and already found two invoices posted. 1st invoice has a $49 setup fee and prorated monthly fee of $15 totaling $54.70. 2nd invoice has a $15 monthly fee.
I was at shock because none of these fees were disclosed to me when I talked to Joel the sales rep, nor did the application stated any fees of the above.
I told Joel that I was using Flint before and because they were transiting to another costly platform so I took on the advice on merchantmaverick.com and went on giving payline data a try. I told him that I enjoyed no monthly fee and would like to use invoicing feature. Joel told me both gateway and mobile options have invoicing function, but mobile option would require an additional card reader (at cost) for card swipe. So I chose gateway instead for convenience (Later when I logged in to the gateway account, I found out that the invoicing feature costs an additional $15 monthly fee, mobile payment costs an additional $10 monthly fee, which of course were not mentioned to me neither). We only discussed that the rate I would signup for was Simple, which should be no monthly fee. Other than these, none of other fees were disclosed to me. If I knew there would be a setup fee $49 and a $15 monthly fee for using the gateway, I would not choose Payline data because the cost is too much over what Flint offered before.
Business owners beware, their hidden fees are all over the places. They do not tell you on their website, their sale rep would not let you know and they had you signed on an application with fees being blank.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
We also had similar experience with Payline, although we luckily did not sign up for it. We were looking at it after the recommendation on Flint’s review after Flint suddenly closed their doors.
We had been on Flint for over a year since finding them through Merchant Maverick, and we were happy with it. No monthly fees, no set up fees, could process keyed transactions through mobile and desktop without additional fees, and a low flat processing rate for both debit and credit cards.
We were astonished when a representative from Payline contacted us while we were filling out the information on their site. The poor gentleman got stuck on the idea that we needed a terminal after my mother erroneously mentioned that she would like to “eventually” be able to take cards by swipe when a client was present. She has a small business of counseling, and doesn’t process more than $1000/mo in charges most of the time.
However, he was kind enough to mention the monthly fees and setup fees, and several other fees at the time that he was talking to us. We stated that since the website says no monthly fees for small businesses that don’t do much in processing volume, that seemed like it was not going to work for us and ended the call.
So, if you are a small business and need mobile, small volume processing, I can’t say that Payline is a good option. In fact, the guy on the phone said that for our purposes, he would recommend Square or Stripe. I replied that both of them had high fees, even at low volume.
Not happy at all with Payline. Wish Flint hadn’t gone out of business, and with such short notice. Turning out to be impossible to find another one like them.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Well, it sounds like Flint was too good to be true. Now we know why they went out of business.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I addressed my concerns (from last post) to Payline Data and Ryan contacted me for account adjustment. We came to agree that my account setup fee was refunded and my monthly fee for using Gateway would come down to $5/month.
Today I just found out that they charged a $25.00 minimum bill fee when I didn’t make a single transaction with them last month. So I think it is necessary to address this again:
“SMALL business owners beware, their hidden fees are all over the places. They do not tell you on their website, their sale rep would not let you know and they had you signed on an application with fees being blank.”
Maybe it was just my bad luck not meeting a good salesman to setup my account correctly at the beginning. Good luck to all others trying to work with PayLine Data.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Just had a bad experience with them. Vantiv flagged my account because I took a payment over $3000 even though my limit is supposed to be $5000. Of course they told me it was also because it was “drop-shipped”. I sent them everything I had showing I had done this several times in the last month (new business) but that wasn’t good enough for them. To risky unless I could show them transactions from 2015. I explained to her that it was impossible to do that since I just started my business. Her response, “Come up with a way to take payments on drop shipped items since you don’t have a history or close your account.”I was very careful to explain my business model to Zack when I opened my account.Anyone know a company that want’s to help a small business grow?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi JW,
That’s really frustrating. Sometimes this risk-management stuff can be unpredictable. Payline does its best to make sure your account is set up in a way that prevents these issues, but sometimes the risk department at the backend processor makes a call that is contrary to what Payline expects to happen. If Payline expected the processor to have an issue with this risk-wise, they would have just recommended that you set up a high-risk account instead – since that is a specialty of Payline’s.
My recommendation would be to talk to Payline about this to see if a high-risk account would solve this issue. The rates will be higher, but after you have an established processing history you will likely be able to switch back. This would likely be the most reliable option moving forward.
Basically all payment processors will view your business in more or less the same way risk-wise. But with that said, it never hurts to ask around. I’m just worried that history will repeat itself with another standard merchant account. You can talk to our other high-rated merchant account providers about your experience to see if they believe your account would be more stable with them.
Good luck.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Thanks for the reply Tom…
I actually found Payline through this website. I had issues with Square and never could reach a live human. I was able to refund my customers money but it cost me $127 in the end. So I went seaching for a better way and found this site. I’m still confused about all of this but it’s getting better.
I was very carful to explain all of my business to the Payline salesman and sent way more paperwork than they asked for to prove that I was legit. I also sent proof that my business model is the norm for what I do. I thought I was ready to take cards with no issues. After a couple of weeks processing payments I got flagged so now I’m trying other companies. I just got off the phone with Dharma and they are supposed to call me back. My Payline rep is out of the office until Monday but honestly the way their risk management person handled herself I’m not sure I would give them another chance.
Once again Thanks for the reply……
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Good luck trying to talk to a live person at customer support. I tried for over three hours yesterday, and called when they opened today. Listened to elevator music for a couple of minutes and then got kicked to voice mail. Still waiting on a return call. All this because our system didn't close the batch on Wednesday night and we have hundreds of dollars on hold because payline can't process the payments and apparently can't answer their phones. Plenty of processors out there who do want your business and are willing to talk to you.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Randy,
Thank you for your comments, and we are very sorry to hear that you were not able to reach out team. Please contact us anytime from 8am – 5pm CST at 800-617-9342 (Ext 2) and our support team will be happy to assist.
The Payline Data Team
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Payline,
Would you be comfortable providing merchant services to a tech support company based out of Reno, NV.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Prateek,
You’ll get a faster response if you contact Payline directly. You can find their contact link on their site, linked at the top of this review.
Good luck!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
My experience with Payline has been great. Zach Dillman did a great job with whatever we needed from him, and is always quick to respond to questions. This creates a great relationship between the vendor and customer. We appreciate that, and look forward to working with your company because of the job he’s done thus far.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Does Payline Data offer recurring billing to charge your customers monthly?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Doug,
Yes, please see this link and if you have any further questions please let me know
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I contacted Payline Data to set up my merchant account after doing a lot of research online and reading about their stellar reputation. As a small business owner and first-time merchant account holder I was nervous to make a choice, but when I spoke with Zach he was very helpful, not "salesy" at all - he was just very straightforward and took care of all of my questions and got my account set up in a few easy steps. I did a lot of research before I chose this company and I'm so glad that I did - I know I can trust Zach to help me if I have a problem and I now have one less area of my business that I have to worry about.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
My company has recently started with Payline………I have been very fortunate to work with Zach Dillman and Buffy Ensing. These two are beyond words in regards to helping me get everything set up and working. The Credit Company has had such an awesome experience with Payline because of these two, that we opened another acct. If you are thinking of changing companies I would definitely recommend Payline!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
I convinced my new business partners that we should try Payline Data after reading the great reviews. Very costly mistake. On the first week of transactions, third batch, our funding is placed on hold, $3000. We were approved for 36,000k per month, Virtual and Mobile terminals.We are contacted by a Vantiv Risk Manager asking for more information regarding our transactions. We submitted the information (2 recent invoices). They are unable to reach the customers so they ask for two more invoices, but only after we contact them. Apparently, they need to validate the purchases. Two more days pass and nothing. We send a message to the Sales Rep at Payline and contact Vantiv, nothing. Finally we get a call back stating that our account was flagged for Risk because of a few Yelp reviews, NO JOKE. They said they would require some additional information.Me and my new partners recently purchased a photography business/equipment because the last owner lost his wife to cancer and was not able to carry on with the business, in the last month he received a few bad reviews, his loss was not disclosed to the customers. I have worked for him for the past 4 years and he told me that I would be given the opportunity to be a small partner in the new business because of my experience with Event Photography and knowledge of the productive. Prior to the recent bad reviews, the previous company had more that 50 five star reviews. I was stoked about the opportunity. In mid October I met my new Partners, and we started preparing the new Corporation, Bank account was opened Nov 2, we applied to Payline Data on the 5th and were approved on Nov, 9. We purchased our new web domain on the Nov 3rd and hired a web development team on the 4th. We decided to keep the CRM (customer management system) with the old website, because it worked well, but in the interim we were given a few accounts to complete along with the website in order to maintain repeat business with more than a few thousand customers in the system, He also gave us the 800 number so that we can re-service existing customers. Our new website is scheduled for completion in early Dec. We decided to keep the site until the transition was completed, by then we could send our customers notice of the change and New Business name. The old company had serviced more than 3000 customers, there is no reason to dismiss the many great, happy customers for the the very few unhappy recent customers. The truth is the previous owner really had no strength or focus on the business. After a very stressful conversation with the Vantiv Rep today, he insults my new partner, who has a slight accent and asks him if he knows anything about the business, he has no idea why funds are being held and is new to the business. I finally interject and ask him what he requires to release the funds. He said he needs, Bank Statements, previous Processing Statements or Business Financials. Ok , 1. The account was open on the 3rd, we expressed this was a brand new Corp with new Partners in the under-writing and to the Payline Rep. 2. We can not just ask the previous owner for Processing Financial as we purchased the equipment and not the Business Name or previous Corp and Financials, he just gave us the website and 800 number for marketing as he had no use for it. 3. Again, this is a new business with no financial history and we explained this to the Sales rep with Payline and the Risk Rep with Vantiv, who interrogated us as if we were morons for buying the equipment and keeping the website and phone number. Again the previous business had serviced thousands of customers so there was no need to scrap the data in the CRM. This month alone we have received more than $8,000 in orders from repeat business for the holidays.Vantiv is offering very little flexibility as we are a New Corp attempting catch momentum of an existing model. Today the rep expressed that Vantiv needs us to have financials to cover potential exposure. After much convincing, one of my partners agreed to fund our Merchant Bank account with $25,000.00 to suffice the financials, currently Vantiv is holding $3000.00 and ceased our processing. Our options were to refund all our customers for all 3 batches (total $7000.00) or wait 6 months for the $3000.00 to be released. Shouldn't all of this nonsense been explained in under-writing process and application? We applied with a new Corp and all new officers, it's absurd that they are calculating risk off of 5 bad reviews out of a total of 65 five star Yelp reviews, not including the 20+ reviews on Wedding Wire.Tomorrow I am advised to submit the Business Statement with the account funded with $25,000.00 as of today, proof that the Corp was formed in mid Oct, and the account was opened on the 2nd and the new website domain was purchased on the 3rd. I was also given an invoice for the Purchase of the equipment which was finalized on Nov 10th.The Good - The sign up was easy and the rep told us we'd have no issues.The Bad - The product is dated and ugly, funding is 2 business days, the support via email is non existent. No responses from the sales rep or the support email. Just like Clint stated, the Payline Pep pressured us to complete the app get started.This a very honest situation, I will update this review shortly with the results. I hope this post is not discarded, I will be placing this on every review site possible and reporting Vantiv and Payline Data to Consumer Reports and the BBB. I do not recommend Payline Data to anyone. Horrible service!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Dear Mr. Paul,
We appreciate your feedback and have taken the time to review your case.
Per our registrations with Visa & Mastercard, as well as our sponsoring institution, we are required to take underwriting and risk policies seriously. When your account exceeded the regulated standards for Chargebacks, our investigators reached out to review your account. At this time, the primary signor for the business could not confirm the required requests for your business and led our investigators to freeze your account for potential fraud. We continued to monitor other sources and continued to find information that restricted us from allowing this account to continue processing.
After review it is our position that your account will remain closed and funds will be available to you after the current waiting period.
It is never our intention to put you or any merchant in a negative position, and we understand that you are not pleased with our decision to close your account, and encourage you to contact us at any time at 866-718-7896 to discuss these matters.
The Payline Data Risk Team
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Dear Mr. Paul,We appreciate your feedback and have taken the time to review your case.Per our registrations with Visa & Mastercard, as well as our sponsoring institution, we are required to take underwriting and risk policies seriously. When your account exceeded the regulated standards for Chargebacks, our investigators reached out to review your account. At this time, the primary signor for the business could not confirm the required requests for your business and led our investigators to freeze your account for potential fraud. We continued to monitor other sources and continued to find information that restricted us from allowing this account to continue processing.After review it is our position that your account will remain closed and funds will be available to you after the current waiting period.It is never our intention to put you or any merchant in a negative position, and we understand that you are not pleased with our decision to close your account, and encourage you to contact us at any time at 866-718-7896 to discuss these matters.The Payline Data Risk Team
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
the review on payline is fantastic however upon contacting them personally I found out that although your review states that they deal with businesses in both Canada and the US, I was informed that they in fact only deal with US based businesses with no solutions for Canadian Businesses. unfortunate because I was hoping this was the solution we were looking for.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Chris,
Thank you for writing in. Payline has worked with Canadian businesses in the past, but I see that they no longer advertise this service. We will get in touch with the company and update the review accordingly.
If you’re still looking for a Canadian account, check out Helcim.
Thanks again!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Tom I need help, we are a small HVAC business and are looking to switch merchants can you give us some help? We mostly key in our purchses through intuit with our quickbooks program. We need a merchant that works with QB and also has lower fees and rates then intuit.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Payline Data has saved us multiple times over the past 5 years. iTOK.net has grown from a 50 person shop to over 400 within the time we have worked with Payline. Revenues and and the complexities of system integrations have continued to grow. I’m extremely pleased to say Payline has been by our side the whole way. The staff at Payline from the front line to the CEO are extremely responsive and proactive. I can’t say enough good things about Payline.
iTOK.net is a large company in a difficult industry for merchant service companies to support. Payline is the only processor we have and continue to have confidence in.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
can i use payline to accept payments on ebay and will they hold my funds like paypal does?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hi Tom,
I have been around and around looking for a Merchant Account. I had a successful business for years, then 2008 started the loss of all of our assets due to a property we purchased. My S Corp went bk, so did my husband and I personally. It has taken until now to get me new business up and running and it is a zero to 120 experience. I spoke with Pay Line and they told me my business is High Risk, it is Coaching and it is Money. I am a Financial Planner (25 years) and now speak and sell a program for educating women about money, standard sales are $3995/person and I could have no sales for the month or over $10,000. Because I don’t have a website Pay Line seem concerned about me. I am moving from my home office into a real office again August 1st and have a signed lease. I really need to get a Merchant Account and was looking to get one that doesn’t hold my funds since I must deliver on my retreats. I was turned down by Costco today due to having my LLC opened since 2008 yet having no profit in the company. Do you think I should apply for Pay Line? I have clients waiting to pay me and no Merchant Account.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Hello,This message is in regards to the service I experienced with Payline. Our firm met Payline in Chicago to discuss the issues that we were having with our current provider, Intuit. We had been overcharged for a very long time but stuck with them due to the integration into Quickbooks. We made the decision to switch to Payline and our first month saved over $300! Not only that I found out that they have an integration with their gateway and we did not lose any functionality.I love how friendly and open the staff was. They told me what fees I would pay and that is what I saw. Great to find a local company with integrity.Johnny
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Thank goodness I stumbled onto this site! It’s sure making my research into a new processing company a lot easier. I have a whole comparison spreadsheet going for each company and in my search I didn’t see chargeback fees for this company. Any info?
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Glad to help,
I’m not 100% positive about Payline’s current chargeback fee, but it’s likely around $15. You won’t be charged this unless you have a chargeback (hopefully very rarely), so I don’t usually consider it a priority negotiating point. Give Payline a call and they’ll work up a complete quote for you, no obligation, no pressure!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
This company will not fund your account. They opened us a account and closed it within 3 days with no phone call email notification absolutely nothing. Goodluck getting in touch with them as well all they are going to do is give you a number to call and i promise you that you are going to get voicemail constantly. Left 2 voicemails May 4th i also emailed a Kimberley nobody every called me back they just left me wondering what happened to our account and today May 7th 2015 nobody has called me not even to tell us about our funds. We dont even know why are account was closed and never got our funds either. I am WARNING you do not use this company look elsewhere this is the worse experience i have ever had. I got FOOLED by online ratings! SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR MONIES!!
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
their website leaves something to be desired. I don't see any upfront, transparent information in regards to most of what this article describes. Maybe b/c I refuse to give my name, email and phone number in order to 'continue' to the next page. Honestly I dislike companies that require that kind of information from a person, just for the person to actually see any details. The last thing I want is someone from this company calling or emailing me, which is a pressure tactic.
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Thank you so much for this awesome review! I have been trying to find a good... no great company to work for and I think you have helped me to find them. I am going to contact them immediately about joining their sales force. I want to work with an honest company and one that gives back and it seems to me Payline is and does both respectively. Sincerely,Becky Shuta
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Becky,Thank you for your very thoughtful and generous comment. We strive for world-class service and are proud to hear that we have been able to positively impact your business. We look forward to growing our relationship with you in the future.The Payline Data Team
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.
Based on the outstanding info on this site (thanks merchantmaverick) I plan on setting up a merchant acct provider with Durango Merchant Services. I am considered a high risk industry (e-cigs, vaping, e-juices with nicotine, etc)
Do/can you work with them as my processor? Will this intergrate with my SHOPIFY e-store?
Please advise and thanks much,
Greg
This comment refers to an earlier version of this review and may be outdated.