Updated on August 9, 2021
Standing tall among some of the largest direct processors globally, WorldPay began as a merchant account service provider in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2001. With an international presence in more than 40 countries, WorldPay has paved the way to becoming the strongest direct processor in the world. While it initially focused on Europe and the UK only, it expanded and started providing its services across the US in 2001.
Founded in 1989 in the UK, WorldPay was initially called “Streamline.” Shortly after it started offering services in the United States, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) bought and rebranded it as RBS WorldPay. However, again in 2010, it was rebranded back to “WorldPay.”
At the moment, Charles Drucker is the CEO and president of the company, with headquarters located in Ohio. Only a few years ago, in 2017, WorldPay was acquired by Vantiv for almost $10 billion. Two years later, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. acquired the company for $35 billion.
What Are the Costs and Rates Involved?
WorldPay merchant services offer rates of up to 2.90% with an additional $0.30 for a swiped transaction. From keyed-in transactions, the service offers up to 3.30% plus $0.30. Some reports claim that merchants who sign up directly with WorldPay may experience higher rates than signing up through a reseller.
This may be because resellers give more contract and pricing flexibility compared to the original service provider. Therefore, interested merchants can find a range of options through resellers.
Pricing of Virtual Terminal and Payment Gateway
Even though WorldPay is primarily famous for providing payment processing services, it’s also dedicated to marketing its payment gateway and virtual terminal services. Unfortunately, the prices for these services are not mentioned on the platform.
All in all, additional fees and rates, such as transaction fees, technical support fees, gateway fees, and batch fees, are all applicable to e-commerce services. WorldPay has some of the most competitive prices in the market, but it isn’t always an affordable option for merchants. This is where the company’s overall rating goes down.
What Are the Contract Terms?
The company offers a standard three-year-long contract with automatic one-year renewal. Merchants are required to read the terms carefully before making the leap. They shouls also consider that written notice is not provided within the first 90 days of the service expiration.
There’s also a fee of up to $295 for early termination. The company charges a PCI Compliance fee of up to $25 every month. These rates are often considered above average compared to what others offer in the industry. As per some merchants, there’s also an annual fee of nearly $69.
WorldPay also leases equipment for point-of-sale purposes with terms ranging between 12 and 48 months with a charge based on your credit score. Merchants who are leasing equipment from the company can also purchase it once their lease term has ended.
How Does WorldPay Market Itself?
WorldPay is known to market itself using both internal and external resources. For the most part, there is sales staff inside responsible for direct marketing. However, there are also resellers and independent sales agents that can be utilized for indirect marketing. This is one of the highly used strategies for the industry and results in moderate complaints instead of a high influx of complaints. Overall, there’s no tricky advertising involved and no misleading information on the company’s part.
Pros and Cons
As per most service users, the experience is highly positive and never a hassle to work through. Due to its ease of use, users find the service worth getting their hands on. Moreover, the navigation is relatively easy, and even if you find yourself getting lost in the features, there’s a question mark option right on top that helps answer most of the queries. Here are some more pros and cons of WorldPay merchant services.
Pros
It provides daily reports that give useful information to balance the reports out. Moreover, the layout is extremely user-friendly, and there are over five drop-down options that make the navigation hassle-free. Besides main navigation boxes at the top, there are resources in the center and support information on the bottom. In a nutshell, the experience is far from cluttered and works well for everyone.
Cons
As per reviews from some users, the chat function has a few shortcomings that may impact the overall experience. It turns red at times, indicating the unavailability of the support option, and there are multiple instances of this happening during normal working hours. Even though the support is mostly satisfactory, there are times when it has been less than satisfactory for some users. There are also instances where a support representative does not have an ample amount of information to guide a customer. This results in less than ideal experiences for customers looking for an expert to answer their queries.
The Bottom Line
WorldPay merchant services take the lead in terms of their processing services. Moreover, it processes payments across the globe, marking its territory in more countries than any other service. However, there are also a significant amount of complaints about the customer service and termination fee. The company can significantly improve its rating by looking into complaints, revising the early termination fee and policies related to auto-renewal of contracts.
In conclusion, merchants can take advantage of the easy navigation and overall usage, but the pricing and contract terms may not benefit merchants who run small businesses. There is, however, the option of purchasing WorldPay services from resellers, but they do not come easy. You may have to do a good amount of research and weigh your options before settling for one.
