PaymentSense -Credit Card Acceptance

[Rickwood Portpatrick]

Hi
I have received a mailshot from PaymentSense today offering to provide acceptance facilities for Credit and Debit Cards

I had never heard of them before so I was wondering if any forum members have experience of this company. There seems to be some kind of link with Bank of Scotland

We have a guest house and currently Evalon is our provider. However they recently introduced a minimum montly processing charge of £20 ( even if there were no transactions) , this is on top of their £15 per month rental charge and , needless to say this do not go down too well at Rickwood! A bill for £35 is not too welcome in the Winter when there are no holiday-makers about!

Look forward to hearing from you

Fred :thumbup1:

 

[SandraLove]

I've just received one myself today so I've done a little checking and here's what I found.
According to their website they've been helping businesses for 10 years, however according to Companies House they only started Oct 22 2008 and have yet to file any accounts!
The good thing is, Companies House tell you what they were previously trading as - Finlaw 595 Ltd. Strange, as there is also a Finlaw 445, Finlaw 536, 450, 382, 248 ...... altogether I counted 30 of them, some of which have been dissolved, some have been recommended for striking off as they are overdue on filing their accounts.
Warning bells are ringing!!!
You could go to the Experian website for example and get a list of directors which will tell you if the directors are involved with any convictions or disqualifications but to be honest it's not worth paying for this as I'm pretty convinced it's yet another scam.
Ever since my dealings with Seek.Net, rule no.1 now is search the internet before dealing with anyone!

Hope this helps.
Sandra

 

[Rickwood Portpatrick]

Hi Sandra
Thanks for your research. In their own website, they purport to be Merchant Services Providers to Bank of Scotland but I can`t find any reference to them on the BofS website
I don`t think I will risk contacting them unless I can find out if they are genuine
regards
Fred Findlay, Rickwood Guest House, Portpatrick

 

[dotsno]

They say they are "a registered ISO and Merchant Service Provider for Bank of Scotland Merchant Services" and that "the company is fully accredited and is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading".

My advice... phone up Bank of Scotland and say you have been approached by a company called PaymentSense saying they are a Service Provider of Bank of Scotland Merchant Services and could Bank of Scotland please provide you with extra information on them.

Then phone your local Trading Standards office and say that you would like to know more about PaymentSense who say they are licensed by the OFT.

Those are I think the two best avenues - the fact there is hardly anything online about PaymentSense would get my back up immediately, especially considering they say they have been trading for 10 years.

 

[stugster]

Company Name: PAYMENTSENSE LIMITED
Company Number: 06730690
Address: 179 GREAT PORTLAND STREET
LONDON
W1W 5LS

Incorporation Date: 10/22/2008


No financial statements available

Assuming that is the people who sent the e-mail, it seems they've only just started trading, have only 2 directors on their board, and I'd be keeping well away.

 

[Rickwood Portpatrick]

Hi Stugster
Thanks for the info. I don`t think we will bother changing providers to PaymentSense based on what you and others have found out!

regards

Fred Findlay, Rickwood Guest House, Portpatrick

 

[SandraLove]

Hi Fred,
latest update as my paronia about scams may have got the better of me.
I've spoken to the Bank of Scotland and they do confirm that Paymentsense is a merchant service provider with them.
Even though the OFT cannot take phone calls today, their website does also confirm that they are registered with them.
It appears that Paymentsense was in fact a part of an American company called First Data who have only just become a Limited Company here in the UK to help out us small businesses.
I have just spoken to Paymentsense and all they required was 3 statements from my current merchant service provider. It seems that a person from the Bank of Scotland will then ring me up next week to quote me new fees and the savings that I could make if I joined them.
I'll let you know the outcome afterwards.

Sandra

 

[Rickwood Portpatrick]

Hi Sandra

Would you believe, your email came in as I was talking to PaymentSense!
They confirmed what you told me i e they are not part of BofS but that BofS provide the infrastructure ( if that is the right word) to enable them to operate

They offered me a reduction in %age for credit card acceptance - down from 1.61% to c 1.2% (subject to sign off by her boss!) and a monthly rental of £14.95 with no minimum fee- my problem was that we are presently being charged a minimum £20 on top of the monthly rental even if we had no transactions.

If they are a trustworthy organisation then I reckon I could save c £200 a year by switching but I am going to try (via the UK business forum if necessary) to find someone who has changed over and get feedback

Thanks again for your assistance and, please keep me informed

regards

Fred

 

[ribbonprinter]

We moved our business to RBS Streamline through the Federation of Small Business

We do 99% customer not present and it has reduced our fee to 1.2% credit cards 17p switch. Barclays were charging 3.75%

This group scheme is open to all small businesses. I have spoken with several B&B owners who find it worthwhile.

I also got a check quote from the FSB insurance brokers, it saved me a staggering 45% just by swapping my existing policy to their agency. Exactly the same policy, same policy number, with the same insurer. My 'broker' of 12 years was ripping me off.

 

[Rickwood Portpatrick]

Hi RibbonPrinter

Thanks for the info re SBF. We are already paying only 1.6% with Elavon, it was really more the minimum monthly fee I was objecting to . I will look into it nevertheless, however, knowing RBS (I worked for them for most of my life!) there will no doubt be a mega joining up fee!

With regard to insurance, thanks again for the tip. I think we are getting a good deal from Giles but it does no harm to double check. Is there a fee to join SBF?

regards

Fred Findlay, Rickwood HOuse, Portpatrick