Compared side by side on published facts and the same six criteria every review is graded on — generated from the live directory, not a sales page.
C
High Risk Pay
Agent Office / Reseller · 3.2/5 mean
High Risk Pay is a merchant account provider specializing in high-risk merchant services and payment processing solutions including credit card and ACH acceptance for businesses that struggle with traditional payment processors.
A well-run high-risk merchant services shop with unusually good service ratings and no junk fees — but since its 2024 acquisition it is a Kurv company, and Kurv now routes almost everything through its own platform, which is not the bank-agnostic brokerage the brand's reputation was built on.
Payment Cloud holds the higher standing — by grade, then mean category score. The row-by-row picture below is what should actually decide it for your business.
Both graded against the same six criteria. How we grade · Last fact-checked August 19, 2026 and August 22, 2026.
The six criteria
High Risk Pay and Payment Cloud scored out of 5 on each of the six review criteria.
Criterion
High Risk Pay
Payment Cloud
Pricing transparency
3.0
3.5✓wins this criterion
Feature set
3.0
4.0✓wins this criterion
Ease of use
3.0
Published facts
Straight from each provider's published documentation. Where a number isn't published, we say so rather than estimate.
Published rates, fees and terms for High Risk Pay and Payment Cloud.
Metric
High Risk Pay
Payment Cloud
Online rate
Starting around 2.19% + $0.25 for good-credit merchant accounts
Estimated: 2.5% – 3.5% + $0.20–$0.30 for low-risk e-commerce; 3.5% – 5.0% + $0.30 for high-risk e-commerce.
Monthly fee
Starting at $9.95
Typically $0 – $25/month
Payout
Next business day (advertised)
Not disclosed
Contract
Not disclosed
Not disclosed
In-person rate
Around 1.79% + $0.25
Estimated: 2.2% – 2.7% + $0.10 for low-risk retail; 2.7% – 3.5% + $0.10–$0.20 for high-risk card-present.
Keyed rate
Not disclosed
Estimated: 2.9% – 3.5% + $0.20 for keyed-in low risk; 4% – 5% + $0.30 for keyed high-risk.
How our reviewers frame this matchup
From the High Risk Pay review
PaymentCloud carries consistently strong service ratings, dedicated account managers, and no application, setup, or monthly-minimum fees, where High Risk Pay's review footprint is thin and its ancillary fees undisclosed. High Risk Pay still holds up for merchants drawn to its no-setup-fee onboarding and quick underwriting decisions.
Pick Payment Cloud if you want a high-risk provider with a strong service record and no junk fees
Who each one is for
High Risk Pay
Ideal for
High-risk industries such as adult, travel, subscription, bad credit, and other sectors that struggle with mainstream processors
Merchants needing fast approvals and flexible underwriting
✓Competitive transaction and monthly pricing tiers for high-risk merchants
✓No application or setup fees
✓High approval rate claims with quick underwriting
✓Positive individual customer service reports
✕Leadership and corporate details are not publicly documented, which is unusual for a company operating since 1997
✕Advertised teaser rates omit chargeback, PCI, statement, and early termination fees, none of which are disclosed
✕Contract length and cancellation terms are not published at all
✕Thin verified review footprint (one Trustpilot page) and mixed reports of overly persistent sales outreach
Payment Cloud
✓No application, setup, gateway setup, annual, PCI or monthly-minimum fees — rare in high risk, where those fees are the business model
Consistently strong service ratings: 4.4 on Trustpilot across 887 reviews and 4.1 from Merchant Maverick as of March 2026, with support quality the recurring theme
Still deciding?
The full reviews carry the pricing narratives, contract analysis and everything else behind these numbers — or let the matching funnel score the whole directory against your business.
✓Dedicated account managers and hands-on onboarding for document-heavy high-risk files
✓Broad integration support — Authorize.Net, NMI, Shopify, WooCommerce and the mainstream cart and gateway stack — rather than one proprietary gateway
✕No longer independent: acquired by Electronic Merchant Systems (now Kurv) in January 2024, with the announcement framing the deal around PaymentCloud "fully utilizing Kurv's infrastructure"
✕The people who built the brokerage moved into the parent: co-founder Neal Hoffman is Kurv's chief marketing officer, and founder Shawn Silver was Kurv's chief revenue officer before leaving during 2024 to run Payment Nerds, a Kurv-backed venture that processes through Kurv. Either way, the brokerage is not being run by the people whose reputation you are buying.
✕Kurv routes almost all PaymentCloud business through its own platform, so the multi-bank shopping that built the brand's reputation is effectively gone — ask which processor and sponsor bank your file is placed with, and what happens if that bank later exits your category
✕No publicly disclosed pricing — every rate is a custom quote, and the estimates circulating online are estimates