Payment Depot
Payment Processor
2.6 / 5.0(1,265 reviews)
C+
Expert grade
2.8/5
Fact-checked March 30, 2026
The takeC+
Reading Progress0%
5 min read
Chapter 1
Should you choose Payment Depot?
The headline take, the audiences it's right (and wrong) for, and the genuine differentiators behind the verdict.
TL;DR
Payment Depot offers credit card processing using an interchange-plus pricing model, selling itself as a "wholesale" processor. Customers pay interchange plus an additional percentage fee on each transaction, with no monthly subscription costs, making it a good option for small businesses willing to explore cost-saving options outside of flat-rate processors The company supports in-person, online, mobile, and keyed payments. It also offers eCheck and ACH processing services, online shopping cart integration, and developer tools for web designers. Hardware partners include Clover, Dejavoo, Ingenico, PAX, and SwipeSimple terminals.
The key strength is the pricing model itself. Payment Depot uses an interchange plus pricing model, charging a variable rate starting at 0.2% to 1.95% on top of the interchange fee, depending on the business and transaction type, and doesn't charge a separate setup fee or any of the many additional account fees common in the industry. For high-volume merchants, this can translate to significant savings. Payment Depot also provides a free payment gateway for processing credit cards online, mostly using Authorize.net, and can integrate an existing Authorize.net account or set one up.
The primary weakness is what has happened to the company since 2021. Multiple recent reviews report that after the acquisition by Stax, fees increased, customer support became hard to reach, and mysterious charges began appearing on statements. The most troubling pattern is that many recent complaints come from long-time customers who noticed a decline in quality and transparency, with common issues including unexpected fees and difficulty canceling service. The company also has a more limited feature set than competitors such as no native invoicing, no free mobile app, and basic reporting compared to Stax or other modern processors.
About
Payment Depot, now operating as "Payment Depot by Stax," is a California-based merchant services provider founded in 2013 that pioneered the subscription/interchange-plus pricing model for small businesses, but has experienced significant customer service and transparency issues since its 2021 acquisition by Stax.
Pros, cons, and audience
Best for
- High-volume businesses that want to save on credit card processing
- Businesses that want to avoid annual contracts and cancellation fees
Skip it if you
- Low-volume businesses
- Business owners who want an integrated POS and credit card processing solution
- Not suitable for high-risk industries
- Businesses needing robust invoicing or recurring billing tools natively
- Merchants requiring highly responsive, dedicated customer support
Pros
- No monthly subscription costs
- no long-term contracts and no cancellation fees
- No setup fee
- Integrates with popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento
- Compatible with Clover POS ecosystem
Cons
- Charges a $10 PCI compliance fee each month
- Quality and availability of customer support has declined significantly since Stax acquisition
- Feature set is more basic than Stax's
- Difficulty canceling service despite month-to-month agreement
How we score it
3
Pricing Transparency
2
Feature Set
3
Ease of Use
2
Customer Support
4
Contract Terms
3
Industry Reputation
How we got there
Its customers save an average of 40% on credit card processing expenses according to the company's own claims. However, the post-acquisition experience has significantly tarnished the brand. Many recent complaints are from long-time customers who noticed a decline in quality and transparency, some correlating it directly to the Stax takeover. The company still offers a competitive interchange-plus pricing model with no long-term contracts or cancellation fees, but its limited feature set, rising complaints about hidden fee additions, and difficulty canceling accounts prevent a higher grade.
Chapter 2
What it costs
Real-world cost at three volumes, plus the rates, fees, payouts, and contract terms that drive them.
What Payment Depot actually costs
Estimated annual cost at three realistic processing volumes, using Payment Depot’s published online rate plus monthly fees. Real costs vary with average transaction size, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.
Small business
$10K/mo volume · ~$75 avg transaction
$240/year
≈ $20/mo · 0.20% effective rate
Growing merchant
$50K/mo volume · ~$100 avg transaction
$1.2K/year
≈ $100/mo · 0.20% effective rate
High volume
$250K/mo volume · ~$150 avg transaction
$6.0K/year
≈ $500/mo · 0.20% effective rate
Processing Rates
Online Transactions
Card-not-present, e-commerce, and online payments
0.2% – 1.95% above interchange
Per transaction
In-Person Transactions
Card-present retail and point-of-sale transactions
0.2% – 1.95% above interchange
Per transaction
Keyed Transactions
Manually entered card-not-present transactions
0.2% – 1.95% above interchange
Per transaction
International Transactions
Cross-border and foreign currency transactions
Not publicly disclosed
Per transaction
Fees
Monthly Fee
None
Recurring monthly account fee
Setup Fee
No setup fees
One-time account setup and onboarding fee
PCI Compliance Fee
$10/month PCI compliance fee. $19.99/month PCI non-compliance penalty
Annual PCI DSS compliance and security fee
Statement Fee
Not publicly disclosed
Monthly account statement and reporting fee
Chargeback Fee
$15 per chargeback
Per-incident chargeback dispute fee
Early Termination Fee
None
Fee for canceling before contract end
Payouts
Standard Payout Time
Next-day funding
Regular deposit schedule to your bank account
Expedited Payout Time
Not prominently advertised
Faster deposit option (may have additional fees)
Minimum Payout Amount
Not publicly specified
Minimum balance required before payout
Contract Terms
Our take
Payment Depot lets merchants cancel whenever they want without paying early termination fees. Payment Depot operates on a month-to-month basis. If you return any equipment after cancellation, there will be a 20% restocking fee. If you choose to keep the equipment, you'll be charged for the value of the terminal. Despite the month-to-month terms, complaints allege that Payment Depot continues to bill merchants after cancellation requests.
Contract Length
Required commitment period
None
Payment Depot Pricing Calculator
Estimate your monthly costs
Pick a published plan, enter your volume and transaction profile, and we’ll compute the math the same way an underwriter would. Real costs vary with card mix, chargeback rate, and any negotiated terms.
$
$
Estimated Monthly Cost
$20.00
Effective Rate
0.20%
Discount rate (0.2% × $10,000)$20.00
Number of transactions200
Flat all-in rate (interchange built in)
Chapter 3
What you actually get
Products, integrations, payment-type coverage, security posture, and how their support holds up in practice.
Special Features
Subscription Management
Manage recurring subscriptions and billing cycles
Supported
Invoicing
Create and send professional invoices
Supported
Marketplace Tools
Multi-vendor marketplace functionality
Not Available
Virtual Terminal
Accept payments manually via web interface
Supported
Recurring Billing
Automated recurring payment processing
Supported
Accepted Payment Types
Credit & Debit Cards
Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Discover
Digital Wallets
Apple Pay
Google Pay
Bank Transfers
ACH/eCheck
Alternative Payment Methods
Virtual terminal for phone/keyed payments
Integrations
E-commerce Platforms
Compatible shopping cart and online store platforms
ShopifyWooCommerceBigCommerceMagento3DCartOpenCart
6 integrations available
Accounting Software
Sync transactions with your accounting tools
QuickBooks integration available but may cost extra via third party
1 integration available
Security & Compliance
PCI Compliance
Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance level
PCI Level 1 certified (highest level)
Fraud Prevention
Fraud detection and prevention tools
Standard fraud tools through Fiserv/TSYS backend
Data Encryption
Encryption standards for data at rest and in transit
End-to-end encryption
Tokenization
Supported
Replace sensitive card data with secure tokens
Support & Contact
Support Types
phoneemailchat
Quality Assessment
Recent reviewers report it is impossible to reach live support for account or billing issues post-acquisition, with only sales representatives available — and service cancellation requests have gone unanswered for weeks or months.
Chapter 4
What others say
Synthesis of third-party platform reviews and industry ratings — agreements, disagreements, and which signals to weight.
Platform Ratings
Aggregated Trust Score
Based on 1,265 reviews across 3 rating platforms
2.6
out of 5
Overall Rating
Better Business Bureau
2 reviews
Reviewer Notes
BBB complaints describe missing deposits, funds being held without explanation, and accounts continuing to be billed after cancellation requests. One BBB reviewer feels the company has gone downhill since the Stax purchase, citing customer service declining from great to almost nonexistent.
Trustpilot
1,261 reviews
Reviewer Notes
Long-time customers report that after the Stax acquisition, fees increased significantly, customer support became hard to reach, and hidden charges appeared without notice. Positive reviews from earlier years praise low rates, excellent customer service, and transparent pricing.
G2
2 reviews
Reviewer Notes
Very limited data; reviews are outdated and don't reflect the post-acquisition service changes.
Chapter 5
Watch out for
Legal actions, regulatory matters, and signals from employee reviews that bear on how merchants get treated.
Employee Reviews & Sales Practices
Summary
Most Payment Depot staff effectively operate under the Stax umbrella, where Stax's overall Glassdoor rating is 2.9 out of 5 stars based on 158 anonymous reviews, with only 33% of employees recommending working there to a friend. Given Payment Depot's size and subsidiary status, no meaningful independent employee review data is available specifically for the Payment Depot brand.
Chapter 7
Better choices if…
Direct comparisons to alternatives, framed around when each option makes more sense than this one.
How we evaluated Payment Depot
We evaluate every payment processor independently — Payment Review does not accept paid placement. Our analysis combines hands-on product testing where possible, public pricing and policy documents, third-party reviews from BBB, Trustpilot, Google, and G2, and employee feedback from sites like Glassdoor and Indeed. We update reviews on a rolling cadence and flag the next review date so readers know how fresh the analysis is.
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