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Cayan

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6.9

Overall Score

Author: Kaitlyn Short

LAST UPDATED: October 1st, 2025

Note: Cayan was acquired by TSYS in 2017. 

Cayan is a payment processor and credit card processor company that identified a way to streamline equipment purchases while providing reasonable rates to benefit small businesses. Founded in 1998, Cayan is credited with being the first to build its own mobile application to accept credit card transactions and certify what is known today as point-to-point encrypted card readers. Cayan is currently one of the most trusted payment processing and merchant account providers in the nation. Headquartered in Massachusetts, the company's forward-looking statements reveal plans to accelerate growth through its acquisition by TSYS. 

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The Good

  • Affordable Pricing and Good Customer Service
  • Innovative Technology
  • Genius Platform
  • No Cancellation Fees
  • Helpful Website

Affordable Pricing and Good Customer Service

When it comes to pricing and fees, Cayan credit card processing is fair and competitive. The best way to double check whether a company's pricing and fees structure is fair is to check its merchant services reviews. The merchant accounts company does charge anywhere from $0.00 to $7.95 monthly fees for its services, and other costs and fees are as follows: 

  • Online transaction fees: Starting percentage of 0.28% plus $0.25 per debit transaction and 1.98% plus $0.19 per credit transaction
  • POS transaction fees: Starting percentage of 0.28% plus $0.25 per debit transaction and 1.98% plus $0.19 per credit transaction
  • Mobile payment fees: Starting percentage of 0.28% plus $0.25 per debit transaction and 1.98% plus $0.19 per credit transaction

In addition to clearly stating its various fees, Cayan boasts a helpful and friendly customer service department whose phone lines are open 24/7. Those who would like to chat online with a customer service representative also have that option every day from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. 

Innovative Technology

Cayan credit card processing is well-known for its ability to adapt and innovate, meaning merchants who want to provide their customers with the ability to make credit card payments will be able to do exactly that; the company has led the industry in a number of transaction processing and payment gateway advancements and has created credit-card processing platforms to help cater its products to best suit a company's needs. Cayan provides three different transaction platforms for business owners to choose from. While each one varies in terms of exactly what is offered and the associated costs, the unparalleled level of support and security from Cayan remains the same. The platforms are broken down as follows: 

Genius: Fully integrated POS platform designed for a wide range of business types

  • Payment and transaction flexibility: Allows customers to pay with regular credit or debit cards, gift/loyalty cards, chip cards (EMV), or mobile applications (Apple Pay, Android Pay, etc.)
  • Customizable features: Allows customers to pay with regular credit or debit cards, loyalty/gift cards (American Express gift card, Vanilla Visa gift card, Roblox gift card, etc.), chip cards (EMV), or mobile applications (Apple Pay, Android Pay, etc.)
  • On-screen marketing: Includes a dashboard/interface that provides advertising and loyalty program abilities
  • Robust security and EMV: Takes advantage of tokenization and encryption to protect customers' financial information in an effort to reduce data breaches and fraud
  • Countertop enhancements: Cuts out multiple hardware components to offer an all-in-one solution (which could process credit card payments, mobile payments, etc.)
  • Business management: Includes services such as offline processing, remote updates, merchant warehouse and inventory tracking, and intelligent PIN steering technology to help businesses grow

Flex: Straightforward and easy-to-set-up platform that allows for online management

  • Merchant services: Eliminates long-term contracts and offers simple credit card processing methods
  • 24/7 support: Provides technical and customer support around the clock and encourages customer engagement 
  • Merchant portal: Offers access to a number of reports and self-service support tools
  • PCI compliance service package: Brings and keeps a business up to code in terms of PCI compliance

Enterprise: Open-source platform that provides customizable and scalable commerce solutions

  • Point of sale: Minimizes integration changes and allows for new payment methods and transaction options
  • Mobile: Provides seamless and highly secure payment processing through mobile apps
  • Online: Allows for complete app or website management through an API

Genius Platform

The Genius platform offered by Cayan is not just built for business owners. Developers also appreciate the strides Cayan has made to create a product that seamlessly integrates and processes transactions. With a number of integration options, Cayan offers POS developers access to both NFC and EMV payments. Additionally, developers can take advantage of intense security and support. 

No Cancellation Fees

One of the concerns with most merchants/clients is the tendency for companies to "tie you in" with large cancellation fees and long contracts. Potential Cayan customers don't have to worry about this; the company does not currently charge a cancellation fee or early termination fee for its payment technology and services.  

Helpful Website

Cayan's website rivals the largest merchant service companies in the industry simply because of its sheer depth of helpful content. The site has a blog, guides for new merchants, and even a glossary that includes information and definitions of more complex payment processing terms like interchange fees, integrated point-of-sale systems (IPOSs), and MerchantWare gateway.

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The Bad

  • Lack of Transparency on Website
  • Billing Issues/Problems with Merchant Service

Lack of Transparency on Website

Although Cayan does provide a number of helpful resources and articles about payment processing on its website, there is no information to be found about contracts. This is important information that potential customers typically like to know before they decide to do business with a company, so this lack of transparency can be frustrating. 

Billing Issues/Problems with Merchant Service

Cayan does receive a good amount of positive reviews, but many of the negative customer reviews floating around the web (on social media, on Best Company, and on other review sites) concern issues with billing. This concentration on billing problems likely means that customers either are being charged incorrectly or weren't informed about certain payment processor charges. Though a quick look at Cayan reveals a well-organized merchant accounts company, you may want to research into such complaints yourself. Other complaints concern various issues with equipment and day-to-day merchant service.  

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The Bottom Line

Cayan offers affordable pricing and is upfront about its transaction fees. The company also boasts payment solutions and innovative payment technology, including the Genius platform for both businesses and developers. However, the company is not transparent about contract information on its website. To find this contract payment information, consumers are encouraged to contact the company and thoroughly research the company's merchant services reviews. Cayan has the potential to have a competitive advantage within the merchant services industry. We highly recommend potential clients and merchants consider Cayan's quality of credit card payment processing services against other merchant account providers. 

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Star Rating

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4.4

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256 Reviews

Review Breakdown

5 grade

75%

4 grade

13%

3 grade

2%

2 grade

2%

1 grade

9%

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Michael Burley Newport, OR

I was very pleased with Vistaprint and I actually got Cayan through them. The customer support and equipment are both good, I don't have any complaints about that. The one thing that bothered me a lot were the fees. I had switched to Cayan because the other company was charging me $15 a month if I didn't use the card services. I checked Vistaprint out and I thought they were going to be better about it all. What I didn't realize is that they had annual and monthly fees. They started charging me for those things but never gave me a notice about that. I didn't notice until January 2nd. I got a big shock when they pulled out $119 out of my account. When they did that I didn't have enough money in my bank account. That particular account was where I kept most of my personal savings and business account so I didn't keep a lot of money there. When they took those fees they actually overdrafted me by $30. I got zero notice and it pissed me off. I called them and eventually I went down to my banker to asses the whole situation. She walked me through every charge they ever made and it just didn't made any sense to me. I was told that they would just take a percentage of the credit cards that I processed and that that percentage would be a bit over 5%. Apparently, they were charging me $95 a month. They had done over $1800 worth of charges on the credit cards and stuff. In the end we figured the actual percentage they were taking out was 14%! They just hid that from me. They should just be honest when they sign people up.

7 years ago

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Mediocre Houston, TX

It doesn''t always work and therefore it''s embarrassing and frustrating as the client is waiting patiently.

8 years ago

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Destination Direct, Inc. dba my valley chauffeur Sun City, AZ

Monthly expense running higher than the cost given prior to signing with Cayan.

8 years ago

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charles r vineyards, bonnie Livermore, CA

Cannot understand your representative. Very heavy accent.

8 years ago