High-Risk Merchants Beware: Reserves Are Hard to Resolve
We've been a PaymentCloud customer for several years and processed significant volume through them. This review is specifically about how they've handled our reserve release process. After resolving chargeback issues, we requested a full reserve release to match what our other processor (Maverick - who we do recommend) had already done. What followed was nearly a year of delays, missed follow-through on committed timelines, and being passed between departments without resolution. When we finally got a substantive response from the underlying processor's risk team, their own reasoning contradicted the hold: they cited a three-month chargeback exposure window, but we stopped processing three months ago because they wouldn't release the funds and we can't give up cash flow when another processor isn't holding. The funds are still being held. PaymentCloud's account team has been polite throughout, and I want to be fair: some of the decisions appear to come from the processor, not PaymentCloud directly. But their job is to advocate for their merchants, and on that front they fell short. Way short. We were never proactively updated, had to chase every step, and are now being directed to contact the processor ourselves after months of being told it was handled. If your business is in a high-risk category, understand that reserves can become a long-term cash flow problem and PaymentCloud has not shown an ability or appetite to go to bat for you when it matters. There are plenty of processors. Find one that cares about your business.