I set up an account with Worldpay on the 07/12/2022 for an online terminal which allowed me to take payments from customers over the phone and process credit and debit card payments. The last time I used the terminal for any transaction was beginning of January. And I used the terminal twice only.
At the beginning of February 2023 I decided that I did not need the online terminal as I wasn't using it and requested to cancel my account. I had an email back from Worldpay to explain that my account would be closed as of 5th March 2023 (I have this email as evidence).
On the 27/02/2023 I had a payment of £15.04 bounce in and out of my account from Worldpay and when I phoned them they explained that they had not set up the direct debit with the correct details so the direct debit payment they requested to take was bouncing. I therefore paid £30.08 to cover the last two months of membership (I have this receipt as evidence). The person on the phone confirmed by account was still planned to close in March.
On the 19/05/2023 I had a further invoice come through for £11.94 - which I thought was strange as I made all the payments and my account was supposed to be closed. I therefore queried with Worldpay whether this was the last payment for my membership and the final one to close my account. Worldpay replied on the 23/05/2023 saying:
"We would like to confirm account PXXXXXXXX is closed. Recent invoices relate to your e-commerce gateway for which billing remained active in error, this has been removed and a refund request raised with our e-commerce team for refund of the last two invoices" - I have this email as evidence.
On the 28/06/2023 I received a demand for payment by letter to my house. I emailed Worldpay team to complain again that my account was supposed to be closed and they were still sending me threatening demands for payments and threatening further action. The same day I spoke to Worldpay and they confirmed this was in error and then I had an email reply back from them to confirm that the account is closed and the £27 is a mistake on their part. I have this email as evidence.
On the 27/07/2023 - I had yet another demand for payment for £27 - with the same debt reference as above. Demanding payment. At this point I phoned the Worldpay team again and they apologised again and suggested I contact the Financial Ombudsman as they kept sending this to the payments team but no one was rectifying it on their system.
I have now complained to the financial ombudsman - should have read their one star reviews beforehand!
£30,000 of losses over 2 months - could have been £70,000 - Worldpay Ignore Organised Crime & Profit Directly From It
Further update as of 19/09/2022
FCA & FSA have been notified - How Worldpay are duping their merchants into believing their system is secure is in my opinion - criminal.
I am the proof - business owner of 27 years trading online.
I have now found out they have charged me £1000 in "premium charges". I had to Google this to find its for "high risk transactions". This proves they knew when they authorised every single payment that they were FRAUD. LITERALLY profiting from crime. I know this sounds unbelievable but its exactly what they do.
FCA provided me with a direct contact number for head of compliance at Worldpay. He took my call ONCE and then never again - Now he has my number he knows not to answer.
Less than 24 hours from me contacting them they had completed their "investigation". They didnt communicate with me - they were still totally oblivious and uninterested in the obvious criminal activity (They authorised over 20 payments over 2 months from United Arab Emerets being delivered to addresses within 5 miles of each other in North East London - AUTHORISED). WE HAD TO TELL THEM!
Their "investigation" was a copy and paste reply basically saying that regardless of any concerns of their systems and procedures its all in their terms and conditions.
I am currently in communication with the National Press who I hope will help highlight how Worldpays system is openly inviting fraud.
2 business owners who use the same style of dashboard and virtual payment system tell me that their system (stripe) will not allow the payment to go through without CVV code and postcode matches. You dont say! The fact that Worldpay are saying I can "upgrade" my system to do this? Despicable.
What they are actually saying is I can pay extra to "upgrade" my virtual payment screen to the standard of a 1990s PDQ machine. Think about it.
Do you operate Worldpay? Did you "upgrade"? They dont want you to because they LOSE YOUR PAYMENT COMMISSIONS! They want to take your payment commissions on the fraud - then claw it back from YOU and tell you it was YOUR fault!
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Currently I am awaiting the results of a massive fraud in excess of £30,000
The criminals KNEW (which I didnt) that the Worldpay online control panel accepts payments where the address and 3 digit code DO NOT MATCH (this is our online form we fill in when taking the order over the phone - which includes full address, 3 digit number etc - All details are included but the payment is accepted regardless of match or not - and there is literally NO warning prior to the money being taken.
Then - The control panel that I oversee all Worldpay business shows NO alerts of any issues on transactions each day.
Then when the card holder reports the card has been mis used NO ALERT on the Worldpay control panel to tell you this.
When Worldpay take the money from my account because of the fraud? NO ALERT on the control panel to tell you this either.
Worldpay have literally allowed organised criminals to make payments to my business illegaly - retrieve refunds from my business via worldpay - ALL without me as the owner of the business even knowing what was happening.
Their ONE defense? They sent me a LETTER to tell me the chargeback was occuring. A LETTER!
So the online control panel that gives me a complete overview of my business? Nope... A letter.
This is Worldpays Merchant Guarantee of protection from their site...
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Worldpay Merchant Guarantee
This topic is fully described in the Merchant Guarantee Guide, please refer to it for further details.
The Worldpay Merchant Guarantee can provide additional protection against fraud related chargebacks for online transactions for UK merchants.
Under this service Worldpay covers loss of funds arising from third party fraud on guaranteed transactions (for example, stolen credit cards). When chargebacks arise as a result of third party fraud Worldpay will issue a refund if the terms of the guarantee are met.
The Merchant Guarantee does not apply to transactions if you receive a 'Warning' alert but still accept the order. Also note that the Merchant Guarantee is available only to Worldpay merchants.
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I am a Worldpay Merchant - We received ZERO warning / alert.
If Worldpay ignore what I have reported they are complict in allowing organised crime.
Today I will hear the results of the investigation and whether I will be liable for the 30k in chargebacks as well as all of the lost goods.
I have been in business 27 years and have never experienced anything like this - its like my worst nightmare.
Date of experience: July 31,2022