Wave Payments Review

Pros

• Transparent flat-rate pricing
• Month-to-month contract with no monthly minimum
• Free plan with unlimited invoicing
• Good for low-volume freelancers & independent contractors

Cons

• Poor user reviews
• No phone support
• No way to take card-present payments

What Is Wave Payments?

Wave Payments is a payment service provider that integrates with Wave Accounting, an online invoicing and accounting platform for freelancers, self-employed workers, and small businesses in the US and Canada.

Wave’s integrated payment services allow your clients to pay you online right from the invoices you email them.

Wave Payments supports remote, card-not-present transactions, Apple Pay, and ACH payments (EFT in Canada).

Products & Services

Wave’s products and services are somewhat limited in scope—they don’t offer a credit card reader to take card-present payments, for example.

However, most freelancers and small companies that get paid remotely via invoice will find that it provides all the payments-related tools they need, especially when paired with Wave’s built-in accounting software.

Fees & Rates

Wave’s fees and rates are fully in line with industry averages, though you will need to purchase a paid plan and add-ons in order to unlock all features. The paid “Pro” plan also offers the advantage of lower payment processing fees for your first ten transactions each month.

Wave’s flat-rate processing fees depend on your plan; other standard fees, such as ACH transfer fees, do not vary based on plan. Note that the lower processing fees on the Pro plan only apply to the first ten transactions in a month.

Pricing Overview

Monthly Plans

Extra Costs

To learn more about Wave’s Payroll add-on, please check out our Wave Payroll review.

Wave Pricing vs. Square & PayPal

Square and PayPal offer competing invoicing and online payment processing services, also with “freemium” plans that charge no monthly fee for basic features. Payment processing fees for these three vendors are all pretty similar, but there are some differences.

Wave’s standard transaction fees on the free Starter plan are lower than those you’ll pay on the free Square Invoices plan—Square charges 3.3% + $0.30 per invoice paid online on its free plan. However, the PayPal Invoicing transaction fee is slightly lower than Wave’s, at 2.9% + 0.30.

Also, notably, Wave charges higher fees on Amex transactions, whereas Square and PayPal do not.

Freshbooks and Quickbooks are some other similar alternatives to Wave, but neither has a free plan.

Sales & Advertising Transparency

Wave has pretty excellent sales and advertising transparency. The Terms of Service on Wave’s website features a “translation” of the legalese into plain, friendly language, making it easy to decipher just what you can expect and what’s expected of you as a Wave merchant.

Contract Length & Early Termination Fee

All Wave contracts are month-to-month with no early termination fee. You can cancel your account at any time without penalty. Yay!

Customer Service & Technical Support

Wave offers multiple customer support options to its Wave Payments users, including live chat and email support during business hours, as well as a detailed Help Center and chatbot you can access to answer any questions that arise after hours.

Wave does not have live telephone support, although there is a number you can call if you have specific questions about the transactions on your monthly statement.

User Reviews

User reviews for Wave are rather mixed, and it can be difficult to separate complaints and praise of Wave Payments from those regarding Wave Accounting. On TrustPilot, Wave has a score of only 1.3/5 (138 reviews total), and on the BBB website, their score is 1.03/5 (31 reviews total).

But over on GetApp, Wave earns an impressive 4.4/5 stars (1.6K reviews total) and they have a 4.3/5 on G2 (294 reviews). It may be the case, however, that Wave encourages its customers to post positive reviews on GetApp and G2 to dilute the bad ones.

As follows are some common user complaints and praise you’ll find online for Wave Payments.

Final Verdict

So, should you use Wave Payments? When it comes to using Wave Payments, a better question is whether you should use Wave in general.

Credit Card Processor Review Methodology

We evaluate and test each payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on certain key characteristics in order to generate our granular ratings for merchant accounts and credit card processors.

For payment processing reviews, we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate the provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.

We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.

Read more about how we rate payment processors.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Wave Payments	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Wave Payments for yourself.

The Merchant Maverick Seal of Approval 🏆

Wave Payments	Visit Site

After hours of in-depth research and evaluation, we can confidently recommend this brand to our readers. Get started today and see Wave Payments for yourself.