If you're contacted to be an IBA for these guys, your are setting yourself up for using your own money and not theirs. They invest "nothing" in you. I challenge the bogus statement they make on how much it cost for them to generate leads for you. I've heard the script the telemarketers use to contact merchants and to me, it's misleading. How much does it cost to join a conference call or webinar, per person?
I was contacted by a "recruiter" from Momentum Payment Systems. His name was Mr. Clement(s) and he said he found my resume on Monster.com. I listened to "his pitch". Just like any other normal person, I know when I'm "being sold" but, decided to hear him out. "Man oh man" he was making this company (Momentum Payment Systems) sound like the best thing since sliced bread. I decided to hear him out and consider the job offer. They wanted me to start right away and asked if I could start taking appointments in the next couple of days.
I had to ask him to "slow down" as I needed time to consider the offer as I had never done any type of "payment processing sales". It all sounded "to good to be true". I was actually leery to say the least. I decided to do some research before I accepted their offer and this site ( Ripoff Report) was my first stop.
As I read about Momentum, AKA Encore, AKA Prodigy, it seemed as though the sales people had the most complaints. Everything from poor training, not being paid what was promised and being just "flat out" lied to. Even the merchants were saying how they were having problems with this entity. But I figured hey, maybe it's just some disgruntled employees or merchants that got burned by a dishonest salesperson. Maybe just maybe it doesn't have to be me so, I'll try em out. BIG MISTAKE!
Now that I've shared my own naivete' with you, "YOU" don't have to go down this rabbit hole. Here's my story about Momentum Payment Systems. Follow along and just stick it out for a couple more paragraphs and you'll learn in the next few minutes what took me almost two weeks to see for myself. I'll Provide some links so you can judge for yourself. Working for them as an IBA (Independent Business Analyst) this is what you can expect...
The training was poor. You'll use your own printer and paper supplies. My Training packet didn't arrive until almost a week after I started going B2B. The $4000 "Quick Start Bonus is BOGUS. The money you're told you can make is assuming you sell "leased equipment" that sells for 200-$1000 that can be bought online. All fees and taxes have to be included in your reprograms and leases. Maybe 5-15% of their IBAs have "ever" made that bonus. And I challenge them to prove it!
You are expected to absorb vast amounts of information and disseminate it to merchants by your "3rd day" cause they rush you to get out and start making appointments by then. They say your appointments are set for you from the office. That was a joke. I went out on "appointments" that were no shows, business owners who "were not" expecting me and the majority had no "merchant statement" available as I was led to believe.
The "team leads" have you contact them while you in front of merchants. Have you to partially fill out a form ("don't worry about what all this means, your doing on the job training") and tell you what to say and what to write down. I've even heard people on the other end of the phone telling them (the team lead) what to tell me. They "micro-manage" you to the 10th degree. The team leads are rude and condescending and are quick to remind you that "they too were out in the field ". But because of their success, they act like "you're supposed to know what to do after only 2 days of 6hr training and 1 1/2 hr EOD webinars and conference calls.
If the merchant doesn't want to do business, the team leads will not allow you to leave the merchant's property, short of being tossed out on your asked to leave. If the merchant has no fax machine you're expected to ask another business owner (whom you're not doing business with by the way) in the vicinity if you can use "their" fax machine to send out another business's statements.
In a nutshell I quit after I was asked to do something that in my experience was very inappropriate and unprofessional. Oh yeah, and they refused to pay me and started stalling. Red Flag! I Quit.... 13 days total was enough for me. It was not going to get any better. Don't fool yourself! I stopped.
Ok, Now what you've all really been waiting for. This is all public knowledge so go for it:
"Encore Payment Systems, aka Prodigy and Momentum Payment Systems. The year was 2004, the FTC had settled the first suit of it's kind against an ISO for $23.5 million dollars. As a result, Plano, TX based Certified Merchant Services was sold to First American Payment Systems". But then what? Guess what company started out about that time?
Worst Credit Card Processing Companies
Cover Story
Corporation Wiki- This is who they really are
