Several shoppers have asked if I know anything about PayQuicker. They are a payment service, similar to PayPal, now being used by a few companies to pay their shoppers. The shoppers I heard from wanted to know if PayQuicker is legitimate and if getting an account with them is a good idea.
First of all, if you want to shop for ACE Mystery Shopping, you will have to sign up with PayQuicker. Their service is the only way ACE will pay shoppers. Two other companies I found (Amusement Advantage and Person to Person Quality) offer PayQuicker as one of their payment options, but don’t require it. There may be other mystery shopping companies using PayQuicker, but these are the only ones I found.
Big red flag: There is no information about the company history, ownership or officers on the website. In contrast, look at the PayPal site. I was able to track down some information about PayQuicker, but why not tell us all about the company right on the website?
By doing some research I learned a few things, but there is not a lot of information about PayQuicker out there. The domain name was registered on September 17, 2009, so they haven’t been around very long. (Information found elsewhere indicates the company began operations in 2008.)
PayQuicker is located in Rochester, NY. They are not a bank but they are a “portal” to University National Bank, located in Minnesota. That means that when you sign up through them you are actually opening an account with UNB.
Although it is hard to tell for sure from the limited information available, they are probably legitimate. Your money is apparently held by a bank and is FDIC insured. ACE says that when you sign up through them there are no fees to use the service. BUT…this is one more account you have to deal with, and it is with what appears to be an unproven entity. Although it is not likely you would lose the money paid to you via PayQuicker, signing up for an account and getting your money out is another hoop to jump through.
Many companies offer only one way to get paid. For example, they may pay only by check, direct deposit or PayPal. There are advantages and disadvantages to each of these methods. You can agree to their terms or not. If you don’t agree, you don’t work for them. The difference between their one way and ACE’s one way is that you can cash a check at any bank. Direct deposit is about the same, except that you don’t have to make a trip to the bank. More than 110 million people already have PayPal accounts, and many other companies already use them to pay shoppers, so it is likely that most shoppers already have PayPal accounts.
The fact that ACE pays only through PayQuicker makes it less likely I would shop for them, not more likely I would sign up for PayQuicker.
I have said it before: There are hundreds of mystery shopping companies out there. Why shop for companies that make you jump through hoops?
So, to answer the questions I received:
PayQuicker appears to be legitimate. If you want to shop for ACE, you should sign up for an account with PayQuicker. However, I would not do so for the occasional shop. It just doesn’t seem worth it.
What do you think? Why would you (or wouldn’t you) sign up with PayQuicker? Let me know what you think in the comments below.
Hi Cathy:
Thank you for this valuable information. I agree that unless many of my mystery shopping clients start using PayQuicker, I am of the mindset that I will not join their portal. Ace is not all that profitable for shoppers anyway.
Thanks for the comment, Linda. I like the people at ACE, but I just don’t have the time to deal with companies that put extra requirements on me. I think it can certainly be worthwhile for shoppers who work with them a lot, but for the rest of us…maybe not.
Hi Kathy,
I had done a small route for ACE, and while waiting for payment did a few more since I was well knowledgeable of them. While waiting for my payment I was informed that they were “now” paying via PayQuicker. My pay is now in PayQuicker, but the “hoops” I had to jump through for the small amount of money was not worth it. I no longer do ACE shops.
Hi, Cathy,
I used to like working with ACE and therefore signed up with PQ back in November.
I had lots of questions, about how it works, how to get to my money, etc. PQ responded immediately, by email and they called me. It was a bit cumbersome to get my Paypal account linked to PQ, but it worked in the end and my money was transferred from PQ to PP.
After all that, I decided it was too much of a hassle to look for $$ in yet another place, and I stopped working for ACE. However, last month I did another job (cause I forgot about the PQ), and we’ll see how the payment will go next.
I doubt, I’ll do many more, unless it’s really worth my while.
I signed up with PayQuicker b/c I had payments pending when ACE moved to them. Yesterday I got a letter from the bank that has a relationship with them that they are no longer supporting the debit cards and/or other options. I wonder what this means for the future of PayQuicker.
July5, 2012
I just registered for ACE a month ago. They did not mention anything about payquicker until I read your manuel. I reluctantly went ahead and signed up for payquicker just so I can get my pay.
Now I’m wondering if I’m even going to get paid.
Another thing I work for ctcss and they are doing the same shops. I e-mailed the operations manager and sent him the link to ACE. It was the same mystery shop job. I have stop excepting assignments from ACE and now excepting the same job through another company that I know will pay me.
I have shopped for ACE numerous times and have had no problems getting my money, or using PayQuicker. It’s not that hard to use and really not a big deal. I have noticed that my bank transfers with PayQuicker are actually faster than with PayPal. It’s a shame that shoppers are shying away from ACE because they have added some really great shops. I’ve always been paid on time and have never had any issues so I’m happy to keep shopping for them.
Melissa, I am glad to hear that. I know that ACE is a good company.
I’m w/you Kathy, it’s not worth the hassle! I’ve done a few assignments for ACE [so few, can’t even remember how many], and would rather not have additional accounts to upkeep. It’s especially true for a company that has no real footing, except for their alignment w/ACE. Can’t help wondering WHO they know at ACE, given all the drama in the finance & banking industries.
I would suggest that to anyone interested to know more about QP, they can contact the State Attorney Gen office, State Banking Dept, the State’s BBB and the State’s IRS office to do some checking of their own.
This route will also work if anyone runs into trouble or gets “slow pay” collecting their $$ from QP!!! If anyone has trouble, do let the rest of us know.
Thanks Kathy…good info!!! :))
Paypal was once small and ebay and paypal used each other to force the use of paypal. I find paypal to be unscrupulous in their dealings. Why trust a company just because it is big. Check with the Ebay selleres who paypal help payment 90 days as per their decision.
Susan, I have never had a problem with PayPal (and I have used them to send and receive payments for years) but I know that some people will not deal with them. That is their choice. There are some (many?) mystery shopping companies that require shoppers to accept PayPal payments, so those who will not deal with PayPal are limiting their opportunities.
By the time mystery shopping companies started using PayPal it was well-established and many people already had accounts. Requiring the use of yet another service, a new, unfamiliar service at that, just adds another layer of difficulty to getting paid. Some mystery shoppers will be okay with it, but others may decide not to bother with a company that requires them to jump through more hoops.
I too have used paypal for years, and would not bat an eye to use them as a trusted financial service. I’d rather use them to make purchases then a credit card if offered, and have never had a problem receiving funds. They are owned by ebay now, but as always have been located in Nebraska and run their business as personal as before. Unlike ebay, paypal has a direct phone number and personal service that can be reached. My one complaint is their phone prompts are difficult to manuver at times, but in the end a live person will be there to help you. I’ve used them in conjunction with my ebay account, and they have impeccable standards, and stand behind their clients. Service is wonderful, and they strive to help you with any problem you may have. They also have integrity assurances for clients and users. If there is any hint of misuse of their service you will be refunded your money.
I shop for ACE all the time and LOVE the company. I just started shopping for them this past summer when I moved to a place that has a lot of their shops. PayQuicker was easy and free to sign up with and it’s not too bad–VERY similar to PayPal. ACE pays quick in my opinion, and though at first I was put off by having to sign up with another payment company, the time that it took wasn’t too bad and again, they pay fast and I’ve never had any problem with payments.
J.T., I agree that ACE is a good company. If you are able to get a lot of assignments with them, then using their preferred payment system is worthwhile. For shoppers who rarely are able to work with them, it is just one more step to go through (e.g., claiming their cash from another payment system) every time they get paid.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
I signed up for PayQuicker through ACE and have not had any problems. In my opinion it’s no more difficult than signing up for PayPal. I look at it as hey, it’s a shop, I need to get paid. I received an email that the money was in the account and it took less time to get it transferred to my bank. PayPal is great but they keep your money for 2-3 days until it gets credited to my bank account.