The Processor Scoreboard

Riverside Payments

A Vancouver, Washington sales organization selling Wells Fargo-sponsored merchant accounts and Clover and other POS systems, often with an equipment lease attached. Its BBB profile shows 252 complaints in three years, and almost all of them are about the same two things: the cancellation fee and the lease.

Written by Robert Day, Founder and Managing Partner of weAudit.com, previously an executive at Fifth Third Processing Solutions, later Vantiv and Worldpay, now part of Global Payments, the world’s largest card processor. Published October 2026.

35out of 100

Regulatory and Legal18 / 25

Fee Practices4 / 25

Complaints and Resolution5 / 20

Transparency4 / 15

Sales Channel4 / 15

What to know before you sign.

A $695 cancellation fee, which Riverside cites in its own complaint responses and merchants say sits in a program guide they never received.
A 48-month equipment lease marked non-cancelable, from a leasing company tied to Riverside. Merchants describe paying around $6,000 over the lease for equipment worth under $1,000, and owing the balance even after they leave.
252 Better Business Bureau complaints closed in three years, describing fees higher than quoted, rate increases and cancellations that were not honored.

Who you are signing with

Riverside Payments, Inc. is an independent sales organization headquartered in Vancouver, Washington, registered with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. as its sponsor bank. It sells merchant accounts together with point-of-sale systems including Clover, Dejavoo, TouchBistro and others, through telemarketing, partnerships and independent and in-house sales agents. See our Wells Fargo Merchant Services rating and Clover fees.

Fee practices: the lease is the real price

Riverside does not publish its pricing. What its complaint file and independent reviewers describe:

Term	As reported
Early termination fee	$695, cited in Riverside’s own complaint responses
Equipment lease	48 months, non-cancelable, reported at around $190 a month
Lessor	Cascade Equipment Leasing, with leases sometimes assigned to other lessors
Monthly minimum	About $25
Statement fee	About $5 a month
PCI compliance fee	About $99

Sources: Riverside’s own responses to Better Business Bureau complaints, and terms as reported by independent review sites including CardFellow, Merchant Alternatives and PaymentPop, credited by name. Riverside does not publish pricing; your agreement and lease show what applies to you.

One merchant described being told there was a single $56 monthly fee, then being billed over $200 across three fees. Another was told that to leave they would owe the rest of the contract, $6,767.25, plus the $695 termination fee. A 48-month non-cancelable lease turns a processing decision into a four-year debt, and it survives cancelling the merchant account.

The lease and who is behind it

Riverside’s leases are commonly originated by Cascade Equipment Leasing. PaymentPop, citing public records and assignment documents, reports overlapping leadership between Riverside Payments and Cascade, and leases later assigned to a third company. A merchant lawsuit, Menten v. Riverside Payments, Cascade Equipment Leasing and TimePayment, raised claims about processing representations and equipment financing; we found no finding in that case. Leases sold alongside merchant accounts are among the most expensive and hardest-to-escape costs we see in audits.

Complaints

Riverside is not BBB accredited and holds an A grade, with 252 complaints closed in the last three years. Its BBB customer reviews average about 3.5 out of 5, mixing praise for individual support staff with merchants describing misleading sales calls, unanswered emails and cancellations that were not processed. Riverside responds to complaints, often by pointing to the signed agreement and the termination fee.

Regulatory and legal

We found no Federal Trade Commission or state attorney general actions against Riverside. The Menten lawsuit and the reported overlap with its lessor cost points here, because they go to how the lease and the merchant account are sold together.

Transparency and sales channel

No published pricing, a termination fee merchants say they first saw in complaint responses, a program guide they say they were not given, and a lease from a closely connected company. Sold by telemarketing and commissioned agents. That combination scores near the bottom in both categories.

If you have a Riverside account

Find your lease and note the lessor, the monthly payment and how many payments remain. It is a separate contract from your merchant account.
Ask for the program guide you signed under, in writing.
Work out your effective rate from three statements. The fee calculator does it in seconds.
Cancel in writing to both Riverside and the leasing company, and keep proof.
Get the statements audited before you pay a termination fee.

Independence, right of response and corrections. weAudit takes no money from any processor, ISO or referral arrangement, and no company can pay to change its score. Riverside Payments may submit a response or correction at any time, and we will review it and update this rating if the evidence warrants. Scores reflect the evidence available at publication. See the full Processor Scoreboard.

Common questions

Is Riverside Payments legit?

Riverside Payments is a real company, based in Vancouver, Washington and registered as an independent sales organization of Wells Fargo Bank. Its Better Business Bureau profile shows 252 complaints closed in the last three years, most about cancellation fees, equipment leases and fees higher than merchants were told.

Does Riverside Payments have an early termination fee?

Yes. In its own responses to BBB complaints, Riverside refers to an early termination fee of $695, which merchants say is set out in a program guide they were not given at signing. Equipment leases are separate and can add thousands more.

What is the Riverside Payments equipment lease?

Many Riverside merchants sign a 48-month equipment lease that is marked non-cancelable, originated by Cascade Equipment Leasing and sometimes later assigned to another leasing company. Merchants report paying several thousand dollars over the term for equipment that sells for far less, and owing the rest of the lease even if they close their merchant account.

How do I cancel Riverside Payments?

Send written cancellation to Riverside and, separately, to the leasing company named on your lease, keep proof of delivery, and ask for the termination fee and lease balance in writing. Dispute any debit you did not authorize with your bank promptly.

Who processes Riverside Payments accounts?

Riverside is a registered independent sales organization of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., and supports systems including Clover. Check your agreement and statement for the processor named on your account.

Why does Riverside have an A rating with so many complaints?

The BBB letter grade weighs whether a business responds to complaints, among other factors, not how many it receives. Riverside is not BBB accredited and holds an A grade alongside 252 closed complaints in three years.

Send us the statement and the lease. We will tell you what is in them.

Our first audit is free and takes about five minutes of your time. We show you your real rate on a Riverside account, every fee on top, and what your lease is really costing you. If there is nothing to find, you will know that too.

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About this rating: scored on weAudit’s five categories, Regulatory and Legal (25), Fee Practices (25), Complaints and Resolution (20), Transparency (15) and Sales Channel (15). Evidence was gathered in October 2026 from Better Business Bureau records including Riverside’s own responses, and independent review sites including CardFellow, Merchant Alternatives and PaymentPop, which are credited by name; reported figures from third parties are labelled as such. Riverside Payments and Cascade Equipment Leasing are names of their owners.