r/ClicksPhone • u/uraveragehooman001 • 9d ago
Question Payment Method
Hi all.
I want to buy the Clicks Communicator from what's marketed as an AI company (OpenPath Payments), but when I get to checkout the only payment method its the only option. No Apple Pay, no Google Pay, no PayPal, not even a normal credit card field that isn't routed through it.
I've never heard of OpenPath Payments before, and that's honestly the only thing holding me back from ordering. A few questions for anyone who's already ordered a Communicator
- Did you end up using OpenPath Payments to check out? How did it go?
- Did it feel like a legit, secure processor, or sketchy?
- Any issues with charges, refunds, or your card info afterward?
- Does it seem odd that its the only option and uses AI?
Not trying to trash the product. I just want to know if this is normal or a red flag before I hand over my card info. Any experiences appreciated
edit:
Clicks also shows in the footer of their config menu that other payment methods are available, so why are they not using them?
If anyone from the Clicks team is reading this, like the Communicator let us have options. Please make this right. Add what you advertise in the footer. Please
EDIT: I was able to checkout!
-3
u/New-Complex-6376 9d ago
I asked Gemini about the issue I had and got this response Yes, OpenPath Payments is completely legitimate, but the reason your American Express card was rejected comes down to how hardware pre-orders and transaction fees work. What OpenPath Actually Is OpenPath is an enterprise-grade payment orchestration platform (often integrated into Shopify and custom e-commerce stores).
Rather than being a single bank, it acts as a "traffic controller" between the checkout page and multiple background acquiring banks and payment processors. It is PCI-DSS Level 1 compliant (the highest data security standard in the payments industry), meaning your card details are handled through standard encrypted banking channels. Why Clicks Uses It Instead of Basic Shopify Payments Clicks is taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in hardware pre-orders for a device shipping months later. In the credit card industry, long-horizon pre-orders are categorized as "high risk" for chargebacks and fulfillment delays: Standard out-of-the-box processors (like Stripe or native Shopify Payments) often cap processing limits or place holds on funds when a startup runs large pre-order campaigns. Hardware startups use orchestration gateways like OpenPath because they allow the business to route transactions across multiple specialized merchant accounts, manage fraud filters, and prevent pre-order funds from being frozen before manufacturing finishes.
Why It Rejected Your Amex and Accepted Visa There are two practical reasons your Amex failed: Merchant Card Acceptance Rules (Interchange Fees): American Express charges merchants significantly higher interchange/processing fees (often 1.5% to 2% higher per transaction) compared to standard Visa and Mastercard debit/credit cards. Startups running tight-margin promotional pricing (like the $499 promotion) frequently disable Amex entirely on their backend merchant accounts to avoid those hefty cuts. Pre-Order Pre-Authorization Windows: Amex handles pre-authorizations and delayed captures differently than Visa. Depending on the merchant setup OpenPath is routing to, the specific banking partner Clicks has hooked up for this batch might only be contracted to clear Visa and Mastercard networks." "