Joint Statement from IBill, CCBill, Epoch/Paycom

Evil Chris · 10-02-2002, 02:10 PM

Joint Statement from IBill, CCBill, Epoch/Paycom

Dear Webmasters,

CCBill, EPOCH / Paycom and iBill would like to jointly inform and update you on several new Visa regulation that will affect the way we, as Internet Payment Service Providers (IPSP’s) and our clients conduct business. Visa has mandated that a new, unique set of operating guidelines will be implemented by November 1st. These rules are worldwide, not just in the USA.

Under the new Visa rules, iBill, CCBill, and EPOCH / Paycom along with other providers in our market space will be considered IPSP’s. An IPSP is a company that provides a broad array of services and has financial responsibility and liability for merchant accounts whereby you, our clients (Sponsored Merchants) are allowed to process and settle Internet transactions.

It is our mutual responsibility to ensure that we fully comply with all regulations implemented by the card associations. We are committed to seamlessly implementing the new regulations while retaining a business model that is good for the industry. Below is a summary of the requirements for Visa that we must implement by November 1st:

VISA
· Each Sponsored Merchant must complete a registration form that we will submit to Visa on your behalf. A form will be provided to you by each of us, electronically, as soon as possible. Some of the data elements required are: company name, address, transaction counts, dollar volumes, URL’s, etc.
· An initial registration fee of $750.00 per company (not per url) will be charged to register each Sponsored Merchant. $500.00 of this fee is payable by the Acquiring Banks to Visa, the balance are administrative fees to the banks and processors. These fees are due November 15th.
· An ongoing annual registration fee of $375.00 will be charged. $250.00 of this fee is payable by the Acquiring Banks to Visa, the balance are administrative fees to the banks and processors.
· Sponsored Merchants must be approved by Visa for processing Visa transactions under the new rules, and will be checked against Visa’s TMF list (Terminated Merchant File) and the MATCH File, a joint Visa / MasterCard database. You are obviously processing now, so that service will not be interrupted if you have paid your registration fee and completed your registration form.
· IPSP’s can only register Sponsored Merchants in the country where the Sponsored Merchant has a presence.
· IPSP’s are required to provide Visa with monthly sales, chargeback and credit data for their review, by Sponsored Merchant and down to the URL of each Sponsored Merchant site. Sponsored Merchants who are out of compliance on chargeback and / or credit ratios may be terminated at Visa’s discretion. Please Note: Your ratios at all IPSP’s will be evaluated by Visa.
· The credit card descriptor on the cardholder’s statement must be the IPSP’s name, as well as the Sponsored Merchant’s identifier, such as your company code.
· The IPSP’s Join Form must disclose the IPSP’s name and the fact that the billing descriptor will be the name of the IPSP and the Sponsored Merchant’s identifier.
· IPSP’s will display, on the Join Form, their Privacy Policy along with Terms and Conditions.
MasterCard
· The MasterCard logo cannot be displayed on the client’s sites.
· Several other rules will be changed and we will advise you as soon as these are solidified.

October is the month to implement these changes. We expect the transition should be a relatively smooth process. The following is a timetable for preparing for the November 1st deadline:

· By October 8th, we will begin the Visa registration process. We will email you a form, which must be completed immediately.
· By October 15th, we will have a Privacy Policy up on our Join Pages.
· By October 15th you must have all MasterCard logos removed from your sites.

We will provide you with additional updates on these initiatives throughout the month. Thank you in advance for helping us to ensure the successful implementation of these new regulations. Please be assured that we, as IPSP’s are working together to provide a more robust industry environment and to attempt to have our client’s voices heard at the card associations. We have many common goals and interests. Maintaining the viability of the adult Webmaster business model, by keeping you informed, is our primary focus.

Sincerely,

iBill, CCBill, and EPOCH / Paycom

Darin · 10-02-2002, 03:23 PM

Death to Visa, long live mastercard!

Electra · 10-02-2002, 04:26 PM

Its going to put a lot of people out of business I think.

Evil Chris · 10-02-2002, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Electra
Its going to put a lot of people out of business I think.

How so? From what I understand the main bother here is the new fees, coupled with the fact that everyone must have a US bank account.
It's easy to get one of those no matter where in the world you are.

Tkt2Pardse · 10-02-2002, 05:22 PM

Fuck VISA

black torana · 10-03-2002, 05:08 AM

doi have this right
we live in australia we can still use the services of people like ccbill
we just have to start a bank account in the USA
??
cheers robbie

Evil Chris · 10-03-2002, 09:44 AM

You can get a US bank account in Australia. Just go to your bank and open one up.

Evil Chris · 10-03-2002, 01:23 PM

Here's a Q&A / FAQ that CCBill provided me with...

http://www.ipsp-faq.com/

Darin · 10-03-2002, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Evil Chris
Here's a Q&A / FAQ that CCBill provided me with...

http://www.ipsp-faq.com/

This closes the doors to VISA for a lot of transactions. According to these statements, anyone not paying the free should expect reduced revenue due to the fact they cannot process VISA.

For a small site, that can't afford to pay the fees. It doesn't hurt much does it? They can still take mastercard and all the other processing methods. The third party processors will be hurt by this, their whole business plan just got fucked up the ass as far as visa transactions are concerned.

Lots of opportunity for Mastercard or other card companies to jump on this and make a lot of money.

Not only that, LOTS of opportunity for larger paysite programs to offer an umbrella to smaller paysites and get more dominance in the adult internet.

Time is ticking and the smart paysite programs should be jumping on this, if visa transactions really do hurt that bad there is huge opportunity for smaller sites to get gobbled up under a nice umbrella system, reseller benefits, etc.

I see any smaller paysites who can get under this umbrella of some smarter large paysite programs making even more money from this.

Its a new move that will probably benefit Visa in more ways than just registration fees.

I wonder how this affects companies like Paypay, I can't see them charging thier member base these crazy charges to keep accepting Visa.

Every day is gonna count this week, the smart cookie will make shit loads of money and expand their adult internet presence this month.

Tobbe · 10-03-2002, 04:12 PM

Il read this tommorow Chris. looks intressted.

Magnus3x · 10-03-2002, 07:38 PM

I dont think it will put people out of business as much as the amount of start ups who wont be able to afford another 750 USD..etc.

I find some of the new regulations to be intrusive as in remitting your monthly statements etc. Also, people should not have to open an American Bank account to do business from thier home countries. This wont be alot of money for the bigger companies but people like me, who work for no one it's a hit for sure.

I know the % are high but globill is offshore and you wont have to pay the fees to get your site going. Either you pay now or you pay later the common theme is "It takes money to make money". The cost of doing business as they say.

We all knew it was going to get tighter at some point and it's going to get tighter and probably costlier.

Darin · 10-04-2002, 05:44 PM

A note on paypal, they are not affected since all transactions are done between MEMBERS of paypal only.

Even using their subscription script system the user is joining paypal as a user first, then transfering monies.