We were among the 27,000 professionals to attend MJBizCon 2018 in Las Vegas last week because, like many payments companies, the good folks at Instabill are hopeful of providing cannabis payment processing in the near future. For us, it was on the cab ride from McCarran Airport to the Las Vegas Convention Center that the…
Category: Our Stories
Need a high risk payment gateway? Don't be like this merchant
High risk merchants will say the darndest things. Recently, we received a telephone inquiry from a North American merchant seeking a high risk payment gateway for his visa document preparation business. It didn’t go well. As we always do, we asked him some basic questions about his business. Did he have prior credit card processing…
My 3D secure online payment processing experience: seamless, secure
If a global sneaker company is using 3D secure during its online payment processing, certainly it’s a viable option for small business merchants who wish to securely process transactions via their website. For years, we’ve seen e-commerce merchants shun 3D secure payment processing, believing it was a hindrance, a gateway to shopping cart abandonment. In…
Succeeding as an international merchant services provider means finding a balance at checkout
Because I work for an international merchant services provider, I take particular note of the different online checkout processes, and how easy/complicated they are, the friction and the mistakes some merchants make. Recently I went to purchase the soccer jersey of the German club, Borussia Dortmund, for my son for his birthday on a popular…
Free Trials No Longer Have a Place in Internet Credit Card Processing
Five years ago, we had internet credit card processing solutions for merchants – nutraceuticals, continuity and weight loss merchants, for example – who sold products by way of using free trials to entice consumers to sign on for longer periods. Now, we’re seeing our acquiring banking partners shun this kind of business model, and based…
Need to Accept Credit Cards Online? Don’t Waver on These 6 Qualities
For a high risk business to accept credit cards online, it takes dedicated research to find the best payment processors. There is no merchant account provider in the payments market today that can offer an all-encompassing solution or approve every high risk merchant or industry. Acquiring banks only work with certain industries and not others.…
Starting an Online Business: Outgrowing the ‘Startup’ Label
A recent conversation with a colleague got me thinking about an issue: After starting an online business, when does said business outgrow the label of being a startup? With careful thought, I think I’ve come up with a definitive answer. Starting an online business is a daunting task, and finding payment processing solutions for such…
The Downside of Being a High Risk Payment Processor
The upside of being a high risk payment processor is no secret: high risk, high return. The downside is defending your business from unsavory, misguided and fraudulent merchants. It’s those merchants, who unfortunately, tend to be drawn to high risk merchant services providers, and something which those working in high risk merchant services must accept.…
A Case of Merchant Account Fraud We Could Barely Believe
Recently we read a news piece on Pymnts.com how imposter scams are on the rise, so much so that instances of such have surged ahead of identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission. It was mindful of a case of merchant account fraud we experienced a few weeks ago. Being a provider of merchant…
A Near Billing Descriptor Nightmare That Can Prevent Chargebacks
To prevent chargebacks, half the battle lies in a clear billing descriptor. I’m going to guess that the payment processor that handles transactions for our local school food service program has a bit of trouble with chargebacks. They’re a big name in the payment processing industry, which left me puzzled after checking my bank statement.…