We’ve decided to change the title of our merchant account managers to merchant account therapists. Because they often feel like therapists. Sometimes e-commerce merchants need a second chance, and they call on us. We listen to their problems: My merchant account was shut down for no reason. The bank said my volume was too high.…
Category: Our Stories
We Think This Was a Fraudulent Website and Here’s Why
We could be wrong, but once in a while we’ll get a merchant account application from an e-commerce merchant, whose website raises red flags. We’re forced to play judge and jury on whether we go forward in the merchant boarding process or decide it is a fraudulent website. Within the last six months, one particular…
We Don’t Charge Merchant Account Application Fees, and Neither Should You
There are certain things we believe in here at Instabill: Answering the phone Live, one-on-one customer support with one merchant account manager All legal and legitimate businesses have the chance to process credit card transactions We also believe in a free merchant account application, that merchants should not have to pay for something for which…
3 Connections Between Payments and the 2016 Rio Olympics
The Opening Ceremony for the 2016 Rio Olympics is two days away and an expected half-a-million consumers worldwide will descend upon ‘The Marvelous City,’ many of which will spend a small fortune on memorabilia, meals, event tickets, transport and apparel. And let us remember that Brazil is not only hosting the Olympic Games, but also…
Attention Subscription Billing Merchants: Don’t Do This
Each day when I drive to the Instabill home office in Portsmouth, N.H., USA, I pass through a toll booth. Rather than pay the $2 cash at the window, I have a transponder attached to my windshield that enables me to cruise through without going under 70 miles per hour. Toll collection is the consummate…
Small Business Hacking Getting More Common
This blogpost was originally posted on Instabill’s satellite website, Instabill.info, on June 12, 2015 with the help of Ed Black, a former PCI Director at Comodo, now a Territory Manager at Heartland Payment Systems. Ed Black says the worst thing a small business owner can believe is that his/her company is safe from hackers, simply…
What is Means to be a Merchant Account Manager
Want to help someone launch their business? How about three, four, five or even 10 businesses each month? Of course, the job description doesn’t read this way word-for-word, but in its purest form, merchant account managers at Instabill not only help merchants launch their businesses, they help them thrive and broaden their online presence. And…
What are Fictional Currencies Worth?
What is a Galleon, from the Harry Potter series, worth compared to the US dollar? What about a Credit (Star Wars), or a Space Buck (Spaceballs)? How many Gold Dragons (Game of Thrones) can purchase an automobile? Instabill is a global payment solutions provider (not intergalactic…yet) based in Portsmouth, NH, and its mega-talented web administrator, Stephanie…
Why We Decline Merchant Accounts
Sometimes, we decline merchant accounts. We just can’t take the risk. As a high risk payment processor, we’ve just about seen it all. And when we admit that we’ve seen it all, a new referral comes along and leaves us shaking our collective heads. Some referral examples we’ve seen (and turned down) include: An international…
A Message to High Risk Payment Processors and the Feds
Remember that episode of The Office… …when Dwight is named interim regional manager of Dunder Mifflin’s Scranton branch while Michael interviews for a position at the corporate offices in New York? Dwight wastes no time in strong-arming and alienating the staff in the Scranton office. The U.S. Department of Justice made a similar, not-so-great impression…