merchant account versus 3rd party rebiller

[rowan]

Hi all,<br /><br />Just curious why more people are using 3rd party rebillers rather than merchant accounts...<br /><br />Are there difficulties with finding a bank that will grant you one? Extra administrative/legislative requirements? Other reasons...?<br /><br />With the rebillers, are the 15%+ transaction levels really justified when you have to pay extra for wires and chargebacks, and they make interest on your funds while they sit in their account until the end of the payment period? What value added service do they offer that makes it worth this?<br /><br />Hoping to discuss this further...<br /><br />Cheers.

[flyingiguana]

i don't run a paysite, but i know around here the banks would throw u out if a website applied to a merchant account.<br /><br />u need 24 hour customer service and good credit card scrubbing or else u might not make that 1% min chargeback or whatever it is now.

[flyingiguana]

applied to get a merchant account! what i meant to say!

[basschick]

it is very hard to get a merchant account for an adult business. if you do, you'll need to buy or lease a negative database or else risk taking in every fraudulent guy that is still around. those cost a lot ($10,000 and up) but not as much as losing your merchant account from having too many members that always charge back claiming their cards were stolen.<br /><br />plus the third party processors have 24 hour phone customer support for your members, which can save many a chargeback.

[netbilling]

Hi All,<br /><br />There are many misconceptions in this industry that it is hard to get a merchant account and that if you do, you must perform the scrubbing, processing, and customer services yourself. <br /><br />THIS IS NOT TRUE....<br /><br />We provide all of the services that you will find with a 3rd party processor but using you own merchant account. Netbilling (and some other gateway processors) will handle every aspect including 24/7/365 customer service, fraud scrubbing, and many other functions, at about 1/2 the price that most 3rd party processors charge. There are benefits to 3rd party and to gateway processing. You should check out the comparison article in this weeks Ynotnews.com and then give us a call to discuss your needs.<br /><br />Thank you, Mitch Farber <br />Netbilling Services <br /><a href="http://www.netbilling.com" target="_blank">http://www.netbilling.com</a>

[flyingiguana]

mitch, u have icq?

[ceev]

Merchant Accounts are cake to get, just not 100% adult stuff :-)

[flyingiguana]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Keev:<br /><strong>Merchant Accounts are cake to get, just not 100% adult stuff :-)</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">so do u mean u have to actually have someone non-adult as well? can u tell a lil white lie and say ur starting something else along with the adult site?

[kong]

Mitch, do you guys offer help with getting a US merchant account for Canadian companies?<br /><br />-Sean

[*Kimmykim*]

Merchant accounts are not that difficult to come by, and most of the PSPs -- CCBill included -- can and do offer gateway services for those accounts, as well as helping to acquire them. <br /><br />As far as the pros and cons of own merch acct vs. psp, there are a few things to remember, and I dont know of any third party charging in excess of 15%, btw. You cannot include reserves in the charges, since that is returned to you after 180 days, and if you have your own merch acct you are going to pay reserves, both up front, and on a rolling basis.<br /><br />Reserves now have to be paid in cash, a letter of credit will not suffice.<br /><br />Managing chargebacks and credits is the key to whether or not you should have your own account. If you rely mainly on your own traffic, can do a minimal amount of customer service on your own (this is still a good idea regardless of how you are processing) and have either a decent credit history and some funds for reserve, it certainly wouldn't hurt to get a merchant account to push some traffic to. Most gateway providers will have some sort of scrubbing you can use, though from my standpoint anyone relying on a negative database is just asking for trouble.<br /><br />If you have alot of reseller traffic, are new to the business, don't want to spend your time and money working on merchant accounts and all the associated paperwork etc (no matter who gateways you, you are the one liable for the account) that comes with your own merchant account, then you're better off to pay a few extra points and go with a PSP.<br /><br />High risk merchant accounts MUST be coded as such -- if you get caught trying to run adult internet transactions on any other type of account, you'll be terminated from the Visa/MC programs and you won't be eligible for ANY type of account from them in the future. <br /><br />High risk accounts are nowhere near as cheap as non adult point of purchase accounts either. The reserves are higher, the fees are higher and the scrutiny on the accounts is higher.<br /><br />In the long run, you don't always save money by going with your own merchant acct, when you total up all the work you'll do no matter who gateways it. And if you happen to get fined, you'll see what savings you do have go down the drain quickly. <br /><br />Bottom line? Investigate your options, and make sure you have all the facts.

[netbilling]

FlyingIguana,<br /><br />My ICQ # is: 117496436<br /><br />I look forward to chatting with you.<br /><br />Mitch

[netbilling]

Kong,<br /><br />We should be able to help you with a merchant account even in Canada, depending on your volume and service/product. Please call Toll Free within the US: (888)357-8166<br />Outside the US: (661)252-2456 to discuss the options.<br /><br />Thank you, Mitch Farber

[netbilling]

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by FlyingIguana:<br /><strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Originally posted by Keev:<br /><strong>Merchant Accounts are cake to get, just not 100% adult stuff :-)</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">so do u mean u have to actually have someone non-adult as well? can u tell a lil white lie and say ur starting something else along with the adult site?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Kimmy is absolutely correct... you will get burned quick trying to pass adult products or services through a non high risk merchant account.

[thrillseekre]

lets try it this way<br />i don't know what your circumstances are...<br /><br />rebiller = freedom to leave the house<br /><br />ibill = sexy chicks in lengerie to talk to at 4am EST when your .htaccess file has been deleted<br /><br />ccbill = ISO ibill status/mergers <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <br /><br />(just pickin kimmy)

[*Kimmykim*]

ROFL