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More Changes in the Processing Arena: 1

There was more news today about changes concerning the processing of online credit card transactions, and the companies who provide Webmasters with this vital service. Even if you do not think that you are directly affected by what happens at one IPSP or another, you owe it to your business to stay abreast of these evolving developments:

Asking the poignant question, "Who’s next in line?" Lee provided XBiz’ "Speak Your Mind" message board readers with a quote from the latest third-party credit card processor, er, Internet Payment Service Provider (IPSP), to announce their departure from the processing business, and their reasons for doing so:

"We regret to inform you that Yambo Financials Ltd. (www.yambo.biz), despite our efforts, will have no choice but to stop processing all credit card transactions on Thursday, July 10, 2003. We were recently informed by our European bank (one of the largest banks in Europe and one of the last that was willing to work with Aggregators and IPSP’s) that the Aggregators and IPSP’s they work with are being closed due to the pressure and administrative requirements passed down by Visa/MC. By losing this merchant relationship, we have no practical and technical way to maintain our current client database. We are sorry for all inconveniences this may or may have caused to your business and want to thank you for doing business with our company."

Not An Isolated Case
The news of Yambo's departure from the market came on the same day that AC Pay’s Cormac Foster announced sweeping changes at AC Pay - an IPSP from the folks behind the Adult Check AVS. In an email to merchants, Cormac wrote:

"We've had a lot of changes at AC Pay recently, with more on the way, and I wanted to give you all an update…

Name change:
After discussions with the banks, we have decided to change our name to EGS Pay. We've been sending checks from Electronic Gateway Services since we launched, so this name will more accurately reflect the company and its operations. This also means we'll be switching accounts with the banks, so transactions will once again be pending for a few days, and processed next week. Our apologies for any inconvenience this causes, but I wanted to assure you that business will continue as usual and since we pay out on a three-week delay, this will not affect anyone's cash flow. The name change will be in effect by Monday or Tuesday of next week, and you'll see it reflected on our site.

Alternative customer payment types:
The testing of the alternative payment mechanisms is going well. We obviously have to make a few extra changes to sync them up with our new accounts, but everything is going smoothly. Even with the company identity change, we hope to have new payment options available to the public within a few weeks.

IPSP registrations (American clients only):
Thank you for your registration information. We'll let you know how to pay the $750 registration fee in the very near future.

Alternative payouts:
We're constantly evaluating new methods of processing Client payouts (other than checks, wires and PayPal), and while we're close on a few, we'd love to get your input. If there's anything you'd like to see, please email us at admin@acpay.com. Even after we make the name change, this email will continue to forward to the appropriate people."

I like to use AC Pay to illustrate the speed of change happening in the processing arena, since the day that they announced that clients would need to pay Visa registration fees was the same day that I received my latest copy of AVN Online; featuring a full page ad from AC Pay about how they would - not - be requiring the payment of Visa fees. A complete policy turnabout in the relatively quick time that it takes for a magazine to go to press, and then make its way to me. This isn’t meant to reflect poorly on AC Pay in any way, but to show the enormous pressures that IPSPs are facing in an increasingly regulated - and competitive - market.

Well, I may not know "Who’s next in line?" But I do know one thing for certain: we haven’t yet reached "The End of the Line…" Stay tuned for even bigger news from Epoch! ~ Stephen

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