With the announcement made over the weekend, the third-party processor also said that it would release a new iBill payment processing, iBill 2.0, that includes a payback option for former iBill merchants.
“I know there are a lot of honest people out there who have waited far too long for this day,“ said Jonas Brown, iBill’s president and CEO. “I’ve received numerous phone calls from former merchants who lost their sites as well as their only source of income. They were forced to turn to friends and family to pay rent and car payments while they waited on payment from iBill.
“These people deserve the money they earned and I’m proud to say we now have a solution to honor those debts,” he said. “Until now, there was no recourse, but earlier today our board approved payback to all merchants who have a valid iBill promissory note.”
Brown said the new iBill 2.0. payment processing system will be up and running April 7, with more details about the program, including a tour, to be revealed April 2 in a series of web conferences.
For the past eight months, the Aurora, Colo.-based processor has been attempting to distance itself from to the defunct Deerfield, Fla., company with the same name that left scores of online adult companies unpaid and hundreds of legal claims unresolved.
Brown, in an interview with XBIZ last year, said that investors scooped up iBill’s trademark after the defunct company let the name expire and then completed an acquisition for the iBill.net domain.
Brown said the new policy announced over the weekend “is our way of saying we understand.”
“It is important that we rebuild our image and establish trust with those who utilize our services,” he said. “This solution will go a long way toward that goal and benefit all parties involved.”