Kicking off the panel with a question near and dear to all webmasters, Wright asked the panelists what the optimal payment solution was. Taking a customer-oriented approach, each panelist came to a similar answer — all of them.
Chris Mallick of ePassporte told the crowd to think in terms of who they were serving.
“You want to be able to have a billing solution for each of your users,” Mallick said.
Mike Bertrand of PasswordByPhone, concurred, adding that it is also important to geo-target billing solutions because customers come from a global pool with different preferred payment options.
While the panel discussion focused on many familiar topics, webmasters also got a chance to hear firsthand from anonymous card solution companies like PPPcard.net and Pure Vanilla Exchange.
While some billing solution companies might see anonymous billing solutions as a threat, Steven Yevoli of Pure Vanilla Exchange said that he believes Pure Vanilla can drive additional users into the adult marketplace, benefiting the entire industry.
“We’re about reaching users who aren’t comfortable using credit cards or other payment options,” Yevoli said. “That’s why we advertise in the mainstream media with people like Howard Stern; we’re looking to attract people who haven’t bought adult content online before.”
Greg Moss of PPPcard agreed, adding that both companies were focused on finding users at mainstream retail outlets.
Wrapping up the panel, Wright turned his attention to chargebacks. Jeff Thaler of Epoch offered a three-pronged approach.
“The most important step is to know your affiliates,” Thaler said. “You have to know where your traffic is coming from. That will do the most to limiting chargebacks. Beyond that, we have a backend defense because we do sophisticated traffic analysis. Finally, it comes down to a dedicated customer service department to help settle incidents of fraud or so-called ‘friendly fraud.’”
Ron Cadwell of CCBill and Mitch Farber of Netbilling echoed Thaler’s comments, saying that webmasters who build and maintain good working relationships with their affiliates are more likely to succeed in the long-run.