Ron Jenkins, CEO of DHD, said that after years of working in the merchant processing space, the company is excited about entering the third-party billing market.
“There had long been three third-party billers in the space,” Jenkins said. “Then that number dropped to two for quite some time. Naturally when we engaged with Visa and became only the 3rd third-party biller approved by them in the U.S., we were delighted. When one of the leading U.S. banks serving this market offered us our merchant account based on our track-record of expertise and results, we were all set.”
Jenkins told XBIZ his company’s background in providing merchant processing gives it a very different background than the existing third-party billers in the U.S. market, CCBill and Epoch.
“In providing merchant processing, we were dealing only larger players in the industry, and along with that came meeting their expectations in terms of customizing solutions and developing our services to meet the client’s needs on their schedule,” Jenkins said. “So flexibility and expertise at meeting client’s demands are two things that we definitely bring to the table.”
Jenkins told XBIZ that the newly announced strategic partnership with I-Bridge and its President, Johnny V, was an ideal match for DHD.
“I-Bridge and Johnny V have a unique reputation for integrity and a grasp of the market realities that we believe matches perfectly with our own long-practiced approach to providing service to our clients,” Jenkins said. “It really is a perfect fit, and works nicely with the most recent addition to our suite of services.”
Johnny V said he’s enthusiastic about DHD’s prospects for success and described the company’s move into the third-party processing space as unique.
“This has never happened in this space before,” Johnny V said. “A very well known and respected billing company obtains a brand new third-party account, and makes the decision to slowly grow its release to the market to the benefit of its clients. This enables the folks who get in early the opportunity to enjoy the technical prowess of DHD Media, taking advantage of the same experience and level of customer service they’ve offered their merchant processing clients for the last decade.
"It’s just that combination of proven leadership in quality and the uniqueness of the offering and opportunity that has gotten us so excited about what we’re going to be able to do for this market — offer the highest quality and commitment to standard of service possible,” he said.
Asked about the number of new clients that will be accepted into DHD’s new third-party billing service, Johnny V said that everyone is welcome to apply, and should be prepared to show a full year of processing and “a willingness to work in a very professional setting.”
Johnny V added that he thought the time was absolutely right for a new third-party processor to come into the adult market.
“There needs to be another option for folks and DHD Media perfectly fits that bill,” Johnny V said. “They have been here for 10 years, they are a trusted and extremely talented technical group, and from our conversations with the leaders in the online adult business thus far, it is clear that there is a strong demand for what DHD provides.”
Jenkins said that with Johnny V assisting the company in its quest for new clients, he’s confident that DHD will quickly ramp up its customer base.
“With Johnny V leading our business development efforts in this area, we have no concerns about the exposure of our new service to the space,” Jenkins said. “He will get it out there to the most business-minded individuals.”
Asked what specific role Johnny V will play in building up DHD, Jenkins said that Johnny V’s primary job will be to simply get the word out about the company and its services.
“Johnny is a well-known and highly trusted consultant to many of the leaders in online adult,” Jenkins said. “What he’ll do is the same thing we’ve always done; go to [prospective clients] and tell them the truth about the options we can deliver to help grow their businesses, and why his experience and research led him to choose to affiliate himself with DHD.”
Ultimately, Jenkins said, the company’s goal is to carry over the success it established in the merchant processing space into the third-party billing services market.
“The banks and card associations have always liked our ability to process high risk transactions from a technical standpoint, and our clients have been very pleased with the results,” Jenkins said. “The combination of higher revenues for our clients and lower chargebacks is one where everyone wins.”