L3 Payments
E-Billing 2016: Trends in Payment Processing
As the junction between consumers’ cash and merchants’ motivations, billing is a vibrant arena where laws and technologies play significant roles in shaping the limits of payment processing in the digital age — and as such, billing in a major area of concern, source of expense, and profit channel for merchants.
ACH Remains Viable, Although Battling Fraud Still a Challenge
When Internet entrepreneurs from Europe, Australia or Japan are learning the essentials of electronic billing and payments in the U.S. market, one of the first terms they learn is Automated Clearing House (ACH).
Credit Card Regulatory Trends to Look Out for in 2014
One of the first things that adult webmasters learn when they go into business is how greatly billing preferences can vary from one country to another — and in countries with a large credit card penetration, it is important for webmasters to stay abreast of regulatory trends with Visa and MasterCard.
L3 Payments, Melody L Part Ways
Melody L, L3 Payments’ chief operating officer for the past five years, will be leaving the processing company in June, L3 Payments founder and President Kjell Petridis announced today.
What Regulators Are Saying About Bitcoin
Bitcoin has certainly been an interesting phenomenon to watch over the last few weeks. We’ve had bankruptcies, suicides, arrests, thefts, marketing, adoption by retailers, potential identification of the creator and discussions at all levels of government. It seems this recent interval has contained all the makings of a good mini-series.
Online Billing: Operation Choke Point
The phrase “Operation Choke Point” conjures up many images and is representative of the spirit in which the authorities are using their power to target the providers within the payment industry.
What Is a Merchant to Do?
The Ivory Tower of Officialdom is at it again. They have spent time and resources on developing ways to reduce fraud in their network and they now want people’s opinions on their solution. The current proposed solution is ... wait for it ... to do more of the same!
Online Billing: The ACH Option
Have you ever stood at a checkout line, swiped your card of choice and then were told that it failed? When that happens, what is your next move? Many of us will swipe the card again thinking that the result was a fluke the first time but the next time it will be fine.
Billing: Underwriting Inconsistencies
Do you ever wonder why your experience can be so different when working towards the same goal with two different financial partners?
Online Billing: Staying Compliant
Things have been going along just fine, but seemingly out of nowhere, you are getting questions on your merchant processing. Technically you are compliant with the payment association rules, so why all these questions? It seems that the things you used to do are now not accepted and things that were forbidden are now allowed again. And round and round we go. Perhaps the activities are best explained by some of the information provided in this article.
Cogs of Transactions
It’s that time of the month again … I get cranky and tired and irritated. I know what you are thinking and I assure you, it’s not hormonal. It’s the result of the monthly roundtable call I participate in where I get updated on many of the ridiculous, and often government-funded, attacks on merchants and third-party processors. To be fair, I will agree that not all the actions are ridiculous.
Online Consumer Support
Quickly! Can you find your customer support number? How about an email address? Can you navigate your website to find the information you would need to question a transaction or cancel a membership or seek a refund?
A Better Mousetrap
Data, Analytics, Cross Platform Validations, Mobile. These disparate areas are all converging in the effort to thwart fraudsters and the transactions which they initiate.
Validate Them — Current Bank Account Validation Methods
NACHA recently published a survey to explore the various methods they believe to be common methods of bank account validation for transactions running through their network. They provided some definitions and methods as reiterated below:
Potentially Simple Solutions for Credit Card Fraud
Over the last few months I have been investigating and writing about consumer initiated fraud. I have been defining the issue, giving recent examples of the issue, providing data about the issue and demonstrating that it is a known issue and has been for quite some time.
Invention of Lying
The Invention of Lying: ”It’s a great flick if you haven’t seen it. I think it captures the reality of today’s payment landscape. Those who make the rules, do so in the perceived environment of the consumer being truthful.
Consumer Accountability
It is well known by everyone, including consumers, that consumers bear no responsibility for protecting their information from others. If their information is used, and they decide that they no longer want it to be used, then they merely have to dial up their bank and say, “I did not authorize this transaction.” Very simple indeed.
Watching a Watchdog
Several months ago, I published an article describing the newly formed federal agency Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB. This group has been active now for more than a year and their sole focus is on protecting consumers. They have a website that provides some useful information and guidance. The website is also a venue where consumers can easily file complaints against merchants and financial institutions.
ACH, Debit Billing Still Running Strong
Online adult entertainment is enjoyed in many different parts of the world, but exactly how consumers pay for it can vary considerably from one country to another. Although the almighty credit card continues to dominate e-commerce payments in the U.S., it is important that adult webmasters also have a thorough knowledge of alternative billing—and that includes debiting. There are different types of debiting, including debit cards (Carte bleue in France, for example) and direct debiting of bank accounts. And in the U.S., direct debits are processed by the vast Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. ACH debiting is a prominent alternative payment method for adult entertainment in the U.S., and direct debiting is the dominant billing method for online erotica in Germany and other European countries.
Financial Risk of a Merchant Account
It became evident that the chain of financial responsibility contingent with offering and gaining a merchant account is grossly misunderstood. It was during a panel discussion in Europe that the comment was made to one of the panelists stating that they, unlike an aggregator, do not take any financial risk. Although this is a common assumption, it is inaccurate and this column will explain why.