Third Party Accounts

3rd Party Accounts

[Mary Poppins]

Can anybody tell me what actually is Visa and MasterCard regulations and Directives with regards to aggregator Internet Merchant accounts.Chargeback ratio thresholds are at risk with these accounts, and often get closed down so I understand acquires reluctance to provide these accounts, my question is, where can I read up on Visa and MasterCards latest directives on this issue,(I cannot find this information anywhere on their sites) and will third Party processing become obsolete in the future?

Thanks.

[Pepperoni]

Not sure if I understand your question, but you may want to check out greensheet.com

[Corey Bryant]

If you are wanting to start a 3PP, you have to have the financial backing, the network / system in place, and an acquiring bank that is will to support. And most banks are not willing to do that because the risk is too high.

-Corey

[Miklo]

Well, nowadays rules and regulations to enter the business model you are referring to are very strict. The first thing you need is an acquiring bank. This depends on the location of your business. In Europe there are very many acquirers in the U.K., and there are a few that I know of in Scandinavia, Germany and France. There are probably many more in the U.S., like Citibank, Wells Fargo and Humboldt that are in acquiring.

Right now, banks will probably only deal with you if you have finished the PCI Compliance Program, which means you have to install tens of security measures on your server and other business aspects.

After that, you need to deal with Visa/MasterCard regulations. They will change the rules and regulations where they want and when they want it, because they totally control the market and can give huge fines to your acquirers if they are not compliant with their rules. This automatically means you have to obey those rules as well and so do your merchants. Not to even mention the business models that you are not allowed to accept.

Anyway, they are continiously saying that aggregating is not allowed, but there are still companies out there who work with precisely that model: 2CheckOut and Paysat. It will only be a matter of time before these companies will get huge fines if you ask me, as they are processing for other merchants through their merchant accounts. I really wonder which acquiring bank wants to bear that risk.

[Mary Poppins]

Thank you, you have reflected my thoughts exactly.(There will be some people looking for jobs soon, then? )