Is paypal going to start charging $750 app. fee?

Credit Card Processing

[JoeZeppy]

Is paypal going to start charging $750 app. fee?

I recently got a disturbing email from iBill and wanted to see if anyone else has information on this. Basically what the email stated is that iBill was going to begin to charge a $750.00 registration fee and $375.00 per year thereafter.

I called iBill to inquire and they told me that beginning in November, Visa and MC are going to require all Internet Payment Service Providers (IPSPs, including those like paypal and clickbank) to pass through these types of fees to their small merchants.

If this is true, we should revolt. I think it will put tens of thousands of small merchants out of business. It would be a shame. Does anyone else here know more about this? Here's a copy of the email I received...

<snipped email>

Joe
<snip - no sigs please>

[edited by: Woz at 11:22 pm (utc) on Oct. 8, 2002]
[edit reason] Tos #9 & #14 [/edit]

[EliteWeb]

I hope not because Im a PayPal person and I couldn't go for the 750 app fee. PayPal seems like they are the only ones that need that fee since they do the processing, and they arnt really a bank.

[Slade]

I suggested this as a possibility in another IBill thread here recently. There is no telling what IBill is up to... If it's straight up, from Visa/MC, then all those mid-processors are SOL, because no one in their right mind would pay that. It's cheaper to just get a full blown merchant account. If so, IBill might as well close their doors today, they are through.

There is one other possibility. I don't know if IBill deals with Visa/MC directly, or through some intermediary company. It could be, that the intermediary company has figured out what IBill does, and has come to collect these fees just because they can.

We all knew it would happen eventually. The merchant account market's entry costs were just a little higher than the mom-and-pop sell-it-from-their-home business could deal with. These companies filled that need, by stretching the merchant account rules. Now it's come back to bite us all.

[JoeZeppy]

I wrote off to Globill and they responded saying it is business as usual for them at least for now. Maybe it doesn't affect all IPSPs. I hope so.

[txbakers]

IBill was primarily built on the backs of po*n sites, so they were probably hit with massive chargeback costs. I haven't heard of anything with PayPal. If they do, it's bye-bye paypal for me also.

[dhdweb]

I think that because PayPal makes everyone sign up to be a member, that they have other avenues of generating revenue and hopefully they won't need to pass these fees onto us!

If they do, I'm done because it would be more than I can afford!

dhdweb

[JoeZeppy]

Well,

Just a quick follow-up. Since I rang some alarms, I suppose I should calm them too. I've spoken to a number of IPSPs now including Globill, Paysystems, ClickBank, and just received a call from Paypal. I've been assured from all these sources that if you are not in the adult content business there is nothing to worry about and that extra fees are not imminent. Although I originally liked iBill when I met them at Internet World, I have to say that I don't think they have been honest (with me) on this issue in the sense that when I spoke with them on the phone, they gave no indication that this was an adult issue. The impression they gave me was that it affected all IPSPs period. I didn't know until now, but the impression I have received since is that they have built their business in the adult area (no offense to anyone, I just didn't know it). I think that's why they had to be pro-active and make the announcement. Thanks for the feedback.

JoeZeppy