ALTO GLOBAL PROCESSING: Western Union Launches Prepaid Platform in Europe

Western Union has announced today that it is extending its prepaid card platform to the United Kingdom with the launch of both the Western Union MasterCard® Gift Card and the Western Union GoCash Service. "The launch marks the first international extension of Western Union’s prepaid program outside of the United States with further expansion planned in coming months to Asia, Latin America and additional European countries."

For more information : 
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111201005617/en/Western-Union-Launches-Prepaid-Platform-Europe-MasterCard
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ALTO GLOBAL PROCESSING: Citi Expands WorldLink Local Payments Offering into Eight New Countries

Citigroup has announced that its Global Transaction Services unit is expanding its premier cross-border payment solution, WorldLink® Payment Services (WorldLink), into eight new countries for local payments.

This expansion sees the traditional Automated Clearing House (ACH) offering increase from 21 countries, primarily in Europe, to 29 countries spanning Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas.

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Tribute To A Visionary: Steve Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011)

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Section 6050W of the Internal Revenue Code Affects Merchants and Processors January 2012

The Housing Tax Act of 2008 included the enactment of section 6050W of the Internal Revenue Code which requires merchant account processors to report merchants total gross processing amounts to the Internal Revenue Service. The reporting entity must also provide merchants with a corresponding 1099-K form.
This new requirement includes all processors and merchants, unless the merchant processes less than 200 transactions a year or total transaction payments is less than $20,000. Reporting begins in January 2012 and includes all transactions beginning January 2011.
All merchants must provide their processors with their valid tax identification number (TIN) and tax filing name. If a merchant fails to provide the TIN and tax filing name, or there is a discrepancy between the information provided and the information on file with the IRS, the merchant account provider will be required to hold taxes on future transaction funds. The backup withholding is currently 28%.
Merchants must ensure that the TIN and tax filing name provided to their processor matches what is on file with the IRS to avoid any future backup withholding.
More information on Section 6050W of the Internal Revenue Code

Alto Global Processing: Regulation II - Frequently Asked Questions

The Federal Reserve has released a set of frequently asked questions (and answers) about "General-Use Prepaid Cards and Circumvention and Evasion". Given the Regulation II exemptions for certain reloadable prepaid cards, there seems to be a lot of industry questions about what exactly can be done with a general-use prepaid card and still have the card considered exempt from Regulation II interchange caps.
To view the FAQ's please visit: http://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/regii_faq.htm

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HSBC Merchant Services launches PCI DSS compliance service

Established by card schemes Visa, MasterCard, Amex, Discovery and JCB, the global standards set out minimum security requirements for companies accepting plastic.

Non-compliant firms can face unlimited fines, with one unnamed outfit hit for £100,000 as a result of a card data security breach within the last year, says HSBC Global Services.

Yet research commissioned last year by vendor Tripwire found that the vast majority of UK firms had yet to be certified as PCI DSS compliant with a third unsure if they would meet an upcoming September deadline.

In order to simplify what can be a complex processes, HSBC Merchant Services has launched Global Fortress, a one-stop shop for merchants seeking to become PCI compliant.

The processor says that for £6 a month per merchant ID, Global Fortress will help protect customer data and regularly test security systems, among other services, through qualified security assessor, SecurityMetrics.

Chris Davies, MD, HSBC Merchant Services, says: "Although the process to ensure your business is PCI DSS compliant can be an arduous one, it is necessary to protect customers' card data from fraud and protect the reputation of your business. Not only that, but a merchant may have to pay large fines if they decide to ignore these obligatory requirements.

"Global Fortress allows our customers to manage both of these potentially substantial issues: a simple way of achieving PCI DSS compliance and a path to possibly avoid receiving industry fines when compliance is maintained."

ALTO GLOBAL PROCESSING: WHAT IS ONLINE PAYMENT PROCESSING?

Online payment processing is the secure transfer and verification of financial data (ex: customer credit card information). This secure transfer of data is initialized from a merchant's e-commerce website or virtual terminal to a merchant's bank account. The communication vehicle to deliver this information between the entities is the payment gateway.

Hence, the gateway securely passes and receives information from financial institutions that have a part in the transaction. In most cases those parties are the Payment Processor (the company that coordinates the authorization, decline and applicable settlement of funds), Acquiring Bank (The affiliate bank that represents Visa/MasterCard) and Issuing Bank (the financial institution that extends the available credit of the card holder backed against the card holder's bank account)

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Peter Thiel: If I'd Known, I Would Never Have Started PayPal by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry

PayPal co-founder, Facebook billionaire and general Silicon Valley demigod Peter Thiel gave an interview to CapLinked, a company he invested in.
He talks about the college bubble and his history but the thing that's most striking is the fact that he said that if he had known everything he now knows about the payments industry before starting PayPal, he would never have tried to do it, because of how many difficulties there are in the space.
Thiel co-founded PayPal, took it public and then sold it for $1.5 billion to eBay.
It's a nice testament to the power of innovators just doing something they believe in and trying to figure it out from there. All of the experts would have predicted PayPal to be a failure, and they would have been "right" on paper.
He also talks about his decision to become the first outside investor in Facebook. The two things that stuck out for him about Facebook were: a) the fact that this was the first site where people logged in with their real identities, and so it had the potential to be an identity layer for the web, and b) the scale of Mark Zuckerberg's vision. That's what got him to invest.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-thiel-interview-paypal-facebook-2011-6#ixzz1W9PmLATg

 

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ViVOtech Ships EMV Payments and NFC mCommerce-Ready Reader

ViVOpay 8100 Designed to Meet Visa Technology Innovation Program; Potential Savings to Merchants of $2 Billion Annually by Eliminating PCI-DSS Validation Costs

SANTA CLARA, CA--(Marketwire - Aug 17, 2011) - ViVOtech, the near field communication (NFC) software and systems company, today announced the immediate availability of a new point of sale (POS) terminal for payments and NFC mobile commerce that could save eligible merchants more than $2 billion a year in annual Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) validation costs under a Visa Inc. initiative.
ViVOtech's new ViVOpay 8100 terminals accept traditional swipe cards with magnetic stripes, chip cards, contactless cards, and NFC-enabled mobile phones, as required by the Visa initiative announced last week to accelerate the migration to Eurocard-MasterCard-Visa (EMV) contact and contactless chip technology in the United States.
To motivate merchants, Visa announced on August 9, 2011: "Effective October 1, 2012, Visa will expand its Technology Innovation Program (TIP) to the U.S. TIP will eliminate the requirement for eligible merchants to annually validate their compliance with the PCI Data Security Standard for any year in which at least 75 percent of the merchant's Visa transactions originate from chip-enabled terminals. To qualify, terminals must be enabled to support both contact and contactless chip acceptance, including mobile contactless payments based on NFC technology."
The industry association Smart Card Alliance estimates annual PCI-DSS fraud-protection validations cost businesses more than $2 billion a year.
"Viva Visa!" said Michael (Mick) Mullagh, CEO of ViVOtech, which has shipped more than 850,000 contactless and NFC readers worldwide. "It's about time the U.S. joins the rest of the world, which has been using highly secure contact and contactless chip technology for nearly a decade. We applaud Visa's efforts to advance adoption here. And, we have the affordable technology available today in the new ViVOpay 8100 for merchants to take advantage of Visa's incentives while benefiting from rich NFC mobile commerce."
Much More than EMV-Ready
The new ViVOpay 8100 includes ViVOtech NFC checkout technology that enables merchants to accept and process coupons, personalized offers, loyalty programs and payments through the merchant's proprietary mobile applications.
With the ViVOpay 8100, consumers just insert, swipe or tap their payment cards, or tap their NFC mobile phones to pay or electronically redeem a coupon or discount voucher. The device also accepts Personal Identification Number (PIN) entry for secure debit transactions. Combined with ViVOtech's mLoyalty, coupons, and social networking software, the ViVOpay 8100 allows merchants to deliver personalized services to customers' NFC-enabled mobile phones.
The ViVOpay 8100 works with the most popular payment terminals and electronic cash register (ECR) systems used by merchants today, adding powerful new capabilities that include:

• PCI 2.1 certification: Highly secure PIN pad provides protection from obsolescence beyond 2014.
• Integrated mobile payments and promotions module: Built-in support for NFC mobile payments, marketing and loyalty programs.
• Support for multiple transactions: Enables Chip-and-PIN and signature-based credit and debit transactions using mag-stripe, contactless and NFC mobile phones.
• ISO 14443 contactless and ISO 18092 peer-to-peer NFC, and MiFare Technologies.
• Remote download: Post-deployment firmware updates via remote download eliminate the need for additional hardware or device resetting.
• Customer-friendly keypad: Compliant with standards for the visually disabled, with a recessed keyboard providing maximum privacy.
• Advanced connectivity: Ethernet connectivity along with serial and USB communication support for multiple connectivity options to work with a versatile set of mobile-enabled applications.

The ViVOpay 8100 is designed to meet Visa Technology Innovation Program (TIP) requirements as well as support new NFC-based mCommerce opportunities. The new reader comes with a secure 32-bit ARM9 processor, the Linux operating system, 16MB Flash, 32MB SDRAM, as well as integrated EMV smart card, contactless NFC and mag-stripe readers. To learn more or to purchase the ViVOpay 8100, visit: http://www.vivotech.com/products/vivo_pay/vivopay_8100.asp.
About ViVOtech
ViVOtech, the near field communication (NFC) software and systems company, enables rich mobile commerce solutions for in-store payment, loyalty, marketing, and merchandising. Merchant, payment, mobile, web and advertising companies use ViVOtech solutions to enhance customer experience and grow their business. ViVOtech's NFC software and systems are the broadest, most tested and deployed worldwide. Founded in 2001, Silicon Valley-based ViVOtech provides the key building blocks of the NFC ecosystem: smart applications for enhancing the customer experience, wallet and trusted service manager (TSM) software, and point of sale systems. ViVOtech's investors include Alloy Ventures, Citi Ventures, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, DFJ Gotham, EDBI, First Data Corporation, Miven Ventures, Motorola Mobility, Motorola Solutions, Nokia Growth Partners, NCR, SingTel Innov8 and Sprint. Join the NFC revolution at http://www.ViVOtech.com.

ALTO GLOBAL PROCESSING: ABOUT

(AGP) Alto Global Processing is a 'turn key' and full service payment processing solutions company. Our team specializes in payment gateway services and the issuing and/or reselling of private merchant accounts for 'high' risk clientele.

The most valuable asset of our team is founded on the versatility of our team members. Our management team was strategically selected and premised on areas of expertise. In turn, AGP has collectively created an operational team that has decades of combined experience in the technical, banking and merchant space.

AGP is cognizant of the ever changing regulations of the payment processing sector in reference to where their merchant's compete on a daily basis. So, we truly understand and empathize with the challenges a typical merchant is consistently faced with. More specifically, we have the ability to customize payment processing solutions that are not only 'turn key' but address the pressing needs of our clients:

• Increase Profitability for the Merchant: Increase overall revenue and
Decrease overall expenditures for the merchant.

• Provide payment services that allows the Merchant to do what they do best

• Reduce Risk by Calculative Decision Making

• Transparency in Managing Merchant Finances

• Deliver: 'Do What You Say You Are Going to Do'

• Quality Assurance. Innovation. Customer Service.

Sharing Wealth: Value of Deep Linking By Stephen Yagielowicz

One of the most basic and yet most valuable techniques for building website traffic is the use of well targeted contextual deep linking.
In its most effective terms, this process involves crafting keyword-focused text links, pointing to internal or external pages that are optimized for that link text — for example, echoing the deep link on the page’s title, Meta and <h1> tags, and in the page body text.
Contrast this approach to a generic link to the site’s home or other page.
Effective deep linking is a proven method of reducing bounce rates, as visitors find the specific material they are seeking, rather than landing on a generic home, landing or splash page. Bounce rates measure the percentage of visitors that only view one page of your site, “bouncing” off of it — which the search engines interpret as “the surfer did not find what he wanted.” When that is the case, the relevance of the link is questionable, which is not what search engines want to offer — so that link is devalued in the listings.
If deep links are so good, then why don’t more webmasters use them?
The short answer is because they’re a lot of work to properly implement — especially when it is two or more sites belonging to different owners that are being linked together — due to the specific anchor text requirements and their ability to blend with surrounding page content — on what could be a website focusing on a totally unrelated topic. Email chains devoted to these exchanges alone may use up a considerable amount of your time.
With carefully chosen link partners, however, the value of deep linking far outweighs the difficulty of establishing a proper linking structure; and when crafting internal links between pages on your own site, deep links are the way to go. Try it for yourself and see.

Alto Global Processing: Getting Started

Alto Global Processing are experts in assisting new or existing merchants determine the best fit for payment processing needs and more specifically providing a custom architecture in obtaining private merchant accounts. Following a completed 'Pre-Application' form (Link to Pre Application Form), Alto Global Processing team can recommend their inquiring clients the available options to consider in respect to the 'risk' associated with each client's business model.
Furthermore, Alto Global Processing's banking partners are registered ISO (agent) and underwriters for specific and exclusive banking relationships. Collectively Alto Global Processing team deals with multiple banks in the global market place. This allows their team to provide a thorough action plan and applicable recommendations of where the client can best grow their business domestically or with foreign banking solution.
It is Alto Global Processing objective to work with each of their clients in educating, informing and guiding their clients through this process. Click here to get started 

Please visit Alto Global Processing at http://altoglobalprocessing.com

EMC2: Full of Solutions By John Stuart

Anyone who wants to start a business should know that online payment processing probably is not the optimum arena for a newcomer.
The competition is fierce among the almost numberless companies in this crowded field. And yet, since EMC2 Billing launched in 2005 this firm not only has survived but has thrived. What’s their secret?
“There is a lot of competition in this business,” says EMC2 BillingCEO Greg Berard, “so to stand apart we consider ourselves not just a sales organization or a billing partner, but a consulting company. We don’t just say, ‘Here’s a solution. Here’s our commission. Have a nice day.’ We really work with our partners and we’re very selective of who we choose to work with, because we want long-term partnerships. We help manage and monitor their billing solutions so they can continue growing their business.
‘The hands-on approach that we take is a bit different from other processing companies. Most of the other billing companies in this space have risk and underwriting people that look at things almost from a compliance standpoint. We look at it like we’re business partners with our merchants, because the better they do, the better we do. We try to learn about their business and know their payment space very well. This allows us to head off some of the dangerous things that might happen. We’ll notify the merchant of any problems before the bank does. We have merchants who have been on our books for more than 10 years.”
The longevity of merchant relationships with EMC2 is proof that their approach to online payment processing works. According to Berard, who has been involved in online processing for 14 years, this has as much to do with his company’s overall philosophy as it does with the details of its business model.
“EMC has always been focused on consulting for and assisting good merchants,” says Berard. “Sometimes they may be misunderstood merchants, but always it’s a good merchant, someone who’s in business trying to make a living. They may be considered high risk, but we assist them with their processing and billing needs worldwide.
“We use all different kinds of billing services. We consult for our clients. What we try to do is help them maximize their revenue opportunities and minimize risk. We help them also to find solutions that they can stay in and manage for a very long time. At the same time we help monitor all the processing that they do, help them reduce their chargebacks and reduce fraud. We refer them to all different kinds of solutions.
‘We have credit card processing solutions domestically here in the States and internationally in Europe, South America and Asia. We have ACH Check 21 processing solutions, global solutions and multiple currency solutions in dozens of countries, as well as a few other interesting alternative solutions. We try to be on the forefront and find the best solutions that can help maximize revenue for all of our clients.”
One of the keys to the success of EMC2 is the enormous menu of payment offerings from which their merchant partners can choose. Berard firmly believes that this kind of variety benefits his firm just as much as it helps the merchants.
‘We like to have a very wide array of solutions available,” he says, “and we’re constantly searching for new solutions. Some of our clients don’t want to bother with all of these solutions, and some use every single one of them. We feel that the more solutions you have, the more money you’re going to make, so it’s worth it to have as many solutions as possible. We offer our merchants check processing solutions, credit card solutions, alternative billing, local payment solutions, and we’re creating a new website that should be available by June that will give merchants yet another choice.”
Among its clients, EMC2 boasts of astounding success stories with merchants who may not have had the best of track records before they partnered with Berard’s company. The reason for this lies in how EMC2 analyzes these merchants and helps them to change their business practices.
“We love the merchants who might not have the best track records but want to change their business practices,” says Berard. “Sometimes they just had poor processing or had a couple of rogue affiliates that caused bad traffic. Sometimes they were processing with a bank that went through an audit and terminated them because they felt the account was too risky. We like these kinds of merchants, but we look at it in a case-by-case basis. If we feel a merchant is a turnaround story who is really trying to do something better, we’ll usually sit down face-to-face and get a better understanding and we’ll take them on.”
Adds EMC2 President Jason Clements: “We have a track record of being able to turn those merchants around, so our banks are willing to work with us on those merchants that they might not do with other partners.”
The fine relationships EMC2 has maintained with its banking partners is another key ingredient in the company’s continued growth. “We have a lot of different banking relationships,” Berard says, “and we believe we’re more honest than most processors with our banking partners. We tell them the good, the bad and the ugly about our merchants.
“If there is a bad history or some attention from lawmakers or a record of charge-backs where the merchant is turning it around and changing business practices, we tell the entire story to our banking partners before our merchants ever process a dime with them. The bank knows everything, so there are no surprises.
“We’re proud of the fact that we are so above board with our clients and our banking partners. We communicate with both on a daily basis. Banks just want to know what they’re getting themselves into, and as long as they know that up front there won’t be any problems. To be safe, we look at merchant transactions from a moment-to-moment basis to make sure nothing crazy is happening.”
Among the possible “crazy” problems any online processor must face is fraud, but Berard has armed EMC2 for just about every contingency in this potential minefield.
‘The nice part about working on a consulting basis as opposed to being just a processing partner,” Berard says, “is that we have a lot more flexibility in terms of gateway solutions, fraud prevention tools, and banking partners. We take a look at how we can fix some of the problems. Sometimes it’s just a case of giving the merchant some fraud tools. We have solutions available which we refer to our clients. We’ll refer a client to a specific gateway based on what we feel their needs are. We can suggest a large number of excellent gateway tools that can help to increase their revenues and lower their fraud risk. And if we feel that they can do things on their own, we can refer them to the cheapest and most robust gateway solutions for that.
“In this day and age, there are so many great tools available, so we just try to be flexible and give our clients the best fit for their businesses. The best way to reduce fraud is literally just to look at the transactions. When you have our years of experience, you’re able to see trends and problems and you can suggest solutions specific to those problems.”
Clearly, it is the 14 years of experience that Berard brings to EMC2 which has been the main reason why the firm does so well in the incredibly competitive field of payment processing.

Neostrata Embraces Payment Options for French, Italian Markets

GIBRALTAR — Neostrata, owner of affiliate programs HunkMoney, BritishBucks and LatinoBucks, has partnered with European merchant services company Webbilling to offer new direct debit payment options for its French and Italian customers.
“We have been working closely with Webbilling for about a year now, offering their alternative payment solutions to select European markets, with significant results,” said Luke Hubert, owner of Neostrata.
“So we were thrilled to hear that Webbilling was now providing new alternative payment solutions for France and Italy. I got in touch with Webbilling immediately and we worked together to get these new payments options rolled out to all our paysites in all three of our programs. And now, I believe we are the first all-gay programs to offer direct debit billing solutions to France and Italy.”
Neostrata has recognized the importance of offering alternative billing methods to different markets. Since much of the European population does not use credit cards for online purchases, Neostrata has worked to secure non-card solutions so that its webmasters can now capitalize on all their European traffic.
"We are excited to begin adding several countries to our direct debit capability throughout 2011, beginning with the prime French market," said Ines Petersen, Webbilling's global operations director.
"Expanding our reach and coverage to enable HunkMoney, BritishBucks and LatinoBucks affiliates to convert all of their E.U. traffic improves results for everyone." Affiliate webmasters can now monetize gay traffic sent in Germany, Austria, Netherlands, U.K., Spain, Italy and France.

Webbilling Reports Higher Conversions After Adding French Direct Debit

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — XBIZ award winning alternative payment processor Webbilling.com BV has announced that the addition of French direct debit to its platform has resulted in increased conversions and a new revenue stream for its merchants with French traffic.
The company said that the French option continues Webbilling's expansion of country coverage throughout 2011.
Current coverage includes Germany, U.K., Austria, Netherlands, Spain, France and Italy with several more E.U. countries in final testing pending activation in the coming months.
Webbilling is currently seeking NATS French and Italian traffic beta testers.
“We are looking forward to discussing all our expanding payment options in Chicago next month and are actively seeking volunteers for more revenue,” Webbilling's JoeD said.
“The Webbilling.com team will be attending the upcoming XBIZ Summit in Chicago set for June 10-12, so let’s meet to discuss all our expanded new options.”
For instructions and assistance with the NATS set-up contact marketing@webbilling.com.

Online Billing and America's Ongoing Credit Crunch By Alex Henderson

Brick-and-mortar transactions were once the norm for adult entertainment. But thanks to the adult Internet explosion, the vast majority of adult entertainment is acquired online these days.
In the United States, credit cards remain the dominant payment method for adult websites whether they are membership sites or sites specializing in tangible goods (such as sex toys and BDSM equipment). But unfortunately for adult ecommerce — and mainstream ecommerce as well — American banks are much tighter with credit than they were before the economic crash of September, 2008. More credit applications are being declined, existing credit lines are being reduced, and banks have been eliminating credit cards they consider "dormant" even if the person has a stellar credit history.
For adult ecommerce, America's credit crunch raises a number of questions. Will credit cards remain the dominant online payment method for adult transactions in the U.S.? And will more American adult webmasters be turning to billing methods other than credit cards in the future?
"I think the credit crunch is primarily affecting the extension of new credit to consumers, and its greatest impact is in sectors that rely on a high risk tolerance on the part of lenders — like real estate, small business loans and other areas in which banks have been hesitant to extend large lines of credit," explained Q. Boyer, director of public relations for TopBucks/PinkVisual. "Certainly, it has also affected the ability of some first-time applicants to obtain credit cards, but the impact of that on our sales and revenue is difficult to gauge. As a company, our sales have actually been on the increase over the last year, due in large part to the growth of our mobile sector."
Raphael A. Berkien, business development manager for the alternative payment solutions provider 2000Charge, pointed out that in Europe, credit is less of an issue for adult webmasters because in many European countries, credit cards are the exception instead of the rule for online adult billing. Berkien, who grew up in Holland but now lives in Los Angeles, noted that in Europe, credit cards take a back seat to bank account debiting and SMS/phone billing for adult Internet transactions, saying that alternative payments have been increasing for adult ecommerce in the United States and will continue to do so, although credit cards remain the country's primary adult online payment method.
"The U.S. is so credit-driven, whereas most of the European countries — including Holland, where I'm from — are not credit-driven," Berkien said. "In Holland, they don't have a credit score per se like they do here in the United States. If you apply for a car here, they check your credit. Credit cards are never going to disappear in the United States, but will the credit crunch inspire more Americans to look to alternative billing methods? Absolutely. American consumers have less credit than did four or five years ago, and bank-driven payment solutions — as opposed to Visa or MasterCard — have made progress in the U.S. because of the tightening of credit."
Another thing that will likely inspire more Americans to look into alternative payment methods for online adult transactions, Berkien added, is the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, which went into effect on February 22, 2010 and mandates, among other things, a minimum payment explanation on credit card statements.
Now, credit card statements must tell consumers how long it will take to pay off an existing debt and how much that debt will increase if only the minimum monthly payments are made and no additional debts are added. When American consumers see that information on a statement, Berkien said, more of them will consider alternative billing methods for adult Internet transactions.
Combine that minimum payment explanation with an overall climate of reduced credit, Berkien said, and you have a recipe for more Americans turning to alternative billing.
"The credit crunch has been good for us because alternative payment methods have grown. Tighter credit doesn't mean that credit cards will go away, but it means that there won't be as many credit card sales in this country," Berkien explained. "I think that more Americans will switch to alternative payment methods because (1) the amount of credit is being limited, and (2) your statement now has evidence that shows you how expensive it can be to use a credit card. When Americans get their credit card statements in the mail and see how long it will take them to pay off their balances if they make the minimum payment, they are going to think twice about the purchases they make with their credit cards."
"People will realize that even a recurring $24.95 charge for an adult membership site can become expensive if you are only paying the minimum on your credit card bill," Berkien concluded.
Boyer said that he would like to see SMS billing become an online payment option for erotica in the U.S, but he noted that consumers won't have that option as long as American telecoms continue to distance themselves from adult entertainment.
"I highly doubt that the American billing landscape will become significantly more like that of Europe in the future," Boyer said. "There are such fundamental differences in law, attitude, and corporate risk tolerance with respect to pornographic materials that I just can't see the U.S. moving in a 'European direction,' so to speak. For example, as it stands now in Europe, SMS billing for erotic materials is commonplace, whereas in America, it is entirely nonexistent."
"This is something that will change only if American carriers/telecoms change their policies with respect to adult materials and SMS," Boyer added. "As it stands now, no American carriers permit or support billing for adult content via SMS, and I strongly doubt any of them are going to change their tune any time soon. I would very much like to be proved wrong in that last assertion, however."
Despite the economic downturn, business has been good for Lisa Lawless, founder of the Colorado-based Holistic Wisdom Corporation. Lawless, whose company specializes in online sex toy sales, said that "Our credit card sales are still going strong and are over 95 percent of our sales."
Lawless noted that because credit has become tighter and consumers have grown savvier about how and where they spend their money, she has been making a point of offering bargains for her customers such as coupons and gift certificates.
How long American banks will remain tight-fisted with credit remains to be seen. But however long the credit crunch continues, Boyer said, credit cards are ingrained in the consciousness of so many American consumers — including those who use the adult Internet.
"I believe that credit cards will continue to be the dominant billing method in the U.S. for the foreseeable future," Boyer concluded. "Among other reasons, there are relatively few alternatives to credit card billing for the American consumer, and I think there's something to the notion that we are a 'credit card culture' in this country. Americans are accustomed to pulling out their credit cards to pay for just about everything, and I think it is going to be pretty difficult for another form of payment to gain penetration and user adoption that would significantly erode the stranglehold credit cards have on American consumer purchase habits."

Using an Android as a Wallet By Stephen Yagielowicz

The future of payment systems has come a bit closer, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that search and technology giant Google is working with financial services firms Citigroup and MasterCard on an initiative which would incorporate contactless payment technologies into the Android Smartphone platform.
These systems rely on near field communications (NFC), a type of radio that allows devices to communicate with one another, simply by being within fairly close proximity. This feature has been available from Google since February’s Android v2.3.3 — which included enabling technologies such as an NFC reader/writer API.
Think of the possibilities: no more counting cash, fumbling for loose change, or hoping you brought the right credit card with you — simply wave your phone like a magic wand, and your needs will be satisfied. Part of the plan allows users to receive targeted ads (based upon your behavior as a consumer, such as past purchase patterns) and discount coupons, when in range of one of these advanced merchant terminals.
“The project, which is in its early stages, would allow holders of Citigroup-issued debit and credit cards to pay for purchases by activating a mobile-payment application developed for one current model and many coming models of Android phones,” The WSJ report states. “The idea is to turn the phones into a kind of electronic wallet.”
For its part, Google will initially profit from advertising sales, rather than sharing in any processing fees, or taking a percentage of the sale. The company has engaged in talks with retailers that may be interested in testing the new system, with reports that upcoming market trials are set for New York City and San Francisco.
“A phone is a lot smarter than a card,” Veri-Fone CEO Doug Bergeron stated, adding that “It opens the door to a rich experience at the point of sale that retailers really covet.”

ALTO GLOBAL PROCESSING: WHAT IS A MERCHANT ACCOUNT?

Alto Global Processing - For a company that wishes to accept payments via credit cards, it is required that the company obtains a merchant account. Regardless of the sector of business your organization operates in, private merchant accounts is the processing vehicle. Merchant accounts can be issued by both domestic and foreign banking solutions. Keep in mind that each bank and the geographical region your team is operating in may have specific regulations to consider for operating a merchant account.

Please visit Alto Global Processing at http://altoglobalprocessing.com

MerchantBilling Shows New Processing Power at XBIZ Summit by Lyla Katz

LOS ANGELES — Premier processing company Merchant Billing is gearing up to expand the reach of its operations within the adult industry and will be participating in next week’s highly anticipated XBIZ Summit in Chicago as a Gold Sponsor from June 10-12.

The Merchant Billing hospitality suite will be open for all tradeshow attendees to learn how to bill more efficiently and earn better profit margins with MerchantBilling.com.

"We're excited to be a central part of the XBIZ Chicago event and look forward to meeting with decision-makers face to face," said Barry Hotson, vice president of business development for MerchantBilling.com.

"In this new era of online commerce, having a verifiable level of trust and personal contact with the companies you do business with is an essential element of long-term success.

“Merchant Billing offers clients innovative new processing technologies and a long track record of trust. You can drop in to meet us informally when you arrive or set up a scheduled meeting ahead of time to guarantee any particular time slot."

Merchant Billing said it is evolving the tools that merchants rely upon. The processing and fraud prevention tools currently being used by many major merchants are surprisingly outdated, the company said. That means many companies are earning less than they could be due to slow statistical analysis, inadequate consumer screening and other obstacles which can be overcome with a more advanced billing system in place.

“Merchant Billing provides rock solid reliability and speed in one powerful package of processing solutions,” the company said.

Merchant Billing said it offers a proprietary next generation PCI compliant gateway, with fully customizable billing rules and smart processing parameters, enabling its clients to maximize revenues, the company added.

The new platform with customizable KPI's and 24/7 fully-integrated support from experienced industry agents also allows clients to improve member retention.

Clients can access a statistics package, customizable metrics and get behavioral analysis with A/B testing capabilities.

Merchant Billing also integrates clients’ affiliate program functionality with Smart Ad technology, detailed metrics and a wide array of customizable program options.

Alto Global Processing Launches

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Alto Global Processing has announced the official launch of the company.
The company said the team was formed by combining the strengths of three entities including technology, banking and operational partners.
Alto Global Processing specializes in the issuing of private merchant services and gateway services in the high-risk merchant sector of the online payment processing space.
The management team of Alto Global Processing said it had monitored and reviewed the state of the online billing industry and is confident that its business model will enable the company to be competitive due to the team's experience, banking relationships and access to sophisticated technology.
"The entire online adult industry has rapidly evolved over the past two years in a manner that makes the business environment more challenging than ever," CEO Luca Bizzotto said.
"Along with an increase in affiliate programs competing, decrease in quality webmasters and access to free content, the credit card association has become more savvy with policing merchants who continue to be overly aggressive and ultimately forcing bank closures due to fraudulent practices. So, to combat these trends, Alto Global Processing has taken a unique approach to solidifying their position as a banking partner to merchants.
The company said that in order to service merchants by offering them private merchant accounts, Alto Global Processing is dedicated to seeking banking relationships where there is true investment into the bank.
"More specifically, Alto Global Processing’s banking portfolio consists of banks that are not saturated with typical adult clients," the company said.
"This minimizes the risk in associating Alto Global Processing merchants with those merchants who continue to be overly aggressive. Furthermore, Alto Global Processing seeks their preferred banking relationships to be premised on an ownership into the banking BIN and/or has an exclusive relationship with the bank and/or can directly underwrite merchants."
The company said Alto Global Processing's bank investment becomes more beneficial for clients and merchants in the ability to offer competitive rates, turn applications around in a quicker manner, to see the ‘big picture’ of a merchant, and to have more control in ensuring the merchant processes at its highest potential.
The company said this philosophy extends to Alto Global Processing gateway services. The team owns the code behind the platform giving clients access to custom services, discounted fees and customer service.
For more information, contact info@AltoGlobalProcessing.com.

The State of Merchant Banking by By Steve Bryson and Dan Steinberg

Rest assured: Now more than ever, we believe there are excellent choices for merchants to obtain quality merchant account and payment processing solutions. One fact that can describe these times is that the payment industry is more regulated than ever, which may seem problematic to some, but in truth, creates more stability.
The payment industry has matured in the way it is able to service the adult industry, and today there are more ways than ever for merchants to reliably accept payment and convert their traffic into revenue. There may be hiccups that occur from time to time, like in any industry, potentially affecting adult merchants in some way. Any industry is subject to being affected by outside circumstances, such as effects from the mortgage industry meltdown.
For example, word of the FDIC’s role as the new majority owner of Humboldt Merchant Services emerged in August just as we were asked to comment in this article on the current state of banking and payments for adult merchants. HMS’s president, Ken Musante, assured all in a brief online announcement and on a personal call to Steve Bryson as well, that HMS’s customers will continue to receive uninterrupted payment processing.
Musante and the other professionals running HMS know their business, and we are confident that they will continue to be a reliable long-term provider of merchant account services to the adult industry. Whether it is here in the states — through a Merrick ISO, HMS, or another bank that might be taking adult business, or offshore in Europe or another region, be assured of this — there are very good solutions for “high-risk adult” merchant accounts. There are also excellent solutions out there for mobile billing, for ACH and Check21, for country specific bank debit, and for other alternative forms of billing.
Webmasters today want to be able to convert their U.S. traffic and their non-U.S. traffic at the best possible rates. Experienced payment industry professionals can help merchants wade through the choices and avoid mistakes when considering these payment options.
Along these lines, on July 24 the Merchant Card Information Reporting Requirement was signed into law and made part of the Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act also known as H.R. 3221. This Act stipulates that all acquirers will be responsible in the coming year for reporting merchants that process more than 200 transactions and/or $20,000 annually to the Internal Revenue Service. The intent of this part of the bill is a further attempt in our opinion, to capture revenue to offset the enormous deficit.
The requirement for reporting under this legislature falls solely onto the acquirer. One byproduct of this is that the time for companies engaged in the merchant processing business by operating unregistered aggregation accounts, has come and passed. We can expect to see acquirers being even more careful now when underwriting new merchant accounts.
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency implores acquiring banks to perform extensive due diligence in an attempt to reduce fraud risk. This mere fact combined with the fast-approaching reporting requirements by acquirers is sure to shine the spotlight on many companies that were operating under the radar. They have also suggested further restrictions on all new and existing entities wishing to become Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs). It is our belief that the recent climate within financial institutions may put smaller ISOs that lack reporting capabilities as well as certain banks, out of business.
As we all know, there has been a proliferation of offshore companies operating in just the manner described above (unregistered aggregation). If they are not shut down by their acquirers, many of these will begin to experience difficulties due to decreased sales thereby inflating chargeback ratios. Merchants need to be careful of this, ask questions of their processors if they are uncertain how the processor is operating, and reach out to professional ISO organizations servicing the adult industry for assistance, if they have any doubts.
Be assured, the current state of the banking industry is not doom and gloom. There are highly qualified, registered ISOs and third-party billing companies geared to provide quality merchant account solutions here in the U.S. or offshore, for either individual accounts or IPSP accounts. They are registered with the card associations and have the sense of mind to balance their highrisk volume vs. retail merchant volume. These are the companies that merchants need to be working with to insure stability and continued growth opportunity with their businesses.
As we stated initially, there are still very good choices for individual merchant accounts and processing solutions both in the U.S. and abroad. In today’s banking environment, more so than in recent years, merchants are opting for their own merchant accounts, while many continue to opt for accounts at an IPSP.
That dynamic will probably never change. Is it the “best of times” or “the worst of times” in banking for adult? While more regulated than ever, we feel that these are very good times in terms of the quality of merchant account and payment processing opportunities available.




Steve Bryson and Dan Steinberg are veterans of internet payment processing. Bryson is CEO of Global Electronic Technology Inc., a leading ISO in the U.S. credit card services industry and has long serviced the adult merchant community. Steinberg has worked with many of the top programs in the industry on their payment solutions for more than a decade. At the Phoenix Forum this year, longtime friends Bryson and Steinberg co-launched a new company, Orbitalpay LLC, a hybrid PSP designed for the adult industry.