Quote:
Originally posted by Validus
At times like this we can see the clear benefits of operating our own private billing company which comes with clear advantages.
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If you're talking about merchant accounts, I have agree they are starting to look better every day, but only because the IPSP benefits seem to be diminishing. And merchant accounts have their pitfalls too.
I still would prefer the IPSP model, and would be willing to pay even more than the standard 15 percent, but only if I didn't have to worry about the following risks:
1) Paying for chargebacks and fines.
2) Getting reported to Visa and blacklisted if the IPSP mismanaged my chargebacks.
3) Getting lumped into a pool of webmasters who do have major chargeback problems and, even if I keep my account clean, suffering a Visa/Mastercard cutoff regardless.
Since you DO have to worry about all of this with an IPSP now, and you still have to pay upfront fees as you would with a merchant account --- you might as well roll the dice and try to have more control over your destiny.
HOWEVER, I do see big problems with merchant accounts too.
Look at Silvercash. Their bank cut their merchant account off without any warning. Once that news came out, tons of webmasters shared similar stories where their bank cut them off --- not because they had chargeback problems --- but simply because they were in adult.
Even if the bank knows you are in adult, a simple change in bank management can change that situation really quickly. So, a merchant account can be tough too.
But if you have to worry about and deal with all the hassles anyway, I'm starting to lean in that direction --- only because you would hopefully have a little more control over the situation. And you might save a little money.
Of course, if Visa and Mastercard cut off adult completely, then everybody's screwed --- regardless.