I have had some time to think about this situation with iBill, and a little bit of clarity is coming to my head. Essentially I broke it down like this:
The facts/rumors I have heard so far are
1) iBill laid of 40 people
2) iBill is expecting some large fines from Visa and MasterCard
I have heard many other facts/rumors, but other than these tow listed, I haven?t heard anything that affects iBill operational capacity directly
So what do these two facts mean?
Well if I was InterCept, and I had been sold a probable lemon, I would do these things:
1) Lay off excess staff and reduce all/any costs possible to prepare for any future fines so as not to trade insolently. If I was a board member of InterCept, I wouldn?t want iBill to trade in-solvently under any circumstances, particularly after seeing the share price of InterCept go down the toilet.
2) Lay off any staff suspected of "possible" actions not in the best interests of the company
3) Immediately terminate any accounts that have been operated in a way, which would cause such fines to take place
So what else should be considered at this stage?
Well I have tried to think of what should we think could happen from here, and came up with these thoughts:
1. If iBill got hit with huge Visa and MasterCard fines, and it couldn?t out of existing funds meet those commitments, it would have these options (as I see it so far):
- Option 1) InterCept would have to bail iBill out from its own funds
- Option 2) iBill would be placed into bankruptcy, with all debts being quashed and all monies owed to webmasters being held back (including all reserves) and then being allowed to trade on without the webmasters who caused the blow out in chargebacks in the first place
- Option 3) InterCept closes iBill, and hopefully gives webmasters the opportunity to retain the databases (wishful thinking on this option).
- Option 4) Sell iBill back to the previous shareholders/management soon, or during bankruptcy, which I hope doesn?t happen for only one reason, and that is that I would prefer to see the InterCept war chest behind iBill
2. If iBill does suffer the same fate as DMR, I suggest to everyone here that the ripple effect on our industry will be massive. Visa and MasterCard (USA or International) could say that this event proves adult billing is too difficult. Also, all the surfers who have used iBill will feel ill at ease with on-line banking in our sector, and webmasters (like myself who use iBill) will feel a measure of pain that will cripple many peoples ability to contribute ?for example? to areas such on-line and off line advertising
3. Visa and MasterCard are going to make sure that iBill doesn?t allow dodgy billing practices to continue, and from my side I say Hooray
4. IBill please advise us what is happening ? soon
5. And to all the Nay Sayers out there I say this ? ?If you don?t use iBill, what is your purpose of posting a negative reply to my comments in this thread other than to be a bastard??
6. We need to make sure that iBill stays strong and effective for the sake of many people?s livelihoods, and for the sake of our industry
7. To the staff at iBill who lost your jobs, I say thank you for your contributions and good luck in your futures
8. I will continue to support iBill, and recommend every one else to ?consider? doing the same. If we all pull the plug on iBill, then guess what, iBill will die
I now ask you to post any ?facts? you have about this situation
Daniel
The facts/rumors I have heard so far are
1) iBill laid of 40 people
2) iBill is expecting some large fines from Visa and MasterCard
I have heard many other facts/rumors, but other than these tow listed, I haven?t heard anything that affects iBill operational capacity directly
So what do these two facts mean?
Well if I was InterCept, and I had been sold a probable lemon, I would do these things:
1) Lay off excess staff and reduce all/any costs possible to prepare for any future fines so as not to trade insolently. If I was a board member of InterCept, I wouldn?t want iBill to trade in-solvently under any circumstances, particularly after seeing the share price of InterCept go down the toilet.
2) Lay off any staff suspected of "possible" actions not in the best interests of the company
3) Immediately terminate any accounts that have been operated in a way, which would cause such fines to take place
So what else should be considered at this stage?
Well I have tried to think of what should we think could happen from here, and came up with these thoughts:
1. If iBill got hit with huge Visa and MasterCard fines, and it couldn?t out of existing funds meet those commitments, it would have these options (as I see it so far):
- Option 1) InterCept would have to bail iBill out from its own funds
- Option 2) iBill would be placed into bankruptcy, with all debts being quashed and all monies owed to webmasters being held back (including all reserves) and then being allowed to trade on without the webmasters who caused the blow out in chargebacks in the first place
- Option 3) InterCept closes iBill, and hopefully gives webmasters the opportunity to retain the databases (wishful thinking on this option).
- Option 4) Sell iBill back to the previous shareholders/management soon, or during bankruptcy, which I hope doesn?t happen for only one reason, and that is that I would prefer to see the InterCept war chest behind iBill
2. If iBill does suffer the same fate as DMR, I suggest to everyone here that the ripple effect on our industry will be massive. Visa and MasterCard (USA or International) could say that this event proves adult billing is too difficult. Also, all the surfers who have used iBill will feel ill at ease with on-line banking in our sector, and webmasters (like myself who use iBill) will feel a measure of pain that will cripple many peoples ability to contribute ?for example? to areas such on-line and off line advertising
3. Visa and MasterCard are going to make sure that iBill doesn?t allow dodgy billing practices to continue, and from my side I say Hooray
4. IBill please advise us what is happening ? soon
5. And to all the Nay Sayers out there I say this ? ?If you don?t use iBill, what is your purpose of posting a negative reply to my comments in this thread other than to be a bastard??
6. We need to make sure that iBill stays strong and effective for the sake of many people?s livelihoods, and for the sake of our industry
7. To the staff at iBill who lost your jobs, I say thank you for your contributions and good luck in your futures
8. I will continue to support iBill, and recommend every one else to ?consider? doing the same. If we all pull the plug on iBill, then guess what, iBill will die
I now ask you to post any ?facts? you have about this situation
Daniel






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