MAY 25 -- 12 Noon Pacific - For 2 Hours Only - Chris Mallick Q & A for Epassporte

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
The sign up process is designed to do 2 things: 1. Make sure you are who you say you are. This means we do a small transaction that you must verify through your bank. Second, if you do not have the $100 open to buy on your load card there is really no point in going through any of this.

So, realizing that I would need a way for people to conveniently pay me for illustration services once my portfolio was up, I decided to sign up for ePassporte this evening. This was on a long list of other things I had to, including picking up my drugs at the pharmacy and grocery shopping. I didn't realize at first that I would have to start out by loading $50 on my ePassporte card, but that was all right since I had $90 in my account (a lot for me, with my rampant medical expenses, but it was there). I went through the sign-up process, where they:

1. Put a $50 hold on my debit card
2. Put a small verifying charge on my debit card
3. After I verified, put a *separate* $50 charge on my debit card

This, of course, brought me to a negative balance of approximately $10, which meant that I could not pick up my drugs or any groceries (which I sort of consider to be essential for survival). I called my bank, and they informed me that the two $50 amounts were indeed separate (even if one is only a hold, they have separate transaction numbers) and the only way the first amount could be removed is if ePassporte called them and informed them that that would be all right (my bank support staff cannot make outside calls, and it wasn't their fault anyway).

I called ePassporte then, to request that they call my bank and authorize the removal of the hold, and this is when I got the worst customer service that I have ever received in my life. Jamel (the service agent who "helped" me) was very short with me and interrupted me many times. He refused to let me speak with anyone else there and didn't accept that there might be anything wrong with authorizing as a separate transaction from charging. He was unwilling to call my bank (claiming to also be unable to call out, but since the overdraft was their fault I believe an exception could have been made). He also said there was no way for me to cancel my sign-up if I was dissatisfied... my money was there, so I could either leave it there or spend it through their service. He said I could call back in the morning, but this doesn't really help me tonight when I have no food and no medication (food and medication that I had the money to buy until I signed up with ePassporte).

Is this what my potential customers are going to go through if I ask them to pay me through ePassporte and they try to sign up for an account? I explained to Jamel that I intended to use ePassporte to do business and that this didn't make a very good impression, and from the start he was rude and treated me like a "problem customer" even though I clearly stated my case the entire time without profanity or attitude. I also explained that this might be considered a special circumstance, as I am disabled and in need of medication, and he wouldn't even reply. Has anyone else had this sort of experience with ePassporte? If they don't remedy this in the morning (and politely, too) I'm going to report them to the Better Business Bureau, and give them a none to nice review on any consumer sites I can access.

I am aware that the hold charge will fall off in 3-5 business days, but to tie up a new customer's money without warning (and to be so rude about it when a simple phone call would have solved the whole thing) seems unacceptable to me.

Originally posted by Jer
The personal account load fee is 5%. What's the business account load fee?

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
It is accepted worldwide. The problem may be the merchant's POS or connection to Interchange. Don't assume all problems are from ePassporte's side. What would be helpful is for you to let us know the time and date you tried and were denied and your User ID. We can then let you know if the transaction even made it to us.

We have cardholders in 150 countries, so it does work, almost everywhere.

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
There is No LOAD FEE on a Business Account. All you have to do is send $100 to open the Business Account, by Wire Transfer. You will have, after the costs, a balance of $25, an Electron Card and a Virtual Card. Every subsequent wire is $30 regardless of the amount.

Originally posted by MissGrim
You're correct about having the $100, but the way the sign-up process works I have to have $200 or I will end up overdrawn for the three to five business days it takes the hold to fall off. I believe that new clients should be warned about this, as the resulting overdraft prevented my from making other important purchases and took a lot of time to remedy. In my opinion it would be better to allow people to load the initial amount onto their card, but not allow them to use it or transfer it until they were verified... that way both parties are protected and no overdraft occurs. It was a tremendous inconvenience for me (it incurred a $30 overdraft and kept me from picking up medication over a weekend) and I had no reason to expect the transaction to go through that way, since no other online service that I know of does business that way. I would hate to think that my potential clients would have to go through that in order to pay me.

Originally posted by D-Money
Will Epassporte be making another webmaster calendar for 2005?

Loved the last one.

Originally posted by Chris Mallick


2. ePassporte already has and uses signature-based functionality for approved Cardholders for cards issued after March 2004. For those of you that have Electron Cards issued prior to March 2004 you may call Cardholder Services and request that your card be signature based.

Originally posted by EviLGuY
Any plans to change that really annoying way loading works on the personal epassporte card? IE the 50/100/150/200/250/300/350/400/450/500 choices and nothing else? I'd like to be able to load whatever I like.. just punch it in.

Originally posted by Halcyon
Hi Chris and Rand. Thanks for the Q&A.
Just to make sure I understand...
The new electron cards can be used for signature-based visa purchases (i.e. paying a check at a restaurant) and not just used for ATM withdrawal?

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
There is No LOAD FEE on a Business Account. All you have to do is send $100 to open the Business Account, by Wire Transfer. You will have, after the costs, a balance of $25, an Electron Card and a Virtual Card. Every subsequent wire is $30 regardless of the amount.

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
The pre-auth is dropped before the sale is closed. If there is a glitch at your Issuing Bank and they do not release the pre-auth when we do there is nothing we can do about that. Think about it: We would sell a lot less if we did things the way you experienced. So while I understand your issue and complaint it is not within our control as to how or when your bank drops the pre auth. This is and always will be a problem as so many systems are mismatched.

Originally posted by jpoker
This seems reasonable. I wish you had posted this on your
site (if it is on there, I wasn't able to find it). I've avoided
signing up to epassporte because I couldn't find this
information.

Chris, can you list off any other fees that are present (if any)
when transfers occur? I'm considering getting an account
for the purpose of receiving money for advertising that
i sell on my site as well as for paying for advertising
that i purchase from other folks. My paypal acct was
recently shut down and I've been using checks since
then. Also, are there any limits to the amount I can
send/receive?


- thanks
Jpoker

Originally posted by EscortBiz
last weekend I created a personal account, the deposite never showed on my online bank account so I couldnt finish the verification and because its over 7 days I canot do anything now.

Why could that be?

Originally posted by MissGrim
The reason the pre-auth was not dropped was because it's transaction number differed from the number on the charge that followed. When I spoke with ePassporte card services on the telephone the day following my incident, they informed me that that is standard practice (they said it happens to everyone who signs up) and their advice was to start out by only loading $50.00 on the card (the minimum amount) to experience the smallest possible hold, and then add the desired amount after the signup process is completed. That would imply to me that they are aware that this happens.

I don't really have a problem with the service other than this, but I really want to be sure about whether or not my potential clients would have to go through this in order to sign up and pay me. Sometimes it doesn't take a lot of inconvenience to deter a potential customer, and I can't afford to lose them.

Originally posted by toodamnfli
will there ever be a physical card issued out?

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
Is the bank in the US? If so, what bank. If you prefer, email me the details and I will look into it.

Originally posted by Babel
epassporte sucks ass if you have more then 50$ in it. it's virtually useless everywhere exept to withdraw at ATM

Originally posted by EscortBiz
thanks I just sent jon the details, yeah a bank in NY, I have online access

Originally posted by DatingGold
Why is is called epassporte and not epassport?

Thanks

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
You were given bad information. Sorry. Let me look into your account. Email me your User ID.

Originally posted by DatingGold
Are the funds in the account FDIC Insured or inusred somehow?

Larger programs would have to keep large balances and epassporte is still a risky place to keep money.

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
We have both domains now, but when we launched we did not have both, so....

And why is it the phone always rings when you get into the bathtub?

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
Becasue ePassporte is not a bank and it is not in the USA. But the assumption that larger program do not keep large balances is incorrect. The biggest programs in the business keep quite large balances. The deposits are not held by ePassporte anyway; rather by a large international money center bank. ePassporte never touches the money, btw.

Originally posted by Halcyon
Hi Chris and Rand. Thanks for the Q&A.
Just to make sure I understand...
The new electron cards can be used for signature-based visa purchases (i.e. paying a check at a restaurant) and not just used for ATM withdrawal?

Originally posted by JupZChris
All i wanted for my birthday was a loaded epassporte account

Originally posted by ZoiNk
A few Questions:

1) When will affilliates (not merchants) be able to get paid by epassporte instead of cheques from Epoch?

- If coming soon, will it have to be a business account or can it be personal?

2) How easily do you give out personal info to government bodies? Paypal I know gives it out at any request. Do you require court orders, or other legal means?

3) Any chance of teaming up with CCBill anytime soon to get them to do affiliate payments through Epassporte? This will bring you solidly to the forfront for adult webmaster payments.

ZoiNk

Originally posted by DatingGold
Sorry Chris.. I meant we would have a large balance and I want to know if the money is insured. That was my question, is the money insured and up to what value?

Originally posted by aimeesweet
Hi Chris....How long does it take to recieve your actual card? Just curious...

xoxo

Originally posted by aimeesweet
Hi Chris....How long does it take to recieve your actual card? Just curious...

xoxo

Originally posted by MissGrim
Now I have a different question... until I am able to order the physical card (I will be ordering mine later this week) would I be able to use my virtual card at physical locations (such as the pharmacy or grocery store) if the cashier is willing to enter the card number by hand at the terminal?

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
2. ePassporte does not give out any information to anyone or body unless and until it is ordered to (and no, we have not been) by a Court of competent jurisdiction.

Originally posted by Forkbeard
That's awesome. I wish more financial services operations would adopt that policy.

Speaking of which, do you have a policy about how you handle things if-and-when you do get that court order? Specifically, do you have a policy of notifying the subject of any subpoena or disclosure order in advance of your compliance therewith (to the maximum extent allowed by law -- some subpoenas demand your silence under penalty of law) to give him or her the opportunity to try and quash the subpoena?

That would be even MORE awesome. In my opinion, a financial services company that is as loudly and zealously protective of its clients' privacy as the law allows gains a HUGE competitive advantage.

Originally posted by DatingGold
Do you have an option like Paypal where uses the funds off of your cc or checking account?

Originally posted by EscortBiz
just wanted to say thanks for your time for this thread and thanks to jon for helpong me out with my account setup!!!

Originally posted by Chris Mallick
BTW: EPOCH and ePassporte supports Aimee Sweet for Miss GFY! Vote early and often!