Interview with Ruth from Paxum

Okay, as many of you know I've been around for long time and been doing mostly web designs, but things change and I decided to start doing some writing. Being a fun of online payment systems I decided to give it a try talking to Ruth from Paxum.


Many say Paxum.

The dust is still in the air, but it's clearly visible something is shaping up out there. Started as 'pill'-named brand with a basement type guy rep on GFY this company is literally galloping around to pursue it's obvious goal ? getting the industry to know, they are here to walk in and stay, to make it real alternative to ePass(ed)porte. No other alternative company has made a more sounding buzz then Paxum did so far. That's why I would like you to welcome Ruth from Paxum here.

Ruth, this is the most important question, why the heck Paxum is the name? Is this just a long forgotten domain name you just randomly picked up, or there is certain mind blowing strategy behind it?

There's something in each name. It isn't a forgotten domain but rather entirely new. We needed something that was simple and yet would stick in people's minds; something original, and that's how the name 'Paxum' was born.

There is more to the story of course, PAX means peace in Latin, that?s why we have our logo in the shape of a Roman helmet. The message here is that, after all the problems people had in 2010, Paxum is here to give you peace of mind and to be a trusted secure name that is also easy to remember.

I don't mean to be rude but thanks that you made your other guy virtually do a 'haircut', I'm not negative but some people noticed that when you started on GFY. I mean an avatar he used. In some way I may think about well planned marketing again, did you mean to make Paxum be spoken about by any means?

ANSWER TWO - Well, nobody made Al change his avatar. He received his Paxum card and put a picture of that up instead, a perfectly logical choice. Considering we live in the year 2010 I do find it remarkably surprising that some people can focus on silly little things like a haircut and consider them a 'big deal'. As far as planned marketing goes; no, Al did not grow his hair that long in order to create a 'fuss' on the forums about Paxum.

As of today I can certainly say you are feeling the market and getting webmasters choosing you and voting for sponsor usage of Paxum. What is the main reason for webmasters to choose your services, lowest fees may be?

We have competitive fees and generous limits. Our commitment to excellence in customer service and support is also a strong reason many webmasters are choosing to use Paxum as their payment method of choice. We have already established a broad base of diverse sponsor programs and other resources; such as hosting providers, design companies, traffic brokers, and other useful webmaster services.

We are constantly growing with more businesses and personal accounts being signed up every single day. This in turn provides even greater versatility when using Paxum for payments; particularly with our very low-cost instant P2P payment option.

It's not a secret many webmasters are based outside of the States, and though many still post on the board using cyber English some may find it hard to call US support on the phone. This is where Paxum made it easier. Sometimes there is a need just to vent in ICQ and get urgent thing done immediately, imagine time zone difference,
language barriers too. Do you think it's making a standard now to have all support means ready for the clients? Ticket system, Phone and ICQ?

We strive to provide the most comprehensive customer support we can. We respond promptly to questions and issues and our support is available through all the above-mentioned options in order to best serve our clients needs; no matter where they happen to live.

We take great pride in the way we handle support, and we believe this is the way it should be done since this is the best way to satisfy our clients. We hope that others will follow suit for the sake of webmasters everywhere.

It seems to me that you have chosen to grab webmaster crowd first, do you have plans for vendors? Say, as a web designer I would like to collect payments of any type available, credit cards, wires, paypal and other alternative payments. Do you have a plan to create an electronic currency exchanger for this purpose?

We have quite a few web designers already using Paxum. In fact, since we opened we have seen an influx of both business and personal account applications. We have many webmaster resources and other vendors already offering Paxum as a payment option. One of the ways we help to make things easier for our clients is with the option to apply for the prepaid Paxum Mastercard as soon as each account is verified, even without any funds in the account. The Paxum Prepaid Mastercard allows you to make purchases anywhere in the world where Mastercard is accepted. Our clientele have the freedom to receive and send payments via their Paxum account, and easily make payments through P2P transfers or with their Paxum Mastercard, which is also accepted for Paypal payments and invoices.

Our strategy was not directed at webmasters or vendors. In terms of sheer numbers, the webmasters are definitely a larger part of our client base, which certainly is the norm in today's marketplace. We have worked out deals with some well-known producers and other vendors, and as a result we have experienced a large number of webmaster sign ups. Conversely, many webmasters looking for an alternative payment method when the former Epassporte shut its doors, jumped on board with us and asked their sponsors to add Paxum as a payment method. We are currently improving our current service, and in the near future we will allow adding funds from credit cards as well as other methods.

It's more of my interest to know about your functionality rather then certain procedures, but still why do you differentiate clients on country basis and require more supportive documents to open an account then any other company?

The requirements we have in terms of documentation are part of the new security measures everyone has to face, especially after the demise of other programs similar to ours. The new KYC (Know Your Customer) rules are very strict, and they aim at repelling any type of fraudulent activity. This has been a recurring question from our clients, and though we understand their concern and their will to protect their privacy, our clients approve of our security measures, and they are confident in our non-disclosure policy.

As far as the actual documentation required, we have the same standards for the entire world. The only difference is that for Canada and the US, a driver's license can be considered sufficient, but an international passport is preferred, just like everywhere else.

I once was a victim of an ATM fraud with Epassporte debit card. It took a lot of time and efforts to resolve the problem, that's when actually a $300 a day insured withdrawal limit was set. What measures did you take to protect your customers from that?


Our system provides a simple way of preventing ATM fraud. We provide 2 accounts, a main account ewallet, and a card account. For the funds to be available on the card, the user must transfer them from the ewallet account to the credit card account. Our users have understood the advantage of this system, and they only transfer funds to their card
before they are ready to withdraw them. This will almost entirely eradicate the chances that the compromised card will give someone else access to the funds. Still, our procedures do account for the possibility, and we are prepared to fully investigate any suspicious account activity.

Since you have peer to peer transfers implemented already, do you have a refund/chargeback resolution policy? Or peer to peer transfers within Paxum are considered final non reversible?

If anyone has an issue or concern with a Paxum P2P payment they have sent or received we suggest the clients try to resolve the dispute between themselves in an amicable manner. If the situation seems unresolvable then we suggest they contact our customer support department who will look into the matter. We will to help resolve any such dispute after a full investigation into the facts.

Our policy is to act as a mediator in these cases, rather than a policeman. We have found that in the vast majority of cases this causes a faster and more amicable resolution that is fair to both parties. We prefer not to force any user to surrender any funds, and knowing exactly what happened and where it went wrong helps us to prevent any future incidents.

Imagine Paxum to become a billing solution too, what would you do first to make customers choosing you?

With the ease of our P2P transfer system we are already an excellent way for companies and individuals to send funds to each other for services or goods received. All forms of P2P are accepted; business to personal, personal to personal, personal to business, and of course business to business. Our low fees and instant transfers along with immediate access to funds provide an efficient way for both business and personal users to manage their online payments.