How come some billing companies are able to not do the visa fee

Some are breaking the rules by not collecting and paying the fee. At least one medium sized biller had their Visa account terminated a couple of months ago because they weren't collecting and paying the fee. They still haven't neen able to get Visa processing back.

Got a link on Visa site, mastercard site?

That would clear the air for good and never the question would need to be answered again on this forum....

that is until my next question...

Also, how does that work exactly... "merchant" account. I'm speaking the difference between one of your clients who get a "merchant" account and then choose a specific bank compared to ccbill "merchant" account who oversees everyone's smaller "merchant" accounts.

Your input would really help clear the air for good.

Hi,

I do not have a link to the fees on the visa or master card site but I will try to find something to post.

There are many differences to having your own merchant account vs. using an IPSP such as CCbill. It is best explained over the phone as we determine your needs, volume, time in business etc.. I can promise you however, that you will certainly save money and have much more control with your own merchant account, but along with that comes more responsibility as well. Feel free to call us anytime, ICQ, Skype or email for more information.

Mitch... I will likely reach out to you because I do understand the difference between an IPSP and a merchant account as far as the flexibility that offers in both processing the cards, join forms, control over refunds/chargebacks etc.

Let me clarify my question... what is the difference in a "merchant" account like you help setup with your clients and a "merchant" account on an IPSP like CCBill in regards to the visa and mastercard fee?

The difference is that as a sponsored merchant (you processing through an IPSPs merchant account), you only have to pay the Visa fee, not the Mastercard fee.

Does that help?

Mitch

It's not a big fee either way. It doesn't make sense to me but I'll just leave it at that.

What doesn't make sense?

Mitch

The VISA fee is a very real annual fee assessed by VISA and collected by payment processors. It wasn't arbitrarily decided by CCBill.

With our US IPSP we have to either claim the fee from our customers or decide to cover it ourselves. With our EU IPSP we do not have to do this because the EU VISA assesses their fee as a "per transaction" charge instead. Some of our competitors pay for every US merchant they board.

Each payment processing company brings a different set of assets to the table. Some save you money up front, some have better tools and save you money all along, some have very flexible payment solutions, some have better customer service than others, some rest on having a good brand, etc. When selecting, I'd encourage you to consider more than just whether or not they'll assume the VISA fee for you.

I have the benefit of being able to board merchants on either the US IPSP or the EU IPSP and depending on their volume, sometimes the US VISA fee is actually the lesser evil. To board in either place you need to have a corp based there, of course. In addition, I represent the ability to set you up with your own merchant account with gateway services, where you'd have to pay all the card services fees, but only annually, instead of with each additional 3rd party IPSP you select to work with.

I know you asked for non payment processing employee answers, but you're going to get the best information from those of us in the industry.

CCBill will pay it for you too. If you make them enough money.

Did you pay them?

Asia is Visa Inverse. That's fucking why.

WTF is that?

Is that a joke?

They create a pseudo EU company for their clients and in the EU you don't have to pay a visa fee.

Does anyone know if the $750 fee is paid directly to Visa, so you only have to pay it once even if you use multiple processors like CCBill and Epoch? Or do you have to pay it to both CCBill and Epoch if you sign up with them both?

Hey, I found the answer to my question on the CCBill FAQ page:

But I'm still confused about one thing: do you have to pay the $500 annual fee in addition to the $750 registration fee from day one? So in other words, you really have to pay $1,250 if you want to start accepting Visa? The above answer from CCBill makes it sound like that is the case, which kind of sucks.