SolarBilling.com ceases to process adult sites
 

Just received this email from SolarBilling.com:


Dear Webmaster -

As you know, major credit card companies continue to prescribe new regulations, most without
notice, that directly affect the adult industry and associated billing systems. These new
regulations directly interfere with the processing of e-wallets, aggregators, third-party billers and
the like. Since November 16, 2004, Solar Billing has been in negotiations with Deutsche Bank
on behalf of our clients in attempts to ensure that you would be able to continue processing
using the Solar Billing e-wallet system.

Unfortunately, due to the current climate of the online adult industry and its webmasters,
Deutsche Bank has decided to place a hold on all Solar Billing funds until such time as they feel
that the risk of potential exposure to liability has passed. It should be made clear that Solar
Billing is NOT holding any funds whatsoever. All funds are being held by Deutsche Bank, and
payouts will be made as the funds are released by the bank.

In light of these factors, Solar Billing has decided to accelerate its business model and no longer
process for any sites that may be deemed "adult," and focus its attention instead on internet
gaming and other mainstream areas. Therefore, effective immediately, adult webmasters are
instructed to remove any and all links promoting or linking to Solar Billing.

As stated from our inception, Solar Billing was always intended for gaming as well as adult.
Regrettably, the nature of the adult industry is such that Solar Billing no longer wishes to provide
billing services for such activities.

If you have any questions regarding this decision, please contact [email protected].

The funny thing is everyone already saw it coming, how billing company after billing company would either fall or withdraw from adult. It is slowly getting to be somewhat problematic, and it doesn't seem like things will get better any time soon.

These are NOT new regulations. SolarBob was told repeatedly earlier this year by many webmasters including myself that he was doing something that was not kosher with Visa regs, he is the one that chose to pretend like he had some fantastic new solution to getting around Visa.

Riiiiight.

messed up for anybody that used them

solarwhat??? :weihnacht

i think its a good news for us !

I see a bank, Deutsche Bank in this instance waking up one morning and creating some policy..... Fickle and nothing more than can be expected of a bank.

Roll on the day adult net billing does not need any direct associations with card companies - that day is getting closer! :-)

who? :smilie_we

:uhoh

12345678

Gentlemen and Gentleladies,

so in your humble opinion, what is now the best solution for smaller paysites without a merchant account, that need a processor to process as many credit card types possible, and who can manage subscribers, meaning they can add and remove usernames and passwords as necessary to a list on the paysite?

woah, they're all being shot down.. one at a time

iBill does this too it seems.


Do these companies not keep cash reserves?! Or do they just choose not to touch their own money when their business partnerships alter.

Cough...

Check myvirtualcard.com, the have everything you need!

Honestly, I've never heard of them before. Another one bites the dust. :party-smi

Check out my sig for Merchant Solutions...

Better? From what I have been told it is only going to get worse. Much worse.

Actually I already did yesterday, but somehow I find it a little hard to have confidence in them, with something as important as my billing company, because they do not seem to know basic HTML.

Examples on their affiliate page:

1) They use "<br />" instead of "<br>"

2) On their affiliate page there is a text that says "Click here to Become an Affiliate", that link has gone awalk!

Off course this could just be a stupid webmaster?

I don't think processors make the best web designers, probably not a good gauge

Now I feel really silly :)

This is definately the first time I have seen that it should be "<br/" and "<hr/>", for empty elements, or "<hr>" jadi, jadi, jadi </hr>".

Every HTML, PHP, JavaScript tutorial I ever seen uses "<br>" and "<hr>".

I guess it's because br and hr are not designed to contain anything?

Besides you nige, who uses that?

Yah right!

I checked out Merchant Solutions quite a few weeks go and tried hard to base my assessment of what they offer on my personal experience with them - not all the badwill apparently floating around about them and their prinicipal(s).

Well, all can say is that after three weeks, I find it much easier to believe all the bad things I've been hearing about them on this and other forums.

Their site does not work properly, unfinished features ('coming soon' all over the place), shabby and incomplete documentation, their support is virtually non-existent, their signup pages weren't even SSL.

I tried to get help on numerous occasions over a three week period (online help, email, and ICQ with daniel) and was promised on several separate occasions that the site would be working 'within 10 minutes' (just a small DOS attack was the prob), and manuals would be sent to me, my account would be followed up and was assured they process 20,000 transactions a day.

-- that would have been fine, but IT NEVER HAPPENED.

As far as I'm concerned, Merchant Solutions is just another flakey processor with a very creepy history trying to offset a mountain of badwill and reputation with claims of huge promotional budgets.

If they focused a bit more on quality of service and support, they probably would not need such a huge budget to spin their biz.

BTW: I DO get an email EACH DAY from them showing my daily sales (of zero - because they never got it working), and I get email about promoting them through my sigs. They have some very strange priorities.

-Dino

Thanks for the personal experience. Nice to know.

Does anyone have experience on the other suggestion,
http://www.ecommerceglobal.com

Yeah, that is xhtml.

Another scary startup...

http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showth...09#post6092409


You can contact me if you want transcripts of my experiences with them.

-Dino

ask solarbilling if they were a registered IPSP

i dont think i have seen their name in the visa list.

If you are looking for your own merchant account I will soon be able to assist. Humboldt Merchant Services currently processes multi-million dollars per month in adult transactions. We truly desire to bring on more adult accounts, but Visa has put a temporary stop to that. We have reached our "maximum allowable ratio" of adult vs. non adult processing dollars. As our non adult portfolio grows we will again be able to bring on additional adult accounts. We are looking at March/April to be able to do so. If you feel you would be interested I am currently building a list of folks to contact as soon as this opens up. Simply email me your contact info and I will add you to my notification list.

HMS does require the following:
-2 years in business
-currently processing $100K per month (can by 3rd party, direct, or combination of)
-CB's under 1%
-using one of a select few gateways (NETBILLING, Jettis, CyberSource, etc)

If you meet these I can get you the following rates:
Discount Rate (non qualified) 4.6%
Transaction fee $0.30 (including AVS)
Monthly Statement Fee $10.00
High Risk registration / set-up fees $2790

Believe me when I say I would LOVE to bring these accounts on now, but Visa simply will not allow it.

EMAIL ME TO BE NOTIFIED WHEN WE ARE AGAIN ABLE TO OPEN DIRECT ACCOUNTS!

Steve Kimberling, AVP
Humboldt Merchant Services
877-635-3339
[email protected]

Except for the fact that DeutscheBank woke up that morning WAY before Solar Billing started and said they weren't going to play any more.

Regarding Merchant Solutions I signed up with them a week ago, and have still not heard a damn thing!?!

Sure it is the Holidays and all that, but come on, a billing company should have time to process a new merchant fast!

This is fucking bullshit!

So you went from one unknown IPSP to another? Have you not leaned your lesson? Go with Netbilling and get away from third party processing altogether or at least use CCbill.

Z

good post!

Well when I said "Signed up" I was perhaps exaggerating, I completed their online form so I could lern more.

Anyways after weeks, suddenly I got a call yesterday from them, some guy in Australia, saying that my account was setup and I could logon and browse their site.

But I have received no freaking confirmation email, plus no I am not 100% sure if I ever entered a password. Anyways if I did I can't remember, so I click the "Forgot Password" link, and guess what?

"Page cannot be found"

They might have dollars to spend on advertisements and be legit, but they should spend some dollars on web development and make sure their amateur website works, before they are going to convince and gain my trust.

See other GFY thread here http://www.gfy.com/showthread.php?t=...nt+solutio ns

solarwho ?

You ask what your choices are ..

If you don't have the volume to get a merchant account you need to stick with one of the two well known 3rd party processors (ccbill, epoch/paycom).
Yes its true that visa does not like IPSP's (3rd party) and they're trying to choke them out but until the time where you can get a merc .. you have little choice.

Just don't go with some other 3rd party

btw not all merchant accounts have to meet the same requirements and volume that Humbolt posted above!!!