IPSP VS. Cross Border - Regulations
 

Some billing companies have been encouraging webmasters to jump ship to their offshore entities and all will be fine. This is not the case and webmasters must be educated on the reprecussions of these actions.

There are many regulations in Visas manuals including Cross Border issues. A european IPSP cannot do processing for a US Company Sponsored Merchant. So, for instance, if you are a company located in the US and doing business with Websitebilling.com UK, although you would not be subject to the new IPSP registration program, you would be subject to stiff penalties for illegal cross border activity.

Sponsored merchants must be domiciled in the region of the IPSP
or face fines for breaking Cross Border regulations.

We strongly urge all webmasters to speak to their billers and get clarification on these two very important issues to make sure compliance is met without undue risk. Once a sponsored merchant is placed on the TMF it may never do business with an IPSP or gain a merchant account for processing Visa.

We are awaiting clarification from Visa on some unclear issues and will pass them on as we get them.

how about owning an offshore merchant when ur say located in canada
not with an ipsp but ur own merchant

There are several Visa regions. I would phone your acquirer and let them know your concern and ask if this cross border rule would apply to you. Let them know where you are domiciled and if its ok... if not, you can choose a new merchant bank relationship in the region you are domiciled or adversely you can domicile in the region of your merchant bank.

Isn't it true the a merchant can only accept funds in the currency of the country they hold their merchant account in ?

As far as we know you must deposit into a bank account in the region your merchant bank is located, not sure about the same currency. So if you use a EU merchant in France you could deposit in Italy but not Canada. This is how we have interpreted...again not quite sure about currency.

Websitebilling.com???? a UK Billing....

I see....they may be a frontend of the 3 STOOGES: IBILL, CCBILL & PAYPAL

shut-up your big mouth! you are pulling out too much shit out of it! :feels-hot

LOL your funny...

Are these cross border regulations new? Why has this not been an issue in the past with people who happen to be cross border infringers for no other reason than a preference for a particular IPSP? For example it is extremely common practice to have a "big 3" main IPSP and a foriegn IPSP as your secondary cc option. What you are saying is that anyone who is doing that now for whatever reason must cancel his secondary processor.

Whether this is a new regulation or an existing one, I do not understand how we are supposed to stay clear of breaking the rules when we are only fed little scraps of information occasionally, how many other rules am I breaking right now simply because I do not know the rules exist?

also does that mean cause I'm in Australia and using CCBill over the past 3 years that I've been breaking the law?

As far as I understood it, you were allowed to use where ever you wanted as long as you payed tax in the country that your company was.

regards
garv

This bit about the TMF / Match blacklist is at best a remote possibility.

If you actually were TMF'd it would be by the acquiring bank. And if they did list you due to the fact your processor mislead you they are opening themselves up for a liability lawsuit. It's very hard to find a circumstance short of criminal fraud where a 3rd party webmaster client would be blacklisted. Certainly they would not because Globill or whomever was wrong in their interpretation of Visa's regulations. Globill would bear the liability, not the webmaster.

There are a few lawyers who deal with TMF issues exclusively. It might be interesting to get an opinion on the new Visa regs from one of them.

I think it is entirely possible that offshore companies will be able to do as they are saying even if the USA regs forbid it. There is the letter of the law and the practical interpretation of it, and they may not be the same.

This has never been to much of a problem simply because Visa has not known who they were doing business with. They only new one merchant WSB, not its submerchants. That is part of the reason for the new regulations and all sponsored merchants being required to register. Visa will now be able to know who they are doing business with.

Our acquirer overseas, although not subject to the New Registration program, has informed us that VisaEU wants a list of all clients so they can make sure there is no cross border conflicts. All IPSPs will be required to do so now, its just a matter of time.

Visa has 6 regions

USA - European Union - Asia Pacific - Latin America and Carribean - Central Europe Middle East and Africa - Canada

I wouldnt say breaking the law so much as not abiding by the Visa Rules... What is in the past is done... its from here forward that we need to proceed with caution.

Before, the problem was you showed up nowhere in CCbills portfolio. You were just a fish in the sea.. Now your a fish in the bowl.

An acquirer must query the Terminated Merchant File for each potential High-Risk Sponsored Merchant. Additionally, an acquirer must ensure that all its High-Risk IPSP's are notified of Merchants that have been disqualified from the Visa system and that Visa processing priviledges must not be extended to them.

Offshore IPSP's may not be subject to the new registration program, but they will have to open thier portfolios for the cross border implications.

I understood this differently. I thought I had to be in the same area as the acquiring bank, not the ipsp. So I could deal with any ipsp as long as they had an acquiring bank in my area. Is this not true?

farbie

so do you only have to be in the same Visa region as the merchant bank? or do you need to be in the same country?

I thought as long as the processor you used has an acquiring bank in the same Visa region as you are then you were ok.

farbie

Hey Maximus!

do you only have to be in the same Visa region as the merchant bank? or do you need to be in the same country?

region would be my guess.

I want answers, not guesses.

This is true, but it goes the same for the ipsp. IPSP's are not allowed to do business with acquirers outside its region of business. So, yes it boils down to acquirer only if you have your own merchant account. The Acuirer, IPSP and Sponsored Merchant must all be in the same region (not country) if you want to go thru a third party.

We are compiling a list of visa regions and countries within the regions in order to help. Look for it here shortly.

hehe - i can only give you a guess here, but my guesses are usually pretty good.

Region..

OK, so according to that, I can do business with a 3rd party processor located anywhere, as long as they have an acquiring bank in my Visa region?

Not trying to be dense, just to understand clearly.

farbie

Here are the 6 Visa regions:

Asia-Pacific
Canada
Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA)
European Union
Latin America & Caribbean
United States

Correct. If your company is located in the Brithish Virgin Islands then you need to make sure your IPSP and Acquirer are both located in the Latin American region. IF your favorite processor only has a presence in the EU, you may also decide to domicile in that processors region.

We are working to get all the countries within each region and post them here.

That answers my question. Thanks Maximus.

farbie

:BangBang:Email from CCbill today

"1) The company has to based in the US. So you would need to establish an LLC here in the US. Your current company in the Turks & Caicos Islands would not comply. If you are not a US based company, the rebills using Visa will be turned off as well. Please be aware of that. We can wire funds to you where ever you want.

2) We are not registered in any region outside the US at this time. More to come on that if we will be at a later point in time.

3) If you have an established US corporation, then you would need to register with Visa and pay the $750 registration fee."


:321GFY

Just sign up with glo-bill, dutchbill, 2000charge or verotel.


:thumbsup


I don't buy into what the 3 stooges or their friends are saying.

:BangBang:

This is not good. They will only be able to do business with established US clients