We have seen and reported on a few actions that have been occurring over the last year in terms of the pressures on banks and payment processors. Recently, Chase has closed several checking accounts for people associated with the adult industry. The outcry has resulted in a very prestigious publication taking notice. The American Banker article that addresses this recent...
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By Melody Lashmar Operation Choke Point and increased pressure by bank regulators on Financial Institutions to identify and eliminate merchant fraud has certainly increased the monitoring efforts by banks regarding their payment services. Under Operation Choke Point, Financial Institutions, ISOs and IPSPs are being held liable and accountable for their merchants’ fraudulent...
By Melody Lashmar Bitcoin has certainly been an interesting phenomenon to watch over the last few weeks. We’ve had bankruptcies, suicides, arrests, thefts, marketing, adoption by retailers, potential identification of the creator and discussions at all levels of government. It seems this recent interval has contained all the makings of a good mini-series.
By Melody Lashmar The phrase “Operation Choke Point” conjures up many images and is representative of the spirit in which the authorities are using their power to target the providers within the payment industry.
Operation Choke Point is, in fact, the name that the authorities have given their combined efforts in stopping bad merchants by removing the payment processors that...
By Melody Lashmar The Ivory Tower of Officialdom is at it again. They have spent time and resources on developing ways to reduce fraud in their network and they now want people’s opinions on their solution.
The current proposed solution is…. wait for it…. to do more of the same! Wow, what a brilliant idea; an absolutely stunning example of understanding the issues that exist...
Do you ever wonder why your underwriting experience can be so different when working towards the same goal with two different financial partners?
When you are looking for banking or merchant services you assume that you are going to be faced with nearly the same requirements from financial partner to financial partner. After all, the banks are heavily...
By Melody Lashmar There are many things affecting an online merchant’s ability to stay afloat in the competitive Internet marketplace. A downturn in the economy, business rivals with a similar product on the market and dwindling consumer confidence can all take a toll on your profits. In addition to these factors is the very real threat of e-commerce fraud, one of which is...
As summer heats up and people are heading off on vacation, buying graduation gifts and enjoying more leisure time, this season presents more opportunities for your small business to thrive. It also presents more chances for e-commerce scammers to strike.
We live in a society where many people want to get something for nothing. This is especially true in the retail world. Rather than paying for merchandise received, some deceitful consumers would rather “steal” their purchases by either claiming their credit card was stolen and they were charged for items they didn’t order or by stating they never received the item in the mail....
