Oct 5, 2002 - Important Consumer News
There have been some pretty solid rumors flying that visa, and other cards may follow suite, are changing their regulations in regards to internet use. Visa's new regulations will be implemented on November 1st. These will effect not only us, but anyone who uses Visa for any internet uses. They will require webmasters who currently use third party billers (we use Verotel) because they cannot afford to be a visa merchant themselves, to pay fees. An initial registration fee of $750.00 and then $375.00 annually. Not only this, but we must first apply to qualify and be approved as a sponsored visa merchant.
There are a number of new regulations as well, which basically add up to:
each webmaster has to:
• Pay an exorbitant annual fee, most of which goes to Visa for EACH third-party US processor you use.
• Give Visa all of your businesses private information initially and then on a monthly basis.
• Pass muster with Visa based on who-knows-what guidelines.
• Remove logos to OTHER credit companies, beginning with MasterCard (they're insisting you eliminate their competition, nice huh?)The reason given behind this is primarily the 'charge-back' problem that swamps the adult webmaster industry. Charge backs occur when people sign up for a site, and then request their money back. This costs huge processing fees, the ironic thing is the third party billers already charge us (in our case $15.00 as well as the charge back) for this occurrence. Charge backs also happen because there are a lot of sleazy big adult sites out there that trick the consumer into signing up for a lot of garbage. Paying for these swindlers is an insult.
This is going to have a huge effect on all forms of small business and independent artisans on the internet, and on independent unique content.
What effect is this going to have on you?. I for one, and others agree think it will have a number of effects. More spam (like we don't get enough already). Also many independent sites, like ours, may have to close down. Small online business that doesn't shut down, and larger online business will likely raise their fees. This is not just for adult sites, it's for anyone merchant who accepts visa online.
If you want more information, and another webmistress' opinion on this, Heather wrote a poignant entry on the subject:
http://www.femmerotic.com/misc/visacrap.htmlThere is, a solution. One that I encourage people to look into, because it benefits everyone. A lot of people are already using it because of it's advantages, and that is paypal. Paypal allows you to pay directly from your account. It also offers complete discretion, and is a more discrete method of payment than through a third party biller. Because you can set up paypal to go from account to account, and not use your credit card at all, you don't pay any interest on your use, which means ultimately, it's costing you less, because it's not adding to your debt load. Almost everyone on the web is set up to take paypal, and trust me, once this visa thing gets going, -everyone- will. Using paypal well also allow us to not only stay alive, but ultimately keep our membership rates from increasing over time, because paypal, takes a much smaller percentage of fees than other companies do. More of your contribution goes to the actual service or product that you are paying for. If you do not already have a paypal account, I highly recommend you set one up, it costs nothing. In fact, paypal pays you 5$ to set up an account. Yes, they pay you. They want your business, and they have good business ethics. (Hey, you can use that 5$ for a one week membership <grin>) I would look into it sooner rather than later, as it takes time for paypal to process an application, and, they may be facing a bit of a business boom with the changes in visa regulations.
Paypal is a two way street as well, and will allow people to deposit money into your account easily and safely, should the need ever arise.
If you have paypal, but are using verotel to have an account on erotimania, and want to switch over but have any concerns, please feel free to email me.
We are still waiting for confirmation from verotel to make sure that the new regulations apply to us. If they do, I'm not sure what will be happening for November, because we certainly do not have the kind of fees to pay visa. Even if we did, we'd have to wait to be approved, and have no idea how long that process will take, or even if we would be approved. I strongly encourage everyone to act as soon as possible to set up a paypal account for themselves, and if they are a member, to switch their account over. We'll make sure that you don't lose any membership time in this process. Once your current membership expires, we can add an extra week on while you are waiting for your paypal account to become active (we'll give you the free week even if it does become active before your current membership expires).
Even if you are not a member of the sites, and don't ever plan on becoming one, if you are going to ever purchase anything over the internet, I would set up a paypal account. It's simple, it's safe, and they pay you 5$. You've got nothing to lose.
XO
Katt
For those of you who already have a membership, or who cannot for whatever reason support us through memberships to Erotimania sites. Please consider the following additional ways you can support the growth of Erotimania sites. Thanks in advance for your time and consideration!
For the generous folx with some extra spending money, Make a donation to help support Erotimania sites growth! Invest in us! We put back in, what we get out.
For those with a little bit of patience. It's not so bad when you know it's coming! Clicking this link will open up pop ups for women's cam sites and a dialer window. You will be asked for confirmation before anything opens!
For those with no extra cash, and some time to waste. A lot of these sponsors provide reciprocal advertising, browsing these links helps us build traffic.
