PaySystems CLOSED - Crook Alert!

[StarGate]

Dear myPaySystems merchant,

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we must terminate our myPaySystems Internet Billing Account (IBA) services. This unfortunate situation is due in part to, restrictions imposed by the VISA/MasterCard association on processing of Internet credit card transactions by third party billing companies, and, our acquirer Pago eTransaction Services GmbH/Deutsche Bank, suspending our accounts and accelerating the termination of our IBA processing capabilities.

All merchants currently processing through an IBA will no longer be able to process transactions and we are forced to give notice that effective immediately, August 9, 2004, your myPaySystems IBA Agreement is terminated. Further, as per section 9.3(e), notice is given that all funds must be held pending risk review of each account. At this time no release schedule is available, as each case attracts its own risk profile. There are also external factors which require final determination. Once we ascertain the resolution of your risk scenario, your funds may be released in the normal course.

As we valued your business, we pursued all possible alternative processing options for our merchants and had implemented a transition plan to migrate all of our qualified merchants from a myPaySystems IBA to their own merchant accounts. It was due to the sudden actions of Pago eTransaction Services GmbH/Deutsche Bank that we were unable to complete the migration. If you continue to require online payment processing services you may contact other payment processors that provide similar services. Searching for "process credit cards online" in any search engine will provide you with possible alternatives.

Regards,
Merchant Support Services
myPaySystems Corporation


So, they cancelled everyone despite the fact that we paid setup fee for it, without even bothering to notify anyone. Me and all other I know did not receive an email.

I checked with one client in Australia (who signed up 2 days ago) and he told me that PaySystems captured the money i.e. they are on his cc-statement i.e they took his money. That means that despite they are "closed" they still grab all the money they can in order to keep it indefinitely (derrived their own statement). He is already paying me per PayPal now and he will chargeback PaySystems tomorrow.

As I told PaySystems I dont give a flying *censored* about their problems. I "found out" about this by noticing per COINCIDENCE that my "Status:" was set to "closed" thus vaguely remembering that there should be "active" normally. But as business went on and clients were charged there was no reason for me to "smell" anything.

Now I have the honor to email almost a hundred clients to pay me via PayPal now and I am looking at rebuilding my whole ModernBill to use the new Gateway (PayPal).

As soon as I have time I will register a domain like paysystems-sucks.com or so in order to inform people on the net what went down so they think at least TWICE before signing up with them in the future when all this has been "forgotten".

... not to mention that I will be without a dime from my hosting royalties this month and will surely loose a client or two over this ...

PaySystems has a sworn enemy from now on...

[StarGate]

Resolution description :
We apologize for the situation, however we are working on releasing your funds as quickly as possible. The set up fee you paid is non-refundable as it was for the set up of your account and the underwriting process.
Below please find the latest update which was released.

MYPAYSYSTEMS IBA TERMINATION UPDATE -August 11th 2004

Dear Merchant,

I would like to update you on the situation regarding the termination of the myPaySystems IBA Services. We have been communicating with many of our affected merchants and we have been monitoring online postings. We are deeply sympathetic to the undue hardship this situation may be causing to your business. Like our merchants, we have been prejudicially affected by the sudden termination of our accounts by Pago eTransactions Services and are suffering its consequences. We are committed to assist you through this situation and plan to issue updates. As of now, these are the most frequently asked questions on a regular basis.

July 29th and August 5th Settlements

myPaySystems did not receive the last two scheduled merchant settlements. We have been informed that all funds are being held pending account risk review. We are making every effort to accelerate the release of these funds in order to settle all merchants that have outstanding sums due to them. As soon as funds are released to us, we will begin releasing them to our merchants. We expect this process to begin within the next few days.

Rolling Reserves

As well, Pago eTransactions Services has not yet released any merchant reserves. We are also working to have these funds released to merchants on their scheduled release dates. Your funds are not being forfeited and will be released in due course.

Future Processing Capabilities

At this time we can only service U.S. based merchants. We are working at establishing alternative payment processors than can process for non-U.S. merchants. We expect to be able to communicate possible alternatives by tomorrow. We will be sending a detailed email with alternatives to all merchants that may require ongoing services.

Processing Refunds & Chargebacks

You will continue to have access to your online MCC portal to view all of your historical transactions. While account termination does not allow you to process refunds, consumers may still be able to chargeback any unfulfilled order. We will not be levying any fines against your account for accrued chargebacks after the date of termination. Transactions which have been subject to a chargeback and are unfulfilled may be reprocessed through a new processing account should your client wish to still receive the goods.

I would like to thank you for your continued patience in this matter. We are working around the clock to resolve all issues affecting our merchants.

Sincerely,

Philip Fayer
President and CEO
PaySystems Corporation

[Corey Bryant]

Yes we have been extremely busy with this fiasco. You will probably be receiving another email from Universal Processors. This company it seems purchased some of the third party accounts. The problem? This e-mail might conatin your personal financial information or another company's.

[markblair]

How nice. They close a major part of their services but don't say a word for several days and then tell you that you can't get your money? I guess you'll just have to accept it, right? :rolleyes: [/sarcasm]

Good luck getting this all straightened out.

[Corey Bryant]

They are releasing some of the money - slowly. I just hope they do not withhold people's money for the standard 180 days.

[StarGate]

This is really what fits into that classic category called a SCANDAL!

Fact: They changed their business to "real" merchant accounts and probably sold the other part i.e. gave another 3rd party processor the user db so they can grab customers.

I am partly living off the money I get from them for my hosting and now I am looking at 2-3 months of 0$/month without any warning.

All I can say about this is WTF???

[Saeven]

For what it's worth, we've built a script that can set you up to use any Whois.Cart() compatible merchant account on your Paysystems accounts.

It's an XLS to CSV to Whois.Cart conversion, and imports your recurrence cycles directly into the system.

Thought it might help those left to hang, which incidentally, could have been ourselves as well (eesh).

Best regards.
Alexandre

[C&S]

Do to paysystems & Pago we have been trying to help merchants move their accounts over so they are not dead in the water per say. Sategate, I hope that you don't fall into the 180 day hold back of your funds.

[StarGate]

Unfortunately I do cause I am in Greece and whatnot...

[drmike]

I used PaySystems once. For all of 2 days and 4 clients. Never went back.

-drmike

[Wilson Systems]

I have had a bad experience with Paysystems, it ended on good terms, but I will never go back. After faxing my application (with personal information and bank account numbers) 4 times and were still not able to get the application to the correct people. Notice that the app was being faxed to the correct number and being received by paysystems, they just couldn't find the right desk I guess.

After six months I finally was able to receive a credit to my credit card. Never again...

[Ross]

Now what do you guys think, will 2checkout be next. This entire fiasco has made us also close our 2checkout account and get a real merchant account (through CDGCommerce).

[alex042]

Just because this happens to one 3rd party merchant doesn't mean it's going to happen to another.

Interestingly, I always was a little nervous about our paysystems account ever since my initial coorespondence last year or whenever it was, but since there were so many good reviews here and other places, I went ahead and stuck with it.

As for this occurrence, I don't recall ever seeing this email, but have noticed that they've quit emailing daily statements.

Fortunately for us we've been using paysystems as a 'backup' 3rd party merchant to 2checkout and paypal and hadn't needed to use them yet.

[GrandmasterB]

What's ridiculous is that I called their support line to find out what was going on, and got no answers. All they said was we suggest you find another vendor to do your processing. In the two years I was with Paysystems, it was always a hassle. I guess now I'll head over to 2checkout and see what they have to offer.

[Corey Bryant]

As long as 2CO continues to morph into the re-interpretations of the Visa / Mastercard rules & regulations, they will stay in business. But if you are in the US & processing over $1,000 a month, you should have a merchant account. With 2CO, you are spending about 5.95% a month in your volume for the processing. With a merchant account, starting at about $1,000, you are looking at a total of 3.95% (includes all the "extra" charges). And of course this percentage decrease with the more volume you have.

[beley]

Now is a great time to look into a real merchant account... I just got one a few months ago with no setup fees for Authorize.net. I have small minimums but there is a deal online now with no setup AND no minimums through I think CDGCommerce (I may be mistaken).

Anyway, if you do any real business, get a real merchant account. Much less hassle.

[Corey Bryant]

beley is right - but as far as the minimums - as long as you are processing over $1,000 a month - they are not a problem. If you are processing less, you should not really consider a merchant account. Your profit margins severly decrease. But yes, CDG & others can help set up a merchant account. CDG primarily is US only unfortunately.

We work with him on a few accounts & I will say he is a good person to work with