2019 Year in Review

2019 started with a bang! MobiusPay was awarded the Payment Services Company of the Year award in Los Angeles which was fantastic! We also grew our MobiusPay family. Jo Jordan joined the team.  Jo Jordan is an industry veteran (also known as Kiwigirl) and has helped to broaden our horizons within our social media reach, print advertising, communications, and overall marketing efforts.

MobiusPay has continued to grow and expand our service offering to our clients. We launched our integration with Too Much Media and their NATS tracking software for MobiusPay and our affiliate program clientele. We have always had the ability to cascade to multiple processors. We think it’s essential when accepting electronic payments; and now with the NATS program integrating, we can service those clients as well. Merchants who chose to trust and rely upon MobiusPay as their processor have multiple options. We pride ourselves on understanding that ease and flexibility is key in the online world.

Additionally, true to form, Visa threw the electronic payments industry a curveball in the first quarter of 2019 by announcing the new Visa Dispute and Fraud Monitoring updates. Effective October 1, 2019 gone are the days of 100 chargebacks (now called “disputes”) and 1.00 percent ratio in the same month to qualify a merchant for the fines to start.

The new thresholds, much to the chagrin of the adult industry, are now 100 or more disputes and 0.9 percent or higher ratio of dispute count-to-sales ratio. This is fine (and possibly termination) territory.

For early warning, the new thresholds are 75 or more disputes and a 0.65 percent or higher ratio of dispute count-to-sales count. There are no fines associated with early warning, but the acquirer will typically request a chargeback reduction plan and the merchant account will come under intense scrutiny. The policy on how long a merchant can remain in the early warning program varies from acquirer to acquirer, but even the most lenient acquirer won’t let a merchant stay on their portfolio once the merchant enters the third consecutive month of being on the early warning program.

What does this mean for a business owner and MobiusPay? You’ll be glad I asked this rhetorical question after you read the next segment!

MobiusPay is committed to solving problems before they arise. We offer a near real-time notification service to our clients which affords the business the opportunity to rectify a potentially disgruntled customer. The way the system works is when a cardholder (customer) initiates a dispute, or inquiry, with their issuing bank, an alert is sent to the merchant and the merchant is given 72 hours (which includes holidays and weekends) to respond to the dispute. In the adult industry, most of our clients opt to issue a refund rather than try to reach out to the cardholder to settle any dissatisfaction the cardholder may have. What this system does is gives the merchant the opportunity to prevent a chargeback before it happens by issuing that credit instead of waiting for the 72 hours to expire and getting the money taken out of the business bank account, regardless. At the very minimum, the merchant is actively reducing the number of chargebacks that are coming in each month which is an even greater imperative, now more than ever, in order to maintain the chargeback (dispute) count and ratios under acceptable thresholds. The best part of all of this is that if a merchant doesn’t receive an alert, they also aren’t billed for the service. There are no monthly service fees or minimums. If a merchant receives zero notifications in a month, they don’t receive a bill. If they receive ten notifications in a month, they’re billed for ten notifications, and that’s it! No “convenience fee” or “on file fee” or any other hidden fees. There’s really no reason not to sign up.

This service is exponentially invaluable to merchants who ship a tangible product. Receiving the early warning gives the merchant the opportunity to reach out to the client and suspend fulfillment and shipment of the product that was purchased.

“Ensuring that our merchants remain in compliance and within Visa’s new threshold is our #1 priority!” stated MobiusPay VP, Jonathan Corona. Having the foresight to prepare our merchants and implementing the new thresholds well ahead of the Visa deadline, MobiusPay was able to keep all merchant accounts well below thresholds and kept every client safe, satisfied, and content.

Another major change in the industry was the passage of the Hemp Farming Act of 2013, which was passed by the Senate in December of 2018. While it’s not quite something that happened in 2019, it became law 11 days before the start of the new year. This has affected the electronic payments industry by leaps and bounds as we’ve had success in getting merchants who sell THC and hemp products approved to accept Visa and Mastercard as a form of payment.

As the acceptance of both medical and recreational marijuana use across the United States and throughout the world continues to expand, a company by the name of ResponsiTech surfaced. ResponsiTech is a foundation comprised of international experts who have an aggregate 75 years of experience in online youth protection, which caught the attention of MobiusPay President and Founder Mia Zhu. “I wanted to support ResponsiTech in their efforts to launch their online youth safety technology and services in the cannabis industry as I’ve seen the benefits of their policies and what a difference it can make.”

The MobiusPay team has traveled across the globe from Los Angeles to Miami, New Orleans to Prague, San Francisco to Amsterdam and everywhere in between to meet with our existing clients and future clients. Our experience and commitment to service is what separates us from our peers, and we couldn’t be prouder of the achievements of everyone on our team (securing at least seven individual nominations for the upcoming award season) and the leadership provided by Mia.

With 2019 mostly behind us, the MobiusPay team is actively working on new and exciting ideas, looking ahead to 2020 with excitement, passion, and pride in the service we provide.

We’re looking forward to seeing all the familiar faces of our friends, clients, and colleagues in the year to come as well as making new friends and establishing new business relationships. As we continue to grow and provide award-winning service, the entire MobiusPay team is committed to making 2020 the best year yet and we are eternally grateful for our clients and partners who have been loyal to us over the years and who can attest to the quality of service we provide.

MobiusPay, Inc. is headquartered in Los Angeles, California and offers comprehensive and cutting-edge electronic payment processing solutions. We are your premier business partner in facilitating the acceptance of electronic payments for your products and services both online and on the go; featuring a fully secure end-to-end global payment solution supporting all major credit cards, 36 global currencies, support for a variety of integrated shopping carts, ACH, and a wide range of custom-tailored solutions for your business. MobiusPay is your reliable and strong business partner specializing in high-risk merchant accounts in the US, EU, and Asia.

For more information on how MobiusPay can help with your electronic payment needs, please contact us at info@mobiuspay.com and follow us on social media. @mobiuspay on IG, Facebook, and Twitter.