What is an IPSP?
IPSP stands for Internet Payment Service Provider. An
IPSP is a company that enters into an agreement with a
bank and is approved by Visa to process and settle transactions
on behalf of online merchants. Epoch is an IPSP and Visa
calls Epoch’s clients sponsored merchants.How do I register with Visa to become a sponsored merchant?
Simply complete an agreement using our online registration form here. If you are located in the U.S., you must pay a $750 Visa registration fee. If you are located in the Visa Europe region, there is no registration fee.
Why does Epoch care about a merchant's location?
Because Visa rules state that an IPSP like Epoch can only process transactions on behalf of Sponsored Merchants located in the same Visa region as the IPSP. Epoch and Epoch EU are located in the United States and Europe respectively, so Epoch may only process for merchants in the Visa’s U.S.A. and the Visa Europe regions which include: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Why is it better to process with Epoch than to get my own merchant account?
Trying to get a “High Risk” merchant account can be difficult to obtain and are expensive. Banks require substantial reserves that may not be returned to the merchant for many years, while Epoch does not require any reserves. Moreover, individual merchant accounts cannot offer the full range of premium features that Epoch does, and do not include complete back-end affiliate tracking and transaction cascading systems.
Perhaps most importantly, Epoch’s clients receive the benefit of its risk management department, 24-7 customer call center and 24-7 merchant support for no additional fee. The team at Epoch constantly monitors our clients’ portfolios to ensure that their accounts remain in good standing with the card associations. The cost for a merchant to recreate these services would be substantial, and if a merchant is unable to remain within card association guidelines for consumer disputes its risks being permanently banned by the card associations from accepting credit card transactions.
This blog contains information about Epoch.com for both merchants and customers.
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