IN THE SPOTLIGHT

epassporte

At Internext we had a chance to catch up with Rand Pate and get a demo regarding the newly launched epassporte. Following is a question and answer session between myself and Rand, as well as the company press release.

LAJ: Rand, what is your response to the naysayers regarding epassporte? You have received some interesting feedback and comments in this XNations.com thread.

Rand: Some of the naysayers have said things like the following (taken as quotes from the above link). I’ll respond to each comment and question…

“There will always be people in the middle of transactions who will want their cut. This seems to me to be a loop-hole of sorts, where the banks and the credit card companies are cut out of all transactions (more or less).”

“Why don’t sponsors just payout using paypal every day? At least people trust PayPal. I use mine all the time everywhere.”

PayPal is an alternative. However, epassporte is a better alternative. People may trust PayPal because they’ve used them before. However, PayPal is not global, as is epassporte, and epassporte is a Visa transaction. Visa is a globally trusted payment mechanism, much more so than PayPal. With epassporte, your money is with Visa. Not with Epoch or anyone else. Trust PayPal all you want, but I trust Visa more.

Epassporte has other benefits as opposed to PayPal. It is much easier and faster to get an account and it is a lot cheaper to use. Look at PayPal’s rates for transfers, and compare them with epassporte’s. An epassporte personal account holder can transfer money globally up to 5 times per day for .25 cents per transfer. That’s cheaper than a stamp, a lot cheaper than a wire, and the funds move instantly to any other epassporte account in the world.

Don’t forget, epassporte is a Visa. Virtual or Electron, it’s still a Visa. Visa is a trusted name in commerce at nearly every retailer in the world and almost everywhere online.

“It’s not going to help anybody that has trouble signing up with a credit card because you need a credit card to put money on it. If the system won’t accept someone’s cc to join a site why would it suddenly accept it to put money into this?”

There are several countries whose surfers are blocked from using their credit cards due to the increased risk of chargeback for high-risk (5967) transactions. To load an epassporte card is not a high-risk transaction, but instead, a retail transaction and much more difficult to charge back. Therefore, countries that are blocked for high-risk transactions can allow the surfer to obtain and load an epassporte without the same risks. Then, epasporte may be used to purchase from online companies where they were previously blocked.

Additionally, epassporte will soon be able to be loaded by wire and online check. No credit card will be required to obtain an epassporte Visa. Stay tuned for details.

“And you can’t rebill a debit card either.”

Wrong. Debit cards can be billed just as any credit card can be billed. Recurring billing is no different for debit cards than it is for credit cards.

“If somebody is worried about having a porn site signup appear on their credit card statement then they’re probably going to be worried about this thing appearing on their cc statement too, so that’s not going to help signups either.”

Wrong again. The most common type of friendly fraud is when the surfer claims “I didn’t do it” and many times that is because the wife, husband, whomever has found a transaction on the card they do not recognize and begin to investigate. Anonymity is huge for surfers who don’t want particular transactions appearing on their credit card statements. All purchases with epassporte Visa appear only on the epassporte online statement and never on the load card’s billing statement. The load of epassporte is the only transaction that will appear on the credit card statement and it is an account funding transaction.

“It has the same flaws as paypal, i.e.: why use a credit card to put money towards something else if you can just use the credit card?”

As previously stated, not everyone can use their credit card to make purchases online. There are several reasons for this. The surfer may be coming from an area of the world where transactions for high-risk purchases are not allowed by the processor. In addition, various fraud databases may interrupt the transaction even when it is a valid Visa transaction. Whatever the case may be, epassporte is not a replacement for current “good” credit card transactions. It is an alternative to the business you are currently losing.

Transactions that are now lost or sent to other payment methods, such as a dialer, can now be turned into Visa transactions with the same rates as any other credit card sale and has the same payout amount.

Epassporte launched January 6th and in one week issued Virtual Visa cards in 79 countries. I think this speaks in no uncertain terms to the need for such a payment mechanism.

“Someone tell me how this is a new idea.”

· Epassporte offers a surfer the ability to get a Virtual Visa account in real time. Virtually in seconds.
· It is accepted globally.
· It offers anonymity.
· It supports Peer-to-Peer money transfers in real time to a global market at rates much cheaper than currently available mechanisms.

It truly is a revolutionary product because it happens to cater to the needs of the online community for high-risk transactions. It offers instant gratification, opens new markets, and Epoch has fully integrated the epassporte payment option into the join process of any site with a denied order.

“What I can’t figure out is why they wouldn’t be scrubbed when they use their CC to put money on the stupid thing in the first place. They still have to go through Visa or whomever when they go through Epoch’s billing to put cash on it.”

The epassporte loading transaction is not considered high risk. It is a retail transaction. Once the epassporte has been loaded with funds, it can be used to purchase online anywhere Visa is accepted. The money is funded on the account so the normal fraud scrubs are not necessary.

LAJ: Will you be issuing these kinds of cards to literally anyone over 18? Is it ONLY intended for the Internet? And will you be marketing these cards in print and through other mediums?

Rand: You must currently have a credit card to load an epassporte although alternative loading methods are in the works. Therefore, these cards can be issued in real time in any region of the world to anyone with an existing Visa or MasterCard. Other loading methods are soon to be announced such as online checks and wire transfers.

The first phase of epassporte launched January 6 to the adult market which provides a far reaching distribution. Epassporte will be used in other markets as well and we will be aggressively pursuing those markets where epassporte offers advantages to current methods of payment and money transfers.

LAJ: How did a billing processor become an issuer? Was it as simple as signing some documents or has it been a very long and involving legal process?

Rand: Epoch is not an issuer. Epoch and epassporte are two separate companies. Epassporte uses a lot of Epoch’s technology to integrate this product into the needs of the online markets. Epoch is a seller of epassporte Visa accounts. Epassporte is a brand with specific features powered by Epoch’s technology.

This was a wrenching and costly project that took two years to complete. Additionally, the barriers to entry in this arena are so great that the cost and dedication to the product must be unyielding. Epoch hired transaction experts from all over the world to help ensure the success of epassporte. That being said, the epassporte team was able to launch their Virtual and Electron Visa product in record time, faster than Visa has ever launched a similarly branded product in its history. This was no simple venture and involved countless hours, funding, dedication, and leadership. The entire Epoch and epassporte teams are to be congratulated on their efforts and success.

LAJ: What if other companies start doing it?

Rand: Other companies are welcome to try. The barriers to entry on this type of project are long and wide. I would guess others will try. However cost, time, the necessary infrastructure, and the difficulties involved may be prohibitive. Anyone who would like to compete may best be served by working out a deal with the existing epassporte product. It’s in place and it works.

LAJ: Do you predict that this can and will replace all types of online ecommerce in the future?

Rand: No. Visa and MasterCard are the online ecommerce methods of payment and even epassporte relies on them to exist. Epassporte may, however, replace current payment methods or means of transferring money. Considering the instant funds transfer ability and the immediate access to those funds world-wide coupled with the ease of use and extremely low cost of moving money, it is not impossible to envision epassporte replacing checks, wires, PayPal, and many other types of transfer instruments. Epassporte truly is a remarkable product and it’s potential is not yet fully realized, even by it’s creators.

Epoch News

Monday January 6, 2003

Over the past several months, Epoch has been working toward the launch of a new product that will change the way business is done on the Internet. Today, we are very excited to announce the launch of epassporte.

What is it? It is a Visa card. It is a PLUS ATM Card. It is the answer to billing for previously blocked transactions. Epassporte has an unlimited number of potential applications. One of which is a solution for processing high-risk and previously blocked transactions that might not otherwise be accepted due to scrubbing. It is also an anonymous way for people to buy adult entertainment online, without the charges appearing on their regular credit card statement. Epassporte also includes peer-to-peer payment functionality, which has virtually limitless applications.

How Does It Work?

Epassporte is a Visa debit card. It functions just like any other Visa card for online transactions and can be obtained in real-time in virtually seconds from epassporte’s homepage. Seconds? Yes, Visa cards are issued online and in real-time to new epassporte cardholders. The online use of epassporte is accomplished with the epassporte Virtual Visa, meaning the card number, expiration date, and CVV2 number are obtained at the moment that the epassporte account is loaded. The epassporte Virtual Visa may be loaded from any Visa or MasterCard. Once the epassporte account is loaded with stored value, the epassporte Virtual Visa is created instantly, online and ready to use for purchases. And of course Epoch has seamlessly integrated this entire process into its systems.

Why?

Why use epassporte? If you are a surfer and live in a country whose transactions have been blocked, now you can purchase online using a pre-funded debit card from epassporte. Since the surfers’ credit card is being charged using a special code to load the Virtual Visa, it is extremely difficult to charge back. Additionally, the epassporte Virtual Visa provides anonymity for the surfer because all online purchases will appear only in the epassporte electronic account statement and never on a mailed card statement.

Webmaster Applications.

Epassporte is much more than a tool for billing. It is also a peer-to-peer payment mechanism. Now you can move funds to any other epassporte account holder around the world at any time with the click of a button. It costs less than the price of a stamp to transfer funds from one account holder to another with no minimum or maximum limits. This means no more wire fees; no more checks to write, stamp and mail; no more Federal Express or UPS charges to send payments to your affiliates; no waiting for the check to arrive; and foreign webmasters will have no further problems with receiving funds in a timely manner and without unnecessary consequences or additional costs.

Show Me The Money!

“Epassporte is a Virtual Visa and I don’t do all my shopping online. I want cash”!

No problem. The epassporte Visa Electron card is the plastic companion to the Virtual Visa account. It arrives to your address in about 10 days. Use your epassporte VISA Electron card to get cash at ATMs bearing the PLUS and/or VISA logo or to make purchases at PIN-based merchants anywhere Visa is accepted. One account, two numbers. Use epassporte online or around the corner – all over the world.
Pay your affiliates, your hosting provider, your talent, or anyone that you normally send payments to. No other payment method is this easy and convenient.

Find out more by going to our website at https://www.epassporte.com or writing to info@epassporte.com.

Rand has been with the Epoch Transaction Services team since 1998, beginning with client services and managing a team of tech support representatives. He now oversees the compliance department at Epoch and works closely with sales and marketing as well as serving as Director of Corporate Communications. He writes a daily newsletter available to all Epoch clients and their affiliates. He can be reached by writing to rand@epochsystems.com.

Jay “LAJ” Kopita is the Executive Editor for YNOTNews and the Communications Director for YNOTMasters and can be reached at editor@ynotnews.com and jay@ynotmasters.com.