Verotel: Not just surviving, but THRIVING?
 

I've heard a lot of negative talk about Verotel on GFY over the years, much of it for good reason. But after all this time and the downfall of many other big processors, Verotel is still up and kicking, and coming up with new features / upgrades all the time.

Have to say I'm very impressed and hope they keep it up for years to come.

:2 cents: :thumbsup

-P

I gotta give it to them. I didn't think they would last.

I think a lot of people had them slated as the next to crumble ...

pleasant surprise indeed.

-P

Just makes me nervous about companies holding my money that are off shore. At least with the U.S companies, I can show up on their doorstep and/or sue if needed.

We have been using Verotel on one of our sites for about 2 years now and have never had a problem with support or payouts.

been hearing comments like that a lot lately. The fact that they keep adding new features / billing options gives me a bit of comfort as well.

sue ibill...

I understand your concerns. But some of us don't have any choice and have felt that way about U.S. companies in the past and been burnt.

:1orglaugh

Thank god I dont have to. Made a good choice on two processors three years ago in CCbill and Paycom. Never even looked at ibill.

:)

Paycom since '98 (Oh, excuse me - Epoch). CCBill since '04. Been very happy. Next step is my own merchant account.

We have used Verotel since 2002 with no issues whatsoever. The new currency selection features rock.

BTW.. Verotel are not offshore. They are based in Amsterdam.

Also... I am not gonna claim this is an asset - because "assets" can vanish overnight :-) But, unlike some existing "big" third party processors, Verotel do have an escrow service in place for the security of client funds.

I think thats still considered offshore and i think all processors should have a escrow service.

being based in the Netherlands does not constitute being "offshore", at least not in the usual sense of the term... offshore usually refers to places such as Gibraltar, St. Kitts, Caymans, etc..

Amsterdam is "offshore"? :-) It may be offshore from the US if that is what is mean't, but certainly is not an offshore company in the true sense.

But they are governed by the laws of Holland and can be sued easily.

Sure.. they should have escrow or other security in place. Oddly a few EU processors have an escrow service in place. But so far, I've never seen one in the US that has this security.

i said over a year ago that i thought it very possible that "Verotel could be the last one standing...", and lots of people laughed. heh, as the noose tightens here w/in the US i don't see as many people laughing now..

It costs a mere $USD12.50 to wire payments, if they shut down suddenly then you lose 2 weeks worth of transactions.

Nothing is certain anywhere chupacabra when it comes to third party processing :winkwink:

It's can be a profitable but risky biz when the elements that control the payment process change the rules.

But yea... I've also thought the next major processing area would be within the EU and it sure is heading that way now - even with elements of iBill. The slight difference, which is to the benefit of webmasters, is there are accountability laws in the EU when handling other people's money.

Two weeks of payments is a new car and I'm not talking some $20,000 car here. Why would I risk that type of money over a 750 Visa fee and $2.50 on a wire fee?


:)

It ain't about $750 VISA fees SM - it's about who is stable and who have security of funds. The $750 VISA fee has not helped anyone owed by iBill - that's just another cost only applicable to VISA North America - it's not some status symbol or entitlement to get paid. No other banking region accepted that crap.

It would be nice to see CCBill now adopt some security of webmaster funds - especially considering the current iBill saga.

Sorry, but you are not going to change my mind and I doubt the minds of any ccbill or paycom webmasters here. We all know what the 750 fee is about and of course it does not offer extra security. Im very happy with where I am at and will not leave. If I go anywhere, it will be to my own merchant account.

I also take issue with many of the sites that Vertol has seen themself clear to process for. I'm not going to give my money to a company that would support sites that feature models under the age of 18.

.02

Ok, so you've got oodles of money. I still look at it in a relative sense: losing 2 weeks worth is better than losing (say) 2 months worth.

If you were pushing that many transactions you wouldn't/shouldn't be using a single processor anyway.

you do realize that ccBill used to process for underage model sites as well, that isn't a badge that only Verotel carries around in its past.. :2 cents:

UH , I think you are forgetting about the rebills..

They did away with all of those sites at the end of 2004, I believe.

-P

IMO having your own merchant account is really the best way to go and Netbilling is really the best company to manage it with.

Z

I dont. :)



chupacabra, yes I am aware ccbill used to process for that. On Nov 15 2002 CCbill made a clear business decision to stop processing for sites that feature underage models. Verotel continues to do so. If they have changed that, it's been in the recent past.


I'm not bashing them at all. They have a market and they have done a good job, but it's just not for me.

:)

I sure am not interested in changing your mind! :-) It was more to do with security of funds than anything and I'm not speaking on behalf of Verotel or any third party processor.

Gotta agree.. probably the better step forward is with a merchant account!

unless something has changed in the last month, they definitely are not still processing for such sites, owners of said sites were here on GFY raising hell when they all got shit-canned at once..

I'm not trying to promote Verotel here, especially not saying that they are better than any other processor, just pointing out how well they've done (seemingly) against so many odds.

-P

That would be good to hear!

:thumbsup

They rock!

I opened an account with then and they rejected me because we
where opening a affiliate program. Thank god they closed my account
in the beginning.

They don't allow affiliate programs? They must have mostly pretty small webmasters then.

Z

sued easily you know a dutch lawyer lol

They do have an affiliate system, but it's pretty rudimentary in some ways.

Don't know why they would reject you on those grounds. :question

I was talking about minimising the direct losses of a sudden cessation of services. If the processor has lost their merchant account or has gone out of business then they won't be processing rebills anyway. :upsidedow

Exactly my point.




Loosing all your rebills is a much bigger hit IMO that 2 weeks of transactions.

:thumbsup

They have been brilliant for us ever since we moved from CCbill. They convert so many more sales than them, and that's all that matters to me... :thumbsup

Glad to see them make it...

Sig placement.

I am hapy for them. Best of luck!

we using verotel on some of our sites and have been great! For EU Webmasters rock as we can now bill in multi currencies - the dollar has fucking crippled us this past year and its good to bill joe user in pounds or euros - and from what I see they have cleaned the house so to speak. :thumbsup

Verotel stopped processing for them at the same time or about the same time CCBILL did... neither processes for them and I do believe that Verotel locked the accounts of the affiliates and the sites themselves (keeping the money for 6 months).

But.. the kudos goes to Visa, not the processors.. VISA is the one that told them to knock it off or they can't process VISA cards anymore.

Well, let's clarify something here, CCBill stopped billing for "teen model sites" on Nov 15, 2002 which was exactly the time that Visa/MC came town and hammered CCBill and iBill with the new IPSP regs (I know because I had just started working for Verotel a month earlier and we were jumping for joy because so many iBill and CCBill webmasters were moving over) and then all those sites moved over to GloBill, WebsiteBilling and Globosale until they ended up getting kicked off the porch, at which time they all moved over to Verotel. And btw, Verotel stopped billing for those sites also when the IPSP regs came to Europe in March 2004 - not so recent past.

Given the history, it may be a bit presumptuous to call it a "clear business decision" which implies that CCBill stopped processing for those types of sites on their own accord. I'm not bashing CCBill or anything just trying to paint a clearer picture as to what most likely prompted that clear business decision. :winkwink:

:2 cents:

So, what you're saying is that CCBill, Ibill, Verotel, you guys all would have kept processing undersage modeling sites if you could ... but Visa laid the smack down.

:disgust

lol shit.

-P

And some processors never made that deal with the devil. Congrats on what prompted YOUR clear business decision.

John

This is good news, we're going to signup with you next. :2 cents:

^^ naive reasoning to say the least...

Yes, I know two - you want one? :winkwink:

Basically court action in the EU.. in *almost* any country (there are exceptions!) is far easier than dealing with, eg iBill in Florida.

There are also orgs and oversight authorities who are interested in intervening in instances of the conduct of their members - and don't stand for the shit saga that occurred with people like iBill.

iBill had no "org" or oversight authority - it's like trading in the wild west.