I'd Gladly Pay You Tuesday For An E-Commerce Purchase Today
from the bill-me-later dept
Many people are still quite nervous about using their credit cards online — perhaps for very good reasons. With stories about massive credit card data leaks showing up in the news quite frequently, it’s no wonder people are nervous. Even if the chances of actually being a victim of credit card theft is pretty rare (even for those whose numbers have been exposed), it’s certainly not a comforting feeling. Business Week is profiling a company that is pushing a “Bill Me Later” option as a reasonable alternative. While the article talks about how different this is, it really just sounds like “instant credit,” rather than a basic credit card. The company claims it can grant this instant credit based on just your birth date and last four digits of your Social Security Number — and then successfully sniff out fraud attempts. That could raise a lot of questions, though. After all, that’s data that’s not very hard to figure out for many people. The company, obviously, tries to screen stuff out if you’re ordering something and shipping it to a different location than where you live, but it’s not hard to see how scammers might quickly jump on this system and run up quite a bit of debt for unsuspecting people. Really, the only major differences with this system and traditional credit card systems is that (1) consumers don’t have to know their card number (2) merchant policies are much more agreeable and (3) they claim to have better fraud detection. It’s the fraud detection that’s key. If credit card companies could catch up in fraud detection, while also making their merchant policies a bit friendlier, then it’s hard to see how “Bill Me Later” has much of an advantage.
Comments on “I'd Gladly Pay You Tuesday For An E-Commerce Purchase Today”
Credit Cards Are A Joke For Merchants
The good thing about cash is that it doesn’t disappear out of your drawer a month after making a sale. Credit cards are a joke and the chargeback fees make sure that the only person at a loss is the merchant.
Checking accounts and credit cards are the two biggest scams pulled by banks EVER.
Re: Credit Cards Are A Joke For Merchants
Of course, checking account/debit cards/credit cards also allow people to spend freely much more easily. Many studies have shown that people are much less willing to part with cash than with money in their bank account. Using plastic as the intermediary makes the transaction much less painful, which makes people spend more. Lots more.
Sure, the merchant has to pay some (small) fees. But he is *more* than recompensed by the increased sales generated by people spending without thinking due to their plastic.
That’s not even taking into account the fact that, now that credit cards and such are entrenched and very few people actually carry any cash, refusing to take cards would be tantamount to committing business suicide.
This is, by the way, why I own no credit cards, and try to conduct as much of my business with cash as possible.
Re: Credit Cards Are A Joke For Merchants
The reality is… consumers and fraudsters are abusing the rights granted to protect them from the horrid abuse inflicted by the ruthless merchants and credit card companies of long ago. The tables have turned. Unscrupulous consumers and outright fraudsters now have the upper-hand and the merchants suffering. Plain and simple, consumers and fraudsters are using these hard-won credit card rights to steal from merchants with credit cards payments, combined with subsequent chargebacks and threats of chargeback. ChargeFront Helping Online Merchants in their War on Fraudulent Chargebacks and Refund Abuse?
nope
This is a bad idea.
.
What happens when someone finds out/phishes your information and starts using it fraudulently? You going to change your SS number or your birthdate?
At best, you wont be able to use the Bill Me Later service ever again.
.
This is the same problem with fingerprint security — you can’t ever change the key. I wouldn’t want to lose a finger just because someone wants to steal my car…
No Subject Given
“small fees” unless you are a restaurateur with razor thin margins and that 2.5-4% you are paying to Visa et al is the difference between breaking even and going under…
That crap about increasing your business is just that. Crap. Sounds like a Visa or processing company employee because that is the pitch I got every time the Visa rep came into my business. Every time I showed him the door. I probably lost 1-2 customers a week. Not even close to enough business to justify paying the merchant fees for the customers paying by credit card out of sheer laziness or force of habit.
Re: No Subject Given
There is a restaurant near me that does not accept credits cards and is still packed every single day. If the food is good enough there will never be an issue with people getting cash before they get there. Also they put in one of those Credit Card / Debit card machines that charges the customer the Fee so if someone really wants to use a credit card they can use that and it passes the fee onto them.
Re: Re: No Subject Given
I have definitely avoided restaurants that don’t take credit cards. It’s just a different kind of bad service, similar to not being able to get your water glass refilled or to get your order taken. And when people ask you about a place and you say “yeah, the food’s pretty good but the service there sucks”, it doesn’t mean no one will ever go there, but surely a chunk of business is lost. Some restaurants can’t seat all the people that want to eat there anyway, so surely for them it doesn’t matter. But for the rest of the dining establishments that have empty tables sometimes, it’ll probably make a difference.
hey
I’ve got the patent for the one click Bill Me Later option!!!
Just kidding….
Re: hey
Get Paypal then we’ll talk.
Re: Re: hey
paypal is worse, if you get a complaint, they freeze all of your funds, and you can no longer take payments until you jump through thier hoops. and if you are a business owner, you have to prove a mountain of crap. not only for the transaction in question, but for transactions in the past, ones that were never even questioned by anyone, then they freeze your funds for like 6-9 months. paypal is by far the worse choice out there. better to just give your merchandise away.
bleh
this can’t be good. when department stores give u credit, its always in the form of a credit card. they may be ripping you off on fees and 20% interest, but at least its governed by credit card laws. this new thing seems worse than paypal in the fact that it won’t be subject to any banking laws, so consumers have no protection whatsoever.
Re: bleh
hey may be ripping you off on fees and 20% interest, but at least its governed by credit card laws.
And yet, I’ve seen an American Express Blue card bill with a 28.9% interest rate.
PayByCash
There’s a new up and coming service called PayByCash that a lot of MMORPGs like Everquest II, Anarchy Online, Meridian 59, Ultima Online, and anime retailer Otaku World are using.
Banks and credit card co's call it Soft Fraud / Fr
We call it stealing. Here’s the deal… consumers and fraudsters are abusing the rights granted to protect them from the horrid abuse inflicted by the ruthless merchants and credit card companies of long ago. The tables have turned. Unscrupulous consumers and outright fraudsters now have the upper-hand and the merchants suffering. Plain and simple, consumers and fraudsters are using these hard-won credit card rights to steal from merchants with credit cards payments, combined with subsequent chargebacks and threats of chargeback. ChargeFront Helping Online Merchants in their War on Fraudulent Chargebacks and Refund Abuse?
Re: Banks and credit card co's call it Soft Fraud
As appealing as I find the concept, ChargeFront looks like an excellent way to get sued out of business. Very similar in concept to the database that doctors were trying to build on suit-happy patients.
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Violins for sale
Cardmember service agreement / merchant agreement
“they put in one of those Credit Card / Debit card machines that charges the customer the Fee”
They can’t do that. Report them to the credit card co immediately. You also can’t raise the price just to cover the fee if someone decided to use credit instead of cash on the transaction.
read the rules John
“”they put in one of those Credit Card / Debit card machines that charges the customer the Fee”
They can’t do that. Report them to the credit card co immediately. You also can’t raise the price just to cover the fee if someone decided to use credit instead of cash on the transaction.”
-Actually, yes it can be charged as a convenience fee, if payment by credit is not of the norm for the business.
-Furthermore, a fee can be charged for debit.