Author: Maria Sparagis

Maria Sparagis is President of DirectPayNet, where she's spent over 20 years helping businesses scale to six-, seven-, and eight-figure revenue through optimized payment processing. She works hands-on with business owners to solve merchant account challenges, reduce processing costs, and implement payment strategies that support real growth. Maria is a regular speaker at fintech conferences and writes about practical approaches that help businesses break through revenue plateaus.

What Does Visa’s NFT Purchase Mean for Crypto? A Momentous Move for the Payment Industry

The world’s most popular credit card network just bought an NFT for $150,000 for the first time. The price isn’t surprising (it’s not even among the most expensive NFTs). What is surprising is Visa’s head of crypto, Cuy Sheffield, stated in a blog post the purchase is to understand the growing NFT market, the mechanics behind making a […]

The Top 5 Tips for Disputing a Chargeback as a Merchant

The hard truth is that banks rarely favor the merchant when it comes to disputing a chargeback. The process tends to follow the oft misguided phrase of “the customer is always right”, which can leave a customer with more money than they started with and your product in their hands. It’s easy to understand why […]

Influencer Marketing: How to Maximize TikTok Video Monetization

TikTok is the latest social media platform, and that means another great opportunity for you to market your brand and monetize your TikTok videos as an influencer. Not all social platforms work the same when it comes to monetization, though, and TikTok is one of the more complex. This is because TikTok as a platform […]

Applying for a high-risk merchant account in the USA? Here’s what you need to know.

Any financial application has its challenges to overcome and applying for a high-risk merchant account in the USA is no exception. Staying on top of those challenges by anticipating them can minimize the time spent during the application’s processing and maximize your approval odds. You’ve taken the right first step with having an interest in […]

How to Successfully Get a Lottery Payment Gateway

Lotteries, raffles, and competition websites where players can gain a massive ROI with a miniscule ante have an obvious appeal. Who doesn’t like getting free money? Following consumer demand are business owners and entrepreneurs like you who see the earnings potential on the business-side of lotteries. Getting your site set up with a lottery payment gateway […]