Author: Maria Sparagis

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.

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.

Data theft protection

Risk & Fraud

5 Stripe Settings that Instantly Boost Fraud Prevention

Fraud prevention is not something to put on the back burner. Businesses face constant threats from fraudulent activities, especially at checkout. Stripe offers many tools

July 18, 2025

Beautiful young girl blogger is live streaming. beauty blogger talks about cosmetics. the concept of opinion leaders.

Marketing & Strategy

AI Influencers vs. Human Influencers: Which One Makes More Money?

Influencer marketing changes fast and often, and now AI influencers are popping up everywhere. The big question is: Are these digital personalities actually making more

July 16, 2025

Payment Processing

Authorize.Net Is NOT a Payment Processor (So What Is It?)

Researching payment processing solutions for your business likely brought you to Authorize.Net countless times. Many business owners assume it’s a complete payment processing solution, but

July 14, 2025

e-cig, vape, smoke

Merchant Accounts

MCC 5993: Smoke Shops, Vape, and CBD Need a Better Processor

If you run a smoke shop, sell cigars, offer vaping products, or operate a CBD business, you fall under the Merchant Category Code 5993. Maybe

July 11, 2025

Competitive pricing concept image with business icons and copyspace

Marketing & Strategy

Should You Set Global Prices Based on One Major Market?

Pricing isn’t just a number you slap on your product and hope for the best. For online businesses with global ambitions, the stakes are much

July 9, 2025

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