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.

GoHighLevel Payment Processing Hack: AVOID Shopify, PayPal, Stripe, Square

Cute graphic of a laptop computer behind a stack of cash, which is behind a credit card, which is behind a shield with a lock on it.

GoHighLevel is an all-in-one platform that gives businesses the power to capture leads, nurture them, and close deals like never before. But here’s the thing – while GoHighLevel is packed with amazing features, it’s not a one-stop-shop when it comes to payment processing (even though it looks that way). Choosing the right payment solution is […]

Credit Card Surcharge Laws by State (as of Sept 2024)

Court gavel in front of a bookshelf

Credit card surcharges are an additional charge that businesses can impose when customers choose to pay with a credit card instead of cash or debit. This fee helps merchants offset the costs they incur for processing credit card transactions. While surcharging has been a hot topic in recent years, Visa is now taking a firm […]

Meta Censors Content, Free Speech Under Attack?

Facebook social network logo on the smartphone screen behind the bars on the background with the inscription censored. The concept of facebook censorship and prohibition.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, has alleged that the Biden administration repeatedly pressured his company to censor certain COVID-19 content on Facebook. In a letter to the House Judiciary Committee, Zuckerberg expressed regret for not speaking out more forcefully against this government pressure at the time. He stated that while it was ultimately Meta’s decision […]

Apple Opens NFC Tech, A Tap-to-Pay Dream

Man hand holding Apple iPhone 13 with Apple Pay on the screen and POS pay pass online terminal. iPhone was created and developed by the Apple inc.

Apple will allow third-party developers to use its NFC chip beginning with the release of iOS 18.1. This move allows for contactless transactions outside of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet, signaling significant implications for the future of digital payments and the payment processing industry. By enabling developers to create their own NFC-based payment solutions, Apple […]

Massive Changes to Affiliate Marketing Are Incoming

Shopify logo on a red background with randomly places tiles of the YouTube logo

The world of e-commerce is undergoing a seismic shift as social media giants YouTube and TikTok vie for dominance in the lucrative online shopping space. The battle lines are clearly drawn with the recent announcement of YouTube’s expanded partnership with Shopify. As these platforms strive to keep users within their own ecosystems, not just for […]