Author: Maria Sparagis

As President of DirectPayNet, I make it my mission to help merchants find the best payment solutions for their online business, especially if they are categorized as high-risk merchants. I help setup localized payments modes and have tons of other tricks to increase sales! I am an avid traveler, conference speaker and love to attend any event that allows me to learn about technology. I am fascinated by anything related to digital currency especially Bitcoin and the Blockchain.

What Is a High Risk Merchant Account?

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Traditional banks and merchant accounts won’t support a high risk business. But what is a high risk business, and what is a high risk merchant account? High risk merchant accounts provide a solution for companies that payment processors classify as having elevated risk factors. OPEN A HIGH-RISK MERCHANT ACCOUNT What Makes a Merchant Account “High […]

The Real Cost of Chargebacks: Beyond the Transaction Amount

Fraud prevention - implementation of a strategy to detect fraudulent transactions and prevent these actions from causing financial damage, text concept button on keyboard

Chargebacks cost merchants far more than the disputed transaction value. For every dollar lost to fraud, businesses incur up to $4.61 in total costs, with some reports showing merchants losing 3.4 times the original transaction amount when all expenses are calculated. Understanding these comprehensive costs helps merchants develop effective strategies to minimize their financial impact. […]

What Does “Transaction Not Permitted (Amount/POS/MCC)” Mean?

Man holding open his wallet in front of a laptop screen with a "DECLINED" stamped over a failed payment

Getting hit with a “transaction not permitted (amount/pos/mcc)” error is frustrating because of how non-descript it is. This message appears when your card issuer blocks a purchase based on three key factors: the amount, the point of sale (POS), or the merchant category code (MCC). Let’s break it all down. LESS DECLINES, MORE CONVERSIONS Breaking […]

Visa’s New VAMP Program Ruins Chargeback Alerts

Four VISA credit cards stacked on top of each other

The Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) now treats fraud alerts differently than before, making chargeback alert programs for fraud useless. Starting April 2025, TC40 fraud alerts resolved through Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR) now count toward your VAMP ratio. This means chargeback alerts for fraud reasons won’t protect businesses the way they used to. Previously, these […]

Everything You Need to Know About Flat-Rate Pricing

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Stripe, Shopify, PayPal, Square. What do they all have in common? Super simple pricing and sign-up processes. That’s because they all offer flat-rate pricing instead of more detailed options like interchange plus or tiered pricing. Let’s get into what flat-rate pricing is and why it might or might not work for your business. BETTER PAYMENT […]