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PODCAST
Hosted by Maria Sparagis, president of DirectPayNet, and payment solutions expert for entrepreneurs in the high risk industries of supplements, dating, business opportunities, gambling and more. On this podcast, Maria shares her knowledge on how to reduce decline ratios, add thousands of dollars to your bottom line with a few simple conversion hacks, and maximize revenue while keeping your high-risk merchant accounts happy and healthy. As a cryptocurrency advocate since 2012, Maria will also share her knowledge on the digital currency markets.
Maria has worked with several high level entrepreneurs in Direct Marketing including Christian Hudson, Julian Reyes, Jeremy Schoemaker “ShoeMoney”, Mike Chang and many more.
She has been featured in American Banker, Vice, Inside Bitcoins, Coindesk, and Yahoo.
Connect with Maria mariasparagis.com or directpaynet.com
Discover Is Now Capital One's Secret Weapon
In this episode my media guy Alex and I dive deep into the implications of Capital One's recent acquisition of Discover. We get into how this major shakeup could affect business owners who accept Discover cards, including potential changes to processing fees, merchant account structures, and overall payment dynamics.
There are parallels to Amex's OptBlue program, which might show how Capital One aims to streamline Discover's merchant onboarding process—potentially increasing costs but also making the card more widely adopted. Also, Capital One's likely strategy of boosting Discover's rewards program could drive consumer demand and force businesses to adapt.
If you're a business owner or just curious about the evolving payments landscape, this episode is a must-listen. Find out how these changes could impact your bottom line and what steps you might need to take to stay ahead.
💡 Questions about payment processing or Capital One's acquisition of Discover? Drop them in the comments!
🔔 Subscribe for more news, insights, and strategies.
📧 Get in touch at [email protected] or apply directly at directpaynet.com/contact-us
Visa's New 2025 Rules That Might Destroy Your Sales
🚨 Visa’s New Chargeback Rules Could Shut You Down – Are You Ready? 🚨
Visa is flipping the script on chargebacks—and if you're an online business owner, this affects you. I'm breaking down the new VAMP (Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) regulations that are already live in Europe and heading to North America.
From stricter chargeback thresholds (dropping to 0.9% in 2026) to new penalties for merchants who ignore card testing fraud, Visa's changes are tightening the noose on risky behavior. Even if you rely on Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR), guess what? Those alerts are now counted against you.
🔍 Learn:
- What VAMP is and why it matters
- Why relying on RDR is no longer safe
- How to calculate your chargeback ratio properly
- Why 3DS may become mandatory—and what that means for your conversions
- The silent risk of losing your payment processor even if you’re under 1%
⚠️ Don’t wait until you're fined or shut down. Get ahead of the changes and safeguard your business. ⚠️
👉 Subscribe for more insights on payment compliance, fraud prevention, and keeping your online business safe.
0:00 Intro
0:32 Previous Chargeback Guidelines
1:08 What’s Changing
6:58 Payment Gateway Fraud Protection
8:08 Even More Changes
10:18 Rules Coming to the US
12:08 The Reason Why
13:22 Lower Your Chargebacks
18:33 Outro
Need a merchant account? Get in touch! ➡️ directpaynet.com/contact-us
