Update: payments and PCI Compliance

[lionlaw]

Originally Posted by Jenova

Verified my address with the code that was posted to me today and ....then tried verifying my card by transferring funds into MB from it on line (as MB man originally suggested) - won't let me because I am still 'locked'. Still obliged to actually go to my bank and arrange the wire transfer there. Bet my account remains locked because it still seems to be asking for other stuff as well as the wire transfer.

ME TOO!! I am fed up at this point. I verified the address with the code, went to BE to make another purchase as a test, and then got this error message:

Error

Your account is locked for outgoing transfers and credit/debit card payments therefore we cannot complete this transaction.

To unlock your account, you must provide us with scanned copies of the following documents:

• Your valid official identification document such as your international passport, national identity card or driving licence;
• Proof of address such as recent utility bill or bank statement;

Please send them via email to: security@moneybookers.com


I have let Jackie know, but this is way too much aggravation for me just to use my cc. If their sole intent was to verify address, then the letter they mailed to me with the stupid code should have worked. They accepted the digits, lifted my spending limit to 5000 euros, but then I am still blocked.

[karmenzsofia]

^ OMG, you guys, I can't believe it! I don't blame you for being so frustrated at this point.

[Jenova]

Originally Posted by lionlaw

ME TOO!! I am fed up at this point. I verified the address with the code, went to BE to make another purchase as a test, and then got this error message: Error Your account is locked for outgoing transfers and credit/debit card payments therefore we cannot complete this transaction. To unlock your account, you must provide us with scanned copies of the following documents: Your valid official identification document such as your international passport, national identity card or driving licence; Proof of address such as recent utility bill or bank statement; Please send them via email to: security@moneybookers.com I have let Jackie know, but this is way too much aggravation for me just to use my cc. If their sole intent was to verify address, then the letter they mailed to me with the stupid code should have worked. They accepted the digits, lifted my spending limit to 5000 euros, but then I am still blocked.

I will talk to my bank about a wire transfer if I have time when I am next near a branch. If it is simple and cost free, I will send MB a tiny amount (because I suspect from what I read on the web that I may never be able to access my account to get it out again). If there is a fee for this transaction, then I will quietly forget the whole business.

[lovebags2]

Originally Posted by lionlaw

ME TOO!! I am fed up at this point. I verified the address with the code, went to BE to make another purchase as a test, and then got this error message: Error Your account is locked for outgoing transfers and credit/debit card payments therefore we cannot complete this transaction. To unlock your account, you must provide us with scanned copies of the following documents: Your valid official identification document such as your international passport, national identity card or driving licence; Proof of address such as recent utility bill or bank statement; Please send them via email to: security@moneybookers.com I have let Jackie know, but this is way too much aggravation for me just to use my cc. If their sole intent was to verify address, then the letter they mailed to me with the stupid code should have worked. They accepted the digits, lifted my spending limit to 5000 euros, but then I am still blocked.

Lionlaw, I'm sorry to hear this. But, trust me you're not the only one fed up with this entire experience!

[découverte]

Originally Posted by lionlaw

ME TOO!! I am fed up at this point. I verified the address with the code, went to BE to make another purchase as a test, and then got this error message: Error Your account is locked for outgoing transfers and credit/debit card payments therefore we cannot complete this transaction. To unlock your account, you must provide us with scanned copies of the following documents: Your valid official identification document such as your international passport, national identity card or driving licence; Proof of address such as recent utility bill or bank statement; Please send them via email to: security@moneybookers.com I have let Jackie know, but this is way too much aggravation for me just to use my cc. If their sole intent was to verify address, then the letter they mailed to me with the stupid code should have worked. They accepted the digits, lifted my spending limit to 5000 euros, but then I am still blocked.

Notwithstanding the exasperating hassle that some of you have experienced with MB that would have totally tried my patience, this is a completely unreasonable request on their part. No one should e-mail sensitive documentation ever without encryption. E-mail is not secure and identity theft is a reality. Even if MB were to suggest PGP freeware, which they didn't in the error message lionlaw received, that isn't robust enough. Licenced PKI software is the only way to safely e-mail sensitive info. The recipient also needs the key to decrypt your message, so unless two parties are communicating on a regular basis, PKI doesn't make sense. Whether or not anyone chooses to forward this info to MB is an individual decision, but if anyone is going to, please don't use e-mail.

[pinkdiamond]

I am really confused as to why everyone had such different experiences. Like Jenova I am in the UK and I just paid as normal. The transaction showed up as Moneybookers, but apart from that - no hassle.
I definately didn't go off to register with them and I don't think I would if that's what I had to do to order directly. I like the way you don't need to have a balance in Paypal. I sometimes have a balance if I have been selling things on eBay, but you don't have to go through all these hoops. I heop this gets sorted out to everyone's satisfaction, and most importantly you all get your sale bags!!!

[*suzi*]

I'm not sure why everyone is having so many problems, but I do hope they can figure out a way to resolve this without further issues. I know that there is no way I will be emailing copies of my drivers license to anyone. That seems totally unsafe to me. It has your Social Security number on it. I would love to be able to use Paypal. It's so convenient to make payments.

[BelenEchandia]

Hello again!

I don't blame anyone for being frustrated, exasperated, annoyed, irritated, angry... I feel all of these things. I hate the new financial regulations. However there is no need to feel worried for your personal details, quite the opposite. MB is not unsafe - it takes a lot of checks to get regulated by the FSA. As I mentioned before, under Paypal's terms and conditions they are also entitled to ask for your social security number at any time but perhaps since PP is a US company it wouldn't be likely. The issue may be with cross-border transactions as MB is a European company and have more problems verifying overseas customers. Or it may be that if you opened a pp account a number of years ago, providers have now become stricter. On this point, as to why PP is easier to use than MB or if indeed it is I am not sure as I do not use PP to make purchases myself.

Anyway, I just came on here to say that I have just spoken to the CEO of MB. He explained to me Both MB and Paypal are regulated 3rd party providers. All these companies have to adhere to FSA Regulations, one of which states that over a certain transaction level they MUST get verification of identity. This is not something that they decide, it is regulated by the Financial Services Authority. See here their authorisation:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/register/firmB...s.do?sid=87325

They are very aware of the usability issues and have a team of people working to change their entire system. That said, at the present time they cannot provide us with the service they contracted to provide because they must comply with the law which states that they must get verification over a certain transaction amount/no. of days. I don't understand why the verification process varies so much from person to person and I wasn't able to ask as we ran out of time.

However MB has now admitted liability for contracting with us to provide a service they cannot presently provide (unlimited transaction limits, payments over a certain amount without having an account with them). This means that they are essentially exactly the same kind of company as Paypal and we did not sign up for a wallet service. They changed their strategic direction the month before we signed our contract with them and did not update their contracts team, so we were not made aware of this. Hence, we signed up for an integrated payments solution (same as before with HSBC) and got a third-party payment provider (same as paypal) with the associated regulations.

I am explaining all this to reassure anyone who has already paid that the only problem with MB is the inconvenience and the fact that their system does not currently function well for our business. There is absolutely no risk to your personal details, quite the opposite. MB is required by their FSA licence to ask for verification documents to protect you from someone who is not authorised from using your cc without your consent (or risk losing their licence).

However now that we have established that there is no way to make this process easier and more user-friendly, we are seeking an alternative to this system. It will not be Paypal as a principal payment solution because although we have long had "implement PP" on our to-do lists as an alternative option, most of our customers do not have pp accounts. Therefore we would simply end up with the exact same problem with different customers. As PP is a 3rd party payment provider, when used via an e-commerce website all customers would be forced to do identity verification in the exact same way as with MB.

So, whilst I know that this might work for many of you who already have pp accounts, it wouldn't work for the majority of our customers.

For now we will continue with this inconvenience and extra workload on our side until a resolution becomes clear.

If you have any questions you know where I am.

Have a good day.

Jackie

[finzup]

Jackie, thanks for the update. I know it's difficult for everyone involved. Hopefully it all works out in the end and you can find a provider that will work for everyone :)

[Jenova]

My latest update is:

Reminder of scenario

Put through 4 successful small transactions, 1 and 2 with debit card a, 3 and 4 with debit card b. Frozen on transaction 5 with debit card a. Total spend including frozen transaction would be less than £500. Told to submit passport, driving license, bank statements.

Have since set up MB account and verified address through that. Appeared to raise credit limit at same time. Thought might have freed me up.

Then tried to verify debit card using MB online system. Told could not because account frozen so could not transfer into or out of it and asked for passport, driving license, bank statements again.

Latest

Told in polite phonecall last week that I should set up a wire transfer of small amount into new MB account on line as form of verification. Told not to use on my line banking system as that might not include sufficient info to ID me. Went to bank branch today who told me that wire tranfer means CHAPS transfer in UK. £20 fee for transaction within UK. (Maybe more if you are non-UK.)

Abandoning MB now as don't see why I should pay to set up a service that I don't want to use. (FYI - bank could not see reason why MB had frozen my account - mystified. Tried to sign me up to a high security system of their own instead.)

[VanBod1525]

Erk! I have to say that like Pink Diamond, I had no problems whatsoever.

However, I have the balance to pay on my Dark Purple Adore Me that is on route to the warehouse and I'm hoping against all hope that I won't suddenly find that I have reached my spending limit.

I wanted an Adore Me as soon as I saw it and after the Green Apple Wax reveal I think i will have a complete sense of humour failure if there are any delays but that pales into insignificance compared to the frustrations of others in this forum.

[Odebdo]

I paid the deposit on my gold kiss me clutch with no problems, other then my usual phone call from my credit card company double checking I had authorized it...

Granted the amount is not much since it was just a deposit...but I am shocked at all the problems you all are having!! I know Jackie is working on finding a solution, and I sure hope it happens soon for all of you, as well as for me for any future BE purchases!!

[karmenzsofia]

"However MB has now admitted liability for contracting with us to provide a service they cannot presently provide (unlimited transaction limits, payments over a certain amount without having an account with them). This means that they are essentially exactly the same kind of company as Paypal and we did not sign up for a wallet service. They changed their strategic direction the month before we signed our contract with them and did not update their contracts team, so we were not made aware of this. Hence, we signed up for an integrated payments solution (same as before with HSBC) and got a third-party payment provider (same as paypal) with the associated regulations."

Wow, they dropped the ball. That contract should've been updated. I mean, they had whole month after changing their so-called strategy. How could they enter into a contract with you for a service they can't provide due to changes they themselves implemented? I would not be a happy customer...

[lanasyogamama]

Jackie, you should sue for breach of contract, if the contract you signed didn't describe the service you're getting.

[Cornflower Blue]

Originally Posted by Jenova

My latest update is: Reminder of scenario Put through 4 successful small transactions, 1 and 2 with debit card a, 3 and 4 with debit card b. Frozen on transaction 5 with debit card a. Total spend including frozen transaction would be less than £500. Told to submit passport, driving license, bank statements. Have since set up MB account and verified address through that. Appeared to raise credit limit at same time. Thought might have freed me up. Then tried to verify debit card using MB online system. Told could not because account frozen so could not transfer into or out of it and asked for passport, driving license, bank statements again. Latest Told in polite phonecall last week that I should set up a wire transfer of small amount into new MB account on line as form of verification. Told not to use on my line banking system as that might not include sufficient info to ID me. Went to bank branch today who told me that wire tranfer means CHAPS transfer in UK. £20 fee for transaction within UK. (Maybe more if you are non-UK.) Abandoning MB now as don't see why I should pay to set up a service that I don't want to use. (FYI - bank could not see reason why MB had frozen my account - mystified. Tried to sign me up to a high security system of their own instead.)

Awful and most irritating in the extreme. I was hoping that yesterday, re. you and lionlaw, that their system just needed to run a cycle or something and that all might update correctly today - obviously not....