March 2 2011, Los Angeles California With Merchants Against Unfair Interchange, (“MAUI”) drawing a line in the sand in the fight against unfair fees and pricing practices the opponents are coming to life. Processors, ISOs and even Agents who benefit the most from the deceptive pricing practices are beginning to voice their concerns as they see their ill gotten gains fade away. Both sides of the discussion are staunch in the support of their perspective views, which is only spurred by the recent discussions taking place within congress.
Polarized is best used to describe the views related to interchange pricing practices. Those ISOs, Processors and Agents who practice fair and reasonable pricing, and those who are more inclined add in additional fees to increase their revenue. With MAUI offering an unbiased review for merchants to confirm whether or not they are being treated fairly and paying reasonable rates there are some organizations who have become concerned, rightfully so it would seem. So much so that a Rip Off Report complaint has been filed against Merchant Against Unfair Interchange and its Founder David Toney. The report claims that MAUI and David are only looking to swindle organizations and merchants alike from their hard earned money.
In speaking about the complaint David Toney says, “Our conversations with ISOs have been quite telling, when we outline the services provided to the merchant and ISO alike those who practice fair pricing are excited and those that dont become afraid”. Going on David mentions, “Our goal is not to compress margins for ISOs, quite the contrary were looking to help ISOs, processors and even agents create a more sustainable business by acting as a validation resource for their business, enhancing their ability to support their merchant and providing additional revenue streams that merchants are happy to pay for”.
Change is coming, that much is clear. Whether the regulation comes from the government via the Durbin Amendment or the industry takes big steps to help bring about regulation itself, the status quo of the past decades are going away. No longer will merchants be taken advantage of in the manner they have been, so where do you stand on this issue? Many are holding out to see how the congressional discussions unfold, so what side are you on?