Your company does not need a merchant account.

You need software that allows you to accept payments without a third party. Why? Because the old way makes as much sense as using sealing wax to send an email.

Processors solved a real need

Third parties like acquiring banks, issuing banks, and credit card processors serve an essential purpose in the world’s economy. They allow eCommerce to happen. Until recently, one party could not pay another without a third party. To a great extent, the only reason electronic payments are available is because these companies stepped up, created the necessary networks and delivered.

Frank McNamara was embarrassed when he left his wallet at home before a business dinner. After his wife saved him by bringing his checkbook, he swore never to be embarrassed again. His mistake resulted in the creation of credit card industry as we know it today. Diner’s Club provided the framework for newer payment systems like Master Charge, Visa, American Express, Visa Debit, Venmo, and Paypal.

These processors do a number of things:

• Provide a trust framework that gives the seller confidence that she will be paid and buyer confidence the convenience of not needing to carry cash.
• Extend credit to consumers who want to buy goods and services.
• Offer recourse for dissatisfied customers or fraudulent transactions.
• Enforce state and federal government regulations on sellers.
• Store payment and personal information on every payment they process.
• Charge a significant fee for their services to merchants(typically between 2% and 5% for low-risk customers.) Merchants are not allowed to pass these fees on to customers, in actuality – they may not even know how much they have to pay for each charge.
• Take custody of funds and disburse or claw-back (‘chargeback’) funds according to their policies.
• Run networks that are notoriously susceptible to fraud. In 2017, there was over $9B in fraud in the US.
• Recent technology upgrades have not helped much.

Welcome to eCommerce in the 21st century.

You could argue that it arrived a little late, but now a fair and just eCommerce option has arrived, and it is ready for your business.

When using Wampei Register©, there are no processors or other third parties unless you want one. Your funds are always yours. This means:

• No transactions require trust because payments are sent from the buyer to the seller.
• No personal information is shared.
• No reserve requirements.
• No risk of charge-backs.
• No fraudulent payment risk.
• No stored payment information.
• No high fees.
• Same-day access to funds.

You may find yourself wondering if this is, in fact, possible, how will you run your business:

• How will my funds be processed?

Wampei Register© allows you to leverage the Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash public networks to receive funds from your customers directly. There is no need for a Merchant because there is no need to have a third-party vouch for the payment. It comes directly to you – the merchant – in a wallet that you have complete control over.

• What about fraud?

All Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash payments get pushed from the customer to the merchant. No personal data or information exchange happens. Only the funds are sent directly to your unique address.

• How will my business get our money?

Your business has significantly more options than a typical credit card merchant setup since you hold the funds when you receive payment. One of the most popular methods is to send the funds to a cryptocurrency exchange which will convert it to fiat currency (USD or Euro) and send them to your bank (ACH or Wire). We can discuss your options given your situation and risk-profile, but what your company chooses to do with your its money is up to you, not dictated by Wampei.

• No chargebacks?

When you collect payments with Wampei products, your business has no chargeback risk. That is because all payments are sent directly from your customer to your wallet within Wampei Register©. There is no third-party involved.

• How will I issue refunds?

That’s a great question. How do you handle cash or check refunds? In both cases, you have received the funds already. You can pay refunds by cash, check or send a Bitcoin payment to their address. You handle the refund directly with the customer, not via a third party.

• What about taxes?

Handle the taxes you pay for receiving cryptocurrency payments for products and services the same way you handle taxes for any other payment method. The only difference is that if you hold the cryptocurrency for a time, you may have to pay capital gains on the difference in the value it had when you received it. Potential capital gains is another reason why some customers choose to convert to fiat immediately. However, if you accept Bitcoin to hold it and profit from increases in its value, you will need to pay capital gains at some time.

• Bitcoin transactions take too long to be useful, right?

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash transactions are much faster than almost any other form of payment. Consider that a credit card transaction issues an authorization, which is a commitment from the credit card company that this charge will probably go through. The funds arrive anywhere from 1 to 30 banking days later, depending on your merchant services provider and any reserve requirement you have. Bitcoin transactions are trackable on the blockchain in seconds. Wampei Register© gives each payment a unique payment address for easy tracking, reconciliation and support.

View our Point of Sale demo to see just how quick the process is in the real world. Demo

Wampei does not hold your funds. You chose what happens to your funds and when.

• Hold the funds in a long-term paper-, hardware- or device-wallet.
• Send the funds to your cryptocurrency exchange to convert it to fiat currency (USD or Euro) and have it sent electronically to your bank.
• Convert the funds to another cryptocurrency like Tether that can eliminate price volatility risks.
• Send the funds to a pre-paid debit card.