From Lightning Vapes;
MasterCard is NOT in fact requiring adult signatures for all orders, nor much else.
The short story... merchant service providers are lying to their customers and shifting the blame to MasterCard, so CHANGE MERCHANT SERVICE PROVIDERS! Our new MSP plus contact info is at the bottom of this email. Now, for the longer story:
About a week ago we sent out an email stating that we would be dropping MasterCard as an accepted payment method due to over reaching requirements being imposed in order to keep processing MasterCard transactions. The text we received read:
Effective August 2016, MasterCard revised their Business Risk Assessment and Mitigation (BRAM) compliance program to include electronic nicotine delivery systems, such as e-cigarettes and vape pens. This revision was made in light of the recent extension of the US FDA’s authority to all tobacco products including electronic nicotine delivery systems a.k.a. ENDS (such as e-cigarettes and vape pens), liquids, nicotine gels, and more.
In order to avoid potential BRAM violations, a review of all existing and new e-cigarette and vape merchants must be conducted to ensure that the following requirements are met:
Age Restrictions are implemented– merchants must perform physical age verifications in stores and electronic verifications online
Merchant Category Code (MCC) must be 5993
Merchants must meet all new FDA requirements for labeling, marketing, advertising, promotion, and manufacturing. More information on FDA requirements can be found here:
www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts
Ensure merchants selling e-cigarettes and vape products meet all state and federal law requirements. Please note that state laws may vary. More information can be found here:
U.S. E-Cigarette Regulations - 50 State Review (2016) | Public Health Law Center
Additional requirement for Card-Not-Present (e-commerce and mail order/telephone order) e-cigarette and vape merchants:
Registration will be required with MasterCard which costs $500/year per merchant, effective January 15, 2017
Merchant must have a health warning label visible on the website on the harms of nicotine usage
Adult signature required upon delivery
Billing terms must be clearly disclosed on the merchant’s website
Each merchant will require the following in order to be eligible for registration:
Legal Compliance Verification – This is a written opinion from an independent, reputable, and qualified attorney or accreditation by a recognized third party, i.e. FDA, TVECA, or state agencies. The Legal Compliance Verification must indicate that the merchant’s business practices have been reviewed and comply fully with all laws applicable to the merchant’s business type.
Acceptance of an annual $500 registration fee required by MasterCard; an approved agreement will be available for merchant signature.
Implementation of real-time batch procedures to monitor continually simultaneous multiple transactions using the same account number and consecutive or excessive attempts using the same account number.
Merchant must maintain a total chargeback to interchange sales volume ratio below ECP thresholds.
However we were able to secure another merchant service provider who told us that it is not MasterCard imposing these new requirements, but rather simply the merchant service provider in order to further cover their butts.
If you are a customer of ours, know that we will accept MasterCard for the foreseeable future. If you are a wholesale customer of ours with an online storefront, get a hold of Keith Palomares at Best Rate Merchant Services. We had an account within just a few days and are accepting all major credit cards without issue. Their attitude is, "What goes on with the FDA, is between you and the FDA". Find the contact information below:
Keith Palomares
kpalomares@brmerchantservice.com
805 578 1153
Best Rate Merchant Service
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