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| Author |
Message |
sarrica
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Charge clearinghouse?
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Jun 17 00:48 UTC 2000 |
Would Grex consider processing credit card charges for other non-profits?
I ask as a board member for WCBN-FM 88.3, the student radio station at
the University of Michigan. WCBN would love to be able to accept credit
card charges for pledges and purchases of t-shirts, mugs, etc. The
problem is that the U's financial folks are talking a very long time to
implement a charging system for the whole campus.
I'm not sure what quid pro quo could be established... a percentage of
the take to cover costs and make Grex some profit, certainly, and promo
mentions of Grex on the radio station during fund raisers could also be
done.
I'm curious what folks think about this and whether or not it would be
worth the extra work on the Grex side?
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| 6 responses total. |
i
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response 1 of 6:
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Jun 17 01:31 UTC 2000 |
My impression is that 'most all credit card companies view the scheme
of running another organization's credit card transactions for them as
a sort of money laundering...big no-no. I like WCBN, but helping them
in this way strikes me as dangerous.
(The high & lofty folks at Michigan Radio wouldn't stoop to helping you
out, right? How far are the Big U's bean counters into your financial
affairs - would there be trouble over your getting credit card processing
by going around them?)
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jmsaul
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response 2 of 6:
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Jun 17 02:08 UTC 2000 |
Hey Steve -- set up a PayPal account.
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janc
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response 3 of 6:
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Jun 17 02:55 UTC 2000 |
We'd have to look at the terms of our contract, but I think Walter is
right about this - I'd expect the credit card companies to take an
extremely dim view, and I'd expect them to rule it out in the contract.
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sarrica
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response 4 of 6:
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Jun 18 12:50 UTC 2000 |
I kind of figured that would be the case (credit card companies frowning
on this sort of thing), but I wanted to explore the possibility.
In the grand scheme of things, I am reasonably certain that Financial
Operations has no idea that WCBN exists, so I'm not sure how much of a
down side there could be there. Plus, as a student org, WCBN has much
more leeway than a U department might have.
I'll have to look into PayPal...
Thanks!
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darkskyz
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response 5 of 6:
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Jul 13 12:51 UTC 2000 |
They don't want you to know this, but I'll tell you anyways:
The REAL reason they frown appon this isn't money laundering- they couldn't
care less if you were running the Michigen Mafia branch. The real reason is
they don't want two organizations using the same account and only paying half
the membership fee each.
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i
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response 6 of 6:
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Jul 15 03:49 UTC 2000 |
Re: #1 & 5 - well, i wasn't thinking of that sort of money laundering.
The idea is that party A has been approved as a credit card merchant
(with a certain discount rate schedule, etc.) based on a review of
party A's credit history, business model, mix of clients, etc. Then
party A lets temptation overcome honesty and allows party C to run a
bunch of C's credit card business through party A's merchant account.
Well, there's a fair chance that C is a much shakier concern, with
higher chargeback ratios, etc. than A. Suddenly, the bank/credit
card agency/whatever is eating grade-C costs and chargeback ratios
while collecting a grade-A fee. Loan officer and other financial
folks tend to feel cheated by that kind of bait-and-switch; many of
them know stories where C was playing with a pile of stolen credit
cards and vanished with the money, leaving A bankrupt and the credit
card company screwed when the tsunami of chargebacks hit. .
I've seen banks nod and wink at credit card laundering in limited
circumstances - party A knew the risks, maintained control, limited
the volume of C's transactions, and was good for the $ if C went sour.
I don't think grex wants to be WCBN's de-facto co-signer in any case.
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