Payments, Risk & Compliance

How often do I get paid?

VENDO issues Payout Advice Notes every Wednesday to facilitate the processing of gross sales from the preceding 1.5-week period, encompassing transactions from Monday to Sunday. For example, if you received a Payout Advice Note on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, the sales period covered is Jan 1, 2024 to Jan 7, 2024.

Where can I retrieve my payout information?

Your payout information is available in the Payments section of the Vendo Backoffice.

Is there a minimum payout limit?

No. Please be aware that the minimum payout threshold is subject to adjustment (can be increased) upon request.

When will the Rolling Reserve be paid back?

Vendo withholds a rolling reserve for six months. Following repayment begins on a monthly basis and is noted in your Payout Advice Note.

What is the Rolling Reserve?

To mitigate chargebacks and fraud liability risks acquirers may decide to keep a percentage of the gross revenue processed by a merchant during a period of time. This reserve is returned to the merchant after the rolling period (6 months usually).

In what currency do we get paid?

As standard practice, Vendo issues Payout Advice Notes in three currencies by default. For transactions conducted globally, billing occurs in USD, while transactions in EUR and GBP are billed in their respective currencies. It is essential that your bank account can accommodate wire transfers in USD, EUR, and GBP. Additionally, we provide the option to convert payments into preferred currencies. You have the flexibility to receive payments in USD, EUR, or GBP for your invoices.

What is VAT?

VAT is Value Added Tax. You can find a full description of VAT and how it works on this wikipedia page Value Added Tax.

From 1 January 2015, online sales will always be taxed in the country where the customer belongs, regardless of whether the supplier is based in the European Union or outside. VAT is on average 21% of the sale price in the EU.

Do I have to pay VAT?

If your company is selling to customers in the European Union you must collect and pay VAT to the country in which the person was residing when she made the purchase.

Does Vendo collect VAT on the merchants' behalf?

Vendo does not collect & remit VAT on behalf of its clients.

Is VAT collected based on the IP of the customer or the country chosen in the payment page?

The VAT is calculated based on the country selected by the end user in the payment page.

What is Paxum? Can I get paid to my Paxum account?

Paxum is a provider of E-Wallet Service.

Yes, Vendo can issue payments to your Paxum account. If you wish to be paid by Paxum please send your request to [email protected] with your paxum email account.

What is a Chargeback fee? Does Vendo charge a Chargeback Fee?

Acquiring banks apply fines on every chargeback that they receive from issuers. Chargeback fees may vary from one acquirer to another and from one payment method to another.

Please refer to your Vendo Contract to confirm chargeback fees applied.

Is Vendo enrolled with Ethoca and Verifi for CB alerts?

Yes. Vendo may receive Ethoca or Verifi alerts on the sales you process in case of fraud. Vendo will handle these alerts.

What are VISA TC40 and MasterCard SAFE files?

When a customer initiates a fraud claim, their card-issuing bank generates a TC40 data claim (for VISA) or a SAFE data claim (for MasterCard). These claims are reported to the Card Schemes (VISA and MC) and to the acquiring banks.

These data claims can be used to prevent chargebacks because they are created prior to the initiation of the chargeback process.

Vendo uses this information as a datapoint to improve the performance of our AI risk tools, and also to issue refunds that will prevent chargebacks.

As a merchant, what do I need to know to be compliant with the Card Scheme rules?

Merchants have to comply with a certain number of rules in accordance with Card Schemes.

MasterCard offers great training material and online resources covering this topic:

MasterCard Online Resources: Knowledge DataBase to understand and improve competencies in Risk and Fraud Mitigation.
MasterCard E-learning Platform: Learn more about the MasterCard rules and standards as well as their monitoring programs (BRAM, MOST, ECP, GMAP, QMAP...).
MasterCard Security Rules and Procedure - Merchant Edition: Full Manual of the MasterCard Rules and Procedure for merchants.

Visa rules are also available online:

https://usa.visa.com/dam/VCOM/download/about-visa/visa-rules-public.pdf

What is the VISA and Mastercard High Risk Merchant Registration Fee?

Certain industries are considered as high risk by VISA and Mastercard. If your business is in one of this industry, VISA and Mastercard require the merchants to pay an annual fee for setting up and maintaining the merchant accounts with the acquiring banks. The fee is 950 EUR for VISA and 500 EUR for Mastercard per annum. Adult websites, streaming and dating sites fall in this category.

How many times do I have to pay the High Risk registration fee to VISA and MasterCard?

The High Risk registration fee must be paid on a yearly basis at each Acquirer where the merchant is registered. The fee is 950 EUR for VISA and 500 EUR for Mastercard. These fees will automatically be deducted from your payouts. However, if you are a new merchant, these fees need to be paid in advance for the first time so the merchant account can be opened.

When does Vendo deduct the yearly High Risk registration fees?

The High Risk Merchant Registration fees (1450 EUR in total) are deducted from your payout on a yearly basis, when charged by the corresponding Acquirer.

Who can I contact at Vendo to address stolen content / DMCA infringement cases?

If you detect that any Vendo merchant is using stolen content please contact us at [email protected] and we will review the case immediately.

Why do I need to provide Vendo with passports and utility bills of each stakeholder and owner of the company during the onboarding process?

To meet anti-money-laundering (“AML”) and Know-Your-Customer ("KYC") requirements, Vendo needs to gather information about the directors of the company and any person that has over 25% of the equity or control. These people are usually called "Ultimate Beneficiary Owners." The information we need includes passports and utility bills.

How do I know if my sites are compliant with Visa and MasterCard regulations?

We work with our acquirers and third parties like G2 and WebShield to identify non-compliant content.
Any non-compliant content identified will be reported to affected merchants and must be immediately removed.

What is BRAM violation?

A BRAM violation refers to content that is not approved by MasterCard.
Although BRAM refers to a MasterCard program, VISA has a similar program called VIRP. Rules are similar in terms of content compliance.

What Payment Methods/Types does Vendo offer?

Vendo wants to stay ahead of the game, and therefore we are committed to constantly updating our portfolio of payment methods based on profitability for our merchants. Vendo currently offers the following payment methods:

Visa

Mastercard

Maestro

JCB

Pay By Bank (EU Only)

PIX (Brazil only)

OXXO (Mexico only)

Crypto

SEPA (EU only)

PayGarden (United States only)

Interac (Canada only)

PayPal (Non-adult businesses)

American Express (Non-adult businesses)

Please get in touch with your account manager to know more about them and request activation.

Accepting gift cards via PayGarden.

Vendo allows your customers to pay for your content using gift cards. We've partnered with PayGarden which is a company that works with leading gift card networks. They allow you to accept payments from gift cards from hundreds of top brands in the USA.

Availability

PayGarden is integrated with USA gift card networks only.

Please get in touch with your account manager to know more about PayGarden and request activation.

What is INTERAC?

Interac is the most popular Canadian debit card system. There are over 59,000 automated teller machines that can be accessed through the Interac network in Canada, and over 450,000 merchant locations accepting Interac debit payments.

How can I enable INTERAC payment method for Canada with Vendo?

Interac is enabled by default for Canadian end-users.

Does Vendo offer Direct Debit in Europe?

Direct Debit was replaced by SEPA with the implementation of the Payment Service Directive 1.
Vendo offers SEPA.

Do you offer Union Pay?

Vendo does not currently offer Union Pay as part of its payment method portfolio.
Please note that Union Pay cannot be used to process Adult Entertainment (MCC 5967) transactions.

Do you offer American Express?

Vendo can only offer American Express for some specific verticals.
Please note that American Express cannot be used to process Adult Entertainment (MCC 5967) transactions.

Does Vendo accept transactions from China?

China restricts the distribution of adult content online (check this site for more information). Based on the current law, Chinese issuers cannot accept adult transactions online.

Do you offer Cheques?

Vendo does not currently offer Cheques as part of its payment method portfolio.
Please note that Cheques cannot be used to process Adult Entertainment (MCC 5967) transactions.

Can my customers pay with Bitcoin? What about other cryptocurrencies?

Yes, we have the ability to process payments in more than 100 crypto currencies. Please get in touch with your account manager to know more about it and request activation.

Do I need to send affiliate information to Vendo?

We strongly recommend that you include the affiliate information for every transaction. Vendo uses this data to generate important financial and risk insights for you.

What is G2 Verisk?

G2, short for G2 Risk Solutions (www.g2risksolutions.com), is a service provider specialized in risk and compliance solutions for acquirers and commercial banks.

Acquirers use G2 solutions to facilitate the onboarding process and to detect BRAM violations (non-compliant content based on VISA and MC regulations) on merchant sites.

Does Vendo provide 3D secure authentication?

Yes. Vendo uses 3D Secure authentication to minimize the risk of chargebacks on some high-risk transactions.

Under PSD2 regulation, 3D Secure is mandatory in the EU for the first transaction in a series.

What is 3D Secure?

What is it and why use it?
The 3d Secure authentication is an additional fraud prevention scheme. It transfers the liability to the issuing bank, which means that consumers cannot chargeback due to fraud.

How does it work?
The consumer will need to pass a challenge with a one-time code or a verification on their banking app before the transaction can be completed.

How can I identify it?
This verification process is called "verified by VISA" and Mastercard "SecureCode".

How do I enable 3DS checks?

3DS is automatically managed by our AI Risk platform. Please contact us at [email protected] to help you address any specific fraud protection requirements you may have.

How long does Vendo compliance review take?

Vendo compliance reviews take 3-5 working days.

Vendo uses third-party providers like G2 Webservices and WebShield to complete the compliance check. When we are informed of something that is not compliant we work with the merchant to find a solution.

How to handle the most common error codes?

Error code	Error code message	Explanation	How to solve it?
301	Fraud detected on risk filter: Id(xxx)	This error occurred because one of our Vendo Risk Filters has been activated. The Risk Filters block transactions that are deemed as fraud.	Please reach out to Vendo team to request more information about why the filter has been activated and whether we can solve the issue for the customer.
501	The credit card appears as blacklisted in our database.	The credit card appears as blacklisted in our database.	Please reach out to us to request more information about why the card was blacklisted. If the customer’s credit card is no longer lost they should contact their issuer before trying to use it so that they can solve the stolen card report problem.
503	The email address appears as blacklisted in our database.	Our risk department has blacklisted the email of the customer, because of past suspicious activity and/or risk threats.	Please reach out to Vendo team to know more about why the email was blacklisted.
1101	The payment type is not accepted.	The customer is trying to pay with a method or a card that is not accepted on the site.	The customer should try again with a different card or payment method. Please find our list of accepted payment methods in the Vendo FAQ.
1306	The transaction was declined by issuing bank.	This error occurs when the customer’s bank has not approved the transaction. This could be for insufficient funds, invalid credit card number, their card has expired, their account has been frozen, etc.	The customer should contact their issuer bank to solve the problem and receive more information about why the transaction was rejected.
1307	The transaction was rejected due to insufficient funds.	The customer's credit card has not enough funds to cover the charge. It could also mean that their credit or transaction limit has been exceeded.	The customer must contact their bank to either increase their credit or transaction limit, or to add more funds to their account. If this is happening on a recurring charge, it is advised to retry the transaction at another time.
1311	The purchase authorization failed.	A generic error. The card issuer (customer’s issuing bank) has rejected the authorization request. There are many possible reasons for it. For example: the merchant is not trusted by the issuing bank, technical problems could have occurred, the transaction will bring their bank balance below the minimum limit set by the issuer, the card is not enabled for online processing, etc.	The customer must contact their bank and ask for these transactions to be approved or find out if there were technical issues. Alternatively, retry the transaction after 24 hours.
1314	The transaction was declined by the payment processor's risk management dept.	The transaction was rejected by the acquiring bank or by the customer's issuing bank. Most likely the transaction was fraudulent.	Please reach out to Vendo team to know more about why a specific transaction was rejected.
1321	Your request has failed the CVD check. Please note that the amount may has still been reserved on the customer's card and will be released in 3–5 business days.	The CVD are the Card Validation Digits, a 3 to 4-digit security code that may appear on the card following the card number or on the back of it. This error occurs when the verification check of this number has failed.	The customer should verify that every value has been correctly entered and try again.
1322	Invalid card number or, card number and brand combination.	Some card details were not correct when the transaction was submitted.	The customer should first double check that they have inputted everything correctly. If the cardholder confirms the card is fine and valid, please reach out to Vendo team to fix the issue.
1328	The bank has requested to retain the card. The transaction was rejected.	The customer's issuer bank has rejected the transaction and has requested that the card be retained. This may be due to the card being reported as lost or stolen.	If the customer thinks this is a mistake, they should contact their issuing bank to solve the problem.
1335	Transaction processing refused.	The customer's bank has refused the transaction request. It could be for many reasons, the most common one are either incorrect credit card number or expiration date.	The customer should first double check all their details are correctly inputted. If the error persists, they should contact their bank to admit sales from your merchant.
1346	The transaction was rejected because the card is reported as blocked.	The customer's issuer bank has rejected the transaction due to the credit card being reported as blocked. When a card is blocked all online payments are going to be declined.	The customer should contact their bank for further information and to solve the underlying issue for their blocked card.
1368	Amount limit exceeded (e.g. daily limit).	The customer has exceeded their transaction limit for the day or the transaction will bring their bank balance below the minimum limit set by their issuer.	The customer must reach out to their bank to increase their daily limit or try the transaction again after 24 hours.
1371	Declined by the issuing bank. SCA might be required.	The customer's bank wants the transaction to be SCA (Strong Customer Authenticated) with 3D Secure. It cannot go through the frictionless flow.	We are automatically resending these transactions so they are processed with 3D Secure. Please reach out to the Vendo team if this is not the case for you.
1372	Cardholder has requested that all authorizations be stopped for this account or the account is closed.	The cardholder has talked to his bank and withdrawn authorization to be charged anymore, and therefore the membership will be cancelled on the expiry date. Please note trying to charge this card again for the same products & services might generate non-compliance fees from the Card Schemes.	If the customer thinks this is a mistake and they haven't cancelled authorization, they should contact their issuing bank to solve the problem.
3301	Subscription already exist for this email in this site.	The customer tried to sign up for a new subscription when a subscription already exists for that email on that site. We don't allow double subscription to the same site for the same user.	If the customer believes this to be a mistake, please reach out to the Vendo team.
3308	Duplicated transaction for this email, site and transaction type.	The error indicates that a transaction request was submitted within a few seconds of a previous attempt with the same information, and as such it has been rejected.	This can happen when a request has not been fully completed and is still in processing status. If you send another request before the previous request has been completed, you will get this error message.
6408	Verification failed. Cardholder failed or cancelled 3-D Secure Authentication.	The 3D verification necessary for the approval of the transaction has failed. Either the customer cancelled the verification before it was completed or their details were incorrectly input. Everything from a mistyped card number to an incorrect expiration date could have made the verification to fail.	The customer should double check all of their details were correctly entered and try again. If the error persists, the customer must contact his bank to make sure the card is enabled for 3D Verification. If this has been fixed but the customer can't still pass the 3D verification, please reach out to the Vendo team.
6409	The 3D Secure authorization step was aborted by the user.	The transaction has gone through a 3D Secure route but the customer exists the verification process in the middle of the process before finishing it.	The customer needs to complete 3D verification. If this is not possible, please reach out to Vendo team.

Where can I find information about Chargebacks and Refunds?

Vendo Backoffice: Under the "Sales" >>> "Transactions" section (check the box for the transaction type).
Vendo Backoffice: Under the "Data Tools" >>> "Reports" section (check Risk and simple report section)
Using Vendo Reconciliation API >>> Reporting API

Does Vendo block new transactions from end-users that have charged back?

Yes. All users that have initiated a chargeback are automatically included in a “banned list”. These users will not be able to process any new transaction with Vendo. This list protects our clients from allowing risky transactions or incurring extra fees in the future. In case you want one of your users removed from the “banned list”, please reach out to [email protected]

How do I see differences between VISA and MasterCard? For example, I would like to see how many refunds occurred on each payment method.

You can see metrics by payment method in our reporting tools.
Go to Vendo Backoffice >>> Data Tools >>> Risk, where you will find information broken out by card type.
In the following link there is a guide to each report: Data Tools

You can also retrieve detailed information about all transactions, including refunds and chargebacks, from our reporting API .

I would like to pre-authorize the full amount of the upgrade when someone buys a trial. For example, the person pays $1 for the trial and the upgrade is $30. I would like to pre-authorize, or block, $30 on the customer's card. Is this possible?

No, this is not possible. The trial and the upgrade are two different transactions. We can only pre-authorize the upgrade amount in case of a free trial. In this case, the pre-authorization is done by default.

Do you allow free trials/free subscriptions?

Yes, you can find more info in our documentation. Free trials correspond to transaction type 62: Transaction Types

It is advised to offer a trial period of at least 7 days.

Why are we getting a warning message when we try to issue a refund sometimes?

Our back-office will advise you when trying to issue a refund on some very low-risk transactions such as transactions verified with 3DSecure or paid with pre-paid cards.

I have noticed small differences between the offer price set in the offer settings and the actual amount charged. Why?

These small differences are due to our price rounding rules. The rounding rules "beautify" the price taking into account local currency and regional preferences.

For instance, if 10 USD converted in local currency translates to 10.57, we will round it to 10.95 instead.

You can disable the rounding rules engine by reaching out to [email protected]

Does Vendo have other ways to fight chargebacks and fraud?

Yes, Vendo has launched a feature that helps our merchants fight fraudsters and chargebacks more efficiently. This feature allows us to get last login date about your members.

You can benefit using these simple steps:

If you use NATS 4 and updated it at least in December 2016 then you’re already integrated, and all you need to do is implement this in NATS API.
If your NATS installation is older than December 2016 then

A) Open a ticket with TooMuchMedia to get NATS updated (you won't lose data or settings)

B) Implement this in NATS API.

For this to work, it is important that you confirm with your development team that you’re informing NATS every time a member logs into your members' area.

If you’re not running NATS then please get in touch with Vendo Merchant Support and request steps to get this feature installed.