I had already been migrated to what PS calls a merchant account when the sh*t hit the fan, so I wasn't affected. Still, it was enough motivation to convince me to finally dump PS and get a proper merchant account.

Now I've been looking at the credits and debits PS has made into my bank account over the past month or so, and I can't figure out what they're doing in regards to the merchant reserve. The debits for the reserve don't seem to have any relation to the credits. In fact, there have been no credits for several days, yet PS continues to make debits for their holdback. Worse, they haven't released any of the funds from my reserve since July.

Does anyone know what's the logic (if any) behind PS's holdback on so-called merchant accounts?

The Logic is that PS are very crafty,clever and RICH! AND getting RICHER by the minute:angry:

I have an IMA account for 2 years now and I am not regret. The money floats very well every week to my bank account and despite all the previous problems with paysystems IBA users, from my personal experience I have no complaings at all. The paperwork for the IMA 2 years ago took 2 month to complete but I guess it's like that for every merchant account so.

Originally posted by Paulo
The paperwork for the IMA 2 years ago took 2 month to complete but I guess it's like that for every merchant account so.
Usually not. If the business is located in the US, is not high risk, and wants less than $30K a month, usually less than one day. In the UK, maybe about one week.

I'd agree... for a U.S. merchant app you are looking at 1-2 business days for approval & activation if everything is submitted in good order and its not a high-risk/high-volume account.

For European and other accounts - this will definitely take longer.

For offshore processors - I've seen it done in a day and as long as several months, depending on the situation.

Here's my latest exchange with PS customer support:

>Problem description :
On 08-19-2004 you credited my bank account for 22.90. One the same day you debited my bank account for 1.26 in processing fees. I subsequently refunded the 22.90 charge. On 08-20-2004 you debited my bank account for 22.90, yet you still have not credited my bank account for the 1.26 processing fee that you took out of the 22.90. When will you return the 1.26? When will you stop stealing my money?

>Resolution description :
The processing fees are not returned to you as they are the fee charged to you for successfully capturing a transaction.

PS isn't even trying to be crafty now. They're just blatantly stealing from me. These processing fees include the 5.5% discount fee, which everyone knows is only deducted from successful transactions.

And here's my second exchange:

>Problem description :
Please explain to me what is going on with the merchant reserve on my PS account. The debits to my bank account labelled PAYSYSTEMS MRCHNT RSV seem to have no relationship to the credits. There have been no recent transactions in my PS account, yet you continue to debit my bank account for PAYSYSTEMS MRCHNT RSV. Also, you have not credited my bank account for any release from the merchant reserve you are holding on me. It looks to me as if once again you''re stealing my money.

>Resolution description :
Please note that reserve is withdrawn usually within 24 hours of a transaction being settled to your account, and transactions usually settle to your account within 48 hours of the transaction being placed. If the withdrawls that you have seen to not conform to this schedule, please send a copy of your statement showing these extra fees to support@paysystems.com, referrencing this ticket number and we will further investigate this issue for you.

In other words, they're giving me the runaround. Also, note how they avoided answering my question about why they haven't released any of my holdback this month.

Lying, thieving, scheming, swindling scumbags. I hope you all die slowly and painfully of a terminal disease.