CCAvenue just issued a service notification that they will no longer accept MasterCard. I don't see it on their site, though.

Hmm I wonder if MasterCard banned them from processing that card. Website updates can sometimes take a while. But with a major card no longer being used, Id suggest if thats a real notification that they quickly update.

uhoh... same thing happened w/ Paymonde/MyVirtualCard two weeks before they took their admin offline and quit making payouts (although that didn't stop them from continuing to bill any users they could before their final dash out)... doesn't bode well..

I believe the same thing happened with paysystems before they shut down their 3rd party merchant system

that sucks...theyll loose clients!

Visa and MasterCard are pretty much the cards primarily used by most people. If they take MasterCard out, they can forget about staying in business. Anyone using CCAvenue might want to start looking for a new solution.

Agreed. Something likes this is a clear sign that they're going out of business.

Maybe thay haven't updated the news on the site..

Well, what happens is that many of their merchants will look for alternative solutions for MasterCard or quit CCAvenue all together.

They have probably been fined by MasterCard for accepting illegal business models (replica, name brand knock off products) or exceeded the chargeback limits on their processing accounts.

Good luck to all merchants that have a clean account there.

Well, what happens is that many of their merchants will look for alternative solutions for MasterCard or quit CCAvenue all together.

They'll look for alternative providers. MasterCard is the second most popular credit card after Visa. It's just popular not to be able to accept them.

Well, MasterCard is a difficult company to deal with as I do know that many processors find it very hard to work with them.

They did recently increase the allowed number of chargebacks from 15 to 50 which should give processors some more breathing space, so I think what happened is that they closed down CCAvenue because of illegal business models. I once followed a link from a spam email that sold Rolex watches and ended up on a website that was connected with CCAvenue to process payments.

No Visa anymore either.

Problem is to do with visa/mc not allowing out of country merchants. (Some processors get around this by being your retailer, such as 2co; others I don't know how they do it.)

If you are in India or Singapore you can continue with them as-is.

Well, there are many processors that accept out of country merchants so I don't think this is an issue. Unless Visa/MasterCard want to shut down every third party processing company. If they do that, they really don't understand how important these companies are for merchants. It would be really disappointing if they work towards that kind of attitude.

What they want (every merchant needs to have a direct relationship with an acquiring bank) is impossible. If that happens, the internet will definitely feel the consequences. Banks do not easily accept new businesses or higher risk business models. Let's hope this is not a new goal of Visa/MasterCard in 2007.

>>Well, there are many processors that accept out of country merchants so I don't think this is an issue.

I had the same thing happen with Internetsecure in Canada a year ago, so I think it is the rule.

Since I'm an Indian Rupee-accepting merchant, I don't know how it applies to everyone else, but here's the notification word for word:

Subject: MasterCard non-availability for CCAvenue Merchants
processing in INR Currency.

Dear Merchant,

For over 5 years, CCAvenue has been striving hard to get you the best of payments facilities and technologies that are available. You may be aware that the payments industry is a rapidly evolving one and there are new developments every day. There have been ups and downs and we have handled many challenges together by supporting each other.

One significant development that has occurred a few days ago is that MasterCard International has revised some of its rules and has implemented a program called the MSP (Member Service Provider) Program across all of Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Due to this development, all third party payment processors like CCAvenue in these regions will have to make certain changes in the work processes and meet certain norms before they can continue to accept MasterCard online. As per MasterCards new rules, the acquiring banks are required to stop the MasterCard payment facility to third party payment service providers with immediate effect till they comply with the new requirements.

Under the new MSP Rules, every sub-merchant has to enter into a tripartite agreement between the sub-merchant, the acquiring bank and ourselves. The MasterCard payouts will be done directly by the acquiring bank to the sub-merchants bank account. The sub-merchants website name will be reflected in the card holders statement and not CCAvenue (as it is currently happening). Please note this process is only for MasterCard and CCAvenue will continue to offer all other payment options and there will be no changes in the payout process for these.

Since the implementation of the MSP Program is going to take time, we regret to say that we are compelled to stop offering the MasterCard payment option for a few weeks. Therefore, as of January 15th, 2007 the MasterCard payment option will not be available on our gateway.

We are deeply aware of the loss to your business due to this action and we cant say enough about how sorry we are for this. Do remember, as we are your partners, it severely affects our business too. We regret to say that this is entirely out of our hands and beyond our control.

On the way forward, our acquiring banks have already initiated the registration process of CCAvenue as a MSP. We assure you that we are trying our best to get the MasterCard payment option live again as soon as possible. However, as per the feedback from our acquiring banks, the process will take at least a few weeks. We have always believed in transparency and I seek your co-operation and support in complying with the new MasterCard Rules and Bye-laws.

I just got off a lengthy live chat with ccavenue and I am happy to say they told me that they are through with all the Mastercard formalities and expect to be approved in the next two to three weeks.

wow..took them from Jan to Apr to apply those changes that they said will take a few weeks