Money-Monitor articles page

Q: Money-Monitor First of all, I would like to thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview you for the money-monitor. Would you mind telling me a few words about yourself? What is your name? What do you exactly do in the company?

A: Firoz Patel Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interact with your readers. My name is Firoz Patel and I am the CEO and co-founder of AlertPay Inc.

Q: Money-Monitor It has been 4 years since AlertPay emerged on the on-line payments market. As one may find out from the interview you gave the BNN, the beginnings weren’t exactly easy. How would you compare your payments system to that of your competition?

A: Firoz Patel I do not believe in comparing as we all have different strategies and strengths, so instead I will explain some of the advantages our members enjoy with AlertPay. With an AlertPay account, you can send payments to one person or multiple people, use our flexible depositing and withdrawal methods, shop online, make subscription payments, manage multiple businesses, convert currencies and use our Business Tools. AlertPay supports more currencies, countries and industries than any other payment processor.

Q: Money-Monitor AlertPay has been accumulating many supporters mostly due to its diversity, accessibility and the friendly support. What else do you think is the difference between your system and the other ones on the market? What is more, do you think you will be able to keep up with the good work?

A: Firoz Patel While supporting more countries and currencies is great, our proactive Customer Support team and high security standards help set us apart from the rest. Providing a secure and efficient payment solution is our job. And keeping our members happy is a high priority!

Q: Money-Monitor Although AlertPay is an international site it has only the English version with the English support. Are you considering launching a multilingual platform any time soon? Are there any other improvements that you plan to implement?

A: Firoz Patel We completely understand the importance of offering multilingual services and are working diligently on making this possible. We have a French version of our website coming soon with more languages to follow. Alternatively, members who need support in French, Italian, Mandarin or Russian can call Customer Support and speak in their native language with one of our talented staff members.

Q: Money-Monitor Would you mind telling me how many members do you currently have and how many new members join the AlertPay family every day? Also, how many sellers use your payments system?

A: Firoz Patel I am glad you asked. In the beginning, the company received one or two sign-ups a day. Five years later, we are getting close to 3,500 registrations a day, making our customer base well over three million members and counting.

Q: Money-Monitor What forms of support does AlertPay offer its users? Do you offer your members a VIP status or any additional support?

A: Firoz Patel One of AlertPay’s policies is to provide even the occasional member with support when necessary. I have seen members change from casual online shoppers to online business owners with our help. AlertPay is proud to have a diverse, interdisciplinary staff with enough passion and talent to assist all of our members, especially those with hopes of pursuing their own business.
However, we also understand that some sellers require more attention, which is why we have a Business Development department. Any and all inquiries can be done through our Support Center at www.helpdesk.alertpay.com. There you will find our Frequently Asked Questions and Answers, Knowledgebase and contact information.

Q: Money-Monitor Does the “Business account” come with any special perks?

A: Firoz Patel Yes, it does! Normally this type of account would have either initial start-up fees or recurring fees. However, like all of our accounts, it is free to sign up. Also, AlertPay is easy to integrate if you have an online business. Managing multiple sources of revenue is simplified as you can consolidate separate businesses with one account.
You can accept credit card and AlertPay balance payments for one-time or recurring purchases and you can withdraw your money quickly and securely. With built-in fraud protection, you can leave your security concerns to us.

Q: Money-Monitor In your last newsletter one could read about the change of your bank accounts. Does this change affect the members in any way?

A: Firoz Patel Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter. Yes, these changes will affect our members in a very positive way. By doing this, we will be able to provide a multitude of better banking options. Our goal is to enhance our members’ experiences with instant credit for loyal members, quicker processing times and localized banking for more countries.

Q: Money-Monitor The rules of your system imply that even unverified members can send and accept money from any other member in your system and can withdraw the money to their own bank accounts. Isn’t this policy too lenient?

A: Firoz Patel Good question. We pride ourselves on being a friendly and easy-to-use online payment solution. We also know that verification can hinder a potential sale. So, to keep the process easy and quick, we have imposed limitations rather than restrictions: All unverified accounts can only send, receive, deposit and withdraw a limited amount of funds before being asked to get verified. So, is it too lenient? No. Is it fair? I think so.

Q: Money-Monitor Due to not being able to verify every transaction, should a verified member, like an owner of an online shop, be concerned about payments from unverified or verified members? What kind of precautionary measures should s/he undertake in order to prevent accepting the embezzled money? Should s/he hold back with delivering the goods to avoid the chargeback?

A: Firoz Patel As you know, payment processing is not a face-to-face industry and a large number of internet users are not familiar with certain risks. One of AlertPay’s goals is to minimize those threats through various security techniques. However, we encourage all of our members to do their own due diligence as well.
There are many clues to help identify a suspicious transaction, and by staying knowledgeable, our members can protect themselves more efficiently. We often suggest staying up-to-date through research. www.fraudpreventiontips.com/ offers some interesting and helpful safety tips. Be aware that withholding a purchased product does not help and may tarnish your reputation unless this is made clear before the purchase has been made.

Q: Money-Monitor Browsing through the testimonies of PayPal and MoneyBookers members, I came across the problem of not quite justified account blockages. Furthermore, there often is no opportunity to clarify such a situation. What is AlertPay’s policy of account blockages?

A: Firoz Patel Through experience, I have seen that most stories regarding account blockage are often misunderstood. Being on both ends of this type of situation has shown me this even more. By adhering to a User Agreement, it is very rare that an account is blocked. Also, we always address any important issues with concerned members.

Q: Money-Monitor One much appreciated feature of a payment system is anonymity. How anonymous are the AlertPay transactions?

A: Firoz Patel You are right! Anonymity is a big concern for many online buyers and sellers and AlertPay has the highest regard for confidentiality. We will not sell or rent a list of our members or their personal information to third parties. Their name, email address and verification status are displayed to other AlertPay members with whom they will be transferring funds through AlertPay. If they are Business account holders, we will show their URL and company name instead of their personal name.

Q: Money-Monitor Since AlertPay is an international payments system it seems inevitable to ask about the restricted policy of American government concerning the electronic payments system. Are you worried about the possible deterioration of this situation?

A: Firoz Patel I am not sure what restricted policy you refer to. The U.S. is still an open market with little red tape or bureaucracy. There are certain industries that are controlled in the U.S., but nothing that concerns AlertPay. As long as we abide by the rules and regulations set forth by the government and the agencies of the U.S., AlertPay’s American members will continue to enjoy the benefits of our services.

Q: Money-Monitor . (The question from @Noema – refback80.com) the world of online business with its modality and dynamics creates more and more forms of using the online payments system. However, the legality and reality of some of their actions may sometimes seem controversial (for instance, MLM, online gambling, autosurf, bux). Some of the payments systems impose certain restrictions concerning the access to such services. How tolerant is AlertPay when it comes to such services using AlertPay’s payments system?

A: Firoz Patel : I do not think it is about tolerance. Because we abide by very strict terms and closely monitor certain industries, we have been successful in providing our services to “high risk” industries. Like fraudulent or suspicious activity, we use many tools to review a website after it has been registered. Also, we have recently revised our User Agreement to include information pertaining to new industries we now support. You can find it on our website or by following this link: https://www.alertpay.com/info/useragreement.aspx.

Thank you again for giving us the opportunity to educate your readers about AlertPay and what we can offer. 2009 has been a big growth year for us. Because of this year’s success, 2010 looks even more promising. I invite everyone to take a look at our new blog where we intend to keep you informed about what’s going on at AlertPay: http://blog.alertpay.com.