Update on Direct Marketing Merchant Account Suspenions
As you have already heard… last week MasterCard suspended all direct marketing merchant accounts. They are cracking down and enforcing new regulations and guidelines pertaining to direct marketing. MasterCard maintains that these guidelines must be complied with in order for them to continue processing payments. ALL non-compliant accounts have been suspended until they can show 100% compliance with these new guidelines.
Bear in mind, the sky is NOT falling! This is a an effort by MasterCard to clean up some of the “negative option” marketing that exists out on the web today. Most of the quality programs will be updated and reactivated. These changes will be ultimately improve the quality of the campaigns out on the web and improve the consumer experience.
The linked document below outlines in more depth the criteria set by the card company. Here are the high level highlights of the compliance requirements for your reference:
1. The terms of billing must be clearly disclosed on the website.
2. Verbiage must plainly state the enrollment into the membership without distraction.
3. Any trial period must be a minimum of 10 days.
4. Images of celebrities are prohibited from use without express legal written consent of the entity being published.
5. By law, product claims must be truthful and not misleading. Claims made must substantiated by the formulas used in the product(s) marketed and the clinical research conducted to support it.
6. Merchants must provide customers with multiple outlets for cancellation – including phone, email, chat, and mail.
As many merchants look to update their offers, policies and pages some offers may go down for a short time, so be sure to reach our to your publisher managers to make sure your campaigns are not effected.
NOTE: You can download the revised “Direct Marketing Best Practices” HERE.











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