Epassporte News
On September 2, 2010, posted the following announcement from their President, Christopher Mallick, and we are posting it here for your convenience. We are also posting any follow-up announcements officially released by Epassporte.
Please remember that our company MyFreeCams.com has no connection to Epassporte so if you have any questions about this situation please ask Epassporte.
Official statements from Epassporte
September 2, 2010
IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING YOUR EPASSPORTE ACCOUNT
From: Christopher Mallick, Owner, ePassporte.com
Dear ePassporte Account Holders,
Please be advised that, at 12:00 PM PDT today, September 2, 2010, we were notified that effective immediately, Visa International has suspended our banking partner's (St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank) ePassporte Visa program. The ePassporte e-Wallet program continues to be up and running, except funds cannot be transferred between your Visa Account and your e-Wallet. At this time ePassporte can no longer issue Visa Cards, and the ability for our Account Holders to make point of sale purchases and withdraw funds from ATMs has also been suspended.
At this time we do not know why this drastic action was taken by Visa. To us, it is unconscionable that such action would be taken without the opportunity for ePassporte to fully understand Visa's reasons and to be able to take all steps necessary to keep our program running the way it has so successfully done for over 7 years. But that is what Visa has done.
As soon as we have more information we will be in contact with you.
In the meantime please be assured that your funds are safe.
We are very sorry for the short notice and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. The ePassporte team is working diligently to rectify this situation.
We kindly ask you to bear with us while we work through this issue.
Please feel free to contact us via the message center or at our call center, should you have any questions, comments or concerns.
Thank You,
Christopher Mallick
September 9, 2010
We at ePassporte are as distressed as you, our valued cardholders, over an action that we did not see coming and as of today we still have received no good basis for it.
First, be assured that your funds are fully safe and protected. You are owed that and it will be fulfilled. The funds are secure.
Second, ePassporte is working with the St. Kitts bank to work out how all payments will be made and when. The details are complicated, because there are funds in motion and where and when they settle requires us to all be careful that we fully and properly account for all those funds and their rightful owner. This issue stems from our processing and reporting ability through the Visa system and their processor.
Third, ePassporte's most important asset has always been our account holder's. We are not going to undermine that asset by treating cardholders in any manner other than the best we can.
Most of us have had the unfortunate experience of dealing with banks and card associations that simply “cut us off” and did not pay us. Those actions were limited to card acquiring (merchant accounts), not card issuing, which is what we do. We can all take some comfort in the fact that this situation is not anything like the acquiring side of the business.
We all fully understand that communication to our cardholders is critical. However, it does not help any of us if we are constantly updating you on the basis of the calls that take place almost hourly. It seems to us that giving you facts, based on agreements we are working on is the best form of communication. This is what we will be doing. When we know something, that is a fact, we will report it, quickly. Our staff is all working diligently to resolve these issues and the many moving and complicated parts of getting the funds returned. Therefore, please do not mistake our silence as “hiding”, “avoiding” or “stringing you along”. We too have funds that are stuck in the system, as well as massive costs of operation without any income.
Rest assured that when we know, you will know and you will all be satisfied with the results. Again, your money is safe.
For those of you that have been in the industry for many years, I hope you will recall that I have a very strong track record of fighting for the rights of webmasters, program sponsors, billing companies, merchants and the industry; that dedication continues.
Thanks you for your understanding in this difficult time and for your support over the last 8 years of our operations.
Chris Mallick For ePassporte
September 16, 2010
ePassporte N.V. has had several extensive meetings with St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank (the "Bank") in an effort to resume operations and card functionality.
We are encouraged and believe these meetings and ongoing discussions with the Bank will result in all card functions becoming operational shortly, although a date has not yet been determined.
ePassporte and St Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank want to assure cardholders that their funds are safe and that resuming operations is a key and attainable goal.
A few very import points:
For information regarding your Account, it is imperative that you contact us via the Message Center or call our Account Holder Services line (310.301.2001).
PLEASE DO NOT contact ePassporte N.V. in Curacao, Mr. Elias, United Bank or St. Kitts Bank. Messages sent to the above may not be answered. All operational issues are handled by the ePassporte team via the Message Center or Call Center ONLY. Please also avoid posting your username on forums as this could pose a security risk to your Account.
We greatly appreciate your continued patience and understanding and will continue to update you regarding this situation via the Message Center.
Sincerely,
ePassporte.com
September 23, 2010
Dear ePassporte Account Holders,
St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank, without our prior knowledge, has turned off the ability for ePassporte to access or display Account Holders' Visa Card balances. This means that when you login to your ePassporte Account, you will only be able to see your Wallet balance. As a consequence, inquiries regarding your Visa Card balance must be directed to St. Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank. St Kitts Bank is responsible for all funds on Visa Cards. Their contact information is as follows:
St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Ltd.
Central Street, P.O. Box 343 Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies Tel: (869) 465-2204 Mon - Thurs: 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. Fri: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Fax: (869) 465-1050 Email: webmaster@sknanb.com ePassporte will continue to provide support with regard to the funds in your Wallet. We kindly ask for your patience as we must verify Accounts and balances manually.
Thank You,
ePassporte Account Holder Services
ePassporte Shutting Down
Dear ePassporte Account Holders,
It is with great regret we inform you that ePassporte must close its doors due to a lack of revenue and circumstances beyond our control.
Effective immediately, the call center, ePassporte's sales and marketing team and risk management staff will no longer be available. A small group will remain to organize wallet requests and help disburse funds. On the ePassporte website, in the near future, wallet holders will be provided further information on what is needed to obtain your funds. This will mainly be a process to protect wallet holder funds from fraud. We expect this will be a simplified process, and as we receive the necessary information, our small remaining staff will process requests as quickly as they can. Please direct your wallet questions, concerns and requests to walletrequest@ePassporte.com.
For those of you with funds on your Visa Accounts, we are informed that St. Kitts Bank is working on a plan to provide everyone with full access to their funds through their Visa Electron Cards or by bank wire transfers and will inform you accordingly.
We appreciate your support for the ePassporte program over the past 7 years and deeply regret we must close our doors at this difficult time.
Sincerely,
ePassporte.com
Our recommendations
If you are currently receiving payments through Epassporte, you should change your payment method to be paid by us in a different way. We will not be sending payments using Epassporte until this situation is resolved so if this is your selected payment method then your money will be held.
Please see our pages on Payment Information for Models and Help with Payment Methods for more information.
Also, you can go to Account Information and select HOLD Payments and we will hold your earnings until Epassporte fixes their problem.
We have added Payoneer as a payment method that some are using as an alternative to Epassporte.