AIBMS wants €9.75+VAT per month.?

pipsdad

Hi,
We have a small turnover online business, all card payments are made through Realex so we never see, take or store any clients card details. This morning got a letter from AIB merchant services to advise we have to start paying a monthly charge of €9.75+VAT for "PCI admin fee" starting on Tuesday 1st May and If we don't comply with the instructions the price of the fee is €20+VAT per month. I called them but they were ZERO help, it was "mandatory and is there anything else I can do for you today". I called Realex and they said "your PCI credentials should be inherited from us, you'll need to ask them".
Am I the only one that has an issue with this?
Looking forward to hearing any comment/advice etc

billybunty

pipsdad wrote: »

Hi,
We have a small turnover online business, all card payments are made through Realex so we never see, take or store any clients card details. This morning got a letter from AIB merchant services to advise we have to start paying a monthly charge of €9.75+VAT for "PCI admin fee" starting on Tuesday 1st May and If we don't comply with the instructions the price of the fee is €20+VAT per month. I called them but they were ZERO help, it was "mandatory and is there anything else I can do for you today". I called Realex and they said "your PCI credentials should be inherited from us, you'll need to ask them".
Am I the only one that has an issue with this?
Looking forward to hearing any comment/advice etc

Thats really interesting.
I went with ulster bank merchant services for this reason as read on here ages ago that aib were constantly at stuff like this.
Ulster dont charge me a flat rate per month, they charge for whatever number of cards are processed, so im not much help in answering your question and i actually dont know what pci means....ooops, but maybe persevere with calling them and threaten to move or something.naturally i wouldnt move until you had a new supplier signed sealed and delivered!

MOH

That's utterly ridiculous.

Aside from the fact that there's zero PCI compliance issues if you're not dealing directly with the credit cards details, giving two working days notice of imposition of a new fee like this is unacceptable.

They've no list of fees anywhere on their website, and the only reference to PCI I can find is "All information provided by AIB Merchant Services is based upon our interpretation of the PCI Data Security Standards and the information you have supplied us. If you require more detail in the answers regarding PCI DSS, we suggest that you visit the PCI Security Standards Council website."

I'd starting looking for an alternative bank first thing Monday morning - I'd recommend Ulster.

pipsdad

MOH wrote: »

That's utterly ridiculous.

Aside from the fact that there's zero PCI compliance issues if you're not dealing directly with the credit cards details, giving two working days notice of imposition of a new fee like this is unacceptable.

They've no list of fees anywhere on their website, and the only reference to PCI I can find is "All information provided by AIB Merchant Services is based upon our interpretation of the PCI Data Security Standards and the information you have supplied us. If you require more detail in the answers regarding PCI DSS, we suggest that you visit the PCI Security Standards Council website."

I'd starting looking for an alternative bank first thing Monday morning - I'd recommend Ulster.

Thanks for the input, I had to phone them to find out what the 'Non-Validated PCI Fee' was, would it be an idea to send them a letter outlining my grievance and then giving them the same grace period, 2 days, then escalate to the Financial Services Ombudsman? or who is it looks after our interests in these matters? maybe also outline the fact that the letter states a web address that doesn't give the fee information and another that doesn't give the terms and conditions. I'm really peed off about this.

MOH

pipsdad wrote: »

Thanks for the input, I had to phone them to find out what the 'Non-Validated PCI Fee' was, would it be an idea to send them a letter outlining my grievance and then giving them the same grace period, 2 days, then escalate to the Financial Services Ombudsman? or who is it looks after our interests in these matters? maybe also outline the fact that the letter states a web address that doesn't give the fee information and another that doesn't give the terms and conditions. I'm really peed off about this.

From what I gather gather from a quick bit of Googling (mostly US-related hits), charges started being introduced a couple of years ago in respect of PCI compliance. One monthly 'admin fee' regardless, and a second, higher fee if you hadn't completed a PCI certification program proving you were compliant with PCI regulations. However, that's all in respect of handling credit card information.

Assuming you're passing customers through to Realex and they're entering their credit card details there, you're never dealing with their card information, and I can't see how you've any PCI obligation. Looks like you're not the first to be hit with this.

It sounds as though whoever you're talking doesn't understand that you're not handling the card data. Try ringing AIBMS again Monday, and if you've no joy, try talking to your business manager in your local branch, see if they can help you.

Regardless, I don't see how they can impose a fee with 2 days notice.
If you don't have any joy dealing with them, not sure who you escalate it to - FSO sounds like a good start.

Looking at the AIBMS website again, it looks as though there may be fees (or at least T+C) information available, but you need to log in first.

Note - I am not an expert, and I may have completely misunderstood the requirements.

pipsdad

Called the AIBMS again this morning, and was told in no uncertain terms that everyone has to pay and it is non negotiable and If I don't agree I have the option to go elsewhere, so enquiries are starting on doing just that. Any other recommendations other than Ulster bank?

beazee

Elavon offer worked out best for us in 2009. But we actually process card payments in person.
As for online business - what about Paypal or Google Checkout?

MOH

beazee wrote: »

Elavon offer worked out best for us in 2009. But we actually process card payments in person.
As for online business - what about Paypal or Google Checkout?

Google Checkout is still only available to US and UK merchants (unless you're selling stuff on Google Play).

bogwalrus

pipsdad wrote: »

Called the AIBMS again this morning, and was told in no uncertain terms that everyone has to pay and it is non negotiable and If I don't agree I have the option to go elsewhere, so enquiries are starting on doing just that. Any other recommendations other than Ulster bank?

It says in my letter that they would after a few months of non payment close my account etc. Does that mean i wont have to pay rest of lease as they are withdrawing their service. I would love that if it was so as i have 3.5yrs left on my lease that i dont want.

castlewhite

I got a letter as well, we are to be charged 4.75 a month, we dont even have any internet/ telephone sales, just face to face sales ,

I need to read T&C more carefuly to see if this is a change to T&C or already covered.

silverfish1968

I have a small business in England and opening a store in Cork so was interested to read this and surprised your only getting charged for pci dss now. It’s been going on here for the past few years. I found out around a year ago when I started getting charged by Elavon. I was thinking of moving anyway from them but they are all at it, charging for pci dss is standard practice because the banks found another way to steal money from us. They all blame Visa and Mastrcard for introducing regulations to protect cardholders from their card numbers getting hacked or identify theft or something but it’s just a scam in my opinion. Anyway here is what I found out about charges in Ireland and some English banks in Ireland. When I wrote this down it was on a scrap of paper a few months ago so not sure if all the information is still fully up to date.
Ulsterbank or streamlin in england , they charge £29.99 per year and there are more charges if you don’t comply – they give the problem to a company called Trustwave so you have to use the trustwave website to become compliant. You can also call trustwave and they will help you to complete the process. They also have a higher cost if you take ecommerce payments but not sure what that is. Think it’s another £35. At the time the guy told me that it wouldn’t be started in Ireland until a few months ago so if I moved my business to them I would have a few free months but didn’t think it was worth the hassle. Might be easier to stick with Elavon seen as I already use them in England.

AIB – they charge €4.35 or €9.75 depending on if you are ecommerce or not. They have their own website and seem to handle the pci calls themselves although the guy I spoke to didn’t seem to know much about it, I’m not sure if he could support it but he was quite friendly on the phone. There are more charges every month if you don’t comply within 6 months. The guy gave me some story that AIB justify the price by saying they will cover the costs from Visa and MasterCard if your business is hacked to do the forensics. I doubt that true because if you read any merchant breach stories on the internet the costs that mastercard charge are at minimum 10 thousand. I couldn’t find what Visa charge for breaches.

Elavon – They charged me £75 per year and £25 per month extra if you don’t finish it in time. . I didn’t bother reading the questions or calling them I just ticked all the yes answers so I was finished in 10 minutes – they are not getting any more from me. Like Ulsterbank I had to use the Trustwave website to do it. They also tried to charge me for security scanning because I have a website so I just started again and ticked that I didn’t have one so didn’t have to pay ..ha. I have been told that I will have to pay the same in Ireland although it does not take exchange into account so its just €75.

BarclayCard – they charge €75 per year. In Ireland. Couldn’t find much about them but don’t think they are too big in Ireland anyway. In England they charge a .098% non compliance fee on every transaction which can really add up if you don’t comply in time.

Anyway I hope this helps. Bottom line is that they all charge what is essentially a rip off. In England I also checked B of Scotland, Lloyds and HSBC so have information their too if that is a help.