US Government Freeze on VISA cards used with Canadian e-commerce merchants?

Hi there,

I've got a client who sells primarily to a US market. Apparently, the US customers are having trouble with their VISA.

One of their customers has been repeatedly trying to pay with her VISA, and couldn't do so. The card itself was fine, but it wouldn't go through. Upon speaking with her issuing bank, the customer was informed that the American government has a freeze on VISAs being used in Canada or for Canadian e-commerce purposes.

Has anyone else heard of anything like this? This is a first for me.

 

I haven't hear of the government stepping in on anything like this. I don't think the government even has the power to limit something like this.

Some card issuing banks in the US use SIC code filtering. When a business is setup with a merchant account, they are assigned a SIC code (Standard Industry Classification). The SIC code tells about the type of business and the products that they sell. Some card issuer's automatically filter transactions to businesses with certain SIC codes. It is a very broad way to block fraud from a very large sector of businesses.

I'm not sure if this is what is happening with your client, but it does sound like it may fit the problem.

From what I have seen, electronics, pharmaceuticals, adult products / services are most often filtered.

 

This is none of those things. And the merchant is Canadian, so there's no filter as such.

The thing is that we've been watching quite a few transactions reach the payment processor's stage, in some cases repeatedly, and then get abandoned.

 

I've bought stuff from all ove the world with my American VISA card.

Somehow, I doubt that Canada would be the first place to see credit card restrictions.

Your friend should contact the company that handles her merchant account. If they can't resolve her difficulty, she should change to a new processor.

 

A new processor is definitely in order, but not for this reason (although it sure doesn't help.)

I'm under the same impression, Will.Spencer, especially since we just elected a Conservative Prime Minister who would have no problem getting buddy-buddy with Crackhead Chimp Boy (aka George W. Bush.)

Personally, I think my client got fed a crock, but I needed a little more verification. Thanks all.

 

if the transaction is a alrge 1 and seen as unusual spending it may stop for that reason, the bank i wrk for has a scoring system every transaction has a score, this can vary depending on goods being paid for, country and area location, etc

a $500 bed would have less chance of flagging up then $500 laptopso it may be down to that?

 

Hmm. Well, the location is Toronto, Canada. I can't really reveal the product for reasons of client confidentiality, but I can't see it being anything that would create a flag in that regard since it's not something along the lines of a laptop or jewellery.

 

I live near Toronto and have a Visa. When I went to Peru last year, my Visa didn't work....I had to call my bank to authorize the international transaction. (Some card issuers do this as a security measure; it's annoying, but it prevents international fraud). As mentioned in an above reply, I doubt Canada would be on a list of problem countries....unless the US is still mad at us for the ballistic missile defence program lol. I also have a website that accepts Visa and have never had a problem from my US clients. I'd go with Will's advice and call the merchant provider. If they can't help; get a new merchant. (Maybe the merchant processes transactions in a different country)

 

I have never heard of anything like this. I have had my MBNA card stop working when I first bought a couple of domains, but once I called them and told them that it was I using the card they had no problems with it.

The issue here may be that this person has never made a purchase like this before and therefore it rose a flag with the VISA thinking it was fraud, and not the actual product that they were buying.

 

happens all the time, I have seen this before, It is not to do with canadian or not, it is to do with the transaction being internet based.