payment problems with 3D credit cards in EU
The issue is that my Credit Card (Mastercard) is not working with Linode's payment processor, because that processor does not support 3D Secure cards, which are now standard in the EU.
It also appears that Linode do not support any other payment method (such as direct transfer, paypal …)
The issue I now have is that Linode have terminated my servers, meaning I have lost a bunch of websites.
If anyone else is having similar issues i would like to know how they have resolved it, as , right now, Linode are not offering me any possible solution other than to go looking for an alternate credit card supplier (which may or may not work with their payment provider).
Bad situation with no possible resolution at the moment.
8 Replies
@danmcb:
It also appears that Linode do not support any other payment method (such as direct transfer, paypal …)
Linode accepts cheques and money orders.
Well, it looks like my only solution to this issue is - unbelievably - to send by SNAIL MAIL (registered post) a money order to the US offices of Linode for my outstanding balance and then re-instate my servers, in order to then migrate them to some new provider.
Linode Sales, you really need to sort this out. There is no fundamental problem with my Mastercard. There is an issue with your payment provider not supporting 3D Secure credit cards. There is also an issue that you are extremely inflexible about payment methods - only accepting payment via your one, not very good, provider, or cheques by snail mail.
Your support staff have tried hard to resolve this but there is really nothing they can do if the payment processor you use is not up to the job. The poor guy sounded, frankly, embarassed and apologetic by the end of our exchange. But, as I say, the way your payments system is organised means there is nothing he can do.
You have succeeded in losing a long standing customer, who is is VERY unhappy about the unnecessary hassle, downtime and extra work this is causing. "Sorry for the inconvenience does not begin to cover it.
You need to sort this damn mess out.
The info that the issue is due to it being a 3D Secure card is coming back to me via Linode Support (along with the information that this is all they know, they can't do anything about it, and the only solution is for me to get a different credit card).
The card is Mastercard issued by a well known European bank, which I have had a number of years and used successfully online at many vendors,including Paypal and Amazon. It was also fine with Linode until November last year, when this issue started.
Another lpoint, Linode people : fine to raise a ticket to contact a customer, but if they do not respond perhaps they are not seeing notifications, as was the case here. The notifications go to the USER account for the ticket (which had an email address that no longer works - I was unaware of this as I never use that user account for anything).
Before you turn the lights out on my servers, perhaps it would have been nice of you to try emailing the address for the OWNER of the account (me). Then I could have done something.
However, I must say that Linode have been cool about resolving the situation, and helping me to get my sites migrated. So, thanks to the tech support guys for that. In the end, just one of those annoying things, but no harm done.
Unfortunately some US merchants don't seem to realise this. Hopefully some US based payment processors will start to support 3D secure in a more widespread manner as it really does cut down on credit card fraud (and surely this is an advantage for companies as it will reduce the amount of charge backs they get).
@Cromulent:
Europe seems to be far ahead of the US when it comes to credit card security. Chip and PIN is standard for everyone, signatures not allowed to authorise payment, 3D secure for an added layer of security.
Unfortunately some US merchants don't seem to realise this. Hopefully some US based payment processors will start to support 3D secure in a more widespread manner as it really does cut down on credit card fraud (and surely this is an advantage for companies as it will reduce the amount of charge backs they get).
Depends a bit on where you are in Europe. I've seen signatures been used in some odd places, but else, it's chip and pin. In Denmark, shops are afraid to enable 3D Secure because they think it hurts conversion rates. We have it enabled on Serverfrui, and haven't seen conversion rates been hurt.
But, yeah it's unfortunate. I don't have any issues paying with a MasterCard issued in Denmark, however, who knows if there'll come in the future as they continue to upgrade their security? The MasterCard I use do support 3D Secure.
@Cromulent:
Unfortunately some US merchants don't seem to realise this. Hopefully some US based payment processors will start to support 3D secure in a more widespread manner as it really does cut down on credit card fraud (and surely this is an advantage for companies as it will reduce the amount of charge backs they get).
We have a bit of a chicken/egg problem as well. Since most merchants don't have chip/pin equipment, few cards are issued with a chip, let alone a pin. I have one card with a chip and I can't get a pin for it yet, issuer says that's coming later this year.