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Why
was First Atlantic Commerce founded?
First Atlantic Commerce was the brainchild of Andrea Wilson, Director, who, while working for one of Bermuda's banks in the late 1980s,
received a phone call from a merchant asking for help with online purchasing.
Andrea decided to research the requirements for providing credit card
processing for Internet merchants, quickly realised the potential, and
First Atlantic Commerce was launched.
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When
was First Atlantic Commerce founded?
First Atlantic Commerce was founded in April 1998.
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Is
First Atlantic Commerce a bank?
No, it is part of a privately-owned company that includes a bank.
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Why
is First Atlantic Commerce based in Bermuda?
First Atlantic Commerce is based in Bermuda for historic reasons. Andrea
founded the company while working on the island, and it is now owned
by Bermuda-based CAPITAL G Ltd.
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How
many people work for First Atlantic Commerce?
First Atlantic Commerce currently employs 17 staff.
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What
can you tell me about Bermuda as a jurisdiction?
Bermuda is recognized around the world as a leading offshore financial
jurisdiction with a robust and world-class infrastructure. The island's
banking sector is regulated by the Bermuda Monetary Authority. The Bermuda
Stock Exchange services many markets and a number of international investment
funds list here with Bermuda being one of the busiest markets for stock-crosses
for some of the largest brokerage firms in the world.
Bermuda is also a major centre for insurance and reinsurance attracting
many international names including ACE and XL Capital.
KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst
& Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers are some of the well known international
names that provide accounting and management services in Bermuda.
Bermuda is Britain's oldest remaining colony and is governed by British
Law. Known as the Islands of Bermuda, it is in reality a string of over
100 islands. Bermuda is to the east of North Carolina, 650 miles (1046
km) away. New York City is 750 miles (1215 km) to the northwest and
London is 3,460 miles (5568 km) to the northeast.
Many people make the mistake of thinking Bermuda's somewhere in the
Caribbean. It's not. Bermuda is actually 950 miles (1529 km) to the
north of Nassau, Bahamas.
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Does
the company have offices elsewhere?
First Atlantic Commerce's head office is in Bermuda and we have consultants
in Toronto, Canada.
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How
is First Atlantic Commerce different from other online credit card payment
processors?
First Atlantic Commerce is a true provider of DIRECT MERCHANT ACCOUNT
solutions via established Acquring banks around the world. The company does
not facilitate Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) services. First Atlantic
Commerce prefers to offer Internet merchants like-for-like presentment
and settlement online credit card processing in all the world's major
currencies.
Additionally, the company
facilitates online credit card processing in 58 different currencies
(ideal for emerging geographic markets) with settlement to USD.
Processing credit card
transactions online is real-time, with all First Atlantic Commerce merchants
receiving settlement daily (terms apply).
First Atlantic
Commerce has also developed a powerful suite of online fraud and data
management solutions, consumer authentication services and IP Geolocation
products from which merchants can pick and choose and tailor to their
specific business needs. These services are available separately from
credit card payment processing if this is the preferred route.
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First Atlantic
Commerce differences at a glance:
In 1998, First Atlantic Commerce became the first international online
payment gateway to certify with First Data Merchant Services in the
USA linking Bermuda banks to First Data for internet merchant credit
card processing.
In 2001, First Atlantic
Commerce established eCommerce payment processing for the Cayman Islands,
and in May the same year, expanded its international processing business
to facilitate Internet credit card payments throughout the Latin America
Caribbean Region (LACR).
In 2002, First Atlantic
Commerce contracted with banks in Panama to provide Latin and Central
American merchants' eCommerce acquiring solutions. This was the first
region to implement multi-currency presentment solutions in 58 different
currencies, with USD settlement.
In February 2004, First
Atlantic Commerce and MasterCard International certified MasterCard
SecureCode payer authentication solutions for the Latin American Caribbean
Region (LACR) thereby becoming the first to implement the service in
the region.
November 2004 saw First Atlantic Commerce certify to the European payments
clearing switch and began offering services in Euros, GBP, CHF, USD
and CDN. The company also completed certification with Visa and MasterCard
EU and CEMEA regions for Verified by Visa and MasterCard® SecureCode™solutions.
In February 2007, the
company completes integration of its payments processing platform in
Mauritius and launches Pacific Rim Internet credit card processing.
A month later, First Atlantic Commerce unveils a universal host translation
module to enable certification to ANY card payment platform in the world.
Just three months after
that, in June 2007, the company completed certification to VISA in Israel
to expand into the Central and Middle European eCommerce payments markets.
In September of the same year, First Atlantic Commerce certifies to
a credit card processing platform in Puerto Rico, supporting additional
LACR banks.
In January 2008, First
Atlantic Commerce contracts with PROSA in Mexico to provide Verified
by Visa and MasterCard® SecureCode™to their acquiring banks
in the region. The company also signs a deal to provide Banco Santander
online merchants 3-D Secure™solutions.
First Atlantic
Commerce obtained the first eCommerce Private Act of Parliament for
Segregated Cell legislation (August 1999). It now operates a very unique
Bermuda-based processing solution whereby companies are able to establish
a Virtual Corporation (Segregated Cell) structure, instead of full incorporation,
to facilitate their credit card processing.
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How
many clients does First Atlantic Commerce have in its portfolio?
Today, the company processes, on average, one million transactions a month
for online merchants from across the globe, and works with big-name
companies including Visa, MasterCard, Avis and the Government of Jamaica.
FAC attracts online merchants of all sizes from a range of industries,
and tailors solutions specific to each of their needs.
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What
services can First Atlantic Commerce offer to merchants?
First Atlantic Commerce tailors end-to-end, direct merchant account,
multi-currency online credit card processing solutions for Internet
merchants around the world.
Services
include:
- Multi-currency credit card processing with presentment in up to
58 currencies with US$ settlement and/or pricing and settlement in 15 currencies
- Pan-European, Pacific Rim, Bermuda and LACR direct merchant account
solutions to support single-point geographic expansion
- AVS-only solutions to help screen fraudsters by comparing the billing
address provided by the purchaser to the billing address on the cardholder's
credit card statement
- CVC solutions (CVV2/CVC2/CID) to validate the security code found on the back of
credit cards, which confirms that the purchaser has the card in hand
- Pre-authorisation requests along with AVS and CVV2 data checks
- 3-D Secure™based payer authentication services:
- Provides Internet merchants with the ability to verify a consumer's
true identity through a secure, electronic, non "face-to-face"
authentication process
- Enables all parties in an eCommerce payment transaction to transmit
confidential and valid payment data
- Provides verification to the merchant that the buyer is the
authorized owner of a card account
- Offers immediate protection from fraud-related
chargebacks ("I didn't do it" chargebacks)
- IP Geolocation:
- Provides merchants with their visitors' geographical location
including country, city, longitude, latitude, ZIP code, time zone
- Provides merchants with their visitors' ISP & domain name
- Minimizes fraud by providing another layer of order evaluation
- Enables merchants to collect data to develop new business rules
regarding the order process, capture consumer shopping behaviour, block customers from high risk countries, push marketing and sales promotions to specific markets etc.
- Data sharing (third-party provider)
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What
services can First Atlantic Commerce offer to banks?
First Atlantic Commerce has assisted a number of banks with their eCommerce
merchant acquiring programs. Our years of expertise and direct experience
of supporting Internet merchants with credit card payment processing
around the world, makes us ideally suited to providing banks with meaningful
strategic and tactical support to launch (or upgrade) their services.
Services
include:
- Strategic Planning - development of an effective
eCommerce strategy that takes into account your unique banking environment
- Needs Analysis - recommendations on how to implement
your new eCommerce strategy
- Planning and Implementation - the planning and
delivery required to support your bank's specific objectives
- e-Risk Management and Best Business Practices
- guidance on effective risk management practices to fully support
a comprehensive Internet merchant acquiring programme
- Loyalty and Brand Management - provides new and
existing card issuing and merchant acquiring banks with ideas and
strategies relating to card security and risk management, brand
improvement, competitor analysis, and the introduction of rewards
programmes
- 3-D Secure™- Leverage our cGate®SecureVerify payer authentication
solution as an outsourced service
- Fraud and Data Management Solutions
- IP Geolocation Solutions
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To find out more please contact us. Or simply apply online. |
