Press Release Source: ICM Telecommunications, Inc.
ICM Telecommunications Partners with payQuake
Tuesday July 22, 6:30 am ET
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2003--ICM Telecommunications, Inc. (Other OTC:ICMH - News), which offers prepaid pin-based products through its Point of Sales Activation (POSA) terminals, today announced that the company has signed a premier partnership agreement with payQuake(TM), a rapidly growing payment solutions provider.
payQuake this year introduced a "dynamic merchant pricing" (DMP) model. The DMP model gives merchants the ability to control the costs of their merchant account "upfront as well as each and every month." Merchants always have the ability to do what's best for their business by choosing an account from one of the three individual merchant accounts offered by payQuake. payQuake merchant accounts range from no-set-up or monthly fees to rates as low as 1.59%. A secure payment gateway account is also included when one signs up for a payQuake account.
It permits millions of users of PayPal (NASDAQ: eBay - News) to have a real traditional merchant account with all the same protection as a larger scale merchant account. As the business grows the merchant can migrate his or her account to more traditional pricing. payQuake has eliminated the approval hurdles, monthly minimums and given the power back to the merchant. Tony Perre, CEO of payQuake, said, "Our model is built on the empowerment of the merchant, and we can see that ICM Telecommunications and its unique platform does just that -- giving the power of choice to the merchant, who in turn can give that same power to its consumers."
"The merchant world is in for some radical changes," Perre noted, "and payQuake and ICM Telecommunications are both helping to enable merchants to benefit from those changes."
Perre, who is Chairman of the Emerging Payment Markets of the Electronic Transaction Association (ETA), added, "I am pleased to see companies like ICM Telecommunications carving out new markets."
The company's proprietary EPIS hardware and software package enables the retailer to process a suite of services, all on the same terminal. Current products available for purchase include prepaid cellular telephone recharge, telephone calling cards, home dial tone, roadside assistance and discounted prescription drug cards. The EPIS system also offers merchant services such as MasterCard transactions.
payQuake's product line offers three merchant accounts, each with various options. The first is a Pay For Play approach, where a newer or smaller merchant user may set up an account with no set up fee, no monthly minimums, no service charge, and only a small processing fee. Under the Pay For Play model, almost all users are approved, and the cost savings is substantial compared with merchant offerings offered by traditional processors. The second plan extends to the larger merchant with payQuake Pro, offering a $99 set up charge, and no monthly minimum.
These plans offer discount rates as low as 1.59%. When a traditional processor sets up new accounts they have nothing to offer the Pay For Play merchant, and a service similar to the payQuake Pro plan is likely to cost more than $1,000 to set up, and $60 a month in fees before any transactions are done. The cost savings and the choices are second to none. These fees also include a secure payment gateway, and the average cost savings are $150 to $1,000 a year for an average sized merchant.
Doug Hamby, President & CEO of ICM Telecommunications stated, "As partners, we will get a percentage of the sales our merchants make under the payQuake account. More importantly, we are opening ourselves up to future opportunities that will involve EPIS and payQuake.
"Our whole business model is focused on giving the merchant and the consumer choices of how they want to spend/accept monetary devices," Hamby continued, "and payQuake furthers those choices."
Hamby also noted "unlike PayPal, payQuake offers both swiped and e-commerce solutions, so the fit is natural with our EPIS approach. Tony Perre is an industry pioneer, working with such companies as First Data, CardService International, CyberCash and several other leading edge payment companies, and we are going to look to further the strategic partnership between payQuake and ICM Telecommunications in the near future."
Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, may be considered "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and the current economic environment. We caution the reader that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Unknown risk, uncertainties as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors could cause actual results to materially differ from the results, performance, or expectations expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
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Contact:
ICM Telecommunications, Inc.
Doug Hamby, 503-534-3663
or
payQuake
Tony Perre, 480-813-8687
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Source: ICM Telecommunications, Inc.
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