We can get your account approved.   Have you been denied service because your business is considered high risk?   However, you are trying to do the right thing and help others and grow your business at the same time, right?   Let Payline Data handle all of your payment processing needs for E Cigarettes (ecig) and Vaporizers (smokeless inhalers).  Payline provides merchant accounts for all online E Cig distributors at the lowest rates.   With the e-commerce industry booming, sales for E-cigarettes have been rapidly growing as well.

Payline Data provides the necessary tools and instructions to start distributing electronic cigarettes over the web.  We want to help you grow your e-cigarette business by making it simple and getting you the best rates.   You want to help people stop smoking and we are here to help!

However, if you would like to sell E Cigarettes online, it is crucial that you get a gateway and possibly even a shopping cart.   Doing so allows you to accept credit card payments from your customers, which will in turn grow your business substantially.  Payline is your one stop shop for full stack services!

Payline offers ecommerce processing with the lowest costs, not just a low bate and switch rate.  Payline also offers a complete ecommerce processing solution with no upfront application costs.  This will allow you to accept credit card transactions safely and securely online.  So now you can sell your ECig and Vaporizers online with no hassle!

Like what you hear? Get started with an e-cig merchant account today! Click the “Sign Up Now” button below or call us for more information. Let us help you grow your business.

Like e-cigs (electronic cigarettes), smokeless inhalers and vaporizers are becoming extremely popular for certain benefits over smoking.  As an alternative to burning and smoking tobacco or herbs, a vaporizer significantly reduces the toxins and carcinogens.   But as a business owner in this niche, you’re already aware of the growing trend.

Some vape retailers that we’ve worked with offer the full gamut of vaporizer products (portable, digital, or volcano vaporizers and accessories like e-juice vapors and herbal grinders).   Others tend to specialize on specific products. Regardless of your business model, we’ll develop a solution specific to your needs.

From face-to-face swiped transactions, to smart phone card processing, to e-commerce payment processing on the web, a merchant account through Payline Data will simplify payment processing for your vaporizer retailer business without the costs of most high risk providers.

Allow Payline Data to serve you and save you money on credit card processing fees for your business.

MasterCard said earlier this year that it plans a new fee for digital wallet operators starting in June.

PayPal is not an official payment network in its own right. Instead, when people use PayPal to pay for something, the purchases are funded from their bank account or their credit and debit cards. Because of this, PayPal already pays huge amounts of fees to Visa, MasterCard and American Express whenever a PayPal purchase is funded with a credit card bearing those logos.

Shares of eBay Inc, owner of PayPal, the largest digital wallet operator, have been hit hard on concerns other payment networks may roll out similar fees, cutting into PayPal’s profitability.

“I think it is totally appropriate to do that,” Scharf said during the Barclays Emerging Payments Forum on Wednesday, when asked if Visa was planning a digital wallet fee.

Digital wallets are electronic versions of real wallets that store card and bank information and can be used to buy things online quickly and anonymously. These digital wallets are increasingly moving into the physical world, through consumers’ use of smartphones while shopping in retail stores.

PayPal is moving from its online roots into the physical retailer world, where the vast majority of payments still take place. It is a big opportunity for the business, and that has driven eBay shares higher in the past year.

However, as a payment option in lots of physical stores, PayPal will be a bigger threat to networks like MasterCard, Visa and American Express, analysts say.

“Some of the people we compete with started out as one thing and they morph into another thing, and doing things online is very different than doing things at point of sale,” Scharf said on Wednesday.

“We are always thinking about those relationships and they have changed,” he added. “And if they changed enough that we think it warrants us to change something with us, we will do that.”

A Visa spokesman declined to comment on Wednesday.

The MasterCard fee will be charged on “staged” digital wallets, such as PayPal, Google’s Wallet, Square, iZettle in Europe and Intuit Inc’s GoPayment, according to analysts.

Staged digital wallets typically share less information with card issuers and the networks, creating customer service problems and making it more difficult to deal with card rewards programs, analysts say.

“Allowing data to be passed through to our issuers and then not allowing data to be passed through to our issuers makes us re-think about our pricing and our rules,” Scharf said on Wednesday.

Gil Luria, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said it is “inevitable” that Visa will follow MasterCard’s move and introduce a digital wallet fee of its own.

“This is a fully functioning duopoly. When one does something, the other one follows suit,” Luria explained. “It was MasterCard’s turn to exercise its market power. If they are allowed to do it then Visa will follow.”

Source: Reuters

The State of Illinois (Illinois Department of Financial & Professional Regulation) just issued a cease-and-desist order against Square Inc. after its own investigation found that the company did not have a state money-transmitter license.   Square Inc is a provider of Mobile Payment solutions in the United States that has been growing wildly in the micro-merchant market.

Under Illinois’ Transmitters of Money Act, Square must be licensed by the department to engage in the transmitting of money in the state, and a department investigation found it had never granted Square such a license.     Under the cease-and desist order, Square is liable to the department for $1,000 per transaction it has supported in Illinois, plus another $1,000 for each day the company is in violation of the act. Moreover, the act requires Square to pay the department an amount equal to four times the amount of money transmitted while in violation of the act, the order states. The order required full payment by Feb. 5 this year. It’s uncertain whether Square complied.

According to Tech Crunch, Square said in a statement about the order: “We’ve been in close contact with the Illinois Division of Financial Institutions for several months and are addressing their concerns.”

TechCrunch released this statement regarding the Square cease and desist order:

“We’re not lawyers but the scuffle appears to be over an Illinois state law, the Transmitters of Money Act. According to the Statute, No person may engage in this State in the business of selling or issuing payment instruments, transmitting money, or exchanging, for compensation, payment instruments or money of the United States government or a foreign government to or from money of another government without first obtaining a license under this Act.”

The total potential penalty Square might face is unknown, but Square says it has more than 800,000 U.S. customers.  Most use Square devices infrequently, so the implications could be relatively small, perhaps up to a few million dollars or so, for the company that essentially created the mPOS market with its smartphone dongle.   Square may not hold the funds transmitted in its transactions, but it certainly sells or issues the “payment instrument,” which the act says makes the company liable.   The courts may have to decide whether the state’s position is correct. If it is, expect other cash-hungry states to follow Illinois’ lead.

Square has noted that they are in communication with Illinois and working to resolve the issue.

We will keep you apprised with any future updates on this.

You can read the full copy of the cease-and-desist order here and the original techcrunch article here. 

Visa, MasterCard and 9 Major banks recently agreed to a $multi-billion dollar deal that allows merchants to add a surcharge to purchases when paid via Credit Card. This was due to a lawsuit claiming price fixing by the major card brands.

Under this new agreement retailers can add a surcharge of up to 4% to consumers when paying via Credit card at their respective businesses.   The surcharge does not include Debit Card or American Express purchases.

So how does this affect you?

Well as a business owner you can choose to charge your customers (For the next 8 months) to essentially cover your credit card processing fees.    However, If you’re in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Oklahoma, or Texas then this is a dead issue. It is illegal in these states to add any surcharge on a credit transaction and state laws always trump operating regulations facilitated by private entities.  If you live in one of the other 40 states, you may be able to surcharge beginning January 27th, 2013.

The concept seems appealing, however many retailers are not happy with this solution as they feel it will cause customers to shop at competing stores that do not impose this surcharge.   Because of this it is unlikely that any major retailer will add these fees, and thus not benefit from the settlement.

Many smaller merchants may choose to add these fees.  In all honestly, we have seen this at many merchants already in the past, unknowing to them that it was in breach of their Visa/MC policy, which they agreed to when they set up their merchant account.

So, what should I do?

We recommend any business considering this practice to first review Visa’s official information on surcharging for the in-depth details.   Ideally, you should be getting the best deal you can on your merchant account processing fees already.   “We strongly believe in providing our customers with the lowest pricing possible, simply to keep them for the long term.” Jeff Shea, CEO of Payline adds.  ”We believe, that while possibly not the best result, this sets the tone that businesses are not being customer friendly.  Hopefully this pressure will help to lead innovation and work to find alternate means to decreasing business costs.”

Okay, So what if I still want to apply the surcharge to my customers?

Here is a summary that will help get you started.

• Make sure you check with Visa’s and other association websites before adding a surcharge to ensure you are complying with all of the implemented rules and regulations.
• Notify Visa and your acquirer at least 30 days in advance of beginning to surcharge.
• Limit surcharging to credit cards only (no surcharging debit and prepaid cards) and limit the amount to your merchant discount rate for the applicable credit card surcharged.
• Disclose the surcharge as a merchant fee and clearly alert consumers to the practice at the point of sale – both in store and online – and on every receipt.
• Remember, you cannot surcharge a debit card no matter how it is processed.  You cannot surcharge on American Express. You cannot charge a prepaid card no matter how it is processed. You cannot under any circumstance charge more than you are paying to accept that specific card. There are specific rate limits listed on Visa’s website.

Bottom Line

Although this may seem like a beneficial and obvious solution to some merchants, we strongly urge you to take a good look before implementing a surcharge.   Shifting a cost like this is not going to fare well with many customers.  This is a decision that should not be taken lightly.  If you do decide that you want to surcharge, make sure you have a plan to test and back out if necessary.  As proven in Australia, surcharging credit transactions has the potential to drastically alter payment preferences and will often upset a customer no matter how the surcharge is presented.  In the world of social media, surcharging has the potential to generate a lot of bad publicity, very quickly, if you upset the wrong customer base.    Lastly, don’t be surprised if this change in regulation is reversed sooner or later.   Customers, not Merchants drive commerce in the US and they are likely to voice a strong opinion against this new regulation should many merchants choose to move forward with the surcharges.

Here is the quick version.

Credit card processing fees are a cost of doing business that most businesses and nonprofit organizations can’t avoid.   In today’s virtual world where credit is king (move over cash!), donors and customers often prefer paying with a credit card.   As a result, credit and debit card transactions may account for 65% to 100% of your company’s sales and be costing you thousands of dollars in processing fees each year or even each month!

If you’ve been in business a while and haven’t changed merchant accounts or asked for a rate reduction, you could be spending much more on credit card processing fees than you need to. Here’s what you need to know compare merchant account providers and reduce your fees for processing credit cards.

Credit card processing fees get levied on each credit card sale. These fees can vary by hundreds of dollars a month — or more – depending on your sales volume and the merchant account provider your company chooses to provide their credit card processing services. If your business is in good financial shape, the facts below may help you save a significant amount of money each year.

How Credit Card Processing Works, and Why Fees Vary

Merchant account providers charge you a variety of ongoing fees. In fact, if you process a lot of charges each month, your monthly merchant account statement may start to look like a small book. That’s because the credit card processing industry is complex, with several parties making money on each transaction your business processes. On a very simplified level, you pay two sets of fees:

• An Interchange fee, which is the fee the credit card companies charge for each transaction. This fee is set by the credit card networks and split between the networks and the credit card issuing banks. It consists of a percentage of the transaction plus a per-transaction fee. The exact percentage of the transaction varies according to a wide range of specific criteria such as what type of credit card it is, what is being purchased, who issued the card, and many other factors.

• An additional fee charged by your merchant service provider, which may be the merchant bank (the bank that provides the merchant account that allows you to accept credit cards) or an authorized independent sales organization (ISO) of the merchant bank (like Payline Data).  This fee is also a percentage of the transaction and may also include a per-transaction amount.

Small and midsized merchants are seldom told about the Interchange rate.  Instead, they’re presented with a single base rate called the “discount rate,” which includes both the Interchange rate and whatever additional fee the merchant services provider charges for each transaction. Because the Interchange rates aren’t disclosed, the smaller merchant generally has no idea what percent of the “discount rate” goes to the merchant service provider. And that — the fee paid to the merchant service provider — is what accounts for the bulk of the differences when different merchants are charged different rates for otherwise identical transactions.

Qualified Confusion

Adding to the difficulty in determining exactly what’s getting paid to whom on each transaction, is the qualification system that’s used to categorize transactions and determine the underlying Interchange rate on each sale.

“There are over 125 interchange categories that each have different fees based on how card processed, what kind of card is being used, the nature of the merchant’s business, and other factors,” explains Jeff Shea, CEO of Payline Data.   “What these businesses don’t realize,” Shea says, “is that many merchant service providers condense these 125-plus categories into three tiers called Qualified, Mid-Qualified and Non-qualified.  They average out the many Interchange rates in each tier, then add a margin.”

Under this kind of system, the averaged tier rate is often higher than the actual Interchange rate would be for an individual transaction. That’s something like putting a dollar bill into a vending machine to buy a 75 cent piece of candy and not getting any change.

Sometimes that margin can be quite substantial, resulting in a “discount rate” and the use of questionably ethical “Surcharges” to the merchant that’s double or more than double the Interchange rate.  ”The mid and nonqualified Interchange rates may only go up a few basis points on MasterCard, but may increase by 200 basis points on the processor side,” explains Shea. “So, the merchant might be paying up to 3.5% and 35 cents per transaction.”  Surcharges are killers because you may not realize you are paying more than what is advertised and the nonqualified rate (say 1.8%) you were quoted actually as to be added to the qualified rate (1.7%), so you actually pay a much higher combined rate (3.3%=1.5%+1.8% in this example.)   Learn more about this rate structure here. 

Size and Age Matter

The bigger the company and the higher the total dollar amount of transactions processed each month, the more room there is for negotiating fees. Businesses doing about $20,000 or more a month in transactions should be able to negotiate something known as an Interchange Plus fee. Under this system you pay the actual Interchange rate for the classification of transaction, plus a flat additional fee.

Smaller businesses, and businesses new to processing credit cards, will usually have to settle for some sort of three-tiered pricing structure (qualified, mid-qualified and non-qualified rates), but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for sky-high discount rates. Talk to several merchant services providers and negotiate the best possible rates before making your final decision.

Service is Critically Important, Too

Avoid dealing with independent sales people who know little about the credit card processing industry or your industry.  Instead, look for organizations with great reviews online that understand your business and the credit card processing industry and that has the staff available to offer support when you need it.   There are lots of websites out there now that are specifically do reviews of merchant account providers.  Make sure you read through these though as there are only a few that are truly independent.   We recommend checking out CardPaymentOptions.com.

“Ask questions — and use common sense,” says Shea. “Call the provider and ask if they have an emergency contact number and then verify it works to see if your call gets answered or if you get voice mail.  If it’s 5 pm and you have a queue of customers waiting to check out and your terminal goes down, you don’t want voice mail.  You need someone to solve the problem right away.”

Caveat: What You Sell Matters

Sometimes the combination of what you sell, where you sell it  (online, for instance) and very high sales volumes in short periods of time, can limit your options for getting and keeping a merchant account. If you sell high-ticket items over the internet, or sell products or services that the merchant account providers consider risky, your options for getting a merchant account or changing providers may be limited.  Be sure any merchant account providers you question are fully aware of  and able to handle your credit card processing needs before you make a change.

Beware of the “Lowest Rate” claims

A lot of providers will advertise the “Lowest Rates”.  Remember this is all relative and can get out of control quickly with the tiered pricing structures.   Look for a company that has a Price guarantee, not a Rate guarantee.  This means the understand the value of your bottom line to reduce your costs, not just give you the best rate but to also factor in your business type, equipment and other fees that may affect what you pay.   Remember to look for a company that CLEARLY advertises its pricing and puts all the fine print in one place for you to see.   Look to make sure they say “NO SURCHARGES”  so you aren’t combining rates.  Most providers out there (especially the ones with questionable ethics) wont even put their rates or pricing online.   This should be a BIG RED FLAG.  If they can’t put it in writing on their website for you to see, then you have to wonder when (or if) you are going to be told what you will actually have to pay.

Avoid Leases for Low-Cost Equipment and Software

The equipment or software to process credit cards for small businesses can usually be purchased for as little as $100 to $400.   But some salespeople will try to talk you into leasing the software or equipment. Don’t do it. The only one who benefits from this type of lease is the salesperson who gets a fee for selling you the lease.   A lease on a $400 piece of equipment usually carries a high cancellation fee too and can wind up adding $1,000 or more to the actual price of what you leased.    If you get a free terminal or software, make sure you understand the terms as these usually have high cancellation fees on these accounts as well.

Read the Small Print

Carefully read all applications, forms and contracts mailed. Read all of the small print.  Look for a provider that puts the fine print on their website along with some FAQs.   Find out if you’ll have to pay any penalties if you want to change processors or stop accepting credit cards.   Many merchant services providers include a penalty clause in their contracts (known as cancellation fees) that kick in if you want out in less than three years.   Be sure all fees listed in the contract are the same as what you were quoted.  If there’s ever a dispute, the issue will be decided on the basis of the printed contract, not what you say the salesman told you on the telephone.

Check to see under what conditions the company can terminate your account, and, whether there are monthly minimums or maximums.  Be on the lookout for any Hidden Fees, and understand the terms for certain incidentals, Retrieval/Chargebacks, ACH/DBA Change Fee, Voice Authorization Fee.    Look our for hidden fees such as PCI Compliance or IRS 1099-K reporting fees.   These should be at cost or in most cases provided at no cost to most small-medium sized businesses.

You should also understand what happens with the VISA, MasterCard and Discover fees.   There are a lot of these and make sure they are “passed through at their current rate” (meaning there is no additional markup or profit for the processor).  These are normal interchange fees that the card networks update and change regularly and you wan to understand how these affect your rates.   They include the following:  Visa – Misuse Fee, Zero Floor Limit; MasterCard – Additional Assessment Transactions (0.01% on transactions > $1000), Processing Integrity Fee, Interregional Account Status Inquiry, Intraregional Account Status Inquiry; Discover – International Processing Fee, International Service Fee.

Also, Effective April 1, 2012, Visa began charging a Fixed Acquirer Network Fee (FANF) which is a monthly fee that will affect all merchants to a varying degree. This will mainly affect card not present (Online/MOTO) and large merchants with multiple locations.  A lot of processors (Payline included) are joining together to fight this fee, as it seems like an unfair practice by Visa in response to the Durbin Admendment.   However, it is still present today and should be passed through if it affects your account as well.

The Bottom Line – How to avoid paying too much? 

Mostly, it is about finding a provider you can trust and doing some research to ensure they have a good reputation and have support staff to help you in case you have any issues.      Last piece of advice, find a provider that has good reviews and testimonials.  Ask them for a list or referrals and do some of your own research.  Take the time to This way you are doing more than trusting your gut, you are employing the old “Trust but Verify” adage.

Why would a publisher (search engine, website, blog) offer PPC? It is offered to entice the advertiser to advertise with them, because they are guaranteeing a result. It can also appear less difficult for a beginning advertiser because let’s say the PPC is $1; if that advertiser pays $500, they will get 500 clicks. It does, however, put the publisher at a risk because in order to produce those guaranteed clicks for the advertiser, the publisher has to run as many ad impressions on their website as it takes to fulfill the ad buy. So, if the advertiser has an ineffective ad, it could take the publisher a lot more impressions than normal to fulfill that ad buy, impressions the publisher could have used for another advertisement.   To offset that risk, advisers pay a premium built into the CPC price. Think of it this way; an interest rate on a car, house or credit card is higher on a less qualified buyer because the rate of default is higher, so the finance company is adding a premium to the interest rate. With CPM advertising, the publisher takes no risk.

Since purchasing my first banner ad 13 years ago, I have found that with a good advertising campaign, most of the time it will be more cost effective running CPM campaigns, because I am not paying the premium for the guaranteed price, if I have a good idea of the results I will get before running the full campaign.

Pre-determined results with CPM: Digital advertising works a lot like scientific polling. If you poll a thousand people, within a certain margin of error, depending upon the parameters and consistency of the survey, it is the same as polling 100,000.

So, although there are variables that change, like the amount of times a person may see the same ad, etc., if you’re running the same ads and consistently, you can have a pretty good indication of how many impressions it will likely take to produce a click. With those figures (giving a margin for error) you should be able to calculate which one will be most cost effective.

Depending on the advertising buy, I will normally do some small test campaigns using PPC in order to tweak my ads to achieve the best results I can, without having to waste my advertising budget on unknown result probability.

The secret to all digital advertising success is about doing the calculations and determining the probability of success before spending your whole budget.

So what determines qualified verses mid-qualified vs non-qualified rates? Well, most processors will point you here to Visa’s list of interchange rates. The problem is, this doesn’t actually tell you what cards are qualified or non-qualified. Neither will MasterCard or Discover. The processing company is the one that determines which card falls into each category, and sometimes it has nothing to do with the card, and more to do with how you did the transaction once the card was swiped. Here is a little summary to help you understand:

Qualified Rate:

•  All debit cards and standard issued credit cards
• standard personal credit card
• must be swiped
• transaction batched/settled within 24 hrs

Mid-Qualified Rate:

• card is manually entered or “keyed” with billing address (AVS)
• personal rewards cards

Non-Qualified Rate: 

• card is manually entered or “keyed” without billing address (AVS)
• card type is government, international or business (even if swiped)
• authorization code is manually keyed (forced Authorization)
• transactions not batched/settled within 24 hrs (even if swiped)

What’s in a rate? Three tier pricing exposed.

A typical processor will put you on a 3-tier platform. This seems simple enough. You get a quote or application and it shows a Qualified rate of (1.69%), Mid qualified rate (1.5%) and Non-qualified rate (1.9%). Now, let’s assume you are smart, so you do some research online and you google “Retail Interchange Rate” and you read that it is around 1.70% on average (according to Wikipedia). You think. “Hey, I am getting a great deal. Plus I get a shiny new gift (or some other credit cash back, etc.)” So, you sign on the dotted line. Then you get your first bill. You are super busy, so maybe you look or maybe you don’t but there is a TON of numbers on this thing and it is hard to understand. Well, you signed the contract, so you know what you are paying right? Here is what you might see on a quote or on your statement:

So they got the first part right. The qualified rate is 1.69% (0.01690). “But wait a second… where is the mid qualified rate (1.5%) and non-qualified rate (1.9%) you were promised?” Welcome to reality! What they failed to properly communicate is that “Discount Rate” on mid and non-qualified cards is actually a “Surcharge” which means you have to add those to the qualified rate. i.e. The mid qualified rate is actually 3.28% (1.69+1.5) and the non-qualified rate is 3.68% (1.69+1.9).

Some companies will even go so far as to list a whopping 2.49% for non-qualified surcharge which means you could be paying over 4% of your hard earned money to the processor. along with a per transactions fee, monthly statement fee, and batch fees you will most likely be paying more than you should and will soon realize that low 1.69% rate you thought you were getting is nowhere to be found.

Well, we might have some good news for you!  Payline is a Chicago based company looking to hire Business to Business (B2B) sales representatives.

Payline Partnerships and Careers – Why work Here?

We aren’t just building a great company.  We are revolutionizing the industry and strive to be an EXCELLENT company.   Both for our customers, our employees and our partners.

We want our customers to rant about their savings and our top notch support, not hidden fees and empty promises.   We want them to say that we’re the best service  provider they’ve ever worked with.  We want our team members to say that Payline is THE place to work. PERIOD.

To do these things, we need highly talented individuals.   And we need more if we are to accomplish what we’ve set out to do.

Payline is nearly three years old.  Our customer list is growing exponentially and to maintain our level of support, we must ensure our team is sized appropriately.  We bootstrapped the company from the start, which means we don’t have to deal with any corporate B.S.  We make decisions based on what makes logical common sense with our customers at the forefront.

From the beginning, we have been selective about our team members to ensure that the most talented individuals have a productive environment where they can work and grow in their careers.   People choose to work at Payline because of this commitment to excellence and it shows as we have an uncanny ability to get stuff done.

We live and breath what we do, so that means we don’t just preach to people, we walk the walk.  Customer service always goes above and beyond, but so does our involvement in the community as we strive to give back with not only our funds, but our valuable time and energy.  We  expect our employees to be exceptional, get their work done and maintain a proper work life balance.

If you were just part of the Groupon Layoffs or you are just looking to make a change, Payline could be a great fit.   If this sounds like a place where you’d thrive, and your co-workers will likely brag to everyone else about how talented and hardworking you are, please contact us now.

Apply Today to Join an Excellent Company

We’re thrilled to provide the same simple fair pricing and advanced technology available to our US merchants to many other countries.  Merchants of all sizes located in 27 countries can now access the same Payline Payment Gateway, recurring billing, and vault credit card storage as their US counterparts.    Every one of these merchants can accept payments in more than 130 different currencies.

Payline has always been committed to making payments easier to understand and simple for developers to integrate and manage.   We are pleased to have the opportunity to make payments easier for international merchants. Simplifying payments and providing the ability to obtain a merchant account will remove a barrier that has blocked merchants in these countries from taking their business to the next level.

Here is a list of countries Payline currently serves:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Ireland
• Italy
• United Kingdom
• United States

In memory of anyone you know that has been struck down by cancer or is still living with it, we honor them with a pink background for our website and encouragement for our merchants that we board during the month of October to support one of our organizations that help fight cancer.

This year, Payline wants to point out 5 other ways you can get involved in supporting the fight against breast cancer from our friends at the Avon Foundation for Women.

A woman is diagnosed with breast cancer every three minutes in the United States.  For this very reason, the Avon Foundation for Women – which is commemorating the 20^th anniversary of the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade this year – is encouraging everyone to get involved in the fight against breast cancer this October during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. At Avon, where every month is breast cancer action month, the AvonBreast Cancer Crusade supports research into the causes and prevention of breast cancer and funds access to quality care for all.

“Breast Cancer Awareness Month is the perfect time for all of us to strengthen our commitment to end this devastating disease and help those who are facing a diagnosis or recurrence,” said Avon Foundation for Women President Carol Kurzig. ”Whether you sign up for an Avon Walk for Breast Cancer or purchase a product from our pink ribbon collection, you are helping take strides towards ending breast cancer.“

Since its launch in 1992, Avon breast cancer programs in 58 countries have donated more than $780 million for research and care. The U.S. Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series, which has raised more than $472 million since 2003 through the dedication of nearly 180,000 participants, also commemorates a milestone with its 10^th birthday season this year. The Avon Foundation celebrates these milestones by introducing important new initiatives and projects, including the launch of the Avon Global Breast Cancer Clinical Scholars program to reduce global disparities inbreast cancer outcomes. Avon estimates that the scholars receiving this specialized training in the United States will return home and improve the prognosis for tens of thousands of women and men around the world. In early November, the Avon Foundation will foster collaboration amongbreast cancer funders by co-hosting the second “Collaborative Summit,” to identify research areas where breast cancer funders can focus their efforts.

The Avon Foundation suggests the following six ways everyone can get involved in Breast CancerAwareness Month:

FIVE WAYS TO JOIN THE AVON FOUNDATION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST BREAST CANCER

Pin It To End It The Avon Foundation for Women has created a Pinterest board to honor and remember women and men who are facing or who have battled breast cancer. Pin photos of a loved one whom breast cancer has taken from us, who is a breast cancer survivor or who is currently fighting the disease and tag the photos with #pinittoendit. For each photo posted and tagged during Breast Cancer Awareness Month the Avon Foundation will donate $5 (and for every re-pin, we’ll donate an additional $0.50) up to $100,000 to fund both the Breast Health Outreach Program to improve access to breast health care and  research investigating the role viruses may play in breast cancer. Go to www.avonfoundation.org/pinittoendit to learn more.

Pink Yourself on Facebook How do you look in pink? For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, why not try on some pink … on Facebook? The Avon Foundation for Women has developed a Facebook tool to help you promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Visitwww.avonfoundation.org/pinkyourself to “pink” your Facebook profile photo. You can tint it pink, or add a pink ribbon, an Avon Breast Cancer Crusade logo or the U.S. Avon Walk  for Breast Cancer slogan, “I’m In It To End It.”

Donate on eBay Have you always hoped to hang with Fergie or Paula Abdul on the red carpet? Been searching for a signed Derek Jeter bat to complete your baseball collection? Wondering what Hoda Kotb is like behind the scenes at the Today Show? From October 8 – 18 you can bid on these exciting experiences and items at the Avon Foundation Awards Gala Charity Auction on eBay GivingWorks – the Avon Foundation will receive 100% of proceeds. You can also support the Avon Foundation on eBay by donating to the Foundation at checkout or by visiting by visitingfacebook.com/EBayGivingWorks and clicking on the Hope Chest campaign. For each action taken, eBay Giving Works will donate $1 to the Avon Foundation, up to $5,000.

Buy Avon Pink Products The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade’s pink ribbon fundraising products donate 100% of net proceeds to the cause. The latest addition is the 20^th Anniversary Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Watch, in two different styles and colors, available on Avon.com. The affordable pink ribbon collection features everything from bracelets and ear buds to scarfs and pins. Each product comes with a free breast health resource guide.

Walk and Be “In It To End it” The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer Series celebrates its 10^thbirthday season in 2012. Join us at the two remaining Walks this year in New York (October 20-21) and Charlotte (October 27-28).  Avon Products, Inc., CEO Sheri McCoy is the Honorary Captain of Team Avon and will walk with her family in New York City.  Stay tuned for more information this month on ways to support Team Avon in New York and Charlotte. And it’s not too early to register for one of the eight Avon Walks for Breast Cancer taking place in 2013. To register, donate or learn more: avonwalk.org or 1-888-541-WALK.

Avon Breast Cancer Crusade The Avon Breast Cancer Crusade, which commemorates its 20^thanniversary in 2012, has placed Avon at the forefront of the fight against breast cancer; today, Avon is the leading corporate supporter of the cause globally. In the 20 years since the Crusade’s launch, Avon breast cancer programs in 58 countries have donated more than $780 million for research and advancing access to care, regardless of a person’s ability to pay. Avon awards funding to beneficiaries ranging from leading cancer centers to community-based grassroots breast health programs to support breast cancer research and access to care. The Crusade has enabled more than 17 million women globally to receive free mammograms and breast cancer screenings, educated more than 100 million women about breast cancer, and funded promising research into the causes of breast cancer and ways to prevent the disease. Avon raises funds for the Crusade through the sale of Avon “Pink Ribbon” products, and through events such as the U.S. Avon Walk for Breast Cancer series, which is the Foundation’s largest fund-raising source.

SOURCE Avon Foundation for Women

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2012 – /PRNewswire/ –