The ClearPay Answer to Payment Processing

If you attended last month's Global Interactive Gaming Summit & Expo in Toronto, you might have noticed heavy traffic at the booths of companies offering alternative payment solutions. This is because establishing a reliable form of payment processing is perhaps the industry's most pressing issue, and operators plagued with credit card-related headaches are in search of the answer. Among the exhibitors who claimed to hold that key was Houston-based ClearPay, Inc., a one-and-a-half-year-old firm that delivers a variety of wares.

With a product lineup consisting of checking, ATM, debit and credit card transaction solutions--all available in a secure online environment--ClearPay has placed an emphasis on diversity. Executive Robert Madden summed it up: "We want to offer every type of Internet payment solution that's available."

The list of products includes: ClearChex, a solution that enables businesses to authorize, process and manage electronic check transactions in an online environment; PhonChex, a similar product used by sportsbook operators to accept checks over the telephone; AutoChex, which enables operators to disburse customers' winnings or refunds through a funds transfer or automatic checking account debit and credit program (this way, players get an overnight payment without the operator having to go through an overnight snail-mail delivery service); and Clear ATM, which the company refers to as "the first ATM to offer debit transactions on the Internet."

The company boasts that the products are superior when it comes to price and availability. It says that the Clear ATM service offers rates that are competitive with credit card payment and processing rates.

In terms of availability, customers from 40 countries can pay using the electronic check service in their currency of choice. Further, the various payment options are available to 150 million Americans with checking accounts, of which 75 million do not have any credit cards.

Madden points out that ease of use--for both the operator and the customer--is as well a huge plus for the line of products. He explained, "Sites just install 12 lines of code to use on their websites." This simple process establishes the URL redirect that takes players from the gaming site to ClearPay's site.

When it comes time for customers to pay for their gambling activities, they click on the appropriate payment option, which takes them to ClearPay's site to fill out the payment information. Once the payment is approved or declined, ClearPay sends a notification to the operator. The operator then acknowledges receiving the information, and the account is credited the appropriate amount of money.

So far, ClearPay has signed on around 100 casino, lottery and sportsbook sites as customers.

The firm charges clients a flat fee per transaction instead of a percentage-based fee--something that operators, says Madden, tend to like.

"We wanted to get away from a percentage fee. We don't feel that it's fair that somebody puts up say $5,000 and there's a 4 percent fee and then charge too much money," Madden added. "We're just handling transactions for them."

A final piece of the puzzle for ClearPay came in June when the company formed a joint venture with eSuccess to form ClearTech Inc., a new company based in Canada. The partnership links up eSuccess' Citadel risk management software, hardware and business resources with ClearPay's product lineup to create a secure payment processing gateway service specifically intended for online gambling services.

More information on ClearPay is available at www.clearchex.com.