In a Nutshell
pros
- Tools to prevent and appeal chargebacks
- Integrated fraud prevention at checkout
- Caters to high-risk industries
cons
- Rates aren’t advertised
- Generally unsuitable for brick-and-mortar retailers
Ideal For
- Online merchants
- High-risk businesses
- Merchants with high number of mobile transactions
What’s on Offer
- Credit card processing for online merchants in a wide variety of industries, including Ecommerce retailers, digital and electronics retailers, ticketing and event networks, insurance companies, affiliate networks, and B2B companies.
- Credit card processing for high-risk merchants considered at greater risk of chargebacks, including online gaming, e-cigarette retailers, licensed firearms sellers, and licensed pharmaceutical retailers.
- “Pinpoint Alerts,” a program that intercepts and notifies merchants when a customer files a dispute. With these alerts, merchants find out about disputes before they become (expensive) chargebacks, giving them time to decide whether to stop fulfillment, issue a refund, or challenge the chargeback as potential fraud.
- “Pinpoint Chargeback Management,” which gives the merchant advice on how to deal with each chargeback. Every time a chargeback is recorded, Pinpoint reviews it and determines the appropriate response to the credit card company. It then generates a response and submits it on the client’s behalf. The result of the appeal is sent to the merchant and, when the result is positive, the money is returned to the merchant’s business account. According to Pinpoint, the win-loss ratio is 50%-90%, depending on the merchant’s line of business and various other factors.
- Fraud prevention technology, in conjunction with software partner Kount. This technology automatically identifies suspicious transactions, giving the merchant the option of accepting or declining the transaction before the purchase is completed.
Application Process
Because Pinpoint works with online merchants and high-risk merchants that typically encounter a high number of chargebacks, its application process is more stringent than many of its competitors.
To apply, merchants must provide:
- Application form, including contact details, personal and business address, Social Security number, and tax ID or employer identification number.
- Personal guarantee (for privately-held corporations).
- Articles of incorporation.
- State or federal business license.
- Financial statements for previous 2 years, if business has been operating that long.
- Personal financial statements, such as tax returns for last 2 years.
- Personal and business credit history.
- Proof of compliance with the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards.
What’s Unique About Pinpoint Intelligence
Without a doubt, the most unique thing about Pinpoint Intelligence is its commitment to helping its merchants prevent, appeal, and mitigate the effects of fraud, scams, and chargebacks. Pinpoint was established in 2013 with the specific goal of helping merchants fight chargebacks, and it lives up to this mission with the Alerts, Chargeback Management, and Kount products (described in the “What’s on Offer” section above).
Most merchant services companies do nothing to help customers with chargebacks. Go to any merchant services provider’s website and click on pricing, and you’ll see that chargebacks typically cost the merchant in the range of $20-50—and that’s the only mention you’ll see of chargebacks from most providers.
Pinpoint is one of the first merchant services providers to understand how much pain chargebacks can cause its customers and to offer tools to fight it. It doesn’t promise to prevent 100% of chargebacks, but it does offer various ways for merchants to identify and prevent potential chargebacks—and to appeal and recoup the losses the majority of times they do get hit with penalties.
Customer Support
Pinpoint enjoys an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and was ranked 760th in the Inc. 5000 list of America’s most entrepreneurial companies in 2024. It offers customer support via a toll-free phone number during regular business hours or via email.
Pricing (Software and Hardware)
Unfortunately, Pinpoint doesn’t detail any fees on its site, presumably because it works with many high-risk merchants and can therefore only offer custom quotes depending on each merchant’s industry, risk level, and requirements.
While Pinpoint couldn’t provide us with general pricing information, we did find out the following:
- Flat-fee or percentage options
- Options for terminal, POS, web-based, and mobile options
- Processes all card types, including mobile wallets and EMV chip cards.
Bottom Line
Pinpoint Intelligence addresses an urgent need in the market by providing merchants with solutions that intercept, prevent, and fight chargebacks. For many online merchants, fraud and chargebacks can cripple the bottom line. Pinpoint enables those merchants to accept credit card payments just like any normal business, while giving them the tools to ensure they can fight off chargeback penalties and stay profitable.
About Pinpoint Intelligence
Benjamin Grossman and Nicholas Ruggieri founded Pinpoint Intelligence in 2013 with a mission of providing merchants with credit card processing capabilities while protecting them from credit card fraud and scams. Both founders previously held executive positions at other companies, where they experienced first-hand the frustration of losing money due to fraud, chargebacks, and the threat of losing their merchant accounts. Pinpoint is a member of the Electronic Retailing Association and the Electronic Transactions Association. It recently joined the Smoke Free Alternative Trade Association, which promotes reasonable regulation of vapor products.
Physical Address
Pinpoint Intelligence
161-14 Union Turnpike
Fresh Meadows, NY 11366
