Feefighters
 | |
Type of site | payment |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Founder(s) |
|
| URL | www |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Launched | 2009 |
| Current status | Active |
FeeFighters is a payment processing platform and comparison shopping website for credit card processors. The site was launched in 2009[1] and was acquired by Groupon in 2012.[2] FeeFighters has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur (magazine), Inc. (magazine) and TechCrunch, with BusinessWeek profiling it as "One of America's Most Promising Startups."[3][4][5][6]
History
[edit]FeeFighters started out as a comparison shopping site for credit card processors and eventually launched its own payment processing platform,[7] Samurai, to facilitate payment integration for software developers, achieve PCI compliance and reduce credit card processing fees.[8]
FeeFighters raised $1.6 million in funding from investors including 500 Startups, Hyde Park Angels, OCA Ventures and Sandbox Industries.[9]
Controversy
[edit]In 2011, FeeFighters wrote a negative blog article claiming that a company bumped its rating from an "F" to an "A" by paying the Better Business Bureau.[10] The controversy was covered by The Today Show.[11] As a result, the BBB pulled the company's accreditation.[12] The BBB later admitted the pay-for-ratings incident.[13]
Acquisition
[edit]In 2012, FeeFighters was acquired by Groupon. The company became part of Groupon's Merchant Operating System strategy which was designed to provide payment processing and online scheduling.[14]
References
[edit]- ^ About
- ^ "Groupon Acquires FeeFighters, The BillShrink For Business Services". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Mandelbaum, Robb. In Battling Merchants, Banks Still Hope to Overturn Durbin Rules. "New York Times". October 18, 2011
- ^ Greenstein, Howard. Fight Credit Card Processing Fees. Inc.. May 25, 2011.
- ^ Tozzi, John. America's Most Promising Startups. BusinessWeek. Feb. 4, 2011
- ^ Parrish, Leni. Credit Card Comparison Service FeeFighters Bought By Groupon. CreditCardFlyers. March. 27, 2012
- ^ "FeeFighters Launches Payment Gateway Samurai". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Chapman, Glenn. How to Cut Transaction Costs on Customer Purchases. Entrepreneur. May 20, 2011.
- ^ "Chicago's FeeFighters raises $1.6 mil". Crain's Chicago Business. 2011-01-13. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ "The BBB is a F*&#ing Scam - FeeFighters". 2019-03-17. Archived from the original on 2019-03-17. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ "Better Business Bureau ratings draw flak - Money - TODAY.com". 2011-12-31. Archived from the original on 2011-12-31. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ Tue, Sep 20th 2011 11:45am-Mike Masnick. "Criticize The Better Business Bureau... And They'll Pull Your Accreditation". Techdirt. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ A. O. L. Staff. "Better Business Bureau Admits Mistakes Were Made on Pay-For-Ratings Issue". AOL.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
- ^ "Groupon buys FeeFighters to support merchant community". VentureBeat. 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2019-10-07.