payzaofficial
Member
Payza would like to set the record straight regarding issues in the US and false claims regarding funds allegedly frozen by the DHS.
At this time we do not know of any involvement by DHS (Department of Homeland Security). This reference originated from Obopay just before the American Thanksgiving holidays and was later withdrawn. Unfortunately, this carefully placed message on their website appears to have been done to inflict the most damage possible and has subsequently changed multiple times.
What we were able to confirm as of yesterday is that the US Government has in fact seized the bank accounts of Obopay Inc / Ultralight FS just a few weeks ago and there is an ongoing investigation. Our US client funds were part of those accounts.
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In early 2012, MH Pillars Inc (dba Payza) and Obopay Inc (dba Obopay) entered into an Agency Agreement to provide the required licensing which allowed Payza to operate and provide services to its members in the United States. Payza’s payment platform operates in different parts of the world through the use of various licensed entities and partners to ensure compliance and meet regulatory requirements.
In July 2012, Obopay was put up for sale and was subsequently on the verge of bankruptcy by end of 2012.
In January 2013, Payza invested into Obopay to keep it in operation and to ensure it continued to provide the necessary licenses for our US operations.
Payza worked with Obopay’s partners to bring Obopay’s agency agreement into compliance. We also worked with them to set up their FBO accounts (‘For Benefit Of’, also known as a “Trust Account”) for client funds to make sure the full transactional flow was compliant as per US regulations.
Once the FBO accounts were fully established and ready for use, Payza transferred the client funds of Payza’s US members, as per the daily balance reports, to Obopay’s FBO account.
Earlier this year, Obopay issued a termination letter to Payza with an immediate suspension of the Agency Agreement. The termination came without warning, just cause, or concern for you, Payza’s US members.
Payza has since made numerous attempts to settle the issue and ensure that Payza members were not impacted by this termination or our commercial investment dispute. We worked through multiple settlement agreements to return the funds directly to the customers or via another licensed solution we provided. Negotiations carried on for over 5 months and agreements were systematically rejected at the last minute by Obopay. Then, only a few weeks ago, those funds were apparently seized.
Their team also claimed at one point that a specific state regulator had prohibited Obopay from returning client funds. MH Pillars’ legal team reached out and found this out to be untrue.
Unfortunately, our client funds are not the only funds that Obopay held and which are now under seizure. We can only speculate as to why Obopay’s accounts were seized. We will continue to work with the regulators and hope to find an amicable solution for our US members as soon as possible.
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
At this time we do not know of any involvement by DHS (Department of Homeland Security). This reference originated from Obopay just before the American Thanksgiving holidays and was later withdrawn. Unfortunately, this carefully placed message on their website appears to have been done to inflict the most damage possible and has subsequently changed multiple times.
What we were able to confirm as of yesterday is that the US Government has in fact seized the bank accounts of Obopay Inc / Ultralight FS just a few weeks ago and there is an ongoing investigation. Our US client funds were part of those accounts.
---------
In early 2012, MH Pillars Inc (dba Payza) and Obopay Inc (dba Obopay) entered into an Agency Agreement to provide the required licensing which allowed Payza to operate and provide services to its members in the United States. Payza’s payment platform operates in different parts of the world through the use of various licensed entities and partners to ensure compliance and meet regulatory requirements.
In July 2012, Obopay was put up for sale and was subsequently on the verge of bankruptcy by end of 2012.
In January 2013, Payza invested into Obopay to keep it in operation and to ensure it continued to provide the necessary licenses for our US operations.
Payza worked with Obopay’s partners to bring Obopay’s agency agreement into compliance. We also worked with them to set up their FBO accounts (‘For Benefit Of’, also known as a “Trust Account”) for client funds to make sure the full transactional flow was compliant as per US regulations.
Once the FBO accounts were fully established and ready for use, Payza transferred the client funds of Payza’s US members, as per the daily balance reports, to Obopay’s FBO account.
Earlier this year, Obopay issued a termination letter to Payza with an immediate suspension of the Agency Agreement. The termination came without warning, just cause, or concern for you, Payza’s US members.
Payza has since made numerous attempts to settle the issue and ensure that Payza members were not impacted by this termination or our commercial investment dispute. We worked through multiple settlement agreements to return the funds directly to the customers or via another licensed solution we provided. Negotiations carried on for over 5 months and agreements were systematically rejected at the last minute by Obopay. Then, only a few weeks ago, those funds were apparently seized.
Their team also claimed at one point that a specific state regulator had prohibited Obopay from returning client funds. MH Pillars’ legal team reached out and found this out to be untrue.
Unfortunately, our client funds are not the only funds that Obopay held and which are now under seizure. We can only speculate as to why Obopay’s accounts were seized. We will continue to work with the regulators and hope to find an amicable solution for our US members as soon as possible.
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.