2023-11-25 13:58:02
Published25. November 2023, 2:58 p.m.
Neuchâtel: Blocked payment system: “The entire region is blacklisted”
A company active in payment solutions by invoice, in bulk or in installments, is temporarily refusing customers from the Neuchâtel Mountains.
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Several readers residing in Le Locle (NE) and La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE) had the unpleasant surprise of finding that they might no longer use the services of Swissbilling, a company active in payment solutions by invoice, in block or staggered. Reason given by the service provider: the customers’ domicile.
“I placed an order on Ochsner Sport. When I saw that the transaction via Swissbilling was refused, I became worried. I had already used this method of payment in the past, and I had never been refused. As I never received a call back and even less a follow-up, I called customer service to understand the problem,” explains a customer from Le Clos. “My interlocutor was uncomfortable. Finally, he admitted that this refusal was linked to my home. The entire region is blacklisted, to their great regret, he assured me.”
A Chaux-de-Fonnier, who often takes advantage of the offers offered by the qoqa.ch platform, had the same experience. Recently, his payment via Swissbilling was refused. “A technical error was mentioned. I tried once more the next day, and it still didn’t work. I ended up paying by card before the promotion ended,” he says. However, the customer had also regularly paid his invoices this way. In a laconic email Swissbilling explains: “Unfortunately, your account cannot be unblocked, because our system has detected too high a risk at the address where you live.” The client is offended by what he considers to be discrimination.
Officially, no blacklist
A study by CRIF, a company active in risk management and credit solutions, attests that Chaux-de-Fonds will have in 2023, with 11.3%, the highest rate of doubtful debtors in Switzerland. Reason enough to block the accounts of an entire region?
On the side of Cembra Bank, the group to which Swissbilling belongs, we categorically refute the systematic blacklisting of customers from the Neuchâtel Mountains. “For reasons of confidentiality and security, we cannot give details of the measures,” reacted Nicole Bänninger, the group’s press officer, before assuring: “Swissbilling does not maintain a blacklist. Access to our services is only temporarily restricted to protect our customers. These are exceptions limited in space and time.”
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#ChauxdeFonniers #Loclois #snubbed #Swissbilling
