I saw an interesting news item recently: Tesla has surpassed Toyota to become the world’s most valuable auto maker. According to the article, the company’s market cap increased by over 375% over the last year, making Tesla a more valuable global brand than others in the top ten, including Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook.
Whether or not you’re a fan of the company, its products, or its flamboyant founder, there’s no denying that this is a significant achievement for a brand not even two decades old. As I look through the statistics for all those top-rated companies, however, I see a remarkable consistency: the majority of the world’s most valuable brands got that way by doing something that no one else was doing.
From Jeff Bezos revolutionizing eCommerce, to Sam Walton bringing big-box store value to smaller communities, founders of some of the most successful companies on the planet all started in more or less the same way: they saw a need in the marketplace and filled it. These individuals looked at the situation, noted the pain points, asked why a solution couldn’t be found…and then created one.
As an entrepreneur myself, I understand this progression. That said, I didn’t really think of myself as an innovator back when I started. I was just a merchant with an unaddressed pain point of my own: I was getting killed by chargebacks. I wasn’t trying to revolutionize anything, I just wanted a solution.
Innovation by Default
There were products available that claimed to address the types of problems I was facing. I tried all of them; some provided a modicum of relief, but they did little to help. I talked to other merchants, representatives from banks, and even agents at the card networks. The general response was “That’s it. That’s all that can be done.”
My business was on the line, so I started researching, analyzing, and learning all I could about credit card disputes. The more I dug into the entire chargeback process, the more I realized that, in some ways, the others were right: existing solutions couldn’t do any more than they were doing now. That’s because they were fighting the wrong problem.
The rise in eCommerce had caused a dramatic shift in the way customers related to merchants. However, the banks and card networks still dealt with chargebacks the same way they had for over four decades.
Based on everything I had learned, I approached the problem from a different angle, using different tactics. This led to a big drop in chargebacks filed against my company, and a significant increase in recovered revenue.
I created a solution for my company, which is really all I set out to do. It wasn’t long, however, before others noticed the results and asked for my help. I finally realized I was looking at a huge gap in the market that needed to be filled.
Chargebacks911 started as a consulting gig; something I could do as a side hustle. Demand was so high, though, that it wasn’t long before I sold-off my eCommerce business entirely to focus on helping merchants fight back against customer disputes full-time.
Chapter Two: Fi911
When I first identified the antiquated chargeback system itself as a major contributor to the rise in customer disputes, I realized that a solution that only addressed merchant issues was stop-gap, at best. There were pain points at every step of the dispute cycle.
Even as my team researched, experimented, and developed what have become the industry-leading tools for combatting chargebacks, we did so with an eye to the future. We had seen another need; our next goal was to create a solution that gave banks and other financial institutions access to the same award-winning service we provided merchants.
In response, I’m proud to announce the official launch of our new brand, Fi911.
We worked in collaboration with some of the world’s largest institutions and payments processors. This enabled our experts to create a revolutionary suite of next-gen chargeback lifecycle management technology aimed at helping acquirers reduce their chargeback costs.
By addressing the unique pain points faced by FIs, we’re giving acquirers more intelligent tools, more data connections, and more flexibility. This solution will help streamline chargeback disputes by optimizing each step in the dispute cycle and bringing more efficiency to every stakeholder in the value chain.
We understand that we can’t solve today’s problem with yesteryear’s solution. Fi911 delivers the scale and scope required to ensure sustainable growth, protect brand integrity, and safeguard the customer experience. We’ve created a solution that’s built for our current climate, but also designed for tomorrow.
Evolving Into the Future
Brands must consistently evolve to match the needs of the market if they’re to survive in today’s lightning-paced global environment. I am proud of the fact that Chargebacks911 has always been dedicated to not only fighting chargebacks today, but also spearheading the push for a dramatic, forward-thinking overhaul of the chargeback system. I’m very excited to add this new brand to our portfolio, and to continue growing into the future
We’ll continue to provide the best tools for chargeback management and risk mitigation. And my goal is to never stop evolving, maturing, and changing with the marketplace. We’re always on the lookout for the next step into the future, because that’s what leading brands do.
