Hi everyone I’m Clarke Towson CEO of INTJ Billing

In this video today I would like to talk with you all about Zeller.

Zeller is an innovative and fast-growing Australian Payments company. Their main product is an EFTPOS Terminal which enables individuals and businesses to accept debit and credit card payments at point of sale. They have a number of other services as well but the main thing I was interested in was the EFTPOS Terminal.

Last week INTJ Billing opened an account with Zeller and I ordered their EFTPOS Terminal. I uploaded my identification and business details and I waited patiently for the Zeller Terminal to arrive. It arrived yesterday. I set it up on my desk with the intention of using it solely for the convenience of my Australian based clients who come to me for computing advice.

Shortly after the terminal arrived, I received an email from Zeller. Here is the email on screen now. As you can see, I have been denied services from Zeller.

In response to this I sent a number of emails back to Zeller detailing the exclusive use case of in person face to face hourly consultation paymentsthat I had in mind for using the Zeller terminal and providing the company with additional and detailed information about INTJ Billing and I asked them to please review their decision to reject my business. This afternoon I received an email back from Zeller thanking me for providing the additional information and that after careful review of the information I provided they have decided to uphold their decision to deny my company services.

As you’re all aware I run an open-source project Bitcoin is for Everyone and INTJ Billing specializes in BTCPay Server. The whole basis and premises of this project and the primary reason I started the project is to demonstrate to the world that Bitcoin is For Everyone and BTCPay Server is the solution to the censorship and exclusion problems in the payments space. Bitcoin is for everyone and that includes the people we like and the people we don’t like.

In the right corner we have Zeller. A fintech. Founded in 2020. A brand-new payments company. Worth over $1 billion. Founded by Ben Pfisterer and Dominic Yap. Specializing in the traditional payments space. Credit cards, debit cards, etc. A middle man between we the Australian people, the credit card companies like Mastercard and Visa and the banks. A holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence. A legitimate mainstream mass-market payments company.

In the left corner we have INTJ Billing. Founded in 2015. Started offering Bitcoin consulting services to the public in early 2018. Founded, fully owned, fully managed and funded by myself Clarke Towson. Specializing in Bitcoin technical advice and general computing technical advice and consulting. Runs a number of highly ranked R&D Bitcoin lightning network servers including the third most highly ranked bitcoin lightning network node in Australia. Working to help build the future of Bitcoin payments via the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

Traditional fintech with plenty of capital vs alternative fintech a scrappy self-funded startup.

Now one would think that Zeller being a startup themselves and advertising their services as innovative and designed for any business would be interested in assisting a business like INTJ Billing. But they’re not.

Let’s get into the reasons why they’re not.

Zeller did not provide me with the specific reasons why they rejected INTJ Billing and refuse to provide services to my company. But I can make a very good guess as to why and it’s not Zellers fault. In fact, I hold no personal grudge whatsoever towards Zeller and I hope you all wont either. I think they have a great product and a very useful suite of services and I think we’re seeing in real time an important Australian company that’s going from strength to strength.

I suspect that Zeller denied INTJ Billing the EFTPOS Terminal due to INTJ Billing being involved in the Bitcoin space. I further suspect that Zeller denied INTJ Billing due to the people I have been working with overseas in Thailand who as we know are involved in the nightlife entertainment industry. As you’re all aware INTJ Billing has not started formal services in Thailand and we have been holding off until such time as we’re able to register a Thai Corporation, obtain a work permit and a business class visa. This all of course takes significant time, effort and money and it’s taken me over 4 months to get a lot of paperwork in place for both this and my own personal paperwork.

So why don’t I blame Zeller for denying INTJ Billing services? Why am I not angry, irritated, frustrated and annoyed at them?

I think it’s very important to understand that Zeller has to adhere to strict KYC/AML processes in order to run a payments company. In Australia the regulator AUSTRAC is the financial watchdog and has strict rules and regulations for remittance and digital exchanges. As some of you may be aware INTJ Billing two years ago went to great lengths to obtain both a remittance and a digital exchange licence and we were denied both of those licences and in additional INTJ Billings name has been plastered on AUSTRACs website just for trying and being denied. At the time I was very annoyed with AUSTRAC but AUSTRACs decision was correct in denying INTJ Billing the licences based on the fact that INTJ Billing had not at that time developed comprehensive KYC/AML process and procedures. They had other reasons for rejecting my company as well which included the legal status of sex workers in Thailand. The primary people I set out to provide Bitcoin services to. Sex workers of course being just one of the categories of people that Bitcoin was created in order to help. That’s obvious from one of the most important properties of Bitcoin which is censorship resistance.

In the additional information I provided to Zeller I explained that I’m only interested in Zellers EFTPOS terminal and I’m only interested in using it exclusively for the convenience of my clients for in person consultations. I have no other use case for the terminal or for their payments network. I explained that each of my clients I conduct both KYC/AML checks and identity checks with Regula to make sure they are who they say they are and they’re not criminals who are interested in using INTJ Billing’s services for criminal purposes. Further more I went to great lengths to explain that INTJ Billing is a legal business operating within the law and we don’t operate outside of the law. I’m open sourcing these Zeller emails and you can find them at this link:

Document Links

INTJ Billing KYC AML Description for Payment Processing Partners.docx INTJ Billing Pty Ltd sole proposed use of the Zeller EFTPOS Terminal.docx INTJ Billing Request for Review after initial rejection email from Zeller.JPG INTJ Billing Revenue Streams for Payment Processors.docx Zeller Rejection Email 1.JPG ZellerRejection Email 2.JPG

Why am I open sourcing these Zeller emails and INTJ Billing’s responses and associated documents?

I’m doing it because I hope to see change in regulations here in Australia and my experience is a prime example of why change is needed. I’m open sourcing them because other entrepreneurs in the Bitcoin space need to know that even if you do everything by the book, adhere to the letter of the law and don’t do anything wrong you can and will be denied services by traditional payments companies like Zeller. Remember it’s not Zellers fault. They’re only doing what they need to do in order to protect themselves based on Australia’s restrictive regulatory landscape for businesses like INTJ Billing. For those of you who read these emails and associated documents I ask that you please don’t hold any grudges against Zeller. It’s not their fault.

Zeller offered me a full refund on the EFTPOS terminal INTJ Billing purchased from them. I declined the refund. Some of you may ask now Clarke why would you want an almost $300 EFTPOS terminal sitting on your desk that’s useless without an account with Zeller?

That’s an excellent question.

I’ll tell you why. I want the Zeller terminal on my desk as a reminder to both myself and an important learning lesson for my Bitcoin clients and for all of you who watch my videos here on YouTube. It’s a reminder that Australia’s regulations in regards to Bitcoin fintech’s need to change. People like me can up and leave Australia at the drop of a hat and you all know that I have done this before and that I will soon do it again. Australia loses. Thailand wins. Zeller loses as well and this is unfortunate. They had an amazing opportunity to work closely with me and I would have helped them to greatly understand things from my perspective as a bitcoin innovator and lightning network entrepreneur. I could have helped them with their risk management of businesses like INTJ Billing. This would have greatly helped other businesses in the Bitcoin space and they could have developed a comprehensive risk management framework which would have enabled them to on board a lot of businesses here in Australia that are excluded from owning and operating an EFTPOS terminal. This is very regretful.

I will make sure Zellers founders see this video. Perhaps they will reach out to me and take me up on my offer of help. They have a job opening at the moment on LinkedIn for a senior risk analyst. What an amazing opportunity for that person to consult directly with me.

Now of course if I wanted to, I’m confident I could obtain services from Zeller if I went about things in a sly, round about way. There are many ways it could be done. But I’m not interested in doing that. I have no interest in deceptive practices. You may recognise that quote “sly, round about way from the famed economist Friedrich A Hayek. His full quote was “I don’t believe we shall every have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government…all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can’t stop.” You can bet Satoshi Nakamoto the famed creator of Bitcoinknew and understood Hayek’s quote. He or they understood it alright. Perhaps too well.



Overall, there are a number of important insights and lessons from all this –



1. Zeller has to engage in KYC/AML and develop a risk profile for each individual or business they offer services to.

2. Zeller has terms and conditions that they can use to reject businesses or individuals from using their services.

3. INTJ Billing has the perception of being a high-risk business. Note the word perception. It’s important. The revenue stream that INTJ Billing had in mind to use the Zeller terminal for was merely for in person face to face hourly computing consultations. INTJ Billing even has comprehensive KYC/AML process and procedures and offered to indemnify Zeller from any risk. So even doing KYC/AML checks TWICE and without any risk on Zellers part they still said no. Really think about and reflect on that. It’s much more of an indictment on Australia’s not fit for purpose financial regulations than it is on Zeller as a business.

4. Australia’s financial regulations need to change. They need to improve. People like me and companies like Zeller have an amazing opportunity to help shape these regulations simply by our actions. In their case running a traditional payments company and, in my case, an alternative Bitcoin specific consultation company with R&D lightning platforms.

5. Bitcoin is For Everyone. This includes sex workers and anyone else we either like or we don’t like. Bitcoins property of censorship resistance is one of its most important properties. Bitcoin is inclusive. The traditional financial system is anything but. It’s what keeps so many people around the world living in bondage.

6. Being rejected from Zeller doesn’t affect INTJ Billing very much. Its impact is limited simply to infrequent face to face in person computing consultations. I still have credit and debit card processing facilities via PayPal and I have multiple other ways of accepting payments with my on premises BTCPay Servers being the most important of course which enable me to accept payments from anyone anywhere in the world both on chain and via the lightning network.

7. BTCPay has a number of important sponsors one of whom is The Human Rights Foundation. Can you all see why a self-hosted BTCPay Server instance is so very important? Why an organisation like The Human Rights Foundation sponsors them? Why open-source software is so important and why the ability for anyone anywhere can set themselves or their organisation up to accept payments in a censorship resistant manner is so important?



The Zeller Terminal will remain on my desk. It will remain silent. It will remain disconnected from the Zeller network unless they change their decision. It will serve as both my and your reminder of the importance of Bitcoin and BTCPay Server. It will serve as both my and your reminder that financial regulations need to change. Financial exclusion is not cool. Zeller is a good company but they’re prevented from being a great company by Australia’s flawed financial regulations. We live in an era of inclusivity and diversity and yet when it comes to payments so many individuals and organisations remain out in the cold. So many people can be helped with Bitcoin and BTCPay. Each of us need to keep this firmly in mind. It’s really important.

In conclusion, I think INTJ Billings experience with Zeller has shed some serious light on Australia’s flawed financial regulations, the challenges faced by businesses like INTJ Billing in the Bitcoin space and the importance of financial inclusivity and diversity. While the rejection from Zeller was disappointing, it serves as an important reminder of the work that still needs to be done to create a more inclusive financial system here in Australia.

Moving forward, I think it’s really crucial for regulators and businesses alike to work together to develop more flexible and inclusive regulations that support innovation and diversity in the financial sector. By embracing new technologies like Bitcoin and solutions like BTCPay Server, we can empower individuals and businesses to participate in the global economy in a more meaningful way. People like me who work in the Bitcoin space can easily work around financial regulations whilst still operating within the law. We can do this by advising and supporting individuals and organisations to accept Bitcoin in a censorship resistant non-custodial manner. Remember that INTJ Billing is setting up a number of Bitcoin wallets for the people we work with in Thailand in the nightlife entertainment industry. Custodial wallets (on INTJ Billing’s infrastructure) and non-custodial wallets (on the bar workers phones). Bitcoin will always find a way. These people I’m helping I hope you will see as just one example of a group of people that need censorship resistant money and you will see how they can gain access to this in spite of the financial regulations. It’s legal for INTJ Billing to provide Bitcoin related consultations and non-custodial services and that’s exactly what INTJ Billing will be concentrating on when I go back to Thailand later this year to continue my work.

I encourage you to join me in advocating for change and raising awareness about the importance of financial inclusivity and diversity. Send this video to those who need to see it. Together, we can create a future where everyone has access to the financial tools and services they need to thrive.

All the very best everyone,

I’m Clarke Towson

CEO of INTJ Billing

Clarke Towson, BCMS (Bachelor of Computer & Mathematical Science)
CEO
INTJ Billing

m: +61 432 359 166
a: 7 Cullen Court Spotswood Victoria 3015 AUSTRALIA
w: https://intjbilling.com
e: clarketowson@intjbilling.com
y: https://www.youtube.com/@intjbilling

Bitcoin Lightning Network Node Name: CHILLYCALENDAR

Node Public Key: 025124c73ef7ecf527e0114ead02a0cc6e3ecbc0c99474ee3f5506c4503b089693

Status Page: https://intjbilling.com/INTJBillingStatusPage.php

amboss.space: https://amboss.space/node/025124c73ef7ecf527e0114ead02a0cc6e3ecbc0c99474ee3f5506c4503b089693

1ml.com: https://1ml.com/node/025124c73ef7ecf527e0114ead02a0cc6e3ecbc0c99474ee3f5506c4503b089693

Lightning network+: https://lightningnetwork.plus/nodes/025124c73ef7ecf527e0114ead02a0cc6e3ecbc0c99474ee3f5506c4503b089693