“I can say without any hesitation that everything at Epoch is fine. Any rumor serves some ulterior motive.” So noted Paycom Communications Director Rand Pate Thursday, hours after news broke that Chris Mallick, the payment processing company’s chief executive, had departed abruptly. “Really guys, this is a management decision. It happens every day in business.”
The departure of Paycom Chairman and CEO Mallick, announced late Wednesday, immediately set the Adult Internet community abuzz with rumors and innuendo. Though both parties remain tight-lipped about the circumstances of the split, both have taken to online industry forums to tell at least part of their story.
On Thursday morning, Mallick posted a somewhat cryptic statement that seemed to contradict parts of the Paycom announcement published hours earlier. “To clear the air…,” the posting began, “I did not quit my job as CEO of Paycom. It is true, however, that I am no longer the CEO of Paycom and I have not been the CEO since Feb. 11. I continue to own my shares in Paycom….”
Mallick’s post went on to state that his employment at Paycom ended at 5 p.m. Pacific time on Feb. 11, five days before the announcement, as did his access to Paycom email and cellular voicemail and text messages for the number he used while employed by the company.
Mallick, who had worked for the nine-year-old payment processor for five years, praised “most” of his associates at Paycom and assured readers that he is “not leaving the credit card issuing or processing industry in any way, shape, or form,” but he declined to say more about his departure from Paycom because such action was “not proper.” However, he promised the adult industry would hear from him soon regarding details of the separation and his plans for the future: “I hope that when those plans are announced you will be happy and excited for me and about the prospects they will bring.”
Most posts to the thread by others voiced their support for Mallick and wished him well, some going so far as to credit him with Paycom arm Epoch Transaction Services’ status as one of two remaining primary payment processing agencies operating in the adult Internet space. In recent years, several large processing companies in the space have dissolved, leaving debts unpaid and Webmasters wondering about the continued viability of their business models.
A little more than an hour after Mallick’s post, Pate started another thread to answer some of the questions raised by visitors to Mallick’s and to quell some concern that seemed to be rising that the split was less-than-amicable and that Paycom might be headed for trouble. “This industry is on pins and needles all the damn time,” Pate’s post stated. “Granted, in many ways I can understand why. But Epoch's recent management changes do not signal the end of anything. Officially, all that has happened, and I do mean all that has happened, is that Chris Mallick has departed as CEO of Paycom. The two guys who've been at Epoch from day one, [founders] Clay Andrews and Joel Hall, are still here doing what they've always done. They are looking out for their business and their clients with a long-term objective on all matters. As many of you know, Epoch has always taken on the role of fighting for the longevity of this industry. Those same guiding principals are still in place.”
Pate’s post continued:
“For the record,
“1. Epoch has not incurred any fines.
“2. Epoch's merchant banking relationships are excellent.
“3. Epoch's day-to-day operations remain unchanged.
“4. Epoch's plans to expand services in the EU remain unchanged.
“5. Epoch has not increased scrubbing.
“6. Epoch's portfolio is strong and within all card association rules.
“7. Epoch is fully committed to long-term objectives.”
On Thursday afternoon, Pate reiterated by phone that day-to-day operations at Paycom would undergo no externally visible changes. In fact, he noted, if the company had not issued a statement, no one outside Paycom would have realized changes had been made.
Going forward, “Paycom will be managed by its founders – Clay Andrews, the president, and Joel Hall, the manager and chief technology officer – along with Esther Martinez, who has been promoted to chief operating officer,” according to the company’s published statement. The statement also included assurances that business will continue as usual at Epoch, and that the adult Webmaster community can expect to see new features, increased technical staff and expansion into the European Union by Epoch/Paycom in 2005.
According to promotional literature, Paycom/Epoch process about 2 million transactions monthly.
