mediahack agency targets iban discrimination

​​E-⁠Residency Marketplace member and business service provider Silva Hunt launches Mediahack agency to tackle IBAN discrimination

This article was contributed by Silva Hunt, a trusted member of the e-⁠Residency Marketplace. They provide services to Estonian e-⁠Residency holders, including online company setup, holding companies, business licensing, tax and legal consultation, power of attorney, and office rental. The residency status and location of business owners and entrepreneurs with e-⁠Residency means they face many challenges, including IBAN discrimination and billing limitations. This makes managing their social media and search ad accounts difficult… or even impossible. A new service agency launched by Silva Hunt called Mediahack can help.

In our digital, globalized world, physical borders are fast becoming irrelevant.

Estonian e-⁠residents manage their Estonian-registered companies from anywhere. This means that many e-⁠residents have business bank accounts in countries outside of Estonia, which in some cases can create billing and payment issues for social media advertising.

These marketing channels are an integral part of most digital marketing strategies.

We launched Mediahack to address these challenges head-on. This new agency helps business owners bypass restrictions and banking issues and enables them to scale their activities on Facebook and other social and digital platforms like Google.

Understanding IBAN discrimination

One of our primary goals with the launch of Mediahack is to combat IBAN discrimination. An IBAN is the international bank account number used inside the SEPA zone.

IBAN discrimination occurs when a company’s IBAN is not accepted because the company’s bank is located in a country that is not the country in which the company’s legal entity is officially registered.

Many Estonian e-⁠residents with a locally registered company don’t have an Estonian bank account, so their IBAN differs from the company’s registered location. Some banks, companies, or clients refuse to accept a mismatched IBAN for euro payments, direct debits, and ad billing.

Although IBAN discrimination is unlawful within SEPA (Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 260/2012), it still happens in practice.

According to a survey carried out by e-Residency, one-third of e-resident business owners holding a non-Estonian IBAN are concerned about IBAN discrimination. A group of fintech firms—including Wise, Monese, and Revolut (as well as e-Residency)—recently launched a website called Accept my IBAN that allows people to report discriminatory companies.

Mediahack: a service-based solution

Here at Silva Hunt, we’re addressing this issue through the launch of Mediahack. This new agency creates reliable, whitelisted social media and ad accounts for clients, acting as their financial representative.

Whether on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or other social media platforms, we create and manage (either actively or passively, depending on the client’s preferences) social media ad accounts for our clients and take care of billing.

Some of the key benefits of this service for e-⁠resident businesses include:

No more blocked social media ad accounts

Social media and Google are essential to the marketing strategies of most digital and e-commerce companies, so a suspension or account limitations can seriously affect business growth.

Facebook, Google, and other digital platforms reserve the right to suspend or ban accounts without notice. They also restrict paid advertising activities. This could happen if an advertisement doesn’t comply with their rules or has received complaints. It could also occur if the advertiser’s billing information is disputed.

It’s often difficult and time-consuming to convince these platforms to reconsider their decision, especially since you can’t speak directly with a Facebook representative. Instead, business owners and marketers must submit an online request or live chat with a support technician. It can take weeks to recover a suspended account.

The Mediahack team can quickly resolve issues like account suspensions because we have direct contact with platform representatives. We communicate with them on your behalf, giving you back valuable time to focus on your business.

Addressing billing issues

When an e-⁠resident business owner hires Mediahack to act as their intermediary, the agency—not the client—is billed by Google, Facebook, or whichever platform the client wishes to use.

Mediahack holds the correct IBAN, so it doesn’t face discrimination. Banks and companies will proceed with payments, making transactions a breeze.

Overcoming limitations—like spending limits on ad accounts

Many of Mediahack’s clients are fast-growing dropshippers with high marketing needs and budgets.

By collaborating with Mediahack, these companies can bypass many of Facebook’s advertising limitations—for example, daily spending limits. Initially, these limits are set at small amounts until Facebook can verify an account’s eligibility, legitimacy, and ability to pay.

Business owners and marketers using Mediahack to manage their ad accounts get approved faster.

Who needs Mediahack’s services?

Whatever a business's size and sector, the importance of an effective, reliable social media and search ad strategy can’t be ignored.

Digital nomads and e-⁠Residency business owners quickly find that delegating at least a portion of their ad campaign activity to Mediahack keeps revenue flowing.

We manage your accounts, resolve billing issues, and overcome account limitations. In particular, dropshippers and e-commerce companies who use third-party suppliers to store and ship products to their customers benefit from our services.