Registry Wallet for registrars — LogicBoxes releases

Service aims to make it easier for registrars to manage prepaid balances with registries.

Logic Boxes has released a fresh service called Registry Wallet to help domain name registrars maintain adequate balances with domain name registries.

If you’re not familiar with registrar-registry relations, you might be surprised to learn that registrars have to pre-pay for registrations. A registrar will pay an advance to the registry, and each registration for the registry’s domains at the registrar will debit the balance. In the case of .com, this account is automatically debited when a domain expires since the registry auto renews for a year – and is credited if the client doesn’t end up renewing the domain.

Managing the prepaid balances was not necessarily difficult in a world of just a few registries. But with many more registries coming online, it could become cumbersome.

The idea behind Registry Wallet is for registrars to make one deposit, then the Registry Wallet service will make sure all registry accounts are topped up where they need to be.

I know that many registrars are pushing for a post-pay model for domain registrations, especially since they hold the distribution channel that many fresh registries covet. It may come down to an issue of credit worthiness.