An Aspire Processing charge on your credit card is a billing descriptor tied to Digital Altitude, a business coaching operation the Federal Trade Commission shut down in 2018 for allegedly running a deceptive scheme that took more than $14 million from consumers. 1FTC complaint, January 29, 2018 Aspire Processing LLC was one of several shell entities the operation used to open merchant accounts and run credit and debit card payments. If you see this descriptor on a recent statement, the charge is almost certainly unauthorized, because the underlying business no longer exists. If you see it on an old statement from 2016 through 2018, it likely reflects a payment you made to Digital Altitude, also marketed under the name “Aspire.”
Where the Charge Comes From
Digital Altitude sold itself as a digital marketing education program that would teach buyers how to build profitable online businesses, promising participants they could earn “six figures in 90 days or less.” It advertised through websites, Facebook, and Instagram, and told consumers that experienced coaches would personally guide them through launching an internet business.
The program used a five-tier membership structure with sharply escalating prices:
- Base: $597
- Rise: approximately $2,000
- Ascend, Peak, and Apex: climbing to $26,997 for Apex, later raised to $29,997
Members also paid recurring monthly fees between $37 and $127. The FTC alleged that the “coaches” were actually salespeople whose job was pushing customers into higher tiers, warning them they would “miss out” on commissions from sales of tiers they hadn’t personally purchased. Most participants earned less than $100 per month, and some lost more than $50,000.
Why the Charge May Appear Under a Name You Don’t Recognize
The FTC alleged that when banks shut down Digital Altitude’s original merchant accounts because of consumer complaints, the operators simply opened new ones under different corporate names to keep processing payments. Aspire Processing LLC was one of those entities. Others included Disc Enterprises Inc., RISE Systems & Enterprise LLC (organized separately in Utah and Nevada), The Upside LLC, and Digital Altitude Limited, a UK company.
That is why a charge from this operation could show up on a statement under a name a consumer never recognized signing up with. The default judgment later entered against the corporate defendants explicitly prohibited “credit card laundering,” which the court defined to include processing transactions through merchant accounts that did not belong to the actual seller, using shell companies to obtain new accounts, and splitting transactions across multiple accounts to evade fraud monitoring.
Is a New Aspire Processing Charge Legitimate?
No. The FTC filed its case on January 29, 2018, and a federal judge froze the defendants’ assets and appointed a receiver within days. On March 6, 2019, the court entered a $54 million default judgment against the corporate defendants and permanently banned them from creating or selling business coaching programs, engaging in credit card laundering, and making false earnings claims. The founder and other individual defendants agreed to their own permanent bans and surrendered assets.
Because the business was shut down and its operators banned from the industry, a fresh charge under Aspire Processing, Digital Altitude, or one of the related entity names on a current statement should be treated as unauthorized.
How To Dispute the Charge
Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your liability for unauthorized credit card charges is capped at $50, and you have the right to dispute a billing error in writing.
To dispute the charge:
- Send a written notice to your credit card issuer at the address designated for billing inquiries, not the payment address.
- Send it within 60 days of the statement date on which the charge appeared.
- Include your name, account number, the amount and date of the disputed charge, and a short explanation of why you are disputing it.
- Send the letter by certified mail so you have proof of receipt.
The issuer must acknowledge your dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days. You can withhold payment on the disputed amount during the investigation without being reported delinquent on that portion of the bill.
Call your card issuer as well to flag the charge quickly, but understand that the written notice is what triggers your formal rights under the statute. If the card was used without your permission at all, ask the issuer to close the account and reissue a new card number.
If the Issuer Denies Your Dispute
If your card issuer rules against you, you can escalate. File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and report the charge to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Both agencies use these reports to track patterns of unauthorized billing.
If You Paid Digital Altitude and Never Got a Refund
In February 2021, the FTC distributed nearly $4.7 million in refunds to 10,249 people who lost money in the Digital Altitude scheme, with an average payment of about $456. Payments went out by check and through PayPal. JND Legal Administration handled the distribution.
The refund pool was a fraction of the $54 million judgment because the defendants’ recoverable assets were far less than the harm the court found. If you lost more than $600 to Digital Altitude or Aspire and never received a refund payment, the FTC directed affected consumers to contact JND Legal Administration at 1-833-961-3292.
An old charge you now recognize as a Digital Altitude payment is not something you can dispute with your card issuer years after the fact; the 60-day window under the Fair Credit Billing Act closed long ago. The refund program was the mechanism for recovering those losses, and any remaining questions about eligibility go through JND, not your bank.
What To Watch For on Future Statements
Because the operation used multiple entity names to process payments, keep an eye out for descriptors that include any of the following: Aspire Processing, Digital Altitude, Disc Enterprises, RISE Systems, The Upside, Soar International, or Aspire Ventures. A charge under any of these names on a current statement is a red flag worth disputing promptly, and worth reporting to the FTC so the agency can track whether anyone is attempting to run the same billing under the old names.