Merchant

Attendance reached a record-breaking 874 at the Western States Acquirers Association 2012 Conference last week in Huntington Beach, Calif., up from the previous record of 722 set last year in Burlingame, Calif.

Capital Access Network Inc. is expanding its annual funding capacity to $1 billion.

Acquirers stared into the face of the “enemy” here Thursday, and he didn’t really seem that scary.

The days are just about gone when independent sales organizations and sales agents can sign up merchants for transaction services simply by offering a price a few basis points lower than the completion.

Don’t seek immediate gain when networking with colleagues, an executive advised here Wednesday at the Western States Acquirers 2012 Conference.

Salespeople usually can’t do anything about it when a processor or independent sales organization cancels the residuals earned from signing up merchants for transaction processing.

The telecommunications companies behind the Isis mobile wallet joint venture have had Salt Lake City in their sights as a testing ground for the past year. But recent delays in the Isis rollout have opened the door for direct competitor Google Wallet to continue to gain as much momentum as possible with its mobile pay system.

A provision within the hotly contested settlement between merchants and credit card networks could potentially slow PayPal’s bid to become more widely accepted at grocery stores, restaurants and other retailers.

New players are disrupting the established order and taking market share from independent sales organizations. This rapid pace of change in payments may drive many ISOs out of business, speakers said at an industry event.

Spire Payments will partner with technology investor Newland Computers in developing future products and rolling out a new line of point-of-sale terminals.