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One retailer recently told a merchant-services provider that his sales pitch was the eighth one laid out before him that week. With competition this plentiful, anything agents can do to distinguish their sales pitches from other's is an asset.
In this issue of ISO&Agent magazine, we examine the tools and services many ISOs use in their quests to secure merchant accounts and subsequent revenue.
Meghan Boyer, associate editor, looks at security- related services and differing approaches to charging merchants fees. Increasingly, discussions related to merchant-data security and revenue generation are becoming intertwined, she finds.
Some contend ISOs should offer data-security services to merchants at a pass-through charge, while others say charging noncompliance fees helps increase revenue and fosters improved data- security compliance.
In another article, Boyer examines the value ISOs derive from developing proprietary offerings, such as integrated point-of-sale systems and mobile-phone payment applications. Such efforts help reduce the importance of discount rates when merchants perceive the service providing value, observers say. Such perceptions could be enough to prevent merchants from switching service providers.
ISOs also find that other programs, such as loyalty and check services, can create additional revenue and counter merchant attrition. As Bryant Y. Dowden III, managing director at Trilogy Payment Solutions LP, says, "Loyalty programs are a defensive program that puts 'hooks' in a merchant."
Meanwhile, electronic-check services, which can include remote- deposit capture, check guarantee and check verification, also can extract a bit more revenue from an ISO's merchant portfolio.
Smaller merchants could boost an ISO's check-services revenue. Because so many depend on cash flow, these merchants are looking for ways to improve their ability to avoid accepting bad checks.
Rounding out this issue is guest columnist Matt Clyne, who offers his advice on preparing for 2010. "For true sales professionals, settling for less than their best does not measure the manifest of their efforts," Clyne says.
As we look ahead to 2010, ISO&Agent magazine will return in January. ISO&Agent Weekly, our newsletter that publishes each Thursday, will continue to be your acquiring-industry information source. As always, any comments and feedback are welcome.
