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Merchant-level salespeople for independent sales organizations can earn less revenue when selling contracts with free-terminal programs than when selling leases for equipment, David McMackin, president of AmericaOne Merchant Services, a San Jose, Calif.-based payments processor, tells CardLine. Typically, free-terminal programs offer merchants a point-of-sale terminal in return for a processing contract, whereas agents earn monthly income by leasing equipment to merchants. "If they give it away for free, they make nothing for the equipment," says McMackin. "It may help them get a few more accounts, but they give up hundreds of dollars in revenue by giving it for free." Agents should not be leery of approaching merchants with lease offers, says McMackin. "Most of the time, businesses are used to leasing," he says, giving the example of restaurants that lease kitchen equipment.
