ISO Interchange Training Not A One-Time Event, Experts Say

Teaching merchant-level sales agents about interchange takes a continuous process, not a one-shot event, experts say. "There is no fast or easy way to learn or teach interchange," Tyler Hurley, senior sales executive for Group ISO, an Irvine, Calif.-based independent sales organization, tells CardLine sister publication ISO&Agent Weekly. "When we work with our agents, it is not just an introductory, one-time training [course]. It is a consistent learning experience for our agents." When merchant-level sales agents understand the complexities of interchange, they are ready to pass that knowledge on to their merchant clients. However, many merchants do not care to learn about interchange, which is not a bad thing, experts say. "We're happy to educate them but, because of time and interest, they don't necessarily want to know," says Jim Hilber, western regional manager for International CyberTrans, an ISO based in Albuquerque, N.M. Merchants generally do not fully understand their processing and interchange rates, but if they are getting what they expect out of them, then they feel "it is a good deal," he says.