No single market for new business surfaced in a recent survey of independent sales organizations and merchant acquirers. The survey findings, contained in the report from Aite Group LLC “ISOs and Merchant Acquirers: Two Sides of the Same Coin,” suggest ISOs and acquirers have different views on where they might find new card-accepting merchants.
The utilities category was the top prospect in 2010 for 24% of the 17 acquirer respondents, followed by 18% that cited recurring billing. Twelve percent of acquirers said business-to-business, mobile, government and e-commerce also were possibilities. Among the 28 ISOs participating, 18% cited e-commerce as the top growth market in 2010. Tied at 14% were the mobile, health care and government categories. Eleven percent of ISOs said recurring billing would be an emerging market in 2010.
The fragmentation among ISOs and acquirers is not a bad omen, says Adil Moussa, senior analyst at the Boston-based firm. “It is rather good news that there are so many different markets on the top of the mind of acquirers,” Moussa tells PaymentsSource.com. “It means that the payments industry is making strides in penetrating different markets and that opportunities abound for everybody.” Aite conducted the survey from July through October.
