ISOs are benefiting from the recent formation of TSYS Merchant Solutions, which was created when Total System Services Inc., or TSYS, bought First National Merchant Solutions from First National Bank of Omaha, the top executive of the combined company said in a June 17 phone interview.
Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS bought 51% of the company in April last year and the other 49% in January.
The merger brought TSYS into the acquiring business and gave the 300,000 former First National Merchant Solutions locations access to TSYS products, Diana Mehochko, president of the Omaha, Neb.-based hybrid company, said in the interview. Those products include mobile-payment applications, prepaid cards and card-not-present functions that all work at higher level than previously available through First National Merchant Solutions, Mehochko said.
Serving ISOs remains a high priority for TSYS Merchant Solutions, she said. Merchants signed up by ISOs account for about half of the value of the company’s transactions, while the inside sales force brings in the other half, Mehochko said.
Besides offering ISOs more opportunities with TSYS products, the new version of the acquiring business can expand its operations outside the U.S. by using the international TSYS infrastructure, she said.
TSYS intends to keep expanding its presence in the acquiring business, organically and through acquisition, Mehochko said, noting TSYS in May announced its purchase of TermNet Merchant Services Inc., with the intention of rolling TermNet into TSYS Merchant Solutions.
