ISOs

In India, tens of millions of merchants still operate largely in cash with a mostly unbanked rural population. Technology could solve their problems, but the bigger differentiator may be in how payment services are sold.

Payments processor Shift4 Payments has acquired CurvePay, an independent sales organization focused on the taxi industry, the latest in a string of recent acquisitions.

When asked to discuss the corporate gender gap, Linda Perry paused, just long enough to be noticeable in 30-minute phone conversation. She took that moment to ponder how pervasive predatory behavior remains inside the workplace — and how to address it as both an issue of culture and as a business challenge.

Even the efficiencies of an upgrade may not be enough for the human touch that some higher-risk accounts require, leaving a "painful" process for merchants and acquirers.

Giving merchants direct access to third-party software isn’t new—First Data’s Clover unit introduced the concept three years ago—but Vantiv is giving its approach a custom-development spin with an app marketplace.

As ISOs evaluate payment partners, it’s important that to dig into their existing tools and also gain an understanding of what the company’s continued investment is going to be for the future, writes O.B. Rawls IV, CEO and president of iPayment.

Using good, old-fashioned customer service and consultation to cut down on merchant attrition has been part of the acquiring playbook for years. But that playbook is long overdue for an update.

Same-day Automated Clearing House transactions exist, in part, as a first step in the faster payments initiatives taking place in the U.S. But are they lucrative enough for acquirers to add to their portfolio?

Increasingly, the acquiring and ISO business has taken the view that advances in technology that originally looked like threats instead made it easier to sell more products and support more payment types. But this opportunity won't last forever.

Seeing a need for virtual and legacy payments worlds to better connect, Push Payments and partner linked2pay developed a real-time payments system that can function as that connective tissue.

Collaboration has now become a constant theme in the payments industry, where longtime enemies are putting aside their differences to survive in the fast-paced digital world.

It's a big challenge to educate small merchants on the importance of data security, but many acquirers and ISOs are jumping at the opportunity to fill the role of educator.

The U.S. merchant acquirer-processor arena is so mature that the only dramatic gains typically come from consolidation, leading to even more formidable combinations that make the next phase of growth even tougher. But there are also opportunities for companies that know how to specialize.

As digital and mobile capabilities have taken hold on payments and data security, acquirers and independent sales organizations have needed to quickly ramp up their tech knowledge.

It's difficult for acquirers to have the proper payments technology available when merchant interest peaks. This is even more difficult as efforts such as Smart Cities and Internet of Things initiatives overwhelm retailers with options.

As trends in payments technology take hold or taper off, it's safe to say that one is firmly entrenched: The shift to mobile and integrated point of sale devices.

One in four acquirers say that how they approached Payment Card Industry security standard compliance caused them to lose merchant accounts.

ISOs and agents have a firm hold on selling payment terminals, but that's not where the real action is. Today, merchant acquiring is about tying payments to things such as advertising, marketing and loyalty programs.

Independent sales organizations and independent software vendors are equally threatened by disruption, making an alliance a logical — if uneasy — step for both groups.

Acquirers and independent sales organizations have long heard a similar refrain: Adjust to the fast pace of technology or perish.