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THE GREEN SHEET ONLINE EDITION


OCTOBER 10, 2022 • ISSUE 22:10:01


SAGE ADVICE BEFORE THE YEAR-END HOLIDAY CRUSH 2022 - PART 1

Consumers' changing purchasing habits due to the pandemic, along with continued
advances in technology, have escalated merchant adoption of digital tools, as
well as introduction of innovative offerings from new and established companies
in the payments sphere.

To learn how industry leaders are evolving in this dynamic environment as the
year-end holiday season draws near, we asked members of The Green Sheet Advisory
Board the following questions:

 1. Have you established or are you considering new partnerships at this time?
    Why or why not? If you have pursued new relationships, what unique benefits
    do you have to offer? And what have you sought to gain from others?
 2. What are the best tried-and-true solutions and new products and services you
    are providing merchants for the coming holiday season? What offerings have
    been most in demand among your customers?
 3. What advice do you have for ISOs, other services and equipment providers, or
    merchants for last-minute tweaks they can make before the holiday season
    begins?

This article contains the first portion of their responses; the remaining
answers will be featured in our Oct. 24, 2022, issue. We wholeheartedly thank
the executives who took time out from their busy schedules to share their
knowledge here.

MARK DUNN, FIELD GUIDE ENTERPRISES LLC



 1. I see ISOs very interested in new relationships in several areas: Cash
    discount continues to grow with merchants in the Midwest where it has not
    penetrated as much as in the East and West. Many ISOs are exploring BNPL,
    CBD and cryptocurrency.
 2. Not related to the holidays: ISV and developer relationships, B2B and B2G,
    bank channel.
 3. Eliminate all friction in any part of the sales process. Don't be caught
    lagging in omnichannel selling. Educate yourself about the integration
    process, and identify cost savings you can realize by choosing a different
    processor.

MAURICE GREIFER, CPP, MAVERICK PAYMENTS



 1. We are always seeking new partnerships that we feel will be mutually
    beneficial for all parties, whether it is with new sales agents or ISVs
    looking to incorporate a payments component within their software. These
    strategic partnerships are what fuel our growth, and we love getting
    creative to establish unique partnerships.
    
    We offer a ton of great benefits to our partners such as white-labeling our
    proprietary dashboard and payment gateway, zero buy-rate programs, free
    terminal placement programs, high-risk acceptance with multiple sponsoring
    banks, ACH processing, seamless onboarding, and our white-glove support.
    
    
    
    
 2. The holiday season is always a great time for merchants and processors with
    larger volumes processed. However, the downside is the chargebacks that
    follow after the holidays. For ecommerce, where we really excel, the
    inquiries heading into the holiday season are usually surrounding fraud
    prevention and chargeback management.
    
    One of the best solutions for merchants is simply offering better customer
    service. Merchants should make it very easy for their customers to get in
    contact with them whether it is through email, phone or even live chat on
    their website. Many merchants can prevent unnecessary chargebacks during the
    holiday season just by upping their customer service efforts.
    
    Furthermore, I don't think that the typical AVS settings in the payment
    gateway are enough to prevent fraud anymore. With how sophisticated
    fraudsters are, merchants really need more advanced fraud screening and,
    ideally, a service that also offers chargeback protection or guarantees.
    
    One product that I really like and always recommend is called NoFraud. For
    high-volume merchants, we are seeing lots of success with adding Visa RDR to
    lower chargeback ratios. Our Maverick dashboard has Visa RDR reporting built
    in, making it very easy to manage this to track performance. RDR has been
    the most popular chargeback related product for us of late, so I anticipate
    more and more merchants will be adding this heading into the holidays. Aside
    from chargeback management, tools that can help merchants increase
    conversions and AOVs are also a topic of many conversations heading into the
    holiday season. Merchants want to capture as many sales as possible and,
    especially if they are spending a lot of money on ads these next few months,
    they want to maximize their ROI.
    
    
    
    
 3. For ISOs and sales agents, I think it is incredibly important to stay
    current with all the latest and greatest industry trends and software. Our
    industry is constantly changing, so I would analyze your portfolio to see
    where value can be added for merchants and, in turn, you can increase
    revenue with your existing merchant base by proposing new products and
    services.
    
    It never hurts to just ask either, so touch base with merchants to see how
    they are preparing for the holiday season, and find out if they have any
    questions before they get too busy. You never know. You may get some good
    ideas to share with other merchants.
    
    Merchants should always be proactive rather than reactive. Now is the time
    to analyze your payments setup to see where things can be optimized, whether
    it is to increase conversions, increase AOVs, or better protect against
    fraud. Ironing out the kinks and having enough time to test new software or
    processes before the busy holiday season will set you up for greater
    success. Nothing is worse than trying to make big changes during Black
    Friday weekend.

ALLEN KOPELMAN, NATIONWIDE PAYMENTS SYSTEMS INC.



 1. I think the payfac model is going to grow, and it is going to grow over the
    next few years. If Congress takes action against interchange, it is going to
    cause companies to do a major overhaul. Software companies more and more are
    making deals with ISOs, banks, etc., to offer payment processing directly,
    and that is going to continue.
    
    
    
    
 2. Right now, merchants are trying to hang on and survive under tough
    conditions in the economy. We also have a Congress that does not understand
    how business works, and the rules and taxes they are imposing are making it
    more difficult to do business. I think that many businesses are leaning
    towards surcharge, dual pricing and cash discount models for pricing. Also,
    many merchants are looking for ways to use technology to help with labor
    problems. I expect that in the next year many businesses will want to put in
    kiosks to offer self-service in one form or another. The fast-food industry
    has changed to kiosks, ordering through an app, curbside pick-up and more.
    
    
    
    
 3. ISOs, agents, etc., might want to start contacting your local person in the
    House of Representatives and in the Senate to stop some of these bills that
    are floating around. One is trying to add a 3.8 percent tax to small
    business owners. Another is Durbin 2.0. These are both dangerous bills to
    the people in this business and to our customers.
    
    Another thing that is going on is the rise of alternative payments besides
    credit cards being used at many businesses. This trend is going to continue
    and get bigger and more popular, and if Durbin 2.0 passes, those companies
    are going to swoop in and take more and more market share away from merchant
    services.

DUSTIN MAGAZINER, PAYBRIGHT



 1. PayBright is always looking for new partners, as the company is built on
    great partnerships with agents. We are a relationship business. We help our
    sales partners build their relationships, which will flow to PayBright:
    their success is our main focus.
    
    
    
    
 2. One simple answer: gift cards. Gift cards dominate. There are several types,
    including physical gift cards, e-gift cards and online gift cards. If you're
    a business owner and not offering gift cards, it's costing you money. Gift
    cards deliver a spike in sales, with a dramatic rise between November and
    December. Customers also tend to spend more when they are given gift cards
    as gifts. 
    
    
    
    
 3. Think ahead, plan ahead. It's important for businesses to plan for the
    holidays earlier than they think necessary so as to avoid surprises. For one
    thing, if an ISO offers gift cards, make sure that they explain to their
    merchant customers that they need to be designed and shipped weeks before
    Black Friday.
    
    Also, merchants need to plan for any staffing issues way ahead of time. Some
    staffing issues might be unavoidable, but in order to have a strong selling
    season, contingency staff must be recruited and trained sooner rather than
    later.



JUSTIN MILMEISTER, CPP, ELITE MERCHANT SOLUTIONS



 1. Starting from day one of being in business, Elite Merchant Solutions has
    always looked for new strategic partnerships, and that has not stopped over
    two decades later. Our staff is constantly attending tradeshows and combing
    through trade publications to find new partnerships that will keep us on the
    cutting edge of technology and provide our customers with unique products
    and services.
    
    We are always looking for partnerships that have better functionality than
    what we offer today for our core products. Additionally, our company seeks
    partnerships that offer unique capabilities that will benefit our sales
    force, which in turn will benefit our mutual clients. Partnerships we have
    recently added give merchants bundled services that are designed to increase
    their sales through marketing, competition analysis and branding, to name a
    few.
    
    
    
    
 2. The best solutions we have found over the many years in business certainly
    would not be considered anything cutting edge; however, it has worked like a
    charm in preparation for the holiday season. We sort our client list with
    several factors to determine the most impacted merchants during the holiday
    season; then we assign a number from 1 to 5 to each merchant, with 5 being
    highly impacted during the holiday season.
    
    Our staff communicates with all merchants with a 3, 4 or 5 assigned to them
    and offers various assistance in preparation for their busy season. The most
    utilized offer we provide is extra point of sale terminals or wireless
    devices to allow these busy merchants to get customers checked out as
    quickly as possible, thus increasing sales and decreasing frustrated
    customers.
    
    
    
    
 3. Preparation and anticipation are the key to running a successful business no
    matter what type of business you run. The payment processing space obviously
    plays a vital role in holiday season shopping.
    
    The last thing busy merchants want to do is be on the phone with their
    processor because of equipment malfunctions, funds being diverted and long
    hold times for anything. At the very least ISOs should maintain some excess
    inventory so they can immediately rectify any equipment malfunctions or
    supply shortages, and get them to the merchant as quickly as possible.
    
    Sales reps that are new to the industry should be alerted and prepared to be
    on call during the holiday season after hours because stress is high, and
    when things go wrong merchants want and need answers quickly without having
    to dial up a 24-hour helpdesk. Merchants should have their sales rep's
    contact information and feel comfortable to call them, so they can rectify
    and expedite any situation that may arise during the busy holiday season.
    
    Merchants—especially newer ones that have never experienced a holiday
    season, especially post COVID—need to really anticipate heavy crowds and
    have the staff and inventory to fulfill the orders and make the customer
    experience a positive one. The holiday season can represent a very high
    percentage of annual sales for some merchants, so this opportunity needs to
    be seized.



Everyone knows there are supply shortages, so this needs to be anticipated when
at all possible, so you don't miss out on sales due to lack of inventory. I
recommend ordering more than you normally would and farther in advance, so you
are ready to cash in during the holiday season.

The Green Sheet Inc. is now a proud affiliate of Bankcard Life, a premier
community that provides industry-leading training and resources for payment
professionals. Click here for more information.

Notice to readers: These are archived articles. Contact names or information may
be out of date. We regret any inconvenience.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LEAD STORY

Sage advice before the year-end holiday crush 2022 - Part 1

NEWS

Industry Update
News Briefs

VIEWS

Addressing the cannabis conundrum
Patti Murphy
Today's ATMs are becoming more relevant for FIs
Wayne Malone , FCTI

EDUCATION

Street SmartsSM:
Contract negotiations - Part 3 Top 7 items to check in your agent agreement
Natasa Cvijanovic , Tesla Payments
Who moved the residual cheese?
Allen Kopelman , Nationwide Payment Systems

COMPANY PROFILE

Tillful

NEW PRODUCTS

Easier, faster, more accessible cross-border payment
xpate e-wallet , xpate
Transform AP, AR with automated real-time payments
Instant Payments APIs , Photon Commerce

INSPIRATION

The budget-friendly, eco-friendly office

DEPARTMENTS

Letter from the editor
Readers Speak: Authenticating who you are, the way to secure transactions
Resource Guide
Datebook

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North American Bancard | Impact PaySystem

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