Payments

Credit Card Processing: Better to Work with Resellers or Processors?

My recent series on working with credit card salespeople prompted good feedback and questions from readers. I addressed some of the questions in my August article.

For this article, I will respond to readers who asked if payment processors are more reputable than resellers and if there is an advantage to buying services directly from a processor.

The vast majority of merchants obtain their processing services from companies that resell the services of one or more payment processors. These resellers are known in the industry as an ISOs (Independent Sales Organizations) or, alternatively, MSPs (Merchant Service Providers).

There are over 1,000 resellers in the U.S. These resellers may be shopping cart companies, gateway companies, point-of-sale system distributors, banks, warehouse membership clubs, buying groups, and industry associations. In most cases, however, they are independent companies that focus on selling processing service only.

There are a handful of major payment processors. Some are publicly traded and do not allow ISOs-MSPs to resell their services. Among the best-known payment processors are, alphabetically: Chase Paymentech, Elavon, First Data, Global Payments, TSYS (Total System Services), and Vantiv. There are other processors, but these six companies are involved with either the front-end processing (authorizations) or back-end processing (funding) for, perhaps, 90 percent of U.S. merchants.

I use the term “provider” to describe both payment processors and resellers.

Payment Processors More Reputable?

Are payment processors more reputable than the resellers?

It depends. The credit card industry is similar to the auto industry. Ford and General Motors build and market their products. But if you want to buy a car or truck you have to go to a dealer, say “Honest Bill’s New and Used Car Dealership.”

Visa and MasterCard build and market their products. However, you have to go to “Honest Bill’s Credit Card Provider” for your processing services. Like the auto industry some providers are more reputable than others.

…you have to go to “Honest Bill’s Credit Card Provider” for your processing services.

Some of most concerning issues I have seen recently are from two payment processors. However, I’ve also seen concerning issues from resellers.

Also, remember that merchants must interact with salespeople — inside or outside. Among the most misleading tactics I have ever encountered in this industry are from inside salespeople in customer service and retention departments.

Remember the auto industry analogy and use my articles to weed out dubious providers and salespeople.

Use a Processor or a Reseller?

Is there an advantage to obtaining processing services directly from a payment processor versus a reseller?

That is difficult to answer. There are advantages to both. I invite processors and resellers to respond to proposals, depending on the merchant’s industry and specific needs.

The direct, per-transaction cost for payment processors is roughly 1 to 2 cents. They might sell their processing services to a reseller for, say, 3 to 4 cents. That reseller may, in turn, sell its services to another reseller for 4 to 5 cents, or it may sell to an agent for 4 to 6 cents.

The 4- or 5-cent difference between the payment processor’s cost and the sales agent’s cost is insignificant if a merchant is selling tires with an average transaction of $400. However, a 5-cent difference can be huge for a coffee-shop merchant with an average sale of $4.50.

Thus, payment processors can have an advantage if the per-transaction cost is more important to a merchant. (Processors and resellers have other costs besides direct processing. I focused on the direct cost in this example for simplicity.)

In my experience, employees at payment processors are generally more institutional and governed by policy and profit constraints. There are exceptions — I have found good, flexible people at payment processors.

However, in general I prefer working with reputable resellers when the solution requires creativity. For example, I prefer working with knowledgeable resellers when dealing with B2B merchants, or merchants with gateway and shopping-cart issues that produce high interchange rates.

In my experience, warehouse member clubs, industry associations, and banks that resell processing services (most banks are resellers) often lack knowledge of credit card processing. Therefore, I generally only invite them to participate in proposals for basic brick-and-mortar merchants that have terminals. However, I have ecommerce clients that use these organizations as well.

In my view, some of the organizations are too focused on their financial gain versus the needs of their merchant clients. In fact, some resellers have selected processing partners that I prefer my clients avoid all together.

Phil Hinke
Phil Hinke
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