Comments on: MisShaping the merchant account industry…

By: Koby

Koby — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:55:08 +0000

I am a merchant that was just uneducated about all this stuff and began getting many calls(15+)since I signed my business up for a sales tax permit. I just happen to meet a nice gentlemen in this industry by accident who which was not pushy and directed me to a website that seems to be an industry website http://www.fazzu.com where i could watch a video on PCI compliance. Does not mention any processor in general but did show me that price may be the littlest concern I have about processing a credit card for my salon. Anyway I decided to go with John because he cared more about what was going to keep my business safe. He also made many comments mirror those above that you need to be comfortable with who your dealing with. To date I have had 0 problems and am able to view my transactions, and all my costs daily associated with the transaction. All I wanted was honesty and transparency. If anyone is interested his number is 817-368-1510. He seems to have a wealth of information on PCI.

By: Andrew Herndon

Andrew Herndon — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:14:27 +0000

I believe the main concern of business owners should not only be of increasing their bottom line profits, but most importantly to increase their awareness of what it truly means to be PCI Compliant. Not protecting your consumer and your business will victimize you in this world of Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud. It’s not a matter of “IF”, it is a matter of “WHEN”; and the consequences are astronomical. For example: your business, customer loyalty, CC/DC Privileges, as well as your integrity would be at stake (to name a few) for complacency of said issue.

By: Daniel Levin

Daniel Levin — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:55:11 +0000

This may be off topic, but does anyone know how much money the merchant account industry as a whole make per year?

Thanks

Daniel

By: stephen

stephen — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:31:52 +0000

My x-wife is excited about becoming a sales agent for an ISO/MSP. She doesnt know how hard it will be to get sales. Unfortunately it looks like merchants are pitched all the time by sales guys and gals who claim that they can do better by mostly ethical folks, unfortunately the few unscrupulous ones seem to get the press. Without being too negative would one reccomend me to advise her to stay away from this industry?

By: jestep

jestep — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:07:30 +0000

John,

The reason that I don’t have any specific information on MSP’s is mainly in effort to keep this blog/topic objective. Since I am associated with a few specific ISO’s, there is no way that I can possibly be completely objective when talking specifically about MSP’s. Whether positive or negative, my personal ties would create complications, and I think that visitors would question the validity of the information here, if I went down that path.

So in lieu of being specific, my mission is to educate and let people make their own decisions, but hopefully with enough knowledge.

If you can think of a way for an objective discussion about specific MSP’s to happen here, it is something I would definitely be willing to look at.

By: John Messmer

John Messmer — Wed, 16 May 2007 14:36:04 +0000

I appreciate all the good info here and on the merchant services account blog this site links to. However, where is the info on the actual specific Merchant Services Providers (MSP)? I am totally stuck as to how to find a good MSP. You can’t google for it because there’s too much crap to sift thru to know what’s what.

Can you provide detailed analysis on the actual merchant service providers like there is on the gateway providers and shopping cart solutions?

Many thanks in advance!

John Messmer

By: salesstrategy

salesstrategy — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 05:11:46 +0000

Commenting to this “Effects on the provider-customer relationship”
I think the payment processor need â€œstandardizationâ€ endorsed with trusted seal from Online Banking Governess to build trust and bring consistency.

By: Jason Bordeaux

Jason Bordeaux — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 19:25:48 +0000

Fantastic! You nailed it right on the head – especially the “on the bright side” portion!

I work in merchant processing sales and I am going to direct every merchant who is disillusioned by the industry to this post.

By: John Conde

John Conde — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 22:11:56 +0000

Your last two sentences sum up the cure to this industry’s ills. Educated merchants not only do themselves a great service by finding the merchant account provider who will give them a good deal with an honest plan, but it will force the dishonest providers to either clean up their act or get out of the business.

The biggest problem is that there is so little unbiased information out there that it is difficult for merchants to educate themselves. Even an inquisitive merchant will have difficulty finding good information as a quick search will turn up “informative” sites that stand only to advertise the merchant account provider that posted the content. How many sites exist that actually contain unbiased and useful information for merchants? You can count them on one hand and probably have fingers to spare.