It’s all about the People (in Payments)
I’ve been in the merchant acquiring and payment industry for over 10 years now, having started MerchatPlus as a simple way to process online payments back in 2003.  In some ways, the industry is completely different then it was a decade ago – no longer is it strange for a business to only process credit cards online (believe me, it used to be!), online applications are the norm versus triplicate copies of yellow, white and blue carbon applications and there are a plethora of payment gateway and processing solutions (last I did a survey, I stopped counting at over 175 distinct payment gateways!).
However, what I’m continually surprised in is how much the payment space remains the same.  Rates, fees and terms are still rather confusing, in fact statements from most processors still do their best to hide the actual statement details!  And as the world has become smaller with eCommerce, the challenges for merchants in accepting payments from all potential customers (currency, payment scheme, fraud and risk management, etc),  have become greater not less.  In fact, one of the fastest growing services at MerchantPlus has nothing to do with payments – it has to do with people!
What MerchantPlus has always done well is removing the muck of signing up for payments to make it quick and painless.  But our real special sauce is that we use all that extra time (saved up through great software and nifty tools) to actually talk with our customers.  Even though we’re huge fans of online efficiency — even as a small team, we make it a priority to engage with our customers through live chat, phone / email support or in-person meetings at our offices in lower Manhattan.  We feel it is our duty to lend our time and expertise to help merchants navigate the world of payments and be successful in their online payment strategies.
Reach out to one of our payment experts today with a question, a problem or a curiosity about how things work in the payment space — and I’m sure you’ll be impressed with our version of people-powered payments.
Other Posts by Zachary Smith:
- Global Payment Requirements for International Merchants
- New NaviGate Modules for Magento, CS Cart and More
- How to Keep Costs Low For Your Mail Order Business: Part 1
- Names and Nomenclatures in the Payment Ecosystem
- The Difference in Merchant Account Rates  Why Not all Credit Card Processing Accounts Are the Same