North American Bancard

Thursday, September 03, 2020 — 13:03:34 (EDT)

Barlow studies new SMB merchant customer application best practices

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE) Sept. 2, 2020--The Barlow Research 2020 Small Business Merchant Services Study has just been released. This research initiative focused on the small business application journey for new customers at 11 different providers. Two evaluations were conducted for each provider: the retailer who currently sells online or plans to and the restaurant owner. Evaluators were actual small business merchant services users at another provider.

The providers evaluated included Bank of America, Chase, Fiserv, Global Payments, Intuit, North American Bancard, Square, Stripe, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo and Worldpay. The new customer application journey began on each provider’s website and was tracked up to the point of application submission. Competitive intelligence captured for each provider tested included items such as the timeline of events, channels involved, information required, transparency of fees and overall ease of entire process.

For some providers, customer journeys were different between the two industry categories tested. Using efficient channels and steps created the most consistency. Square and Stripe had best practices. Intuit offered a smooth experience in the retailer evaluation. U.S. Bank fared well in the restaurant owner evaluation. Chase received an honorable mention in both categories due to a swift, comparable experience. This study not only revealed best practices among providers but also learning opportunities in order to understand which provider’s process could be enhanced for the new customer application experience.

Barlow Research’s 2020 Small Business Merchant Services Study is available for purchase. A comprehensive report and a presentation are provided. Detailed journey maps for all providers tested are included. Best practices and learning opportunities are highlighted throughout the report. For more information, contact insights@barlowresearch.com