Webinar details help at hand for SMBs during crisis

On Fri., April 3, 2020, more than 500 payments professionals tuned in to the Merchant Sales Stimulus webinar, hosted by CCSalesPro, to hear CARE Act insights from The Green Sheet’s senior editor Patti Murphy and Global Legal Law Firm attorneys Chris Dryden and James Huber.

“The 2 trillion stimulus package will have a significant financial impact on 1099 agents looking for financial assistance, ISOs in need of capital and of course, the small business clients we serve,” stated James Shepherd, CCSalesPro CEO. “We will dive into the key elements of this stimulus package that affect your restaurant, retail and other small business clients, so you can point them in the right direction as they begin to plan for an uncertain future.”

Patti Murphy agreed, pointing out that the federal government is taking unprecedented action to help small businesses. Observing that partnership models have largely replaced selling on price, Murphy said, “If I were selling merchant services today, I’d be mapping out a strategy to get this information as quickly and accurately as possible to my clients.”

Merchant cash flow relief

Andrew Monroe, Ingenico ePayments’ general manager for the North America region, is advising merchants to take the following actions to address four leading cash flow challenges:

• Refund management: Maintain good merchant-consumer relationships and make refunds within 30 days of purchase. 

• Chargeback mitigation: Take prompt actions to optimize product listings; process refunds promptly. Declining sales could mean rising chargeback ratios.

• Reduce processing costs: Consider how to shorten the settlement cycle while reducing the cost of payment processing. Avoid bankruptcy due to a drop in cash flow.

• Protect funds transfers: Guarantee funds transfer services to lower FX risk during FX market volatility. Fluctuating currencies severely impact the value of overseas receipts; it is a difficult time for merchants and stakeholders to set the right prices for cross-border commerce.

ISO, MLS cash flow relief

Denise Shomo, president at Cutter LLC, noted that partial portfolio sales could help MLSs and ISOs improve cash flow without sacrificing their entire book of business. “Everyone in the payments industry is expecting residuals to decline for most business types that have been deemed non-essential and are temporarily closed,” Shomo said. “Despite lower multiples and unique terms during these difficult times, it’s good to know that this is an option.”

Shomo further noted that residuals can be a valuable asset and most agreements allow for an option to sell to their ISO or a third-party service provider like Cutter. She cited the following advantages of selling part, but not all, of a book of business:

• Decide how much to sell: Participants can sell a small portion of their residual streams for flexible terms and without minimums.

• Flexible residual payouts: When the impact to residuals evens out or starts to go back to normal volumes, the excess residual amount of the unsold portion will be paid to the agent/ISO.

• Business continuity: Selling a portion of the residual creates an immediate cash infusion without depleting all cash flow, so MLSs and ISOs can continue operations.

• Relationship continuity: Agents and ISO’s can remain in contact with merchants and still get the financial advantage of selling part of a book of business.

When transitioning part of a portfolio, Shomo advises against telling clients their merchant accounts have been sold. Instead, say you have grown your business to include the third-party service provider as a source to provide them with quick and immediate access to VIP support.

Garima Shah, president of Biller Genie, stated that many payments industry leaders who are helping small and midsize merchants are small business owners themselves. “As a small business in the South Florida community, we want to do everything we can to support our neighbors and offer them an opportunity to earn additional income while letting business owners know of the tools and resources available to them,” she said.

Shah noted that Biller Genie just launched a BG Boost referral program designed to help individuals earn supplemental income while directing businesses to a solution that can improve their cash flow. Through the initiative, anyone can refer business prospects and earn $200 for every business that adopts Biller Genie’s software, she added.

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