Merchant services backed by transparency, trust

Merchant Advisory Services, co-founded in 2016 as an LLC by two independent sales executives, became a solo enterprise when JP Biamby took over the business after his partner unexpectedly resigned. After becoming incorporated in 2021, Merchant Advisory Services went on to sponsor MPC: The Digital Commerce Event for three consecutive years and joined the Clover Connect ISV partner program to develop web and mobile payments applications.

Biamby, who leads the company alongside an advisory board, continues to close deals and build relationships with ISOs and sales channel partners. In addition, he mentioned that the company will be filling executive leadership roles in the near term as it continues to expand while remaining true to its core principles of authenticity, honesty and accountability.

"Authenticity means having the courage to be yourself and walk your talk," Biamby said. "We believe that being authentic at all times is essential for a productive environment. We also value honesty because that makes it easy for us to be transparent with our clients. And finally, we hold ourselves accountable for providing expert support and measurable results."

How we show up

As anyone who has run an ISO would agree, it takes knowledge and stamina to attract and retain merchants, channel partners, investors and top-notch executive talent. Biamby credits his success in this business to Dimitri Akhrin and Ben Abel, his mentors at Bank Associates Merchant Services, whose advice and leadership inspired him to pay it forward by creating an ISO that puts employees, merchants and partners first.

Biamby cited several factors that differentiate Merchant Advisory Services from other third-party service providers:

• Unconventional marketing: First, the company advertises mostly by word of mouth and referrals, traditional direct marketing, email marketing and social media marketing.
• Lean, virtual company: Second, the digital-first company keeps overhead low by not having physical locations or a large internal staff, which means it can afford to offer very competitive pricing to merchants and merchant level salespeople (MLSs).
• Privately-held enterprise: Third, what makes the company stand out is that it isn't beholden to shareholders and is free to focus on client and team member satisfaction.
• Client-centric focus: Finally, Merchant Advisory Services provides seamless checkouts to merchants and their customers, in-person, online or via mobile app, without off-brand URLs.

Redefining commerce enablement

Biamby additionally noted that the company specializes in interchange-plus merchant accounts, payment gateways, building on-brand ecommerce websites, and developing and publishing mobile apps in Google Play and Apple App stores. This helps startups create enterprise-level ecommerce sites to enhance their web presence, he added. "Because Merchant Advisory Services is software and hardware agnostic, we are not loyal to any proprietary service providers," he said, adding that the company plays well with all partners to help serve ISOs, MLSs and their merchants.

Looking ahead at the company's near future, Biamby said he expects to launch a new web and mobile app in the near term while continuing to scale the company's channel partner program by actively recruiting agents and sales offices.

As the company continues to grow, it will remain focused on providing fair and equitable splits and creating an exciting, disruptive fintech brand that payments professionals and fintechs would be proud to call their own.

Also in the works, he noted, Merchant Advisory Services will be inviting successful sales executives to join its Masters Training Program, which is designed to help provide customers with merchant services from expert advisers. Through it all, the company will continue to partner with local independent sales offices and sales executives that want to offer payment solutions to small business owners in their area.

"We value our clients over profits," Biamby said. "Just ask them; they will tell you."

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