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The disconnect from B2C to

B2B for merchant sellers

I think it is, and here is why. Success in the B2C sphere has for years been large-
ly driven by three factors. First, cost savings, when the ISO works with a mer-
chant to reduce costs based upon identifying where the merchant might have
been paying more than the ISO would charge them. You know it better as the
race to zero. It is a dangerous game, as next month or at some point in the fu-
ture another ISO will more than likely play it with the same merchant account.

Second, customer service. ISOs endeavor to live up to such promises as, "We
do it better; we answer the phone when you call; heck, we even drop off paper
when you need it." Third, and a little more recently, technology. ISOs offer a
front-end submission system or pathway to a gateway to make it easy for mer-
chants to do business with them. The B2C segment has been awash in demand
and opportunity, but it is no longer as great as it once was.
By Roger McNamara The B2C alternative
Guide2Interchange
So, what is the alternative and why are ISOs reluctant to jump into B2B? The
y conversation with rep- alternative to B2C is, of course, B2B. There is a $10 trillion opportunity in the
resentatives of an ISO market today, with only 8 percent of B2B payments on card.
that had prospered by
M serving business-to-con- For the most part, you can’t see this opportunity from the street. You can’t
sumer (B2C) enterprises was going usually walk into a B2B enterprise and engage with decision makers. Therefore,
as many had gone before. Despite
their success, they had seen declines
because of COVID-19. It was eating
into their income as B2C businesses, USAEPAY.COM
location after location, closed or were REIMAGINE THE ART OF 866-570-2051
submitting less card volume—the
lifeblood of the ISO's residuals. TRANSACTION

So I asked, What is your plan?” I was RETAIL E-COMMERCE M MOBILEOBILE
stunned when they said they were
going to redouble their efforts in B2C
and target lawn care and plumbers in
B2B.

I did my best to explain that lawn
care and plumbers were not B2B ver-
ticals but home services, which were
still B2C merchants. A better example
of selling in the B2B market would be
converting business invoices to plas-
tic for transactions that have buyers
and suppliers.
ISOs are fiercely independent by na-
ture. Many have been in the business
for years, perfecting and refining
their businesses for enormous gains,
building large books of business in a
very giving B2C segment. But is this
independence keeping this very same
group from moving on to the next
frontier, B2B?

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