ell, sell and sell more. That was our philosophy when John Martillo and I started our business in June of 1995. Back then, selling equipment was all we knew. Credit card processing had recently transitioned from paper drafts to electronic authorizations, creating a great demand for POS equipment. With a marketplace of merchants who knew little or nothing about the terminals they suddenly needed, it became fairly easy to sell these merchants at a high price and generate significant upfront revenues.

Leasing companies allowed high ceiling prices; with "nobody watching," payments went through the roof and many good merchants were locked into monthly payments that were not necessarily in line with the benefits they were receiving. The only thing a rep needed to do was to get there first, grab the account, sign a lease and lock the merchant in for 48 months. Get the upfront commission and run, and then repeat the process.

That was the electronic processing business then. New reps began flooding the industry, attracted by the opportunity to charge any fee they could get, make a quick profit and move on. As more and more reps generated more and more offers, merchants found themselves inundated with quotes and offers.

Competition drew prices down and low pricing now became the industry's prime selling tool. Merchants thought they were getting great deals; in fact, the merchants were victims of this price war.

Only a handful of professional reps really cared about selling the right terminal and services tailored to each merchant's needs; others knew little about terminal applications, add-on services or merchant ROI.

Yes, merchants were now getting some benefit-low prices. But in fact, lack of regulation, integrity and honest education resulted in many merchants buying equipment they didn't need, or the wrong equipment, or equipment they didn't really understand or know how to use. The result: they were saddled with lower monthly leases, on terminals that just ended up collecting dust.

While leasing companies moved from restricted to liberal underwriting practices, approving leases for virtually anyone who applied, no industry leaders stepped forward to take action, to set policy, to establish regulations. While our 'reason for being' should have been the well being of our merchants, we were instead making money at the merchants' expense. And eventually, the merchants caught on.

Merchants reacting to the influx of "low price" offers became smarter and more educated and started jumping ship. Conversions and rollovers were rampant. So-called sales reps invaded the industry, bringing unprofessional service and unaccountability with them.

In order to attract and retain reps, ISOs and processors started competing intensely, with no point of difference other than incredibly low pricing and a lifetime of questionable promises. Integrity, commitment and loyalty were not considered important, and processors and ISOs did nothing to change this.

In fact, many reps jumped on the bandwagon, leaving one acquirer for another based solely on which ad in The Green Sheet promised the lowest price.

This, I believe, is what the Bankcard industry has become. We forget who our real customers are. We are unregulated and, as a consequence, somewhat out of control.

In the name of free commerce, we are forgetting that true business success comes not just from the delivery of a fair price, but also from delivering a real value at these prices.

I'd like to call on my industry partners and colleagues to change that. I'd like to ask you, for the sake of our clients, our industry and ourselves to step up and join me in creating an industry standard that calls for educated, trained professionals, fair pricing and effective, efficient service.

Anyone can deliver a transaction. But not everyone can, or will, do business with an eye toward honesty and integrity. To deliver true value, to be proud of what we do, I'm asking that we begin to regulate ourselves and raise our industry to higher standards.

Here are some of the standards that I would like to see incorporated into our expected business practices:

• Remember that your primary reason for being is to provide quality service-to your merchants, your sales agents and your associates.

• Partner only with the best of the best-employees, vendors and agents.

• Do not base your marketing and sales on price. If low pricing means low quality, that is a problem. Pricing is only as good as the products and people behind it. And we can deliver good quality at a good price.

• Along those lines, let's remember that price wars hurt everyone. Advertising based solely on price communicates the message that nothing means as much as a lower rate. That is simply not true. Service does. Value does.

• Focus on keeping your clients by delivering the honest, real value and meaningful post-sale benefits and solutions. Any good businessperson knows that keeping current customers is more cost-effective than constantly recruiting new ones. Churn and burn is hurting our industry.

• Re-invest your profits in the development of products and solutions that will best serve your clients. Make it your priority to continually review, revamp and update programs and technologies that maximize the success of your merchants and agents. Their success is your success.

• Compete against size and wealth by creating solutions, fulfilling promises and caring.

• Make a commitment to the future. Success is not always about growing, merging, consolidating and getting bigger. It is about building from a solid foundation, one client at a time, and keeping those clients with you because they respect your company and because they are succeeding with you.

• Measure yourself and your success against these standards, and make sure you continue to live up to them.

The electronic payments industry is an endless road of changes and challenges. Creativity, integrity and vision are what can set us apart and make us proud of what we do. And if my company is any kind of indication, your investment will pay off.

Background

Cynergy Data is a merchant acquirer that provides a wide array of electronic payment processing services while continually striving to develop new solutions that meet the needs of its agents and merchants. In addition to offering credit, debit, EBT and gift card processing, along with check conversion and guarantee programs, the company offers its ISOs the ability to borrow money against its residuals, to have Web sites designed and developed, to provide merchants with free terminals and to benefit from state-of-the-art marketing, technology and business support.

Founded in 1995 by Marcelo Paladini and John Martillo, Cynergy Data strives to be a new kind of ISO with a unique mission: to constantly explore, understand and develop the products its ISOs and merchants need to be successful and to back it up with honest, reliable, supportive service.

For more information on Cynergy Data contact Nancy Drexler, Marketing Director at nancyd@cynergydata.com