To: greensheet@greensheet.com
I find it sad that you seem pleased one of the most successful men in this industry cancelled your newsletter. This is my first time at your site and I'm not sure if my first impression is the same as it was for the first and last tabloid I ever read. Good Luck, you might need it!
John:
Am I to guess who it is that you think is one of the most successful men in this industry, or who it is you are talking about? Should I base it on the fact that your e-mail address has "cardservice" in the name?
Thanks for the wish for luck, I enjoy all of it that I can.
Good Selling!
Paul H. Green
Editor-in-Chief
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Dear Paul,
I've been in the merchant services industry for about two years now and I was wondering if you could explain how to go about setting up referral programs with banks in the areas that we service. I have never read anything about this in your letters. If you can offer this information please do so because I have been rejected continuously while offering our program to these institutions. Who should I speak with? What information are they normally interested in seeing? Is it that a person should be registered through a certain bank, or every bank that he/she expects referrals from?
Name Withheld
Dear Name Withheld,
It appears to us that you really have two questions here. Many smaller banks are more than happy to pass leads to ISOs who are willing to sell equipment only. This means that the bank can have a small bankcard acceptance program and no help desk for equipment. It is also true that many small and even some larger banks will pass leads for other financial services, such as check verification or guarantee, Web page design and hosting, and even, in some cases, software sales.
The second part of your question, however, seems to be banks passing bankcard acceptance leads to ISOs. In this case you are correct that you will need to be registered with Visa/MC for these sales.
Good Selling!
Paul H. Green
Editor-in-Chief
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Mr. Paul Green:
I was referred to you by Universal Savings Bank. I have a client who wants to issue a private label off-line debit card to get paid for their sales to their Internet Web site customers. However, they only want the order completed on the Internet. To pay, my client wants the customer to either call an 800 number to authorize payment or have already pre-authorized payment for purchases made at the Web site.
In addition, they want the debit card to be accepted nationwide through all merchants accepting credit cards.
Can you refer me to some ACH processing companies developing the private label debit card?
Thanks for any help or referrals you can give.
Michael J. Ziglar, Sr.
Michael:
I am sorry, we do not have any information that would help you with your request. We will ask our readers and perhaps we can get you an answer.
Paul H. Green
Editor-in-Chief
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To: greensheet@greensheet.com
Can you give me some historical information concerning your publication, i.e. when started, targeted reader market, publication times, etc. Thank you!
Ann
Ann:
I began writing The Green Sheet in 1983, after resigning as President of TeleCredit Services Inc., as a way to communicate to Independent Sales Organizations (ISOs) the direction of bankcard services in the retail marketplace. At that time, I was the founder and president of the nation's first ISO selling bankcard services. That company began in 1980 and was first known as UMSA (Unlimited Marketing Services Association) and later, as services other than bankcard were added, became know as AMCOR (American Marketing Corporation.) AMCOR had several banks under exclusive regional contracts by 1983, including Citicorp bank.
Since I have been Chief Executive Officer and/or President of several companies along the way, The Green Sheet has had several missions and voices as well. As I have taken on new duties with CrossCheck, the nation's largest private Check Guarantee company; Concepts, Inc., a back-office computer resource provider; as well as Internet projects such as ChecksByNet, while I continue to publish The Green Sheet.
The Green Sheet newsletter is a 16-page publication that is produced bi-weekly. The GSQ is a payment systems quarterly, full-color magazine which addresses specialized subject matter that need more space to address than the newsletter permits. The Green Sheet also provides on-line resources and free on-line advertising, and a good deal of the newsletter text is published on-line in the Web page version. Also, for the last three years, The Green Sheet has published a study of national check use. Finally, during 1998 The Green Sheet, Inc., is providing regional seminars called "Creating Wealth as an ISO." Overall, you would have to say that this little thing I do on the side of my other businesses and responsibilities is a real labor of joy.
Last February, for the first time in long over a decade, The Green Sheet began accepting advertising. The motive was simple; the advertising money would help expand our activities and improve the quality of the information and product. We believe that it has let us do just that.
I care about ISOs and how difficult it is in the marketplace to stay abreast of the changes and find ways to stay alive and prosper. From news, ideas, sales information, and stories, The Green Sheet continues to be worthy of 30 minutes of an ISO's time every two weeks. We currently reach over 4,000 ISOs and hundreds of banks, equipment, and software providers, along with various financial services companies.
I hope that this gives you what you were looking for, and please let us know why you ask. By the way, I also write the cartoons that we have professionally drawn.
Good Selling!
Paul H. Green
Editor-in-Chief
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Dear Paul:
I wanted to write and thank you for inviting me to speak at the GS Seminar. I was truly impressed with the level of professionalism I witnessed at this event.
I think it is so important that someone is taking the time to cater to the salespeople this way. We do forget that the ISOs really are the heart and sole of this business. I truly can see the passion you have for this business and that you care what the information is being generated in the market. What an excellent opportunity this has been to bring together so much information and value to these sales offices. I am truly honored to be a part.
Sincerely,
Steve Eazell
GO Software
