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Moneris Solutions, Inc.




ISO contact:

Sales Office
Phone: 877-546-5223

Company address:

700 East Lake Cook Road
Buffalo Grove, IL 60089
Phone: 877-546-5223
Fax: 847-520-6447
Web site: www.moneris.com

ISO benefits:

  • Strong focus on customer and ISOs.
  • Flexible solutions to work with ISOs.
  • Has developed its own terminal solutions for debit market.
  • Quick turnaround time.
  • Ambassador Program puts merchants in touch with employees and customer service.
  • Long list of partners.

Article Originally Appeared in
Green Sheet Issue 02:07:02

Coming Down from the Cold

Canada is known for clean cities, cold weather and a hot payment-processing market. That competition has created corporate entities that are on the cutting edge of technology, service and support. One such organization is boldly bringing its quality solutions to America.

Moneris Solutions, Inc. is a tightly focused, client-centered merchant services organization. Although it officially became Moneris Solutions in December 2000, the company has been in the credit card processing business, as Harris Bank Merchant Services, for more than 30 years, since the early days of Visa and MasterCard.

The Moneris story is interesting. Two competing banks, Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Montreal had a common and strong interest in growing their payment-processing businesses. "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," seemed to be the philosophy that brought these two together. As a result of discussions at the senior level of the two banks, a single processor was created, combining the largest Canadian MasterCard processor with the leading Canadian Visa processor.

"We centered around the customer," says James Baumgartner, President/CEO of Moneris Solutions. "We could now service the merchant more efficiently by giving the merchant one single contact, one ultimate solution to make it easier for the merchant to do business."

A three-part entity was created: Harris Bank Merchant Services, Bank of Montreal Merchant Business and Royal Bank's Merchant Business. It combined more than 1,000 employees spread out over North America. In December, it received a new name, a new structure and a new goal. It became U.S. bound.

"We are truly a North America company, so if you've got or want presence in both countries, clearly we can service your needs," says Baumgartner. "We have tremendous scale, specifically. We also have very flexible solutions to work with ISOs on a risk-and-reward basis. That is important with this segment, and our growth numbers speak to our success.

"With respect to the ISO community, we don't have a conflicting sales channel nor do we have a huge branch presence in the U.S. We don't have bankers saying you can't sell in Georgia. We view this sales channel as extremely important and not a hybrid solution."

While that ISO-centric strategy is a cornerstone in Moneris' business model, its core is rooted in providing what it considers to be unsurpassed levels of service centered on payment processing. It is a focus that is ongoing for Moneris.

"Good enough never is," says Baumgartner. "We are never done. We can always keep growing value proposition if we keep close attention to the customer."

Moneris recognizes a dual customer - the ISO as well as the merchant. And it recognizes that competition is stiff for both customers.

"In a lot of ways our biggest competition is ourselves, our ability to execute all we want," says Baumgartner. "We have very aggressive plans on both the technology and service side. But in terms of this marketplace, our competition ranges from the top players to niche players in specific areas, from First Data all the way down to specific ISO channels. We are paranoid about competition in a very healthy way. Only the paranoid survive, especially with all the interesting dynamics in the industry right now."

According to Baumgartner, the industry is hot for Moneris' flagship product: its ability to process debit transactions. Moneris has developed its own terminal solutions for this market, include online debit processing, Internet reporting and the like. "We process as many transactions as anyone else," says Baumgartner. "Merchants can turn their point-of-sale into a point-of-success with our electronic payment solutions."

In addition to quality e-commerce solutions, Moneris also offers quality solutions and service for credit card processing, check processing, EBT and wireless processing.

Moneris' target market for its suite of solutions is broad. "We are clearly across the board in our target market for merchants that do anywhere from a half-billion dollars annually to the local neighborhood video store," says Baumgartner. "We have over 350,000 merchants, with the U.S. a very meaningful part of our company."

Moneris also boasts a competitive cost breakdown, in part because of its attention to technology and service.

"It is a rare moment when we lose the deal because of price," says Baumgartner. "We understand how fundamental pricing is, and we are focused on lower costs either to ISOs and ISAs directly or merchants directly. We are very cognizant of downward pressure of pricing. Technology in this business is such an enabler of lower costs and improved service, and we've had great success stories because of it."

Moneris is also keen on quick turnaround time, with a commitment of 24 hours.

"We are really cognizant of the sensitivity," says Baumgartner. "Any delay is lost revenue for us, the ISO and the merchant. There sometimes are situations where we will not make the 24 hours, either, because of additional referencing and such, but we have a pretty sophisticated tracking process.

"I personally get daily reports of what's going in, what's coming up. I personally see the stats on how may merchants are waiting. For us, service and technology are fundamental to this business."

Moneris' fundamental approach also incorporates a comprehensive in-house operation. Everything from equipment inventory to deployment, from repair and refurbishing to software research and development is under its roof. In-house risk management, customer support and ISO support also are important ingredients in the mix.

In regard to customer support, Moneris provides a dedicated marketing manager as well as a dedicated account manager at the individual-customer level. A 24/7 help desk where customers get a live voice is manned by skilled reps. "When the customer calls and asks for a specific need, we know who can handle it and route it accordingly," says Baumgartner.

A more unique and impressive customer service is what Moneris calls its Ambassador Program. All 1,000 employees of Moneris receive a card they can present to any merchant they meet who either has a complaint about Moneris or a question about its service. The employee gives the merchant a designated phone number, and, in turn, a dedicated team at Moneris' call center exclusively handles those Ambassador Program calls.

Like secret shoppers, Moneris employees might see the Moneris terminal or sticker and strike up a conversation with the clerk. Responses to those initial conversations are guaranteed within 24 hours. Even if the merchant does place a call, the dedicated team will make contact. The end result: A happy merchant who believes someone out there is actually listening.

Moneris also awards its employees with a quarterly random-prize drawing from all employees who submitted Ambassador Program-related merchant questions.

Moneris provides equally rewarding support for its ISOs. It maintains an entire department to handle ISOs exclusively because this is such a strategic channel for Moneris' growth and continued success. On-site training, in-house training, Web site training, manuals, compliance officer availability, even private labeling for the larger organizations are offered to all Moneris sales partners.

ISOs can submit merchant apps via the Moneris Web site. ISOs can check the status of their accounts online as well. Moneris also offers electronic chats where ISOs receive a kind of instant messaging related to merchant accounts, forms and service availability. Moneris even provides customer-service chat rooms for merchants as well as ISOs.

With all this in place, Moneris believes its appeal to the ISO community is unavoidable.

"We believe we've got a nice suite of flexible programs with a long history in the ISO community," says Baumgartner. "We have tremendous flexibility in front- and back-end solutions. We work with every technology out there. We do combinations for any merchant, and that is a bit unique. Our rates are very competitive, typically working off a volume variable."

What does Moneris look for in its ISO partners? An established business with a proven track record is paramount.

"We want to make sure they are serious about expanding their portfolio," says Baumgartner. "You want to really pick the partner you fit with and work well with. From their perspective as well, they have to know they can call me directly and get any problem resolved with the right level of commitment and service.

"This may sound a little self-serving, but we learn a lot from our ISO customers. If they specialize in a certain vertical industry; we view them as great sources of knowledge and of process, to the extent they can contribute to helping us grow our value proposition rather than someone just looking for the lowest rate they can get."

Moneris is so serious about its ISO relationships, it sends out an annual questionnaire to all of its sales partners. What came back last year was a 98% approval rate, according to Baumgartner. The questionnaire strategy is also incorporated with Moneris' merchants, who receive similar documentation.

Focus groups working with merchants is another part of Moneris quality-control maintenance, for existing as well as attrited merchants. Moneris wants to know why merchants have left and what it can do to prevent future attrition. According to Baumgartner, Moneris' attrition rate is less than the industry average of 14%.

Certainly, that low attrition rate also can be attributed to the keen list of partners that Moneris has selected. It is a veritable "Who's Who" in the payment-processing industry: Global Payments, Vital Processing, Paymentech, ADS and First Data Merchant Services are processing, authorizing and settlement partners.

Then there's Moneris' hardware and software alliances: Ingenico, VeriFone, IVI Checkmate, Dassault AT and Lipman. Throw U.S. Wireless Data and Authorize.Net into the mix, and Moneris' dance card is full with most of the finest partners in the payment-processing field. How did Moneris accomplish this?

"We don't do exclusives," says Baumgartner. "We believe that we need to offer a good suite of solutions to our customers and not force them into our own solutions."

Rather than have customers unable to select from the top services this industry offers, Baumgartner sees the biggest challenge as being able to execute that service against focused deliverables that are lined up with key objectives.

"Having a new name and watching what is effectively a new company for U.S. business has been a bit of a challenge," says Baumgartner. "Having said that, the business is not that spread out where getting your name out is that much of a challenge. We are aggressively pursuing a more even balance between our U.S. and Canadian business by selectively partnering with different ISO channels."

Baumgartner sees a terrific opportunity at Moneris for ISOs, especially because of the mergers and acquisitions that are sweeping the industry clean.

"If you are the owners of Moneris, you obviously see the value of what is growing," says Baumgartner. "From the ISO perspective, they need to be comfortable when the dust settles. They will need to have enough competitive options to go to in order not to be squeezed out of their market. I think there is always going to be room for them at companies focused on the customer."

Baumgartner continues, "In general, the cost of customer impact and employee impact from some of the recent acquisitions is minimized inappropriately. You can get number-focused and do the math to make it work, but you can lose sight of people and customers. We think we do enough and touch our customers enough to understand what is good and what is bad for them. The value of a long-term relationship is recognized at Moneris."

Baumgartner believes the more entrepreneurial ISOs will see Moneris as a viable option.

"Anytime an ISO can convert a customer, it's a positive opportunity," he says. "If you're an independent merchant who's happy with your service and you get a note from a new bank you don't do business with saying here's how we're going to lower your rate and make your life easier, but it involves using a different terminal and a new system, the message is they're really just focused on growing their own business and not really helping the merchant. The merchant doesn't need that hassle.

"Our pitch is, if you're going to have to make a change, we can make it much easier for you. Rather than that merchant having to do what the bank tells them to do, with a more limited suite of offerings and forcing them off a solution they were comfortable with, we can let the merchant stay with what they have and minimize the change with a competitive rate. The merchant will be happy. The ISO will be happy."

Baumgartner sees the payment-processing industry continuing to consolidate with some of the bigger players trying to squeeze more efficiency out of their multilayered business. He sees the U.S. market moving toward the Canadian model, namely, more online debit and debit at the point-of-sale focused with a less expensive payment mix for the merchant. He also predicts a continued growth in wireless with chips being primarily introduced in co-branded situations and, over time, introduced en masse in the U.S.

Baumgartner says Moneris will focus on aggressive growth in America.

"We are working on methods to quadruple business in less than four years, with ISO channels being critical," he says. "Our scale in Canada will allow us to do this in the U.S.

"The ISOs understand that Moneris views their channel as a long-term strategic channel. This is absolutely true and not just a feel-good statement. We have a range of options to work with for them. It's not a cookie-cutter approach. We are continuing to invest in this channel, and we have the financial wherewithal to continue to invest in the business and focus on improving our value proposition for all. We're making an investment in people."

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