News from the Wire

Mercator names Walent to lead Customer Interaction Advisory Service

Thursday, September 29, 2016 — 18:14:46 (EDT)

Boston, Sept. 29, 2016 – The payments industry is evolving rapidly in the ways it interacts with end users. The mobile revolution increasingly affects how consumers interact daily with payments tasks, as well as their financial institution relationships. At the same time, legacy delivery channels like ATMs, POS devices, and branches are evolving as user needs and expectations change.

To reflect Mercator Advisory Group's commitment to excellence in payments research, the company is adding this new research emphasis through its Customer Interaction Advisory Service. The service’s research will focus on the use of traditional and next-generation financial service delivery channels to serve existing customers and onboard prospective customers with payment products, lending, deposit accounts, consumer credit, financial wellness services, and data security services. Understanding the wide scope of challenges presented to market participants, it will provide strategic guidance leveraging Mercator’s practical understanding of payments and financial services, and continuous review of product-centric and service-oriented approaches. The Customer Interaction Advisory Service builds on the base of research from its predecessor, the Banking Channels Advisory Service.

Leading the service will be Joseph (Joe) Walent, who has been named Associate Director. Leveraging his experience in the financial sector and in covering information technology services industry, Walent brings fresh insight about innovations underway in the payments sector. His professional background includes account management, operational, and compliance positions in the Financial Services sector and direct coverage of the IT Services sector focusing on the Financial Services, Healthcare, and Government markets—and most recently as Senior Analyst in Mercator’s Emerging Technologies Advisory Service. He holds an M.B.A. from Southern New Hampshire University and a B.A. from Colgate University.

Robert Misasi, Mercator Advisory Group's President, states: "We believe this expanded coverage of customer experience and delivery channels is of critical importance to our members. Rapid technology changes are creating a variety of new customer contact instances that financial institutions, merchants, and solution providers can cultivate with their clients. It is critical for our members to understand how delivery strategies, marketing, operational processes and technological innovations combine to create enhanced customer experiences, drive improvements in financial instrument capabilities and expand revenue growth opportunities. We believe this coverage of innovations in customer experience will provide valuable guidance to firms delivering payments and other financial services.”

Mercator Advisory Group's business model has been focused consistently on serving the company's clients through Membership Services, Consulting Services, Primary Data Services (the CustomerMonitor Survey Series product), and Mercator's PaymentsJournal.com platform. Joseph Walent's appointment is part of this ongoing trend by the company.

"Our analysts are all payments industry specialists first and are tasked with specialized areas of focus for their research reports and services second. It is the synergy across these activities that enables us to serve our clients effectively and efficiently and has fueled our expansion over the past decade," Misasi stated. "Put simply, no firm has both the research and the consulting/operational experience that Mercator is able to bring to the table. This combination is truly unique."

Please visit us online at www.mercatoradvisorygroup.com .

For more information and media inquiries, please call Mercator Advisory Group's main line: (781) 419-1700, send e-mail to info@mercatoradvisorygroup.com . For free industry news, opinions, research, company information and more visit us at www.PaymentsJournal.com . Follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/MercatorAdvisor .

About Mercator Advisory Group: Mercator Advisory Group is the leading, independent research and advisory services firm exclusively focused on the payments and banking industries. We deliver pragmatic and timely research and advice designed to help our clients uncover the most lucrative opportunities to maximize revenue growth and contain costs. Our clients range from the world's largest payment issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants and associations to leading technology providers and investors. Mercator Advisory Group is also the publisher of the online payments and banking news and information portal PaymentsJournal.com .

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Source: Company press release.