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CoverStory

Dale Cardarelli, enterprise sales director at Shift4 (www. Erick Tu, CEO of Blogic Systems (www.blogicsystems.
shift4.com), cited fees, fraud and chargebacks, fragmented com), said, "Honestly, the biggest challenge isn't a specific
payments or technologies, and reporting and data analyt- payment type, it's system reliability. The number one fear
ics as primary concerns. "Being able to reduce costs is al- we hear from operators, especially in food service and re-
ways a top priority," she stated. "Optimizing interchange tail, is downtime. You can call it 'death by Wi-Fi.' They're
qualifications and transparency are always top of mind frustrated with systems that freeze, slow down, or stop
for merchants, as well as costs to maintain legacy tech- working entirely because of an internet outage or even
nologies and wanting to add surcharging or supplemental just a network slowdown, especially during peak business
fees to tickets to offset some of their operational costs." hours.

Regarding fraud and chargebacks, Cardarelli said mer- "When a POS goes down during a Friday night dinner
chants are looking for solutions that provide a secure rush, it's not an inconvenience; it's a direct hit to revenue,
checkout experience while also helping to prevent poten- staff morale and customer loyalty."
tial chargebacks and mitigate friendly fraud (employee
fraud) and other bad actors. Beyond that, Tu noted, merchants are frustrated with rig-
id, one-size-fits-all solutions. "Merchants need solutions
Cardarelli spoke of the pain of fragmented payments or designed to their business-specific needs, but they are of-
technology, noting that Shift4 merchants want to see mul- ten stuck with generic software built by the big boys that
tiple providers consolidated across different channels; can't adapt to their unique workflow," he said.
integrated payments; payment orchestration; buy online,
pick up, or return in store; and the ability to seamlessly 2. Are shoppers asking for faster payments or new
accept all payment types across all channels. options at the point of sale, or are other issues more
pressing?
When it comes to reporting and data analytics, she has
found simplifying reconciliation, real-time data and re- "While the industry loves to talk about crypto or other in-
porting, and insight into shoppers' spending habits are novations, shoppers and merchants are far more concerned
top of mind for merchants. with the fundamentals," Tu said. "A customer's main desire
is convenience and a fast, consistent experience. Nothing
is more frustrating for a shopper than a frozen or lagging
terminal. "Merchants know this. Their most pressing issue
is ensuring the checkout process is seamless every single
Payments is our Business time." Tu pointed out that local processing, for example,
delivers lightning-fast checkouts because the transaction
isn't dependent on a round trip to the cloud. "That's the
• Expert Witness Consulting Testimony speed that matters to 100 percent of customers, not just the
• Experience in Criminal & Civil cases small fraction asking for a niche payment option. Reliabil-
• Payment Facilitation ity trumps novelty," he said.
• RFP services According to Cardarelli, shoppers want speed. "Every sec-
• Integrated Payments ond counts, so if it takes too long to check out and make
• Least Cost Routing a payment, the shopper is more likely to abandon their
• Card Network Rules purchase," she said. She has also found that shoppers are
• Payment Gateways asking for contactless and preferred payment methods
at checkout, including the convenience of digital wallets
• Processor Selection such as Apple Pay and Google Pay; instant payments; and
• 'Hard to Place Merchants' buy now, pay later (BNPL).

Let us demonstrate how our our Experience "Crypto and stablecoin are becoming more popular for
and Knowledge can work for you! higher-ticket purchases," she noted, adding that om-
nichannel is another expectation. "Shoppers expect con-
Napa Payments and Consulting sistency and a frictionless experience across in-person or
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ous mobile wallets—the pressing issue for merchants isn't
kenm@napapaymentsandconsulting.com the consumer speed itself, but the speed of integration and
the time-to-market for these options," Kraal said. "Mer-
napapaymentsandconsulting.com chants know they must stay relevant by supporting the
methods their customers actually use."

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