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CoverStory

asking for more technology, they are asking for less chaos Payments companies love to talk about innovation, but the
and more money. Ironically, at Deposyt, we are releasing real opportunity isn't in adding more features, it's in re-
a new series called What Business Owners Want, inspired moving friction. It's a huge blind spot. Merchants no lon-
by the movie What Women Want. The title fits because ger judge a processor by price alone, they judge by experi-
somewhere along the way our industry stopped listening. ence. They want reliability, responsiveness and empathy.
They want to feel like they're rowing in the same direction
Walk any payments conference and the pattern is clear. as their payments partner. If there's one thing the industry
Every booth is showcasing a shinier portal "for the agent," should fix, it's the assumption that innovation equals com-
a faster terminal, a better application submission process plexity. It doesn't. True innovation simplifies the path, not
to make the agent's life easier, or a more sophisticated complicates it, forcing an overwhelmed business owner to
white-label platform. The conversations are all agent- learn more "stuff."
facing ... how they can sell more, bundle better or upsell
smarter, but few ask the only question that really matters: The next phase of growth in payments won't come from
What does the merchant actually want? who launches the flashiest new software or terminal. It
will come from the one who listens best and serves busi-
What we are hearing is a consistent response. Business ness owners with tools that actually make life easier.
owners are mentally tired of managing systems, logins,
integrations and upgrades. They don't want to think about That belief is exactly what led us to build Deposyt+, our
PCI updates or feature releases. They want to take a pay- new platform designed around the pain points merchants
ment, trust that it works and get back to running their talk about every day. It's not another product for agents to
business. rebrand or resell. It's for the business owners themselves,
the people keeping the economy moving one transaction
It's like turning on a TV that's been wired through an at a time.
over-engineered smart system. You shouldn't need four
remotes, your phone and an app just to watch a show. You Deposyt+ brings together payments, CRM, and growth
just want the TV to turn on. That's where merchants are automation in a way that feels effortless. It's built to reduce
today. They crave simplicity and are willing to trade bells the number of systems merchants have to juggle, while
and whistles for peace of mind. re-introducing something the industry has lost along the
way, human support. And we've done it entirely on our
Across every industry from restaurants and retail to own terms, fully self-funded with over $4 million invested
coaching and ecommerce, we are finding the same mes- to date with no outside capital and a long-term vision to
sage from the business owner: make payments simple again.

• We're overwhelmed. They've been told to automate Merchants aren't just clients; they are our partners in ev-
everything but end up buried in software. ery transaction. Our success is tied to theirs and when
• We don't want another system to learn. Tech stacks both sides move together, everyone wins. Or as I like to
have become cluttered and confusing. say ... boats row better in one direction.
• We just want to make more money with less effort. After 20 years in this industry, I believe the next big dis-
Growth is the goal; tech should support it, not slow ruption won't come from a new form of currency or a fast-
it down. er API. It'll come from restoring trust, clarity and ease to
While industry insiders debate crypto, real-time payments the process of getting paid. Business owners don't want to
and AI, most business owners admit they wouldn't even keep up with the future, they want the future to finally
know what to do with those tools if they had them. They keep up with them.
don't need more options to learn. They need solutions that
actually work together. A note of appreciation

Across all three installments of this series, executives,
When we ask what matters most, their answers boil down advisers and experts from throughout the payments
to two things: community have generously shared what they're hearing
1. Simplicity. Systems that are easy to use, quick to set from merchants on the front lines. Taken together, their
up and unified enough to reduce the noise. insights underscore that while technology and buzzwords
2. Support. Real human help. Not another chatbot or change, merchants still judge providers by transparency,
ticket queue. They want partners who set them up reliability, cost control, simplicity, actionable data and
for success not just hand them a terminal and walk responsive human support. We extend our sincere thanks
away. They want a partner who acts more like a hu- to everyone who participated in this series—from Green
man AI agent, someone who anticipates their needs, Sheet Advisory Board members to ISOs, agents, fintech
automates what should be automated, and handles leaders and solution providers—for helping our readers
the technical details so they can focus on growth. better understand what merchants really want and how
the payments community can continue to earn their trust.

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