An article in this week’s ISO&Agent highlights mobile payment acceptance vendor Go Mobile Commerce, based in Tacoma, Wash. The gist of the piece is that those ISOs who have not yet adopted or developed mobile card acceptance solutions risk a lot by not doing so, and the reasons for not doing so thus far relate to “information overload.” The article has this rather perceptive and insightful comment, however:
Whatever their excuse, ISOs that stay away from mobile do so at their own peril, industry insiders say. If it’s a question of not knowing where to begin, ISOs and agents can still thrive by latching on to a progressive vendor, reading industry reports, attending trade shows and surveying the products on the market, they say.
While the article states that few merchant-level sales agents that offer merchant accounts don’t have a mobile option, demand from the merchant side for smartphone and tablet integration is rising.
Go Mobile Commerce LLC regularly fields calls from frustrated agents in the field, says Heather Mickelson, founder and president of the Tacoma, Wash.-based mobile-technology company. That’s because ISOs have been slow to offer mobile to merchants, and agents are losing clients because of it. Many of the agents Mickelson encounters don’t even offer a smartphone card-swipe attachment.
In many cases, ISOs are holding up the works because they haven’t noticed the changes taking place in the mobile space. Meanwhile, agents are struggling to meet merchants’ demands and growing tired waiting for their ISO to catch up.
Not offering mobile, for whatever reason, is one of the biggest mistakes an ISO can make, Mickelson says.
“The agent is the eyes and ears of the ISO. And it’s unfortunate because if the ISO doesn’t see it soon, they’ll see significant changes in their operation and lose clients,” she says.
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