ISO&Agent has a comprehensive debrief of the Midwest Acquirers Association conference, which wrapped up its three-day event last Thursday with a panel of the associaton’s Lifetime Achievement winners answering questions about the future of the merchant acquiring industry. The panel included Bob Carr of Heartland Payment Systems, Donna Embry of Payment Alliance International, Kim Fitzsimmons of Cynergy Data, Dan Neistadt of Electronic Merchant Systems, Linda Perry, former head of acquirer relations for Visa, and Mike Ponder of Integrity Payment Systems. Some selected quotes from the article:
“The best days are ahead of us,” Mike Ponder…told attendees.
“It seems like the economy is limping along,” Carr said. Same-store sales are “jumping around” without consistent trends, and high unemployment may explain the increase in business formations Heartland is seeing, he said.
[Regarding the proposed interchange settlement]: If retailers try to make the public aware of interchange costs, then “merchants can find out what it’s like to be a bankcard salesman,” Ponder told the crowd in a reference to trying to convey the intricacies of interchange.
[Regarding new players in the space]: “Square is a competitor,” Carr admitted. “We all have something to learn from (Square founder) Jack Dorsey about (quickly) boarding merchants.”
Attendance was up 30% from last year according to numbers quoted in the article.
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