pring is already here. The ice is melting, birds are chirping and buds are blooming. These signs serve as gentle reminders that summer is just around the corner, which will bring new opportunities to you as merchant level salespeople (MLSs).

Summer is the season for graduations and weddings; tourists flock to vacation destinations, and families take road trips and enjoy recreational activities.

Following are three value-added services that deliver a strong value proposition specifically designed to improve the bottom line for businesses that thrive in the summer: dynamic currency conversion, electronic gift cards and Electronic Check Service.

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC)

People from all over the world flock to the United States to visit our cities, tour our national parks, attend our universities and obtain advanced health care services. Turn their euros, yen and pounds into dollars for you and your merchant customers.

In 2002, nearly 42 million international visitors came to the United States. In 2003, international travelers generated $80.2 billion in travel expenditures in this country. DCC now provides the opportunity to offer a revenue-generating solution to merchants that serve international customers.

DCC allows international cardholders in the United States to have the amount of their purchases instantly converted at checkout into their local currency. The application calculates conversion at a competitive exchange rate, and the POS terminal prints the U.S. dollar amount, conversion rate and home currency amount on the receipt.

The processor for the DCC operation assesses a conversion fee; it's similar to what card issuers would charge. The transaction is settled in the cardholder's local currency, which eliminates further conversion charges from the foreign card issuer.

The amount on the receipt will precisely match the amount on the cardholder's credit card statement.

Best of all, unlike the issuer back-end conversion model, you share with merchants the revenues from conversion fees in the form of a rebate on their monthly processing statements. This offering provides you with a new residual revenue stream.

DCC will appeal to merchants of all types in tourist areas such as Orlando, Fla., Las Vegas or New York City; it will also appeal to tourist-oriented businesses such as museums, city/park tour operators, restaurants, gift shops and airport vendors. Golf resorts attract a lot of foreign travelers, and we all know that a round of golf can be pricey.

A good processing partner analyzes merchants' transaction histories to identify foreign-card accepting merchants, which provides you with necessary knowledge to craft a sales message based on facts.

Some processors actually surcharge for foreign card transactions; imagine the easy sale in cases in which you not only eliminate an unnecessary fee, but actually talk to the merchant about a rebate!

Electronic Gift Cards

According to the 19th annual consumer survey of holiday retail spending trends, commissioned by Deloitte & Touche, gift cards have replaced apparel as the holiday purchase of choice.

Estimates on 2004 holiday gift card purchases are reported to be as high as 20% of all retail sales; about 64% of consumers indicated they intended to buy gift cards. The value proposition is strong, and turnkey card programs allow even the smallest of merchants to get in the game by offering personalized gift cards.

But don't think of gift cards as a solution solely for the winter holidays. Opportunities also abound in the spring and summer. Following are eight great reasons to sell gift cards now (and all year long): Mother's Day, Father's Day, weddings, bridal showers, baby showers, graduations, birthdays and anniversaries.

Gift cards are proving to be one of the best hooks for merchant retention. Helping merchants understand the value proposition will help stem portfolio attrition. Talk to merchants about using gift cards to attract new business.

For example, a restaurant could profit from giving $5 or $10 gift cards to summer tourist property management companies to distribute to vacation rental customers; the plastic cards are much more attractive than paper coupons. Cards also work well as prepaid cards for entertainment venues such as movie theaters or miniature golf courses. If you achieve success selling gift cards this summer, you'll be in an excellent position to reap the revenue from card reorders as retailers prepare for the winter holiday season.

Electronic Check Service (ECS)

As families hit the road for vacations this summer, they often become carriers of the much maligned, rarely accepted out-of-state check. Additionally, in the summer consumers often mail checks for deposits on vacation rentals or use them to pay membership dues to golf clubs, marinas and other recurring payment services. Electronic check conversion solutions, including NOVA Information Systems' ECS offering, help improve cash flow and reduce risk for businesses accepting checks.

These solutions are ideal for auto repair shops such as the Tire and Auto Center in Salisbury, N.C. Owner Randy Hall now confidently accepts checks from stranded travelers ("The Merchant Experience: Electronic Check Conversion," The Green Sheet, Feb. 28, 2005, issue 05:02:02).

Located right off Interstate 85 in North Carolina, the Tire and Auto Center averages five to 10 out-of-town customers a week. "We can get folks in who've had a flat tire or occasionally a much larger auto emergency," Hall said. "With ECS, we'll take checks we wouldn't have felt comfortable accepting before."

Businesses that accept checks through the mail, such as vacation property management companies or private golf courses, can now take advantage of electronic check conversion.

Accounts receivable conversion, or ARC, is used in environments where the check is present, but the consumer is not. This is typical of receivable payments, recurring dues/payments, mail order purchases and drop-box environments. These businesses want the efficiency of electronic processing to reduce costs and improve the timeliness of deposits.

Now that spring is here, dust off those tourist guidebooks to search for hidden opportunities in your territory before summer starts. Learn new ways to add sizzle to your bottom line.

Michelle Graff is Vice President of Marketing for NOVA Information Systems. E-mail her at michelle.graff@novainfo.com.