Turn transaction data into advanced business intelligence
Acies AI Ltd. was established in 2020 in Toronto, Canada, with the goal of bringing business intelligence to the payments industry. Acies co-founders Richard Kapustin, chief executive officer, and Jonathan Keebler, chief technology officer, designed and built an AI platform that uses proprietary machine learning to answer pressing business questions.
"Jonathan and I spent years in big companies," Kapustin said. "Each [of our former companies] spent millions on BI products and struggled to do basic charts and graphs. We realized that they needed two main things: ease of getting there and a reason to do it." Large organizations that warehouse data with multiple vendors must find ways to integrate it, Kapustin stated. Acies works directly with middlemen that have the data, thereby saving companies from time-consuming and costly warehousing, fees and technical integrations commonly associated with business intelligence initiatives.
Secure, simple integration
Few businesses have the budget to invest in meaningful BI, Kapustin noted. Acies solves this challenge by allowing businesses to monetize their data. He added that Acies can be sold under existing merchant service agreements, making it easy for channel partners to sign up new merchants.
"We believe business intelligence is essential for operating a business of any size," Kapustin said, adding that Acies can easily integrate into payment gateways without exporting data to a third party because data never leaves a customer's environment. He noted that the platform can be customized to match customer environments and is compliant with security requirements.
Kapustin went on to say that merchant feedback has been positive. Merchants who are using the platform appreciate the cost savings and improved efficiencies. They no longer have to collect their own data and store it in a data lake. They can derive essential business insights without the encumbrance of in-house systems, per-store licensing fees and outside data specialists, he stated.
Essential toolkit
Kapustin pointed out that managing BI can become complicated and time-consuming process for growing companies, as risk will increase proportionately with all of the disparate data and systems in play. Escalating data consumption and management can rapidly turn a business intelligence initiative into a money pit.
Acies is a cost-effective alternative to legacy data management systems and requires neither data scientists nor technical aptitude, Kapustin stated. Merchants can use the dashboard to customize reports without going to separate POS vendors to collect data and they can see all of their payment transactions on the gateway and BI tool.
"Acies AI works closely with some of the world’s top payment gateways, offering a turn-key business intelligence platform fueled by your payment data," Kapustin said. "The Acies platform arms you with answers to your most pressing business questions, even the ones you haven’t had time to consider."
Strategic, competitive advantage
Kapustin described Acies as a lean, processor-neutral company powered by a 10-member team that hit the ground running, signing its first channel partner in September 2020 and launching its customer segmentation engine in December 2020. The company's advisory board includes Diane Faro, president and partner at National Benefit Programs and former CEO at JetPay; Audrey Blackmon, senior vice president, business development at Verrency; and Michael A. Peters, who served as executive vice president and president of TSYS Merchant Solutions.
"In Spring 2021 we will be launching with two new channel partners in the U.S. market," Kapustin said, adding that the company will continue to use real-world data to train its unique AI technology and expand its capabilities.
"We want to be descriptive and prescriptive; that's what increases the value of what we’re selling exponentially and differentiates us in the market," Kapustin said. "We can tell you if you're meeting your business goals and what you can do about it. And if you’re going to miss your targets, we'll tell you before your boss finds out." 
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