Page 31 - GS170201
P. 31

CompanyProfile






                                                                                           ISO/MLS contact:
                                                                                              Keith Ashcraft
                                                                            Director of Corporate Recruiting
                                                                                      800-966-5520, ext. 223
                                                                              keith@electronicpayments.com
                                                                               www.electronicpayments.com
                                                                                 www.bankcardprogram.com

                        Partner-first payment services





                  o attract a nationwide network of more than    nel – a full salon/spa program with scheduling and multi-
                  1,000 sales agents requires more than premium   merchant accounts; liquor store features; pool/bowling
                  products.  According to  Electronic  Payments   time clock so you can rent by the minute, hour, etc.; and
        T Inc., managing a sales force this size requires        also it supported full EMV integration and did tip adjust
        agility, from developing new products, programs, soft-   on EMV. Finally, the payment engine was PA-DSS vali-
        ware, price structures and multichannel training to deliv-  dated which isn't common in many systems, certainly not
        ering high level customer service and support.           in tablet systems."

        EPI founder and Chief Executive Officer Michael Nardy    Now EPI's flagship product, Exatouch has an in-house de-
        started the company in 2000, working as a sales agent    velopment team giving it undivided attention. The team
        while still in college. In 2005, the executive team ex-  regularly codes new features in two-week sprints, push-
        panded and by 2015, EPI was processing $8 billion annu-  ing cloud-based updates automatically to users along with
        ally. Today the company employs about 100 people in its   product release notes explaining each update. Simultane-
        New York headquarters, Florida and Washington, where     ously, longer-term developer projects are overlaid in 3- to
        it houses product development, distribution, call center,   4-month intervals.
        processing and support teams.
                                                                 As a Windows-based POS system, Exatouch has fewer
        For EPI, 2014 was a pivotal year. While many in the indus-  limitations than Android or iOS based systems, improv-
        try were adopting integrative models to expand capabili-  ing development cycles, he added. It also allows room for
        ties, EPI shifted to a POS product approach. As a longtime   deeper vertical enhancements. For example, liquor stores
        client of First Data Corp., EPI worked collaboratively to   using Exatouch can manage 100,000 product SKUs (stock
        launch the Clover Placement Program, reportedly pur-     keeping units); and grocers can age PLU (price look-up)
        chasing more Clover product in the initial rollout than   codes for meat and other perishable products, as well as
        any other company.                                       manage 13-digit barcodes for deli items.

        "It took a leap of faith to do that, but I felt that it was the   In 2008, EPI launched the eGiftSolutions gift card plat-
        right  avenue  to  go,  and  our  agents  were  clamoring  for   form ‒ free of charge except for card costs ‒ as a value-
        a solution," Nardy said. "We really invented that model   added service. EPI's suite also includes other business-
        with First Data. They had to create the structure for us   centric products. "Vault and ProCharge are unique prod-
        to deploy our own Clover systems, whereas before you     ucts because they are very much what you'd consider an
        would buy  them  from  First Data  and  they  would  ship   'integrated play' but the integrations are in accounting
        them programmed and ready to go."                        software by Intuit (QuickBooks) and Sage (Sage 100, 300
                                                                 and 500)," Nardy said, noting that ProCharge is a billing
        Progress within, training throughout                     platform with e-invoicing and other features, while Vault

        At the same time, EPI was making progress toward de-     delivers ERP (enterprise resource planning) tools integra-
        veloping its own POS system internally to better manage   tion.
        product lifecycles. "If you don't control the development
        cycle, you have to plead your case to the company that   Among the partner perks EPI offers are an online board-
        does," Nardy stated. To accelerate product rollout, EPI   ing app, an agent portal to track agreements and residuals,
        made another pivot and acquired Exatouch in 2015.        a real-time interactive forum and extensive training. Its
                                                                 agent program features online training Tuesdays, webi-
        "With Exatouch, I knew we could make the product even    nar Wednesdays and a road show encompassing multiple
        better," Nardy said. "Exatouch had many features in the   U.S. locations to support the success of EPI sales partners.
        Retail and Restaurant version that were key for our chan-

                                                                                                                31
   26   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36