Page 38 - GS171102

Education

getting ice cream from a truck or store was exciting as a That said, focusing on what gets you going each morning
kid. The anticipation of opening birthday presents was and sustains you throughout the day is something you
also adrenaline inducing. Graduation from elementary need to do for yourself. If you aren't pumping yourself up
school and high school were occasions to be pumped up, regularly, you are losing out on life ‒ and losing potential
as were the first job interview, first date and first kiss. sales. Attitude is everything. Getting your adrenaline
pumping requires a first-rate mindset. So find your
So how can we bring that uplifting quality to each day adrenaline rush, and make it work for you. Let's all do it
now? Eating healthy and getting a good night's sleep and blow the doors off of our sales goals.
should be routine. Then the key is to determine what gets Steven Feldshuh, President of Merchants' Choice Payment Solutions
you pumped, which is probably similar to what boosts
other payment professionals. We are sales guys and gals, East, has 18 years' experience in sales and ISO development. Directly
after all; we like to succeed, to live well and help others prior to joining MCPSE in 2012, he was President of Payment Partners.
with their success. In his current position, Steven devotes the bulk of his time to assist-
ing agents in building their portfolios. Contact him by email at
stevenf@mcpseast.com or by phone at 212-392-9202.

they will take the position that information related to
the merchant also belongs to them. This makes use of
merchant information by the ISO for third-party services
potentially subject to challenge. While it is customary for
Legal ease:
ISOs to sell additional products to merchants, outside of
the merchant processing agreement (for example, paper
rolls), acquirers will take a variety of approaches with
respect to such third-party products.

ISO risk from third-party The substance of an ISO's rights and restrictions with
respect to a merchant are set out in the ISO's agreement
with its acquirer. That said, where ISO activity does not
providers interfere with the acquirer's merchant account, the acquirer
will not usually try to interfere. In other words, earning an
By Adam Atlas honest extra buck from a merchant is fair play as long as
the acquirer does not suffer. Despite this general custom,
Attorney at Law some ISO agreements might prevent or circumscribe
ISOs from selling additional products and services to
erchants require ever-better systems to stay merchants. ISOs should review their agreements for this
competitive in today's business climate. concept and govern themselves accordingly – or seek an
Ecommerce, POS, loyalty, marketing and amendment if the terms are not acceptable.
M geolocation solutions are among the com-
mon product and service categories merchants need to One way acquirers have discouraged ISOs from using
stay in the game. These are sometimes available from ISOs third-party suppliers has been to make the ISO liable
or their suppliers. In this article, I will discuss ISO risks for all the wrongdoing by those third-party suppliers.
associated with third-party suppliers and their products. Granted, the acquirer should not be obligated to assume
liability for a third-party supplier that it has not itself
Merchant account always central vetted. That said, why should the ISO underwrite the

For now, at least, the merchant account is central to the risk of a merchant using a third-party supplier that is not
relationship between the ISO and the merchant. This means approved by the acquirer? Acquirers will say that they
that the payment processing account of the merchant with will inevitably be sued if a merchant's supplier (whether
the ISO's acquirer is a pillar of the relationship between the introduced by the ISO or the acquirer) does the merchant
ISO and the merchant. While most ISOs are not party to material harm. This might be true, but the third-party
their merchants' merchant agreements, they nonetheless terms (like most merchant-facing terms) usually limit the
retain certain rights in respect of those agreements ‒ supplier to nominal liability.
specifically, the right to earn residual compensation from
the processor that has boarded the merchant as a result of Acquirers will argue that those caps may not hold in the
ISO solicitation. face of a material class claim. This tension between the
desire of the ISO to provide a variety of suppliers, versus
Note that acquirers (that is, processors and their sponsor the acquirer's legitimate interest to expose its merchants
banks) will often take the position that the merchant to only suppliers that have been vetted, is the heart of the
"belongs" to them and not to the ISOs. What is more, matter here.

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