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For merchants, it's not "just about checking out customers
faster," said Doug Bernier, Vice President and ISO Chan-
Experts agree that prevention nel Director at Clearent LLC. "ISOs and processors have to
requires a combination of good offer technologies that make it easier for them to do busi-
technology, insightful data and ness, for example, data on transactions and how that piece
of the business is really doing."
analytics, top-notch customer service,
good partnerships, and a keen This has become increasingly critical as more merchants
migrate to the online and mobile sales channels. "As a
understanding of customer needs. business transforms into an omnichannel organization,
it's important to be able to collect data from all of those
channels to provide one complete picture to the business
about what's happening," Bernier said.
tion requires a combination of good technology, insightful
data and analytics, top-notch customer service, good part- Access to data and the ability to analyze that data in
nerships, and a keen understanding of customer needs. meaningful ways provide a solid foundation for good
"You should always be on the lookout for things that help merchant retention strategies. "Almost always, the more
them," Moussa said. data you have, particularly from the past, either on your
own or through a partner, the better your outcomes are
Of lesser importance is pricing. "Pricing is not top of mind likely to be," said Rajesh Kamath, Head of Financial Ser-
for most merchants. They [merchants] have a whole hier- vices Solutions and Incubation at Incedo Inc. A California-
archy of needs that they use to determine the value of an based technology consulting and services firm, Incedo has
acquiring relationship," Capoccia said. worked with numerous banks and acquirers on data ana-
lytics in support of merchant retention programs.
Some of these needs may seem mundane. Moussa, who re-
cently began selling acquiring services to merchants, said There's a downside, however: organizational siloes. "Often
he realized that many of his clients required printing ser- we find that the sales/relationship management/acquiring
vices that they typically procured from local or national side of the business does not talk with the operational
chains. So he partnered with a printer and negotiated a fee side," Kamath said. "Cross-functional silos make it diffi-
structure that allowed him to offer pricing that undercut cult to act on analysis."
what the chains were charging. "I'm able to offer better
service," he said. "Plus, I have good margins and they [cli- After all, operations staffs are often best positioned to
ents] see savings." make changes that help retain merchants, and they can't
make changes without timely and accurate information.
Moussa offered three keys to providing good service: un- "Some organizations have moved toward solving this
derstanding merchant needs, offering products and ser- problem [by providing for] analytical flows across silos,"
vices that respond to those needs, and always being avail- Kamath added. "But still, many do not."
able. "It has to be a high-touch relationship," he said. "As an
agent you have to stay in front of the merchant, especially Reaping fruits of good data analysis
when they're having service problems. People really start Kamath pointed to three types of data analytics that ac-
to trust you when they call and you show up every time." quiring organizations can use to support merchant reten-
It shows that you're in the relationship to help them run tion programs: descriptive, predictive and prescriptive an-
their businesses better, not just to sell them products and alytics. Descriptive analytics offers a baseline assessment;
services, he added. it looks at trends like value and number of transactions a
merchant processes, along with other factors that can help
While attrition seems to affect all vertical markets equally, to predict a client's financial performance. Another exam-
Moussa's research suggests the less sophisticated a mer- ple of descriptive analytics is analyzing clients that have
chant's point of sale the more likely they are to leave for already left and factors contributing to their departure.
another acquiring relationship. "If all they have is a simple
terminal there's nothing to stop them from leaving," he Predictive analytics, as the phrase implies, can help iden-
said. POS solutions with reporting and other capabilities tify merchants who are likely to defect. "This gives you
that can help manage and grow their businesses, "that's power," Kamath said. Reductions in transaction volumes,
what keeps a merchant in a relationship," Moussa insisted. for example, can be a predictor of dissatisfaction. So, too,
may unstructured data points, such as changes in interac-
Martaus agreed. "You want to get to the point where the tions with relationship managers and/or call center per-
merchant relies on you for so many technologies and ser- sonnel. "A merchant who is about to leave typically will
vices that they aren't willing to switch because it would exhibit certain patterns in terms of number of calls they
require too many changes," he said. make to call centers, the grievances they have and so
forth," Kamath noted. They may also be complaining on

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