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Miles cited Bluefin's partnerships with Transaction customer behavior, said Matthew Katz, CEO at Verifi, a
Network Services, Ingenico Group, Verifone and NCR risk mitigation company.
Corp. "We appreciate the connectivity, telecom services
and global reach that TNS provides to our partners," he Verifi works with reseller partners that provide
said. "And partnering with large, prolific organizations chargeback and fraud management services, Katz said.
like Ingenico, Verifone and NCR enables Bluefin to bring These companies offer predictive intelligence and services
point-to-point encryption to a wide range of merchants. designed to help merchants accept more good transactions
This primary security technology helps them fight the and boost transaction volumes.
biggest threats while making compliance easy."
"In the competitive payments space, chargeback and fraud
Find committed, compatible partners prevention are a natural complement to any chargeback

MLSs, who may have previously closed a sale and moved mitigation company looking to help their clients provide
on, are finding their jobs begin when a merchant account a safer experience," he stated. "Our partners bring two
goes live. Some industry veterans can recall when the things to the table when promoting Verifi solutions –
prevailing wisdom was having multiple "hooks" in a our experience and name recognition in the space and
merchant to increase customer stickiness. Agents used "tie technologies that are successfully used every day on a
downs" when closing a sale. This jargon seems outdated global scale."
now. In the new paradigm, merchants recognize they have
a choice in processors and look for partners with industry Todd Linden, CEO, payment processing, North America at
knowledge and service excellence, according to Marc Paysafe, emphasized the need to maintain a business-first
Gardner, founder, president and CEO of North American perspective. New technology is cool, but necessity is what
Bancard Holdings LLC. brings these solutions to life, he said, adding that there
is a high inventory of ideas and choices in the payments
Gardner likened being a good partner to baking a cake. industry; leaders must choose wisely and focus on the
"We need to add ingredients at the right time to create business case for products and services.
a beautiful, finished product that everyone is interested
in trying," he said. "There is a multilevel approach that "At Paysafe, we study new technology and whether or not
includes us working with the community, strategic to buy or partner and what we see as becoming a more
organizations and our own people to create value for our commoditized product or service," Linden said. "We think
merchants." years ahead about where things are going and where Visa,
Mastercard, Discover and American Express will want to
Gardner recommends vetting prospective partners push things. We work hard to understand all the pieces
thoroughly. Use the wrong ingredients and the cake will and touchpoints."
be lacking in flavor; scrutinize potential relationships to Be relatable
ensure there is a proper fit, he noted.
Payments industry leaders and MLSs alike need concise
Partners need to have an equal stake in a relationship, definitions for the solutions they sell. Having access to
added Chris Baird, president at OptConnect, a managed an array of technologies and expertise is only good if
wireless solutions provider. "A partnership is much more you can effectively harness that power to address specific
than just a business arrangement across two organizations requirements, executives stated. Focus on customers'
to support the advancement of products, services or needs, pain points and problems technology can solve,
technologies aimed at resolving customer's needs," he said. they advised.
"True partnership is exemplified when we care more about
what we build together that what we want as individuals." "As a global technology company, it's difficult to be
everything to everyone, so by working with our partners,
Lisa Shipley, general manager, fintech solutions at TNS, we're able to provide merchants with more industry and
said companies that value each other equally make the use case specific solutions that leverage our technology,
best partners. "You have to feel you're getting as much as especially for small and medium size businesses," said
you're giving," she added. "Each partner must value the Jennifer Miles, executive vice president of North America
relationship equally while providing the right pricing and at Ingenico Group. "Additionally, since every business is
services." unique, even when in the same vertical, it's important for
us to work with our partners to ensure that they're able to
Look ahead, anticipate trends cater to these needs, which in turn allows us to provide a

Industry leaders emphasized the need to anticipate variety of solutions for different use cases."
industry trends. Most agreed that staying ahead of the
curve is just as critical for MLSs as it is for companies Miles said Ingenico works with a variety of partners,
that design products and services. Merchants need timely including acquirers, gateways, independent software
solutions that help them improve efficiencies, stay ahead vendors (ISVs), ISOs and MLSs, among others, and is
of ever-changing threats and gain actionable insights into not restricted to a single partnership formula. By closely
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