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NewsBriefs

Editor's Note: Following are excerpts from news stories recently posted Colorado store takes convenience to the next level
under Breaking Industry News on our home page. For links to these and
other full news stories, please visit www.greensheet.com/breaking- A Colorado convenience store chain heralded a new
news.php?flag=previous_breaking_news. format that melds features of a convenience store with the
product selection of a natural grocery and a fast casual
restaurant. Plus a mobile app will allow customers to order
and pay ahead of time. In a recent press release, executives
at the company, Choice Market, hailed the new format as
"disruptive."
A new Choice Market store, slated to open in Denver in
2019, will include a 2,700 square foot c-store, as well as fuel
pumps, electric vehicle supercharging stations, a bike-
share terminal and electric scooter charging stations, the
company said. Customers will be able to skip the checkout
process entirely, order and pay ahead of time with the
Choice Mobile App. Shoppers who wish to pay at checkout
via in-store POS will be able to do so, too. The company
also expects to make beer deliveries once a pending
change in Colorado's liquor laws takes hold.

Visa's bulletin on cash discounting:
Apple Pay leads pack with mobile users clarification, war or both?
Apple Pay is the go-to digital wallet for most debit card Visa Inc. issued Cash Discounting and Discount Offers
users. This is according to new data from Auriemma Explained, a new bulletin devised to clarify what is
Consulting Group. An Auriemma study of debit card and is not permitted under Visa Rules for cash discount
issuers indicates that Apple Pay comprises 77 percent of programs. Visa stated that because of the increasing
mobile wallet transactions, leaving little market share for popularity of cash discount or discount offer programs,
competitors Samsung Pay and Google Pay, which account it is "reminding U.S. acquirers, merchants, processors and
for 17 percent and 6 percent, respectively. agents that discount offer programs should be evaluated
to ensure compliance with the Visa Rules."
Anita Solaman, director of Auriemma's Debit Management
Roundtable, said high usage rates for Apple Pay may be Jonathan Razi, CEO of CardX, said his company welcomes
a matter of demographics. "Apple users skew younger, Visa's guidance. "Visa's bulletin gives our industry much-
and younger consumers are more likely to be debit [card] needed clarity: 'cash discount' is not a loophole within the
users," she said. Financial institution support also plays a rules, and merchants that add a fee at the point of sale
role, she suggested. must comply with the requirements for surcharging,
regardless of what they call the fee," he told The Green
Half of B2B sales reps fear making Sheet. Razi believes Visa's clarification will "not only help
cold calls, survey finds customers avoid unfair fees charged to debit cards, but
also help merchants and sales professionals know what to
Recent research conducted by Selling Power on behalf look for in a compliant solution."
of ValueSelling Associates Inc. found reaching prospects
is the top challenge salespeople face in setting up initial James Shepherd CEO at CCSalesPro and co-host of the
meetings. Fifty-four percent of initial meetings required Merchant Services Podcast, warned that Visa's move is a
more than five touch points to secure an appointment. "declaration of war" on cash discounting service fees. He
This applies to phone and in-person meetings. stated the bulletin "made it clear that Cash Discounting as
it exists in the merchant services industry is not compliant
The study, titled B2B Prospecting Challenges: From the with Visa Rules."
Front Lines, surveyed 160 sales professionals in a variety
of roles. Nearly 6 in 10 respondents stated that getting Businesses seek to balance
the prospect to respond was the biggest challenge (59%), fraud fighting, customer friction
followed by access to the real decision maker (46%), finding
the correct contact person (32%), and getting a referral or Sixty-six percent of businesses recently surveyed by
introduction (25%), researchers noted. IDology said balancing fraud reduction and customer
friction is their greatest challenge in fraud prevention, up
from 40 percent a year ago.

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