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not fees, but lack of transparency. "Merchants were being
oversold and underdeveloped, and they weren't getting
What struck Madhani even more the right tools," Madhani said. "They were paying $70 and
than rampant price-gouging and rate $80 a month for a terminal they could have bought online
for $250."
hikes was that no one was looking at
merchant services from a perspective What struck Madhani even more than rampant price-
gouging and rate hikes was that no one was looking at
of how they could help the merchant.
merchant services from a perspective of how they could
She began to buy terminals in bulk, help the merchant. She began to buy terminals in bulk,
when ethernet terminals were relatively when ethernet terminals were relatively new, delivering
value by bundling cutting-edge technology with services.
new, delivering value by bundling
"It was time to stop looking through a lens of what's in
cutting-edge technology with services. it for me and my company," she said. "Shift that lens to
what's the best product experience and user experience.
Solve for the customer first."

of the world, Greenberg said. To do this, he advised MLSs Processing as a service
as follows: Give merchants solutions to put into their
ecommerce universe and sell; constantly introduce new Portfolio churn was another frustration for Madhani.
product lines to help them compete. In today's world, She pointed out that when an ISO buys a book of
even if you're only selling countertop terminals, there business, it can severely impact merchants, who may
are so many components, like PCI compliance, that are lose trusted relationships and access to solutions. And
important to a merchant. Taking PCI data out of scope is converting merchant populations frequently involves
a home run for a merchant who no longer has to worry retraining customers on equipment and technology.
about compliance. Putting a help button on the terminal "Tools and technology were amazing but complicated,"
is another win because you're connecting merchants to she said. "Merchants were spending 10 hours a week on
knowledgeable support teams who can promptly assist reconciliation. They needed to save time, not dollars."
them.
In 2014, Madhani took a leap of faith and established
Whether you are selling terminals or providing business Fattmerchant to deliver value and help SMBs simplify
owners with working capital, there are ways to make their businesses. "It was really about what could I do; I
things as frictionless as possible, Greenberg noted. His had to be creative," she said. "I built a team, and we looked
suggestions include: build out the merchant experience at where the market is headed and thought about how to
by integrating ancillary services, such as accounting get ahead of it. We wrote all the things we wanted to be
and reservation systems, into an integrated solutions on a whiteboard: frictionless, fun, affordable transaction
platform but do it thoughtfully. And understand that not technology."
every merchant wants to pay the same way. Interchange
pass-through pricing doesn't work for everyone. Some As a millennial, Madhani was inspired by subscription
merchants only want to pay when they use your service. service models, stating, "Everything I subscribe to is a cool
Pay-as-you-go pricing is expensive but it's easy to experience with unlimited transactions in a monthly box
understand, he added. that solves all my pain points."
Customer first Technology can be scary for small and midsize merchants,
Madhani realized. Fattmerchant's mission is to offer value
Suneera Madhani, founder and CEO of Fattmerchant,
to SMBs and make payment processing easy. Its core
had always believed it's impossible to build and grow values are honesty and transparency. Its subscription-
companies without putting the customer first. Then she
based model, with transparent pricing and easy-to-read
got a job in payments. "Agent selling in merchant services statements, is driven by value, not price, she said. "We
was the hardest job I ever had," Madhani said. "It was a
don't want to be a stuffy or cookie-cutter company," she
grind. Payment processing is something that everyone added. "We registered Fattmerchant and the name just
needs; why does it have to be so painful?"
stuck. People loved it."
As an MLS in 2012, Madhani was determined to
differentiate by something other than price. The first Dale S. Laszig, senior staff writer at The Green Sheet and managing
order of business was figuring out what value she could director at DSL Direct LLC, is a payments industry journalist and content
offer prospective customers. She began by keeping a provider. She can be reached at dale@dsldirectllc.com and on Twitter
journal, logging complaints she heard on her daily rounds at @DSLdirect.
of selling. Surprisingly, the number one complaint was

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