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Education

Useless merchants, reps way MLSs operate in our industry. At the very least, it
would greatly reduce the "Flying Monkeys" as one well-
After all these years, I can finally say that many merchants known MLS likes to call them.
produce more grief than income. They are the small ones
that do very little volume and switch at the drop of a hat. I could go on and on, but it's time for me to go into the
The best merchants produce good revenue, have above sunset and let someone else rant and rave. I really
average volume and appreciate what you do for them. I'd appreciate what The Green Sheet has allowed me to do with
rather have 100 great merchants that produce good profits this column, and I hope everyone who has read my articles
than 1,000 pains in the ass. Go for quality, not quantity. has enjoyed them and learned something. Best wishes to
all, and go out and sell something.
We've all seen equipment and technology come and
go. Most have stood the test of time –such as Verifone,
Ingenico and several others. However, one thing that Steve Norell is director of sales at US Merchant Services Inc. Based in Port
drives me crazy is when a rep tells you how much he loves St. Lucie, Fla., he oversees the USMS sales force and maintains the com-
you and wants you to buy his product, only to switch jobs pany's bank and processor relationships. You can reach him by email at
and then say his new company's product is way better steven@usmsllc.com or by phone at 772-220-7515.
than his previous employer's. Be very careful when a rep
you know gets you to take a chance on a new company. I
have done so only to have the company close shop,
and I was left holding the bag.
Questionable recruiters SnapShot of Up Coming Events
The ISO recruiter position should be done away
with. It's a waste of time and money. Recruiters go
from company to company, thinking they can call
their list of MLS contacts to get them to send their
business to them. The first thing the recruiter asks
the MLS is, How many deals can you deliver a
month? The MLS blows the number way up. Then
the recruiter offers the moon to get the MLS to sign:
lower costs, signing bonus, free equipment, new
cars, a trip to Mars and so on. April 8-10, 2019
The MSL signs and submits a whopping five deals a Hilton Washington DC National Mall
month, and they are all garbage merchants. Sound Washington, D.C.
familiar? After a year or so, the recruiter gets the https://www.americanbanker.com/conference
heave ho and goes to the next ISO to recruit again. /power-of-prepaid-2019
Certification/regulation

We are all allowed to collect the most sensitive of
information from merchants, and no state, federal or
local government agency, or the card brands know
who we are. I have spent 20-plus years trying to
institute some type of meaningful certification, only
to be rejected at every turn. Visa and Mastercard
don't seem to care. As I've said before, when was the
last time you saw them enforce the rules pertaining
to MLSs? The rules say that all MLS must market
under the name of the ISO they write for, yet I know
of thousands of MLSs who use their own name. No
one seems to care.
April 30 - May 2, 2019
Visa once had a program that required all MLSs to Mandalay Bay
pay $1,000 a year to play in this arena. Unfortunately, Las Vegas, NV
the person who was in charge of the program https://www.electran.org/events/etatransact/
retired, and it went dark. If only this program would
resurface, we would see a vast improvement in the

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