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CompanyProfile

Truly cooperative merchant services

hree years ago, Ben Levitan consulted with
friends Irwin Grossman and Evan Hackel to
tackle a business challenge he'd identified. All
T three men were C-level leaders from diverse
industries; together, they worked to outline the solution.
And soon Delta Payment Solutions was born. Grossman,
chief executive officer of the Westin, Mass.-based ven-
ture the three men launched, said Levitan described the
challenge: the merchant processing industry has become
"more complex, less transparent and more expensive" in
the last 10 to 15 years.

After considering the landscape, the trio concluded some ISO/MLS contact:
business sectors were getting hit harder than others. Irwin Grossman
Among them were midsize companies, especially those
at the low end of the bracket. Chief Executive Officer
"We wanted to figure out how to help these companies irwin@mydeltaps.com
work with an industry where there are hundreds of agents,
ISOs and resellers that make the industry very difficult to 781-864-3141
navigate and really understand what truth is," Grossman
said. Hackel's career was in the franchise and cooperative
arena, and it was his knowledge that ultimately led the they leave the group, that investment is refunded. The
men to look at the payments industry through a similar Delta cooperative manages vendor relationships, negoti-
lens. "We decided to start a company that managed a co- ating exclusive rates for its members, and assists members
operative, and we believe we're the only true cooperative with submitting new merchant account applications.
in the merchant processing space," Grossman stated.
Sweetening the value "They [cooperatives] work for the benefit of their mem-
bers to get advantageous cost positions and share best
Grossman said introducing the cooperative business practices," Grossman stated, adding that Delta's partners
model into the merchant services world enables Delta "to and members view the cooperative as a credible organi-
use buying power to negotiate really great rate structures zation that looks out for small and mid-sized merchants.
to pass on to merchants who are members, without add- "Many back-end processors and large ISOs don't go after
ing obscene amounts of margin." He also noted 50 percent the small side of the mid-sized company sector," he said.
of the revenue earned by the cooperative is returned to "Our whole approach is to be simpler, very transparent
the merchants in the form of rebates. "By combining that and lower cost."
structure with a co-op, we're providing merchants with a
value proposition that is hard to beat," he said. Benefits for all
Delta has a complement of referral partners who connect
Delta offers its members access to a growing network of them to decision-makers inside merchant organizations
credit and debit card processing providers and financing or service providers that might consider optimizing their
partners as well as an accounts receivable management solutions. Grossman indicated these partners range from
program. Grossman noted that the cooperative is also individuals who make introductions and set up initial
working with a partner that provides larger merchants meetings to very experienced professionals who take on
and business networks with private-label credit cards the majority of the marketing and sales process. "We have
that include full loyalty programs. a strong compensation program that continues through-
out the life of every client associated with each referral
"All of the products and services we give the merchants partner," Grossman said.
will work with the 50 percent rebate, and as we grow, that
incremental rebate will grow in 5 percent increments un- Delta's founders affirmed that as the company continues
til we give back 75 percent," Grossman stated.
to evolve, they will continue to seek new ways to serve
Members only members and expand the cooperative's value. "This is un-
heard of in the payment processing industry, and to some
Delta's cooperative works exactly like big-brand, commu- it's counter intuitive, but it provides merchant members
nity bank or credit union cooperatives. Members pay a with yet another way to enhance profitability," Grossman
small fee upfront to own a single share of stock, and if said.
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