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Education

A compelling plus: since may trigger a red flag with the processor's risk department,
which may lead them to ask questions and raise concerns.
merchants using HPPs are not It is also possible the processor will decide to hold deposits.
seeing or capturing payment data, For a merchant, these issues may be uncomfortable or

they limit their potential breach frightening. This is true even if they are not shipping
liability and find PCI compliance products but instead delivering purchases or having items
picked up. It’s a good idea to ask an underwriter or risk ex-
easier to obtain. pert to help you understand the basics behind these types
of concerns. You don’t need to be a subject matter expert,
but you do need to know the basics of each factor before you
overview of areas to master. I encourage you to research can discuss them with merchants. It would also be benefi-
all of them deeply, including the options for shopping cial to have an HPP solution in your toolbox (the lower the
carts and HPPs. cost the better).
Online sales basics to learn Once you are comfortable discussing online commerce, you
can help merchants identify potential areas of future pain.
You must understand the components that make online And to do so you must begin with a general open-ended
sales work, for example, why shopping carts are needed question. If you have researched a merchant, you should
and how they work. Many come with modules to support know whether the business is offering some form of online
a range of options. They may also communicate with ordering and/or delivery.
POS systems.
Open-ended questions
Online card acceptance likely runs through an HPP,
which redirects card acceptance on the merchant’s web- If so, one sample question may be, “I am visiting merchants
page to a page provided to submit payment and obtain like you to help them address today’s challenges. I noticed
approval. The HPP will respond to the webpage with a you offer online orders. Is this new? If so, how have you
one-time token. A compelling plus: since merchants us- addressed the higher expense and the added risk?” Be pre-
ing HPPs are not seeing or capturing payment data, they pared for them to not be aware of these issues. A follow-
limit their potential breach liability and find PCI compli- up question may be, “Were you made aware of the higher
ance easier to obtain. interchange expenses?” or “Were you made aware of the
higher risk?"
The biggest likely pain for online and other card-not-
present transactions is the higher cost associated with If your research shows a business has no online component,
this acceptance process. Interchange is higher. It can you could ask, “I am visiting merchants who have survived
range from as low as 30 basis points higher to as much the lockdown to see what they have done to survive—and
A Also find us on lso find us on FFacebook, acebook,
as 150 basis points higher than face-to-face categories. In to share information about ways they can leverage today’s
addition, there normally are costs for the HPP and third- buyers’ new habits. Many have seen a loss in sales since
L LinkedIn & inkedIn & TTwitter for the witter for the
party shopping cart. These may include a monthly fee consumers now prefer to buy/order online. Have you tried
and a per-transaction cost. (Online transactions do cost to address these, and has it worked?”
most up-to-date stories, t up-to-date stories,
mos
more; be careful how you position this expense or you
may find cost taking over the conversation.) Again, the goal is to get them talking. You may have to pull
can’t miss events and newest an’t miss events and newest
c
the answers out by acknowledging their answer and asking
Additional risk factors ind them to elaborate on it. One simple way is to respond with,
industry announcements.ustry announcements.
Lastly, selling online inherently brings added risk to the “And?" Most will expand their response.
transaction. If the merchant has been processing predom- It is important not to jump at the first opportunity to pres-
inantly face to face, an increase in remote transactions ent a solution. Ask more questions and gain more informa-
tion. Jumping in too soon may keep you from identifying a
bigger reason for them to sign with you. And isn't gaining
their business the goal?

Jeff Fortney is vice president ISO relations for Signature Payments. A
h long-time payments industry executive and mentor, Jeff is focused on
https://www.facebook.com/TheGreenSheetIncttps://www.facebook.com/TheGreenSheetInc
strengthening and developing partnerships and evaluating new business
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-green-sheetttps://www.linkedin.com/company/the-green-sheet
h opportunities. He can be reached at 214-458-1379.
h
https://twitter.com/The_Green_Sheetttps://twitter.com/The_Green_Sheet

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