Page 27 - gs260202

Insights and Expertise

For card-present environments, ISVs must evaluate both For ISVs, few decisions carry more strategic weight.
software integration and hardware strategy. That single Getting it right requires more than a polished demo
decision radically expands compliance obligations, or a well-weighted rubric. It requires a clear Day 365
support needs, and long-term risk. perspective, grounded operational insight, and the
humility to recognize what you do not yet know.
ISVs must assess which decisions are reversible, which are
not, and whether a prospective partner can operate within, If you don't have that perspective in-house, borrow it,
rather than constrain, existing development choices. before signing.

Pricing is important—and often misleading
As founder of Humboldt Merchant Services, co-founder of Eureka
Pricing is always critical, but it is also the most over-indexed Payments, and a former executive for such payments innovators as
metric because it is the easiest to compare. Numbers feel WePay, a division of JPMorgan Chase, Ken Musante has experience
objective. Payments professionals like numbers. Do not be in all aspects of successful ISO building. He currently provides con-
fooled by sticker price alone. True cost includes: sulting services and expert witness testimony as founder of Napa
• Internal staffing and escalation burden Payments and Consulting, www.napapaymentsandconsulting.com.
• Vendor replacement risk Contact him at kenm@napapaymentsandconsulting.com, 707-601-
7656 or www.linkedin.com/in/ken-musante-us.
• Constraints on future product innovation
• Long-term pricing adjustments and margin
compression
• These costs rarely surface in demos 2026 Events
and seldom appear in RFPs.
A better way to evaluate
Nacha’s Smarter Faster Payments 2026
Before engaging a processor, ISVs should April 26 - 29, 2026, San Diego, Ca.
conduct a rigorous self-assessment. Un-
derstand your own assets and liabilities
so you can identify a partner that truly IPA’s Innovative Payments Conference
meshes with your needs. Understand
your competition and relative gaps. De- April 29 - May 1, Washington, DC
fine clearly what you expect to build in-
house versus what you expect a partner
to deliver. Map geographic expansion SEAA 2026
plans and identify emerging features June 8 - 11, 2026, Miami, Fl.
that may be strategically important.

Define what successful implementation MWAA 2026
actually looks like, and be prepared to
manage the internal change required to July 22 - 23, 2026, Chicago, Il.
support it.

Speak with existing processor clients. MAG Payments Conference 2026
Validate integration commitments. Un- Sept. 27 - 30, 2026, Nashville, TN
derstand reputation, corporate structure,
and how those factors influence future
investment, pricing escalation and sup- Visit www.greensheet.com/datebook.php for
port. Review release notes, updates, fre- more events and a year-at-a-glance event chart
quency of releases and compatibility. You
can learn a lot from the past, and though or email events@greensheet.com if you have a
it's not a guarantee of future perfor- event/show you wish to be listed.
mance, it is a highly correlated predictor.
The Day 365 perspective

Processor decisions are heavy and long-
lasting. They shape economics, product
flexibility, customer experience and
organizational velocity.

27