The Green Sheet Online Edition
November 11, 2008 • 08:11:02
FirstLook
The golden rule of payments
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Golden Payments Solutions Inc..James C. Lentz, President and Chief Executive Officer |
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Lentz is confident GPS has all three, since it was approved on Aug. 1, 2008, as a direct ISO for First Data Corp. "This was absolutely a timing thing, but I was confident that my industry knowledge and sales experience would allow GPS to succeed, and this just happened to be right," Lentz said. GPS is a comprehensive payment processor. The company provides credit and debit card processing, as well as check processing, gift and loyalty programs, and MO/TO to both brick and mortar and e-commerce merchants. GPS' portfolio already contains a number of high-volume, multichain retailers and restaurants. Speaking the same languageLentz has been in sales more than 30 years and a merchant level salesperson since 1997; he worked for First Data Corp. and Chase Paymentech Solutions LLC for three years, spending most of that time as a top five sales agent. But after 9/11, Lentz assisted in the start-up of processor Five Star Merchant Services Inc. and worked there as an agent. He and a colleague wrote 90 percent of the business the first year the company was opened. But soon after Lentz set up his own sub-ISO with Five Star, a management change at Five Star prompted him to leave and start his own company. "The bottom line is the company is up and running now, we're signing contracts, growing our business, and I'm already looking to expand my agent base significantly over the course of the next three to six months," Lentz said. Born and bredSince 1974, when Lentz sold televisions and appliances in Omaha, Neb., he has always loved sales. "I'm a salesman at heart, always have been, and I speak the merchants' language," Lentz said. "The whole thing is, you've got to have all the bullets in the gun - as a salesman - to go out and get whatever account you're standing in front of and be able to sell to a merchant based on their particular need. It's simply about saving them money and building a relationship." Lentz expects to continue to expand GPS' footprint. He wants GPS to service mom-and-pop shops doing $10,000 to $15,000 a year in electronic transactions just as much as the companies transacting $10 million. Lentz understands merchants are constantly fighting higher costs of doing business and believes GPS has the ability to reduce merchants' processing costs. "Everything costs more tomorrow, and the only way GPS or any of my entities is going to be effective is if they have something unique to offer, and that it is at a better price than what they're paying today," Lentz said. "With all the transparency we have now, merchants can negotiate with multiple vendors and multiple processors trying to get the best deals," he added. "Today, it's about who is going to show the merchant what's real and tell them the truth, and that's what I'm looking for in agents and organizations that are going to work with me."
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t Golden Payment Solutions Inc., timing isn't everything. Jim Lentz, President and Chief Executive Officer at the Texas-based ISO, said timing matters little unless a company has integrity and an educated workforce.