he relationship is with ISOs, and the company that strives to achieve it is First American Payment Systems, a leading merchant credit card processing acquirer that sees its number one customer as the independent sales office.

First American Payment Systems is the culmination of the vision of two veterans of the payment-processing trenches. In 1990, George Reich started a small ISO in Palm Desert, Calif. In 1993, his longtime acquaintance, Neil Randel, bought half of the organization to assist Reich in taking the company to the next level. Randel assumed the role of President/CEO and moved the entire operation to Fort Worth, Texas.

Today, First American Payment Systems is strong with staff and strategy, including the recent appointment of current ETA President James Plappert as Executive Vice President, but it still retains the same values it started with - namely, being all it can be to the ISO.

How does First American do it? "We strive to bring all our products and services under one roof," says Randel. "Credit, debit, truncation, payment gateway, merchant reporting - even leasing is all in-house. When you outsource, you give yourself the opportunity to have someone shoot you in the foot."

About the only thing First American does outsource is its capture, authorization and settlement, though Randel is quick to point out that it has tight control of the quality of that service as well.

To set themselves apart from the pack, many other acquirers make similar claims of one-stop shopping. Randel insists it's more than a claim, it's a true commitment at First American.

"We actually have everything under one roof," Randel says. "Who else owns their own leasing company, developed their own gateway and has the ability of understanding?"

For Randel, understanding the ISO is what separates First American from that pack. "I started out on the sales side, so I have a real understanding of what frustrations the reps deal with at the merchant level," says Randel. "We can appreciate their challenges. Having a good overall understanding of how all the moving parts fit together is invaluable."

In fact, though credit card processing may be at the core of First American's competency, understanding what the sales rep is looking for and being able to execute on a day-to-day basis is at its heart. But the company also embraces competition.

"Our competition is other ISOs, banks, anybody who's acquiring merchants," says Randel. "But if there wasn't competition out there, we wouldn't have an industry. We welcome friendly competition and quality competition, and we hope we provide that quality competition as well. Once people do business with us, they see there is a difference."

First American's target market for that quality of product and service is the small to midsize merchants. While First American doesn't typically call on stores of large chains, it does have a fair share of multiple merchants in its client base. That base numbers more than 26,000 merchants nationwide, including nearly 300 ATMs.

"We actually own 180 ATMs and process for another 120," says Randel. "Our current strategy is to purchase and acquire both in full-service environments as well as simply processing for those customers who own their own ATMs."

Pricing is another key factor in First American's strategy. "We are very competitive in pricing," says Randel. "Our biggest challenge is probably educating potential sales reps in what are true costs, understanding that everybody plays by the same rules and that everyone has the same interchange costs."

Hand-in-hand with education is training for the ISO at First American. An in-house force of 10 staffers is specifically focused to support ongoing efforts of all field reps. This group also is responsible for getting new offices plugged into First American's system.

The group trains agents on applications, products, services and policy. Include ongoing support through daily, updated reporting as well as all that basic understanding with the specialized training, and First American seems to possess great marketplace appeal.

That appeal has not gone unnoticed, as reflected in the number of ISOs - 300 in 120 offices - who are committed to First American.

How does First American reward all of those relationships? With different residual-program options, according to Randel. The variable is volume and quality of business, with buy-rate programs, revenue-share programs and split programs. The constant for all is what the ISO brings to the party.

"We look for honesty, integrity and the ability to bring business to our door but not at all costs," says Randel. "We don't typically sign up people without bankcard business experience."

First American promises next-day activation for most merchant accounts as well as a 24/7 help desk handling all customer complaints, questions and technical needs. Its in-house leasing arm, Merimac Capital, offers fully funding leases that are carried full term.

With such a comprehensive suite of products and services, it would appear First American has few barriers to a successful business, but that is not true.

"Keeping quality of ISOs and processing at a very high level is our biggest challenge," says Randel. "With some of the things that have gone on this past year, such as the FTC investigations, we need to make sure we are all doing things the right way. "We all fear government intervention, so we are going to have to police ourselves. There is a big responsibility for all of us to maintain our integrity."

Randel continues, "There is going to be more consolidation of the industry but also opportunities for well- run, quality organizations to flourish. This is certainly not a mature industry, and there are opportunities for us to do it right. Scale and critical mass is going to be important to have."

Randel sees those opportunities emerging from the flurry of recent mergers and acquisitions. "To a certain degree, people have made a lot of money from acquisitions, but it has given us a terrific opportunity because they haven't been handled right," he says. "Merchants are feeling lack of support and not getting the same level of service. We're still focusing on our core business - growing one merchant at a time."

Randel does admit, however, that First American is also looking for strategic acquisitions of portfolios as well as sales organizations to grow its business.

"We won't make the mistakes others have made, though," he says. "Salespeople are looking for a high-quality organization they can depend upon day in and day out.

"Our industry is a great industry. The opportunity for growth is strong. There are so many products out there that merchants don't yet have. Our industry is ongoing, and some processors aren't changing with it. The key word is change, but there are some things that are core. That is good quality service and doing what you say you are going to do."