eople often think that in order to be considered a leader in the industry, you must have several decades of experience behind you. But this is not the case for Jared Isaacman, who has accomplished in his payments career what others do over several decades: he learned about the bankcard business; he started his own company and watched it grow; and he willingly shares all that he learned with others.

Isaacman is the founder, CEO and Director of Operations of ISO/MSP United Bank Card, Inc. (UBC), a High Bridge, NJ-based credit card processing firm that provides retail, MO/TO and Internet merchants with the ability to accept credit and debit cards. Isaacman founded UBC in 1998, then incorporated the company in 2000; it has been growing by leaps and bounds since.

But it hasn't necessarily been an easy ride. Isaacman and his team have put in some excruciatingly long hours to oversee the company's growth-he says he still typically works 100-hour weeks.

Isaacman said his specialty is in operations because he's worked in nearly every position in every department of his own company as it grew: from providing customer service and technical support, to shipping starter kits, downloading terminals, monitoring risk and approving applications. "I've always been very down and dirty with the business," he said.

"At one point there were four of us doing 100 applications a month, which was incredibly challenging. We did everything. Now we have the pleasure of approving over 800 applications per month."

Isaacman does not consider himself normal, and he said he's never been content with the status quo. He wanted to get out in the real world as quickly as possible, so he pushed his way through high school in Basking Ridge, NJ and graduated at age sixteen. He began his career in the payment processing industry nearly by accident-he took a job with Merchant Services, Inc. in New Jersey managing the company's information systems (IS).

Isaacman worked as MSI's IS Director for about eight months, handling computers and information technology. But he soon realized he wanted more than just a day-to-day job. "I wanted more of a challenge," he said. "I quickly understood the core principles of the industry and how it works, and I could see the potential very early on-so I went off on my own."

For about two years UBC was focused on sales. Isaacman's father, a lifetime salesman, joined the company as did some of Isaacman's friends. Every one had a specialty-some people in sales, some in programming and some in technical areas.

"A lot of people learn this business from the ground up, but I did just the opposite," Isaacman said. "I first learned how the banks and the networks operated and also how interchange works; and from there things started to make sense."

United Bank Card

As Director of Operations at UBC, Isaacman oversees the company's operations and the ISO side of the business. He is also very involved with business development.

From early on, Isaacman said UBC has recognized the importance of working with the ISO/MLS network as a partnership. The company offers an aggressive interchange program and considers itself one of the pioneers in revenue sharing and interchange split programs.

UBC's ISO/MLS program offers same-day approvals, same-day terminal deployment, 24-hour technical support, interchange plus pricing programs and signing bonuses for Discover, American Express and Diners Club; it accepts faxed and online merchant applications, and provides a dedicated ISO manager for each account and an Interactive ISO system, among many others benefits.

UBC's Interactive ISO system provides real time portfolio management for all ISOs and their sales reps and residual reporting online-also in real time.

"We provide all this and the underwriting, risk and support and all of our technology systems," Isaacman said. "For our share of the profits, we take on those burdens. Then our MLSs are out on the street, controlling their own destinies and selling their own programs and that's for their share of the profits."

In 2002, UBC received a bank identification number (BIN) from Provident Bank, for which it is also a registered Member Service Provider (ISO/MSP). United Bank Card also received several nominations and awards in The Green Sheet's 2003 "Best of the Best" reader's poll.

Business has been so good at UBC lately that it opened a second 24-hour customer service and technical support office on August 11, 2003 (located in Tucson, Ariz.) and extended the availability of its on-site support by two hours. "We were probably in one of our worst stages of growing pains," he said. "We were swamped with calls and our growth was exceeding our manpower capabilities."

Learning From Others

When Isaacman first started his business, he said he wasn't formulating business plans and negotiating with banks; he was out on the street selling bankcard processing and installing terminals for merchants. He gives credit to his father, a salesman with an alarm company for more than 30 years, for teaching him about sales. "It shaped my personality," he said. "My father taught me a lot about diplomacy and selling-how to get along with everybody and be as diplomatic as possible to get the job done.

"I also have to give credit to Mario Parisi," Isaacman said. "He was certainly a mentor to me. He shared a lot about his style. I've taken some of that, things I've learned from my father, and I've taken some of my own way of doing things to create where I am now."

"I think Jared is borderline genius," said Parisi, Chief Operations Officer of Merchant Services, Inc. in New Jersey. "He's smart; he's business savvy.

"He's inspirational and has a wealth of knowledge concerning the industry. He's also got a business plan that's working out. He has challenged the market and he's very successful at it."

United Bank Card and Merchant Services, Inc. in New Jersey might be considered competitors, but Isaacman said he and Parisi help each other in business and are still friends. "Over the years our personal relationship has just gotten stronger, and we believe there's a lot of business out there for everyone," Isaacman said.

If you've done the math, you'll know that Isaacman got started in this business at a very young age. Early on, he said he faced many challenges because of this. "When you're that young, it doesn't matter what your knowledge or experience is, people will tend to think less of you," he said. "Typically, everybody's first question was, 'How old are you?' Well, I didn't tell them. If they could figure it out on their own, great."

Sharing Knowledge and Advice

If you're a regular visitor to The Green Sheet's online MLS Forum, then you have probably read numerous postings from Jared Isaacman. He said he tries to answer as many questions on the Forum and in other industry-related chat rooms as much as he can-often in the very early hours of the morning.

"I truly believe in the success of our ISOs/MLSs and assisting new ones with growing their business, even if they're not doing business with us," he said. "People that are out there and are looking to learn, and who are trying to become a success in this industry, I enjoy working with them and helping them reach their goals."

Isaacman offers the following advice to MLSs: Don't make the mistake of trying to rush out and become a registered MSP and take on risk, unless you get to a certain size with a certain amount of volume. "Nowadays, you can get decent pricing as an ISO. To be a registered MSP, the pricing is only better if there are substantial amounts of volume because these networks are working off pennies; they will 'fee' you to death unless you are producing the volume," he said.

Isaacman also advises ISOs/MLSs to read their ISO contracts carefully and to do some checking up on a company's reputation. "I've certainly heard my fair share of horror stories of people who have spent their lives building a residual portfolio and then see it disappear because they signed with the wrong company," he said.

Isaacman started his career earlier than most people do, and he experienced success earlier than most, so that leaves the question of the future: Where to go next?

"We have no exit plan at UBC-we will continue to expand and refine our technologies and our systems," he said. "I'm young, a lot of the managers here are young, and we love the business too much.

"I've talked to the guys who have sold out for millions and they tell me 'Life's great, I'm out on a fishing boat five days a week, I play golf two days a week, and life couldn't be better.' For me, that's about as miserable as it could get."

Isaacman said he takes being called a 'workaholic' as a compliment. "There's nothing in my life that goes above business and my company," he said.

"I think I was really meant to be doing what I'm doing. I've sacrificed relationships in my life and other pleasures just to dedicate my life to this industry and this business."