n 2001 The Green Sheet ranked Business Payment Systems (BPS) as having the most registered representatives of any ISO in the country. At that time, the company had more than 500 independent sales agents and reported annual sales of $1 billion.

In the few short years since then, BPS maintained its momentum. By the end of 2004 the company increased its representatives to 1,500 and annual sales to $3.5 billion.

BPS, a registered ISO/MSP for Bank of America, is the largest ISO for National Processing Co. (NPC). This is significant because NPC processes more than 1.6 billion transactions annually; that's 20% of all MasterCard and Visa transactions nationwide.

BPS' services include credit card authorization and settlement, debit processing, electronic benefits transfer, chargeback solutions, gift cards, ATMs, prepaid products and e-commerce solutions.

"Credit card processing is just not enough," said Sam Chanin, Chief Executive Officer of BPS. "That's why we call our business 'merchant services.'

'Merchant services' means everything helps the merchant do business and that, in turn, helps us do business."

Rapid Growth

BPS has experienced significant growth, especially considering that the company is less than five years old.

"We started off in a small office in Brooklyn, where you couldn't fully stand up because the ceiling was too low," Chanin said.

"We then moved to a larger office in Tarrytown where we would be able to expand our business by a couple hundred deals a month. Shortly afterwards we established the 'Bee Appreciated' incentive program, and business really started to boom."

In 2003 BPS bought out three of the eight partners and became NPC's largest ISO.

It's clear that the future looks as bright as the past for this company. In 2004 alone BPS signed deals with TransAKT Corp., Q Comm International, Secure Payment Systems Inc., and The Bancorp Bank.

MLS Focus

BPS primarily does business with agents; the company very seldom works directly with merchants. "We don't compete with our agents; we allow them to establish their territories and run their business," Chanin said.

In addition to allowing agents to work autonomously, BPS strives to create a supportive environment for merchant level salespeople (MLSs) and gives them the tools to be as productive and successful as possible.

"We're here to be the sales agents' advocate, to make sure their business is being taken care of and that they're being paid properly every month," he said.

BPS understands that the time most MLSs must devote to administrative tasks is time better spent closing sales and increasing the bottom line for both the agent and BPS.

"We are a one-stop shop for all merchant and agent needs," Chanin said. "We take care of the operations work so the sales rep can get out there and do what he does best without having to worry about applications not being processed, terminals not getting downloaded, and residual checks being late or even not coming at all."

The company offers in-house training; in fact, every week 25 - 50 reps take advantage of the training opportunities.

"We are willing to invest our time and our money to make sure your business grows," Chanin said. "We also offer our agents lead generation services for a nominal fee."

While BPS does share revenue based on transactions and sales volume, it does not take a percentage of the equipment or set up fees from the agent.

"We pay out 100% of any upfront fees, equipment fees, application fees, etc.," Chanin said. "On residuals, we make money by sharing revenue with the agent."

Additionally, BPS reports that its timely and continuous residual payments have cut agent attrition to nearly zero.

"We pay residuals on time every month," Chanin said. "We haven't missed a day since we opened up."

Agents are free to recruit sub-agents, but BPS pays everyone directly, which diminishes the risk of agents skimming from their sub-agents.

Agent and Merchant Support

Chanin said that agent and merchant satisfaction prove vital to BPS, and the company spends most of its money on client support and customer service. "A huge part of our business is our client support department," he said.

He also said the company always has fully staffed client and customer support departments and that the average hold-time for merchant calls is less than one minute.

Sales agents "develop a sincere business relationship with their client support representatives and trust them with their money and business, which in turn allows the agent to get out there and sell," Chanin said.

The client and customer support investment has paid off in the form of low merchant attrition rates, less than 1%. BPS training its sales force to disclose everything to merchants, eliminating any unwelcome surprises, might also be a reflection of low merchant attrition.

The company also offers extensive valued-added services. For BPS, value-added services are "golden handcuffs."

Once merchants trust agents with their money, they can then sell them programs such as prepaid, gift card or loyalty services, making it unlikely that merchants will ever need or want to move their credit card processing somewhere else.

Commitment to the Future

Chanin and BPS feel that each MLS has substantial opportunities for growth, and BPS wants to encourage that progress as much as possible.

"Throughout BPS' growth we've gained a lot, but our focus is still the agent," Chanin said. "Our vision at BPS is that within three to five years we have over 100,000 merchants that are truly owned by the merchant level salesperson."

And the company just might accomplish this because, in Chanin's words, "BPS is not something we do for a living ... it's our life!"