hat's more important to a business: having the knowledge and skills that come from years of experience or having the excitement and energy of someone just starting out? You don't have to choose because there is a merchant services provider that has both: Charge Card Systems Inc. (CCS).

The founders of this three-year-old company have decades of experience running successful businesses. Although they are newcomers to the financial services industry they possess the fresh perspective that comes with starting new.

CCS' founders, father and son Bernard and Jeffrey Shavitz and friend Anthony Andreozzi didn't just wake up one day and decide to enter the financial services industry.

Andreozzi started and owned the largest independent chain of hearing aid stores; Bernard Shavitz spent more than 20 years as the Chief Executive Officer of a manufacturer of office products for Fortune 500 companies; and Jeffrey Shavitz, an investment banker, owned a promotional marketing business for 11 years after working at Lehman Brothers.

All three sold their businesses prior to forming CCS.

In late 2001 they were introduced to the industry and were impressed. "We were enamored by the ISO business model," said Bernard Shavitz, CCS CEO. "You only have to read The Green Sheet to see how many ISOs are out there."

After a year of due diligence, they decided to throw their hats in the ring. Even though they were beginning a new venture they were not naïve. They understood that to be successful they would have to combine their new perspective and energy with established industry experience.

"Having done our homework, we understood that an experienced staff was necessary to reduce the learning curve and become competitive from the start," Andreozzi, CCS President said. As a result, they hired key personnel with years of industry experience.

Now, less than three years later, CCS has 16 full-time employees, two regional offices and more than 100 active sales agents nationwide. In addition to its sales agents, the company has a formal Referring Partners Program with more than 20 organizations; its processing volume increases exponentially each month.

In July 2005 CCS secured the largest merchant in its portfolio, one that processes $15 million per month.

"CCS is only 2 1/2 years old, but our accomplishments, we are told by veterans in the bankcard industry, are most impressive," said Jeffrey Shavitz, CCS Executive Vice President.

The company provides a variety of services including but not limited to card processing; check verification, guarantee and conversion; recurring billing; gift and loyalty programs; e-commerce processing; and leasing solutions.

Telling It Like It Is

CCS' mission is to " ... conduct our business with integrity and honesty while creating value for our stockholders, employees and merchants," Bernard Shavitz said.

Three distinguishing features help CCS live its mission. The company is a fresh face in the industry, it is registered with multiple processors and it tells it like it is.

"Perhaps our not being in this business that long has provided us with a perspective that transcends 'business as usual,'" Andreozzi said.

Access to Multiple Processors

CCS is a registered ISO with First Data Corp., National Processing Co., Paymentech LP and Best Payment Solutions. CCS also has other affiliations, which enable it to handle most types of processing needs, whether they are start-up, MO/TO, pay at the pump or difficult-to-place merchant accounts.

"We believe that our investment with these multiregistrations will benefit our agents significantly with a menu of underwriting criteria," Shavitz said. The multiregistration is now a key feature of CCS, but it was not part of the original business plan. "As we dove into the industry, we realized how intricate and complicated it is, and we understood that one processor can better serve a particular type of merchant than another," Bernard Shavitz said.

"We quickly understood that being registered with multiple processors creates opportunities for our agents. We were willing to pay the fees to get the opportunities that a single processor or bank could not," he said.

CCS has a healthy mix of smaller merchants as well as accounts processing seven figures per month. "It is very unusual for ISOs like ourselves to register with three banks," Jeffrey Shavitz said. "We have enough business to go around."

The multiprocessor registrations are very important to CCS, but the principals believe that the ethical standards to which they hold employees and agents are more essential and will lead to their success.

"We are aware of numerous horror stories where agents have been taken advantage of, with late commission checks or worse, no commission checks," Jeffrey Shavitz said. "We are well capitalized and have never been late making a payment to an agent and/or supplier since our inception."

Focusing on Niche Markets

CCS is dedicated to developing niche markets, such as in the healthcare industry and the franchise marketplace. Specifically, CCS Medical works with medical practices, hospitals and healthcare organizations.

The company is the preferred credit card processor for two nationally known healthcare systems in New Jersey and New York, with more than 300 individual merchant accounts. CCS represents the entire Mt. Sinai Medical System, which includes not only the medical payments but also nonmedical areas such as the parking garage, cafeteria, gift shop and school.

CCS' Franchise Merchant Services works on programs within the franchisee and franchisor community. It specializes in working with franchisors, which endorse them at the parent level. This provides introductions to thousands of franchisees nationally. With this outreach, CCS receives qualified leads for its sales partners nationwide.

Supporting Agents

CCS works to recruit and maintain high-producing agents by paying them well, paying them on time and supporting them through marketing materials and training.

The company is focused on acquiring productive agents. "If we can identify high-producing agents in the country, we are not opposed to paying them a salary, plus other benefits, plus commission," Bernard Shavitz said. CCS is also implementing a health insurance plan for its active agents.

Having multiple processors is important, but CSS understands that if ISOs can't attract merchants in the first place, they won't have the chance to show them what they can do for them. That's why CCS also provides marketing and telemarketing support to its agents.

"One of our most important challenges is to support our agents to help them generate the incomes to which they aspire," Bernard Shavitz said. CCS recognizes that some agents may not have experience selling larger accounts and may need support. "We help them close big deals," Jeffrey Shavitz said. CCS employs a management team who will travel nationally to help its agents close national deals.

CCS also has a telemarketing department to generate leads for agents. It has rented space, including state-of-the-art communications equipment, from a large telesales company.

The telemarketing staff is comprised of CCS employees, but since they work from an established telesales facility, they have the advantage of using the professional infrastructure and technology of a 25-year-old telesales business.

"Our individual telesales people are making 200 calls a day and securing multiple meetings daily for our active sales partners," Jeffrey Shavitz said.

The company offers training as well as marketing and advertising support. "Our sales partners enjoy the in-house marketing efforts of direct mail, local Internet advertising, trade show involvement and telesales follow-up, which has also proven as excellent sales growth opportunities for our active agent base," Andreozzi said.

CCS also employs an in-house graphic designer who creates customized marketing and sales collateral for agents.

The Future Is Bright

The future looks bright for CCS, as it has plans to relocate to a larger facility and debut a new agent Web site. Soon it will move to its new corporate headquarters, which is three times larger than its existing home office. CCS will also continue to serve the New York metropolitan area from its northern New Jersey regional office.

Also, the company will launch the CCS AgentOffice, a backend technology solution that enables agents to view and manage their accounts and provide real-time reporting and communication. The program includes full accounting, status of merchants, residuals paid, application submissions, underwriting status, account tracking and profit reports.

CCS offers access to multiple processors, a focus on niche markets and a record of on-time payments.

As an ISO or merchant level salesperson (MLS) who wants to work with an organization backed by decades of business experience yet fueled by fresh energy, you might want to check out CCS.