The Green Sheet Online Edition
August 25, 2025 • 25:08:02
Street Smarts
Is it time to go fintech?
Voided check? Not all business owners carry a checkbook; some don't even use checks. Bank letter? Why ask for a signed affidavit when you can use modern tools like Plaid to verify bank accounts? New bank account? Why take two to three days to update a customer profile? Pended application? Why make boarding a new merchant so painful?
As we often hear on Shark Tank, "There has to be a better way." Here are three simple approaches to speeding up our deal flow:
- Application uploads: Automate the onboarding process by enabling merchant level salespeople (MLSs) to click on a link to submit merchant applications. Similar to a payment link, this would reduce errors and speed approvals by eliminating manual entry.
- Smart applications: Save time with smart onboarding systems and real-time verification. These systems can cross-reference federal tax IDs to see if merchants have applications on file, auto-populate addresses, format phone numbers, and verify customer account and routing numbers, eliminating the need for a bank letter.
- Sign-up links: ISOs need to look at Square, Stripe and other fintechs and replace 20-page merchant applications with simple sign-up links. Imagine how productive and happy this would make your MLSs, not to mention merchants!
Crowd-sourced intelligence
Has your GPS ever warned you about potential police activity or a slow-down up ahead on the road? Imagine having an app that would warn ISOs and MLSs about serial offender prospects. This would solve a lot of problems for everyone.
Have you ever submitted an app and provided more information when asked, only to have the app rejected two or three days later? Maybe the merchant had too many chargebacks, applied too many times for services or another agent had already submitted the deal. Whatever the reason, it's a waste of time for you and the business owner.
We've gained a ton of data from recent consolidations that we can leverage. Crowd-sourced intel on prospects would benefit the entire merchant application chain. Customer portals Having a portal for your merchant was a big thing about 15-plus years ago and never caught fire for several reasons. Early prototype portals were not that impressive, and retailers who were just using countertop terminals didn't bother to log in on a regular basis.
Today, however, these portals have a lot more to offer. Merchants can see authorizations, batches, statements (no more snail mail) and they can even manage chargebacks on the portals.
Chargeback documents no longer have to be mailed or faxed; responses can be uploaded directly into the portal. Embedded finance is another area where fintechs are way ahead of ISOs. We need to offer loans in the customer portal, which some companies have already implemented, but we need to offer credit cards, lines of credit and equipment finance, not just cash advance.
Loans offered in the portal: some companies have this but more need this.
Give merchants a reason to log in and keep coming back. Does your ISO have its own gateway and virtual terminal? Why not offer a free Woo Commerce plug in and API for larger merchants? Payroll is another money maker that is being used by Toast, Square, QuickBooks and other fintechs.
It's go time!
ISOs need to get going now. If you have not built an automated boarding tool, it's time to partner with someone and get one now because Stripe, Square and other fintechs are eating our lunch. While the days of going door to door are not over, the way to get business is changing, and it's time to go fintech. Fintechs may do a poor job of underwriting, but they board business faster. We spend our time trying to get their customers to switch to us but they are outmaneuvering us in onboarding accounts.
Another thing to keep in mind, which I discussed in a previous Street Smarts column, is that fintechs don't sell processing; they sell product, and their customers don't complain about high processing rates because they want the technology. ISOs that own their tech can attract and retain more customers by capitalizing on emerging trends like these:
- Buy now, pay later: Consumers can opt into BNPL during in-store and ecommerce checkouts. It's time for ISOs to participate in BNPL revenue streams.
- Digital assets: With all the current buzz about stablecoin and digital assets, it remains to be seen if cryptocurrency will gain steam in the merchant community or if ISOs will be last to incorporate these nascent currencies into our platforms.
Hey ISO owners, let's end outdated practices. How many products and services on the go-fintech checklist in the sidebar accompanying this article does your company offer? It's time to invest – time to change – and time to Go Fintech!
Want to know more? Keep reading The Green Sheet and consider following me on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/allenkopelman/,
where we can share ideas and support each other.
Allen Kopelman, a serial entrepreneur, is co-founder and CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. and host of B2B Vault: The Biz to Biz podcast. Email him at allen@npsbank.com and connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenkopelman/ and Twitter @AllenKopelman.
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