Tag Archives: settlement

Challenging Tradition: Alternative Payment Solutions

For as long as consumers have shopped, merchants have provided payment solutions. Whether it was through a barter system when money got tight or during the advent of the credit card, both buyers and sellers have gravitated to the most economical and efficient payment methods at hand. That is why this season of payment solutions is so fascinating. The trends are definitely shifting, and consumers are choosing with their wallets, literally in this case. Merchants are also seeCaptureking solutions that protect their bottom lines.

Intevacon offers a unique payment solution focused exclusively on the oil marketer—we created this system for the marketer, and our business model is built for his/her benefit. As a card processor, Intevacon provides all levels of card processing data—transaction details, quantities, taxes, product codes, etc.—without having to involve the middlemen.

Think of the traditional credit card processor. When you think of this credit card processor, you also have to think of all of the other players involved—the banks (both the cardholder and the merchant bank), the issuer of the card, the acquirer, etc. Credit card fees continue to increase as each player takes a piece of the pie. With margins for fuel counted in pennies, this cut is noticeable to a marketer. Not only does the marketer sacrifice his/her margin to processing fees, but he/she also loses the relationship to the cardholder.

We have seen traditional banks fall out of vogue more and more in time. An article in CSP News titled “Blowing Up the Bank” starts with the line “The banking system today is going to be totally blown up in the next 10 years.”1 Alternative banking and payment solutions are the way of the future. Another article corroborating this claim quotes the research firm, Packaged Facts, saying that approximately 40% of adults 18 years or older are unbanked.2 With this trend, we will continue seeing a shift away from traditional banking to “non-bank” funding accounts and reloadable prepaid cards.

Several non-traditional players have emerged, amongst them: Google, Paypal, and Amazon. We are excited for this new landscape of payment solutions, as it challenges the status quo and gives both consumers and merchants new options. When considering how you will choose to conduct business, consider your partners carefully. An article recently published in Forbes about the future of mobile payments stated, “Whoever ends up with controlling interests in this new digital ecosystem will reap billions in transaction fees, collect massive amounts of consumer data […].”3

Intevacon’s focus is to provide card processing services to our marketers so that you will be able to grow and protect your margins. Your success is our success. With Intevacon, you will always be in the center of your relationship with your customer. We are transparent and generous with our pricing model, and we offer the best customer service in the industry. Give us a call if you want to learn more about adopting a proprietary fleet card program through Intevacon. Now is the time to take back control of the transactions you are working so hard to achieve.

Contact us at 678-739-4450 or moreinfo@intevacon.com to get more information. http://www.Intevacon.com

 

  1. “Blowing Up the Bank.” CSP. April 2014. Web. April 2014. http://www.cspnet.com/industry-news-analysis/technology/articles/blowing-bank
  2. “General Merchandise: Prepaid & Financial Services 2014.” CSP. April 2014. Web. April 2014. http://www.cspnet.com/print/csp-magazine/article/general-merchandise-prepaid-financial-services-2014?page=0%2C0&utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Daily%20News%2004-28-2014%20%281%29&utm_content=&spMailingID=45724913&spUserID=MjU0MDQ1OTk0MjkS1&spJobID=423296958&spReportId=NDIzMjk2OTU4S0
  3. “Can PayPal Beat Apple, Google, Amazon And Icahn In The Wallet Wars?” Forbes. March 2014. Web. March 2014.http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/02/12/can-paypal-beat-apple-google-amazon-and-icahn-in-the-wallet-wars/

Settling Swipe Fees

iStock_000002480172SmallOn Friday, December 13th, US District Judge John Gleeson approved the $5.7 billion class-action swipe fee settlement that has been in discussion since 2012.  This settlement is the offspring of private anti-trust litigation that was filed by NACS in 2005 against major credit card companies and banks.  The approved settlement was stated to be “woefully inadequate”, and therefore, NACS elected to opt out of the settlement.  Now that the settlement has been passed by Judge Gleeson, retailers are said to be left in worse shape than if they had just lost the trial.

This legal decision was very important to marketers, as credit-card swipe fees cost merchants and their customers an estimated $30 billion a year1.  Now that the settlement has passed, merchants will be even less protected from unreasonable rates by the credit card companies.

Here is an excerpt of the response from NACS:

The proposed settlement would give merchants a limited right to surcharge that is too complex to implement and would allow the credit card companies to continue to set prices for their member banks. Furthermore, the proposed settlement would do nothing to give merchants competitive network routing choices, and also lock-in many anti-competitive activities of the credit card companies forever2.

As a payment solutions company, we can only offer our condolences to the merchants whose livelihood is affected by this ruling.  We can also offer a solution to marketers who want to capture back the revenue lost to the major credit card companies.  The Intevacon Proprietary Fleet card allows marketers to offer their customers a payment solution with the capability to leverage card controls, a perfect way to increase loyalty with card holders.  Our rates give marketers an advantage and they also leave margin to reward fuel customers with discounts and other incentives.  Our Prepaid card nicely complements the function of the Fleet card by providing customers with a cash-based method of payment and the convenience of a card.  In all of our efforts, we aim to empower and partner with the marketer.

The petroleum industry fuels the nation’s activity.  At Intevacon, we aspire to equip our marketers with the best solutions and the best pricing to win at this endeavor.  For more information about our fleet and prepaid card solutions, view an introductory presentation here, or reach out at moreinfo@intevacon.com.

http://www.Intevacon.com