Merchant Acquiring 101 Teleconference

MERCHANT ACQUIRING 101

August 26, 2008 - 1:00pm EST (1 hour)
David Fish, Senior Analyst, Credit Advisory Services

Please join us August 26, 2008 at 1 p.m. for an incisive look at the acquiring side of the payments ecosystem. Key themes will include the following:

• Acquiring is the side of the payments industry most often misunderstood due mainly to the fact that historically it has been obscured from the eye of the consumer.
  
• The US market for acquiring has become almost stagnant due to near total penetration of card payment acceptance within the merchant space.
  
• Several challenges have evolved lately in the acquiring industry, some as symptoms of market saturation, and some due to non-core providers that have entered the space. Other challenges have arisen in the public and legal sectors as merchants and policy makers pursue litigation and legislation.
  
• Acquirer strategy for surviving the current environment relies on a holistic approach to payments and merchant services. The sale of value-added services alongside core card acceptance services is becoming increasingly important as bankcard payments become more and more commoditized.