Paymentech Portfolios: Staying On The Paymentech Platform
Recently we’ve experienced an increase in inquiries from First Data ISO’s (formerly Paymentech ISO’s) whose merchant accounts are still primarily processing on a Paymentech front and back-end. The impetus for the inquiries are manifold: 1) ISO owners are being forced to convert their merchant accounts off the Paymentech platform and over to First Data; 2) ISO owners are not happy with First Data’s policy of assessing all their small and medium ISOs with a bundled regulatory charge for all the new reporting requirements (typically $4/month/merchant); and 3) ISO owners are not happy with First Data no longer supporting certain Paymentech supported front-end POS systems. All these factors compel the ISO owner to ask the following question: Is there any way I can keep my merchants processing on a Paymentech platform and not have to stay with First Data and abide by their mandatory conversion, new assessments, and lack of support for existing POS systems?
The simple answer to this question is YES.
Former Paymentech ISO’s whose processing agreement is now owned by First Data have 2 options; they can sell, or they can move their portfolio to a larger ISO who has a direct processing relationship with Paymentech.
The good news for many of these ISO owners is that even though their processing agreement is owned by First Data, they still have the conditional rights and entitlements of the original Paymentech agreement. One of those rights which Paymentech gave most, if not all of their ISO’s, was portability, or an ownership interest in the merchant contracts. Therefore those merchants can be moved (ported) over to another registered ISO with a direct processing relationship.
If you’re an ISO owner who finds yourself in this position, feel free to contact us as at MerchantPortfolios.com or Preston Todd Advisors as we can guide you to qualified companies who can assist you in your efforts to keep your merchant accounts on the Paymentech platform.
