Your community bank is a vital contributor to the financial well-being of your community. Your clients trust you with their most important assets and look to you for financial assistance, advice, and security.
Key Takeaways You Will Get From This Article
1. A merchant services program allows your bank to provide payment processing and acceptance solutions to your clients. The right merchant services program will create valuable connections for both your clients and your bank.
2. The right merchant services program can help you retain more clients, compete with larger banks, and even position yourself as an expert in both banking and payment acceptance.
3. The right merchant services partner will be by your side, every step of the way, to make sure your clients find the solution best suited to their business.
4. EMS offers a variety of professional marketing solutions to help you start conversations about merchant services with your clients.
Even though you and your clients may have a shared loyalty to your community, big bank competition can still get in the way. Large national banks such as Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, and KeyBank dominate big cities and spread into many smaller communities.
These banks are well-known, household names across the United States. That means when someone in your community is looking for a new bank, they may choose one of these simply because they recognize the name. That standard alone is tough to compete with, but it’s not all you have to overcome.
To truly be competitive, you’ll have to present your clients with everything those big banks can… and more. That means offering outstanding customer service, competitive fees and rates, and innovative merchant services.
In this post, we’ll explain the ins and outs of a good merchant services program and how it can serve your community bank.
Table of Contents
What is a Merchant Services Program?
Merchant services are our favorite subject, but they are an often overlooked area of opportunity for banks like yours. That’s one of the reasons we are sharing this post with you today.
We could tell you every little detail about how merchant services work and why they’re important, but that would be a whole lot to read. So, in the interest of time, here are some simple definitions before we move on.
At their core, merchant services are the services a business uses to accept and process payments. There are many ways to accept payments today, which makes the term “merchant services” quite broad. It could refer to anything from full-scale point of sale solutions to payment gateways, mobile payment acceptance tools, and more.
A merchant services provider is the company that provides the hardware and software involved with accepting and processing payments. For example, Electronic Merchant Systems is a leading merchant services provider and payment processor. To best serve our merchants and partners, we provide innovative, secure products and services including:
- Payment processing
- Surcharge programs
- Mobile payment acceptance solutions
- Point of sale solutions for retail and restaurants
- Custom gift and loyalty card programs
- eCommerce, payment gateways, and web design
Before we move on to the last definition of this section, we want to share a bit more with you about payment processing. This is a big part of what EMS provides to merchants, which is why we put it at the top of this list.
As a payment processor, we manage and safeguard many types of electronic payment transactions including all major credit cards, debit cards, electronic benefits transfer (EBT), stored-value, and electronic check services. Essentially, we make sure your clients are accepting payments securely and we serve as a first line of defense to help protect them from fraud. To learn more about the parties involved with payment processing, check out our Pyramid of Payment Processing infographic.
Now, back to our regularly scheduled definitions.
A merchant services program allows your bank to provide these payment processing and acceptance solutions to your clients. The right merchant services program will create valuable connections for both your clients and your bank.
If you choose your partner wisely, the advantages you receive through a merchant services program can help your bank stand out from the competition.
How Can this Program Help My Business?
The right merchant services program can help your business in many ways. It can help you retain more clients, compete with larger banks, and even position yourself as an expert in both banking and payment acceptance. If you’re looking for a merchant services program, you don’t have to go much further! Electronic Merchant Systems has developed a dynamic partnership program for banks like yours.
We mentioned before that EMS is a leading merchant services provider. Throughout our 30 years of experience, we’ve received numerous awards and accolades honoring our commitment to outstanding customer support and innovation. We are proud of these achievements but are even more proud of the service we provide to our merchants and partners every day.
Partner with us to add secure, reliable merchant services solutions to the list of products and services you provide. Plus, we’ll happily support your bank as you help clients establish and grow their business.
Through a partnership with EMS, you’ll receive:
Marketing Assistance to Help You Compete with Household Names
EMS offers a variety of professional marketing solutions to help you start conversations about merchant services with your clients. When you partner with us, your bank will become the first place a client turns when they have questions about starting their business. Our connection makes you more than a bank, it makes you an expert. That expertise, combined with your local presence for small business clients, can give you an advantage over the big bank competition.
Residual Payments to Grow Your Business
When you refer a merchant to EMS, you’ll receive consistent residual payments from their account with us. That’s additional income for you to invest right back into your business!
Receive Reliable, Personal Support
As an EMS partner, you’ll always receive the personal, loyal attention you deserve. We’ll assign you a dedicated account manager to provide marketing materials, lead reports, and anything else you or your clients may need. We’ll also give you access to view the activity and profitability of your business clients through a unique partner portal.
Local, In-Person Assistance
If you need additional support, all you need to do is ask. We employ 11 regional offices across the country and would be happy to provide in-person assistance or consultation for your clients. No matter where you are, EMS is never far away.
Plus, our dedicated, professional customer support staff is here to assist you and your clients 24/7/365. Whether you have a question at 3PM or 3AM, we’ll be standing by to take your call.
To learn more about partnering with EMS, click here.
At the end of the day, a merchant services program is designed to help you retain more clients and avoid getting lost beneath the big bank competition. The right partner will be by your side, every step of the way, to make sure your clients find the solution best suited to their business. Contact us today to learn more.
Sources: PYMNTS 2017, The Balance
