Independent Sales Organizations, or ISOs, resell payment processing services to merchants. In exchange, payment processors provide ISOs with commissions from merchants' payment processing fees. Starting an ISO is a great way to enter the payment industry, but it requires significant industry knowledge and financial resources. The registration process alone can cost over $10,000, making it unaffordable for many new entrepreneurs.
However, not all hope is lost if you don't have the resources to start your own ISO. Becoming an ISO agent is an alternative that allows entrepreneurs to resell merchant services and benefit from recurring sales revenue. ISO agents are independent sales agents who act on behalf of ISOs — it's their role to provide sales and support services for ISOs.
This is a step-by-step guide to becoming a merchant account reseller. We'll outline exactly how to begin reselling merchant services as an ISO agent!
An ISO, or Independent Sales Organization, is a company that has permission to resell a payment processor's merchant services. Merchant service providers use ISOs to outsource the sales and support elements of running a payment processing business. In doing so, merchant service providers can focus on the backend and technical elements of settling payments.
ISOs recruit ISO agents (also known as ISAs) to help with sales and support. ISO agents are independent contractors, so they're not required to fulfill the role of a full-time employee. In most cases, they receive recurring commissions from their merchants' payment processing fees, but remuneration can vary depending on the ISO. As an ISO agent, you generate leads, resell payment processing services, and provide ongoing support to your merchants. It's your job to fulfill the client-facing role of an ISO, just on a smaller scale.
If you follow the correct processes, selling merchant accounts to businesses is attainable for anybody interested in payment processing and sales. Below, let's explore a step-by-step guide for becoming a merchant account reseller:
If you want to begin selling merchant services as an ISA, you must find an ISO to partner with. The ISO is the entity registered with card associations, sponsoring banks, and other stakeholders. Without an ISO, an ISA cannot resell payment processing solutions.
So, how do you find a reputable ISO?
After you establish that the ISO has a strong reputation and offers industry-leading features to its merchants, it's time to learn more about its agent program. As an ISA, the agent program impacts your success and remuneration. The more you know about its agent program, the more likely you are to make an informed decision. Make sure to explore the following features when learning about an ISO agent program:
Next, it's time to understand the services you'll offer to your merchants. As an ISA, you're responsible for the merchant-facing interactions during the sales process and after you sign up a merchant. This means you must have strong client relationship skills and the capacity to provide ongoing account support.
However, outside of your customer interactions, you must also understand the services offered by your ISO. As an ISA, you're simply reselling the services offered by your ISO. So, what are some typical services your ISO might offer to merchants:
Once you have a firm understanding of the services you're offering to merchants, it's time to start building a network. Determine if there are specific industries or business types suitable for your merchant services. Attend networking events, connect with decision-makers on LinkedIn, and request introductions from people within your existing network. In some cases, your ISO will already focus on specific sectors; as an ISA, it's your job to target the industries within your ISO's specialty. Regardless, the sooner you begin scaling your network, the quicker you'll be on track to landing your first merchant.
As your role's name suggests, as an Independent Sales Agent (ISA), your job is to sell payment processing services to merchants. It's critical to hone your sales skills before you start reaching out to merchants; otherwise, you may burn valuable leads due to inexperience. By partnering with a reputable ISO, you'll gain valuable sales training to help you win customer trust and close deals. It's the best way to gain actionable techniques to help you resell merchant services to businesses of all sizes.
Once you feel comfortable with your sales skills, it's time to start building a pipeline of leads. Generating leads is a critical process for any successful salesperson. It's essential to identify potential merchants and access their contact details. Once you identify your leads, you can begin to learn more about their business and its needs to ensure you approach the sales process correctly. So, how does a new ISO generate leads?
Using a holistic approach is the best way to ensure you generate enough leads. Never rely on a single source of leads!
Persistence is key across the sales industry, and the same rings true for ISAs selling payment processing services. You may feel it's enough to call and email merchants at the beginning of your payment processing sales journey. However, merchants are busy running their businesses, and various salespeople are trying to sell them software, services, and products. To succeed in selling payment processing services to a business, you must follow up on communications and visit prospects in person.
Once you sign your first merchants, providing ongoing customer support is critical. As merchant support is one of an ISO's primary services, it's your job as an ISA to ensure your merchants are well taken care of. Start by informing them about their customer support options — ensure they understand support hours, the best contact methods for support, and other critical details.
The better your customer service, the more likely merchants are to continue using your payment processing services. And as ISOs and ISAs usually receive commissions from their merchants' payment processing fees, it's in your best interest to keep your customers happy. The longer they stay with your ISO, the longer you'll benefit from recurring revenue!
Now that you understand the eight steps you need to succeed as a merchant services reseller, it's time to find a merchant services partner program. With a partner program, you'll benefit from a range of marketing and sales support solutions to help you build your merchant base. ISOs with partner programs invest considerable resources to simplify the process for agents to join their ranks and excel in reselling merchant services. As an ISO agent, you'll have access to top-tier payment solutions through your ISO, enabling you to offer merchants industry-leading payment processing tools.
At EMS, our merchant services reseller program helps our agents succeed. By connecting our agents with the world's most advanced payment systems, we provide them with the resources they need to grow their merchant bases. Your success is our success — we're here to help you scale!
At EMS, we pride ourselves on offering an industry-leading ISO partner program to individuals entering the payment processing industry. So, what sets our program apart from our competition?
There's never been a better time to become a credit card processing agent. The payment sector is booming as the world continues to turn toward digital transaction methods. The credit card processing and money transfer industry already supports more than 200,000 jobs in the United States. Likewise, credit, debit, and prepaid card usage now exceed $10 trillion annually, meaning there's a significant revenue base available to entrepreneurs in the industry.
Contact EMS today to begin your journey to credit card processing reseller success. We're here to help at every stage of your journey!