Canadian Payments Revolution
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News July 28, 2008 • Issue 08:07:02 Industry Update .......................................14 HR 5546 is in the House ..........................49 Canadian payments Shopit starts Revolution .............................50 Agreement keeps Frontier fl ying .................51 revolution – eh! PCI SSC adds new payment device types ...........................52 By Adam Atlas New webinars target PCI education ...........53 Attorney at Law Gas stations nixing plastic ........................54 he Canadian payments industry, like Canada itself, is often underappreci- ated in the United States. Chances are the average U.S. ISO or merchant Features level salesperson (MLS) knows little to nothing about the payments sphere up north. ISOpinion: T Brewer taps payments market ................40 It may come as a surprise, then, to many readers of The Green Sheet that Canadian payments is largely controlled by a handful of financial institutions many believe Views constitute a monopoly that stifles competition – the very lifeblood of American commerce. Approaching a crossroads By Patti Murphy But Canada may have just taken a significant step toward breaking that strangle- hold. On July 12, 2008, myself, along with 49 colleagues from Canada and the The Takoma Group ...............................26 United States participated in the inaugural event of the Canadian Acquirers Education Association. The three-hour founding cocktail, sponsored by ISOs VersaPay Corp. and Pivotal Payments, took place at the Hilton Toronto Airport in Toronto, the business capital of the Province of Ontario. Street SmartsSM Passing the so-what test The thrust of the event was to bring together the Canadian acquiring community By Jason Felts and create, for the first time in Canada, an organization devoted to the better- ment of all professionals in the industry, from providing education to networking Advanced Merchant Services .................70 opportunities, to representing the industry before the Canadian government and Communication matters abroad with the goal of opening up the market to greater competition. By Vicki M. Daughdrill After an hour of presentations, the bar was opened and, in fine Canadian fash- Small Business Resources LLC .................78 ion, attendees were buzzing with gossip and business insights in an atmosphere How sellers blow deals that broke new ground for Canada. One attendee, formerly employed by Interac, Canada's near-monopoly debit network, may have summed up the feelings of By Lane Gordon many when he said the event was "revolutionary." MerchantPortfolios.com .........................82 Oh, Canada Canada goes to chip, fraudsters With just over 33 million inhabitants, Canada has one-tenth the population of the move south: Are you ready? United States. But, disproportionately, it has much less than one-tenth the number By Deana Sellens of U.S. banks. Hence the lack of competition in the Canadian banking market. Take Charge Business Consulting LLC ......86 What is more, Canadian banks have been lobbying the government to permit Web sites that work additional consolidation in the banking sector, which, if allowed, will lead to even By Nancy Drexler less competition in the acquiring sphere. SignaPay Ltd ........................................88 ISOs and other businesses in Canada lament attempts by banks to dominate all Dial is yesterday's paper payments markets. For example, white-label (private) ATM operators have a hard time accessing cash from banks. The Canadian equivalent of the U.S. Federal By Dale S. Laszig Trade Commission is the Competition Tribunal, which hears cases related to anti- DSL Direct LLC ......................................90 trust violations in Canada, or competition law matters, as they are known here. Continued on page 3 See Canada on page 63 3 AdvisoryBoard NotableQuote » Tony Abruzzio–Global Payments Inc. » John Arato–MagTek Inc. Twenty years ago we had a » Adam Atlas–Attorney at Law large population of merchants who depended on paper for their » Clinton Baller–PayNet Merchant Services Inc. bankcard transactions. Today we » Audrey Blackmon–Granite Payment Alliance have an equally large population of » Sam Chanin–Tribul Merchant Services merchants who are using outmoded » Steve Christianson–AAmonte Bankcard dial technology. They represent a » Steve Eazell–Secure Payment Systems Inc. superb opportunity for ISOs and » Peter Estep–National Bankcard Systems Inc. merchant level salespeople. See story on page 90 » W. Ross Federgreen–CSRSI » Jim Fink–EVO Merchant Services » Kim Fitzsimmons–First Data Merchant Services » Ed Freedman–Total Merchant Services » Marc Gardner–North American Bancard Inside this issue: CONTINUED » Alan Gitles–Landmark Merchant Solutions » Russ Goebel–Quantus Health Solutions LLC » Matt Golis–YapStone Inc. Company Profi les » Alex Goretsky–USA ePay » Jared Isaacman–United Bank Card Inc. RDM Corp. » Kevin Jones–First American Payment Systems Expertly electronifi ed........................................................................31 » Jerry Julien–Equity Commerce LP » Lazaros Kalemis–Alpha Card Services Inc. Smart Circle International » Dee Karawadra–Impact PaySystem Outside the box, inside the circle.......................................................37 » Allen Kopelman–Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. » Mitch Lau–Money Tree Merchant Services New Products » Mitch Levy–Merchant Cash and Capital » Dan Lewis–AmeriBanc National Ltd. Destroy the data, recycle the rest ..........................................................95 » Douglas Mack–Card Payment Systems Inspiration » Paul Martaus–Martaus & Assoc. » Biff Matthews–CardWare International » David McMackin–AmericaOne Payment Systems Inc. Take new trip in downturn ....................................................................99 » Tim McWeeney–WAY Systems Inc. Departments » Patti Murphy–The Takoma Group » Michael Nardy–Electronic Payments Inc. (EPI) Forum ..................................................................................................5 » Joseph Natoli–NPC Datebook .........................................................................................102 » Steve Norell–US Merchant Services » Garry O'Neil–Electronic Exchange Systems Resource Guide ................................................................................106 » Paul Oswald–TransFirst Advertiser Index ...............................................................................118 » Bulent Ozayaz–VeriFone » Marcelo Paladini–Cynergy Data Miscellaneous » Michael Petitti–Trustwave » Bill Pittman–TPI Software LLC Sarcasm Sells – Editorial cartoon ............................................................5 » David Press–Integrity Bankcard Consultants Inc. QSGS: Quick Summary Green Sheet......................................................8 » Charles W. Salyer–Ladco Leasing Inc. Bottom Lines .......................................................................................14 » Jeffrey I. Shavitz–Charge Card Systems Inc. » Lisa Shipley–Ingenico North America ISOMetrics .........................................................................................58 » Dave Siembieda–CrossCheck Inc. Water Cooler Wisdom ........................................................................99 » Ted Svoronos–Group ISO 10 years ago in The Green Sheet .......................................................101 » Scott Wagner–Humboldt Merchant Services LP » Matt Whitaker–Smart Payment Solutions » Dan D. Wolfe–Teledraft Inc. » Sam Zeitz–American Bancard LLC 4 President and CEO: Paul H. Green ...........................................................paul@greensheet.com General Manager and Chief Operating Offi cer: Kate Gillespie ...........................................................kate@greensheet.com CFO/Vice President Human Resources & Accounting: Brandee Cummins ...............................................brandee@greensheet.com Managing Editor: Laura McHale Holland ..............................................laura@greensheet.com Senior Editor: Patti Murphy .............................................................patti@greensheet.com Associate Editor: Breanne Hubbard ................................................ [email protected] Staff Writers: Sue Luse ....................................................................sue@greensheet.com Lisa Mann ................................................................. [email protected] Michael Miller.......................................................... [email protected] Dan Watkins .............................................................dan@greensheet.com Asst. VP of Production, Art Director: Troy Vera.................................................................. [email protected] Production: Lewis Kimble, Production Manager [email protected] Asst. VP of Advertising Sales: Danielle Thorpe ....................................................danielle@greensheet.com Advertising: Rita Francis, Account Executive .................................... [email protected] Kat Doherty, Advertising Coordinator [email protected] Circulation: Vicki Keith, Circulation Assistant ................................. [email protected] Correspondence: The Green Sheet, Inc. 800-757-4441 • Fax: 707-586-4747 6145 State Farm Drive, Rohnert Park, CA 94928 Send questions, comments and feedback to [email protected] Send press releases to ...............................................press@greensheet.com NOTE