E-Commerce Payment Systems

This was not an easy transition as the owners are “hands-on” type administrators; however, difficult tasks have never dissuaded EPS from the job at hand.

We now have an autonomous operation and have a synergistic approach to problem solving. The company has been built on solid principals and maintains a strong work ethic.

EPS created a tried and true marketing method, they have established a strong footprint in the industry, they have put together a comprehensive offering of products and services that is rivaled but not duplicated, and in the process created a vehicle that races to unprecedented profit margins. Their customers’ sales drive up their revenues. Their success is the engine that motivates us all.

EPS provides products and services that capitalize on the merchants financial needs, and carves a profit out of the merchants’ cash flow. The basic business model is solid and proven in practice, the expansion and future opportunities in these tumultuous times are unparalleled, and EPS is poised and prepared to keep moving onward and upward. EPS revenues have remained strong and they maintain the largest profit to revenue ratio in the industry. 

2. Company Description:

The roots of Electronic Payment System began in the infancy of the industry as they know it today. A little over 20 years ago the only way to become a Merchant (business that accepts credit cards as a form of payment) was to be set-up with a traditional Bank. This was not always an easy or streamlined task as not all Banks had Credit Card “Acquiring1” as a service offering, and the ones that did were afraid of the responsibility associated with card based transactions. In short, the Banks acted like Banks were known to act, and looked for reasons to say “NO” to Merchant applicants. This was pretty much the rule unless of course the Merchant and individual that owned the business had impeccable credit, personal and business, a “brick-and-mortar” location (physical place where business is transacted), several years of tax returns and financials, and a traditional business entity (the Banks frowned on Sole Proprietors and simple Partnerships).

John Dorsey recognized the opportunity in overcoming the Bank obstacles and in association with others secured agreements and found a way to market and sell “Merchant Services” to a much broader and more diverse client base. John worked with a company by the name of Peachtree, in the Chicago, IL area, which expanded rapidly to virtually every major city in the continental United States. This created explosive growth of Merchants throughout the country, which also facilitated a massive proliferation of credit card use. The acceptance of cards as a form of payment started down a path to the point they are today, arguably the primary purchase tool used worldwide. Today, the dollar is not as welcome in many countries as it once was, but VISA and MasterCard are easily accepted forms of payment. The merchant accepting the card is paid in their home currency in the exact amount of the sale, and the cardholder pays the exact amount at the current exchange rate. John Dorsey was instrumental in the rapid development of a market that they now, for the most part, take for granted. 

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3. Product or Service:

The process of selling in the Payments industry has always run two paths. Nothing happens in the world until something is sold. The traditional method employed by the Banking industry leaves it up to the merchant to seek out the services. EPS has pioneered and perfected the second avenue which includes the hiring, training, and building of a sales force that actually goes out to the Merchants Face-to-Face and makes the sale. Not only was this John Dorsey’s forte, it was his passion. He created a “benefit based” selling system that has been copied time-and-time again. The one difference… no one could do it as well as him. In addition to the ability to sell, more importantly John had the ability to teach others how to work his program. The specifics of the system will be explained in greater detail further on, but this ability to virtually “copy” himself fueled rapid and steady growth of EPS. These are the “brick and mortar” building blocks of the entire industry.

From a product standpoint, each new and exciting change in the Payments Industry is evaluated by EPS to identify the market and seek out the opportunity. To that end EPS is always evaluating our offerings, considering upgrades and revisions to keep pace if not keep ahead of the trends and changes, and striving to streamline the management processes behind each offering.

In a time when outsourcing is the norm, EPS refuses to follow the trends. EPS takes the concept to the next level by owning the ancillary and supporting product offerings that compliment the business. The process of internalizing numerous facets related to our business pays great. 

4. Market Analysis:

EPS believes that marketing to the ISO/MLS community is multi-faceted and requires a synergistic approach. In the forefront of the efforts are the products offered by EPS along with a competitive price and rate structure. EPS believes that the balanced and complete collection of product offerings combined with a competitive rate structure make strong arguments for doing business with EPS. This is made apparent to the ISO/MLS’s that do business with EPS, and made a point of discussion with every potential new ISO/MLS. EPS employs an Agent Relations department with ISO/MLS Advocates that have regular contact with the ISO/MLS. The department is typically staffed with three-(3) advocates. When an application comes in the Agent Relations department is the first to see it. They log in the application and contact the ISO/MLS if there is incomplete data. There are specific links that are password protected on the EPS Web Portal that the ISO/MLS has access to that provides updates on the application in process. EPS prides itself on a four-(4) hour turnaround of applications from the time of receipt. Consistent, responsive, and regular contact along with comprehensive and cutting edged products that meet and in some cases surpass the needs of the merchants serviced by the ISO/MLS helps EPS maintain a presence with the existing ISO/MLS customer.

To an extent, marketing to potential ISO/MLS contributors is built on the products and services used to maintain the existing contributors. The difference here lies in the ways and methods utilized to solicit and engage the prospects. To that end EPS employs a myriad of approach mechanisms including but not limited to; attendance at trade shows around the country with displays and/or booths and staff talking about EPS to prospects, advertising in trade publications, ads.  

5. Strategy and Implementation:

At the core they (being EPS and all the subsidiaries) are service providers. They emphasize the fact that our most recognizable product is providing “Merchant Services,” which is an industry term meant to describe credit card acceptance as a form of payment to the merchant from the card “Associations” (VISA U.S.A., Inc., MasterCard International, American Express, Discover, JCB and others). In addition to processing “Credit” transactions, EPS offers the ability to process “Debit” and “Offline Debit” transactions as well, although card processing is just one part of the business they operate. Supporting the card processing activity is a product that provides transactional and statement related data called “EPS Online.” 

6. Management Team:

James Simpson is our Chief Operating Officer and has been in the merchant services industry and EPS for fifteen-(15) years. James is analytical and practical at the same time. He has a unique talent for gleaning reality from data, and works well with the banks and processors he is required to deal with on a regular basis. His responsibilities include general oversight of all EPS operations and specific project management of others. 

John Bruno is our Risk Manager and has been with EPS for nine-(9) years coming from another ISO in the BoulderColorado area where he worked his way up from investigator to assistant Risk Manager. Mr. Meinel holds a Masters Degree from CalState – Long Beach, and attained his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin. 

Johnson Malik is an EPS stalwart and has held several positions within the company in her nearly eight-(8) year tenure. She is currently an executive assistant to the company officers. She M.A in Strategic Management from University of New Jersey. 

7. Financial Plan:

This section will summarize the establishment cost of running an e-commerce system for Movie gallery, it summaries the cost of maintenance for the system. Coupled this, it will lay emphasis on the cost of developing an electronic payment system for the movie gallery company. All estimates and amount involved will be displayed in U.S dollar. Considerations and assumptions will also be made concerning items and prices, but mostly figures are based on some researches.  

This section will summarize the establishment cost of running an e-commerce system for Movie gallery, it will also summaries the cost of maintenance for the system. Coupled with this, it will also lay emphasis on the cost of developing an electronic payment system for the movie gallery company. All estimates and amount involved will be displayed in U.S dollar. Considerations and assumptions will also be made concerning items and prices, but mostly figures are based on some researches.

Efficient Service: The Business being moved online will make the service to be efficient, some amount of time will be saved in the areas of attending to different customers because customers will be able to practice self-service provided by the some of the system functionalities.

Effective Cost: It has already been seen in the Expenditure analysis that the cost of expenditure of 2008 is 40% lower than that of the 2007.This is made possible because a lot of money will be saved in staff time, as less staff will be needed to do the job since it is online. A lot of money will

Technology has inarguably made our lives easier. It has cut across distance, space and even time. One of the technological innovations in banking, finance and commerce is the Electronic Payments. Electronic Payments (e-payments) refers to the technological breakthrough that enables us to perform financial transactions electronically, thus avoiding long lines and other hassles. Electronic Payments provides greater freedom to individuals in paying their taxes, licenses, fees, fines and purchases at unconventional locations and at whichever time of the day, 365 days of the year.

On the basis of present study, first remark is that despite the existence of variety of e-commerce payment systems, credit cards are the most dominant payment system. This is consequences of advantageous characteristics, most importantly the long established networks and very wide users%u201F base. Second, alternative e-commerce payment systems are some countries are debit cards. In fact, like many other studies, present study also reveals that the smart card based e-commerce payment system is best and it is expected that in the future smart cards will eventually replace the other electronic payment systems. Third, given the limited users bases, e-cash is not a feasible payment option. Thus, there are number of factors which affect the usage of e-commerce payment systems. Among all these user base is most important. Added to this, success of e-commerce payment systems also depends on consumer preferences, ease of use, cost, industry agreement, authorization, security, authentication, non-refutability, accessibility and reliability and anonymity and public policy.