By: Jim Roddy, President & CEO at the RSPA
Four years ago, a longtime payments executive said to me, “Payments is eating software” which caused me to both scratch my head and furrow my brow at the same time. I was flummoxed because of the meteoric rise I’d seen of ISVs in the retail IT channel over several years.
Fast forward to this week’s SEAA 2025 Conference, hosted by the Southeast Acquirers Association, June 2-4 at the JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort. This time I was nodding vigorously to statements made by two payments vets during an SEAA breakout:
- “The Game Has Changed!” blared their PowerPoint header
- Software could be the new ISO
- ISOs need to invest, build, or buy tech
- 25% of payment terminals are being replaced by SaaS
Who’s eating who now?
I don’t say that to be snarky; I’m emphasizing this as my #1 takeaway from SEAA because even the payments veterans at a traditional all-payments show are clanging the alarm bell that the software is coming, the software is coming, and software is coming.
That breakout began with the statistic that of the 136 tables in the SEAA exhibitor hall, 73 of them (54%) feature a POS. A terminal-based industry is shifting to a software-based industry – and fast.
Additionally, SEAA is bigger than ever, boasting over 1,300 attendees for their 24th annual event. Several breakout sessions were standing-room only, and exhibit hall aisles at times felt like a rush-hour traffic jam. Association Board Member John McCormick of General Credit Forms noted the situation in his welcome message. “Two years ago, this hotel was the perfect size for us,” he said. “Now we’re bursting at the seams.”
What that means for our channel is a burst of opportunities for high-initiative VARs, ISVs, and vendors. Many payments guys only know payments, so even a simple POS solution increases their organization’s complexity beyond its current capacity.
But retail IT VARs and ISVs? They know their way around payments and software and POS and dozens of other products and services that are becoming table stakes for merchants, especially with more technology natives moving into leadership positions.
SEAA opened my eyes that while we should be concerned about the challenge of competing against margin-obliterating, VC-backed, 800-number one-size-fits-all POS providers who don’t have a channel, we also need to recognize the opportunities before us. Specifically:
ISVs and other vendors: ISOs need to expand their offering. Be proactive recruiting them, and offer them a shoulder to lean on as they build up their linecard.
VARs: Resellers can follow several action paths:
- Be willing to partner with ISOs. They have relationships with merchants that you don’t. You have relationships with vendors they don’t. Work together to serve the merchant – or they can be lost to one of the 800-number guys.
- As mentioned during an SEAA breakout, figure out what you do best, then double and triple down on what makes you special to your customers.
- Don’t get comfortable; don’t sit still. An RSPA vendor member I talked with at SEAA said over the past year he’s encountered several VARs who aren’t moving their business forward because they’re either fat-and-happy resting on their recurring revenue stream or they’re holding out for the perfect solution. “For conception, to have a baby, you need the perfect scenario,” he said. “For software you don’t.”
- Understand that the ISO world is stocked with business owners and sales reps who are a combination of hungry and desperate for business. They will catch up to those sitting still, because ISOs are on the hunt for new merchants and new solutions.
- Attend RetailNOW 2025, July 27-29 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Yes, that’s a plug for an RSPA event, but it’s genuinely good advice because the show will be one-stop shopping to meet distributors, vendors, processors, service providers, ISVs, and fellow solution providers who can accelerate your success.
The game has changed. Don’t get caught on the sidelines and let ISOs and 800-number guys dominate the field of play.
What is the Future of Payments?
The SEAA breakout I mentioned at the top of this piece was titled “Agnostic or Antagonistic: What is the Future of Payments?”, a discussion led by payments veterans Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems, and Jim Battista, Managing Partner of MAPP Advisors. Additional insights from their session included:
- “Even the smallest business can afford these POS systems. The time for payments terminals is disappearing.” Battista
- “You’re fighting against groups (800-number POS providers) that are outspending you every day. The way to win is being good at certain verticals. They can’t be good at all the verticals.” Battista
- “They’ll beat us on price every time. We can’t afford to give away $1,000 a day.” Kopelman
- “Partnering with a company that owns its own technology as advantageous. Even if they don’t offer as good a residual, they typically offer better service.” Kopelman
- “If you can go to market with better partners, you have an advantage over the guys with all the money.” Battista
- “Create a business model that protects you. You don’t want to wake up one day and find out a large percentage of your residuals are at risk.” Battista
Finding New Revenue Opportunities in Value-Added Services
The SEAA breakout “Margin Matters: Finding New Revenue Opportunities in Value-Added Services” featured four RSPA members: Jannine Houston of Datacap, Thomas Barrineau of OrderCounter, Heather Philpott of ScanSource, and Susan Koplish of Priority. The session was moderated by Corvia’s Rebecca Walden and featured several insights including:
- “Prioritize services that solve a problem for the merchant. Does it simplify a process? Does it help the merchant sell more? Add one or two services that do that. Gift cards are the lowest hanging fruit.” Houston
- “The value-add should benefit the merchant owner and staff, not just the consumer.” Philpott
- “The biggest mistake we see is companies trying to do all of this by themselves. Find someone who is already doing it and work with them. These value-added services can make a big difference in your life, and you don’t have to create it all yourself.” Barrineau
- “Ask yourself, ‘What product can I offer that’s competitive? What offers the best price and the best features and will drive stickiness and recurring revenue?'” Koplish
- “If you bill for these services monthly, that creates an easier point of entry because it’s a low up-front cost. Then you can stretch what you offer and what merchants pay for these services. Over time you build a full offering.” Philpott
- “Something is always better than nothing. Start with the base product or service and then add to it.” Koplish
- “Don’t get in bed with the wrong partner. Work with organizations that aren’t set up just to be acquired. Working with the right organization is very important.” Barrineau
- “Work with companies where it’s in their DNA to protect their partners. Sell your customers products from companies you can trust will be there for them and for you.” Houston
Competing vs. the 800-Number Guys
I was honored to moderate the education session that kicked off SEAA 2025, “How Winning ISOs, VARs, & ISVs Compete with VC-Backed, Out-of-Town, 800-Number POS & Payments Providers.” Panelists included RSPA members Dustin Magaziner of ISO/VAR PayBright, Brian Booth of ISV Enroll & Pay, and Ashley Naggy of OrderCounter, an ISV with a large VAR/ISO channel.
I couldn’t take detailed notes while moderating, but I made sure to jot down some of the panel’s insights to key questions:
- What are key traits you look for when hiring and promoting? Servant mindset, creativity, and initiative.
- What customer service actions have proven most effective vs. the 800-number guys? Being accessible, answering customer requests immediately, proactive customer communication, and implementing a “no hold” policy (talk with the customer throughout the process of the call instead of placing them on hold).
- What are some best practices to provide consistent customer service? Deployment checklists (keep them updated!), detailed SLAs (service level agreements), playbooks to guide your team, and metrics to track important activities.
- What works best in sales today? Conducting proper discovery calls is superior to reading a script. Having the mindset you are looking for a long-term customer is more effective that just trying to “get a sale.”
Final Thought from SEAA 2025
Kudos to all the volunteers who made SEAA 2025 a reality. Speaking from experience, hosting an event for over 1,000 attendees is no easy feat, and these volunteers did that while balancing their day jobs.
The SEAA Board of Directors includes Natasa Cvijanovic, Jamie Garfield, Andie Hill, John McCormick, Atty. Jill Miller (who also serves as RSPA General Counsel), John Shipley, and Morgan Withee. SEAA Advisory Committee members include Henry Astwood, Joel Breton, John Buchanan, Alex Daily, Bill Glass, Lindsay Haick, and Layla Rice.
RSPA appreciates our partnership with the SEAA, and we’re proud to cooperate to serve the greater retail IT and payments channel together.
