Celero Commerce recently sent teams from our corporate office and the Dallas-Fort Worth area to one of the premier events in the processing world, the Annual Conference of the Western States Acquirers Association (WSAA).

The Western States Acquirers Association is a nonprofit that provides an independent forum dedicated to keeping acquirers educated and informed on the ever-changing needs of the financial services industry.

Held October 13-14 at the Omni Hotel Fort Worth, the WSSA Annual Conference delivered on its mission on multiple fronts. The event featured several celebrations and networking sessions, as well as notable industry speakers, panels, and educational seminars hosted by the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA). 

Celero’s founder and CEO Kevin Jones was honored to participate in an industry panel alongside Greg Cohen of FortisPay and Erick Lookhoff of Quickfee. With the recent acquisitions of TransNational Payments, FlashBanc, RazorSync, and CashierLive, Jones came to the convention with fresh and unique perspectives on mergers and acquisitions in the fintech space. During the panel, titled “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly – M & A impacts on ISO and Fintech,” Kevin focused on Celero’s highly intentional approach to transactions, our mission of serving small to midsize businesses, and the importance of company culture when integrating organizations. 

“For us, culture fit is very important,” Kevin explained. “If you run across obstacles with people who are bought in and rowing in the same direction, it's infinitely easier to combat those obstacles than it is if people aren't working together.” 

Kevin believes that in the next 5 years, we’ll see more change in the fintech industry than we have in the past 20. As more merchants adopt the mindset that fintech is at the very core of their success, businesses like Celero must find new, faster, and better ways of meeting the technological needs of their customers. 

“I firmly believe that M & A is a positive force for the payments ecosystem and that it’s a conduit that brings new ideas to life,” Kevin continued during the panel discussion. “While innovation and growth can happen independently, M & A is a great option that is proven to be a very effective path forward.”

To learn more about the WSAA, visit https://westernstatesacquirers.net/. 

Last month, VP of Corporate Development Abigail Lucier hosted a panel titled “How Do You Define Success?” for the Women’s Network in Electronic Transactions (Wnet) at Celero headquarters in Nashville. The panel also featured CEO Kevin Jones and Genevieve Dozier, Chief Business Development Officer at Merchant's PACT. They explored a range of topics together, including career building tips, personal and professional branding, and women in payments.

“This was my first time hosting an event for Wnet, and it was a wonderful experience,” said Abigail. “You can script talking points and create a game plan, but it’s those off-script moments that move me. The ones where you can feel yourself, the audience, and the panelists truly connecting to a topic.” 

Lucier moderated a lively conversation between the panelists and attendees, followed by refreshments, networking, and live entertainment from Nashville’s own Harper Grae and Rand Walter.

“Too often in the world of business, women leaders are written off as less capable than their male counterparts,” said Kevin Jones. “I’m excited to take part in building a future where female professionals are given the respect, responsibility, and trust they deserve. I hope that participating in this event and voicing my support will help women across the industry feel more confident in claiming the seats they’ve earned in the boardroom. Women leaders are going to play a vital role in bringing the payments industry to the next level.”

Lucier views this event as a launching point for a new Wnet chapter she’s starting in the greater Nashville area. She says it will be a space that acknowledges the need for inclusion in the payments industry and sparks important discussions.

“I’m excited to expand our footprint and provide opportunities for women in payments,” she said. “Making the payments industry a more inclusive space should be an overarching goal for all businesses, and organizations like Wnet are catalysts for ensuring that progress continues.”

To learn more about Wnet, visit https://www.wnetonline.org.

The reason you opened a veterinary clinic is that you adore animals and want to spend time caring for them. But sometimes, the everyday hassles of running a business can get in the way of spending as much time as possible with your “clients.” Fortunately, we offer a carefully curated selection of payment solutions tailored to fit your unique needs. Let’s discuss these incredible gateways that empower you to accept payments easily and stress-free. 

Celero Connect: Reliable, Powerful, and Secure  

Celero Connect, which offers the ultimate flexibility, reliability, and efficiency, makes processing payments from your valued customers a breeze! You’ll love the simple, intuitive interface and the wide range of features that will help to keep your revenue stream flowing. 

• Accepts credit, debit, and ACH with ease 
• In-person, over-the-phone, contactless, and online payments
• E-invoicing that allows you to invoice customers via email or SMS text message. With the click of a button, customers can submit their payments 
• Customizable recurring billing options that are easy to set up and a significant time-saver 
• Real-time invoice creation with custom branding options 
• Enhanced reporting that will empower you to more effectively keep track of your expenses, revenues, and pending payments 
• Advanced fraud monitoring, detection, and scrubbing to keep your customers safe and secure 
• An ironclad customer vault to store sensitive personal information

SwipeSimple: Easy, Quick, and Effective 

If you’re looking for the easiest to use payment gateway on the market, SwipeSimple is your solution. Their user-friendly platform enables you to take your business wherever you have internet access, accept payments from anywhere in the world and at any time, and easily grow your business. 

• In-person, phone, online, and contactless payment acceptance capabilities
• Lightning-fast processing speeds 
• A secure customer vault to store important information that can be used to speed up future billing 
• Easily accept payments on any iOS or Android device, plus any web browser. You already have the tools needed to start processing payments
• Advanced fraud protection that will keep you and your valued customers safe and sound 
• Professional, fully customized invoicing that allows customers to pay their bills in a flash
• A visually appealing interface that you and your employees will love navigating through 
• Payment links that can be emailed, texted, or shared via social media 

The Right Tools to Simplify Your Payment Acceptance Process

Celero Connect and SwipeSimple are both excellent options for veterinary clinics, but depending on your organization’s needs, one might be a better fit. Contact us to speak with one of our knowledgeable representatives who will be happy to walk you through each program and whether or not it’s right for you, your customers, and your employees.

This press release is courtesy of the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA)

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) has recognized three companies with the payments industry's highest honor, the 2021 ETA Star Awards – Response to COVID-19, presented at the ETA Strategic Leadership Forum. This year's winners are Celero Commerce, Homebase, and NCR Corporation.

The 2021 ETA Star Award — Response to COVID-19 was created to acknowledge the important work of the payments and fintech industry in keeping commerce running and going the extra mile for their customers and employees in response to the pandemic. The winners were judged and selected by the ETA Awards & Recognition Committee, composed of a panel of industry executives of ETA member companies.

"During the pandemic, ETA's member companies were nimble, flexible, and adaptive to provide much-needed support to their merchant customers and employees," said Jodie Kelley, CEO of ETA. "It was a pleasure to acknowledge the ETA Star Award – Response to COVID-19 honorees for the important work they did to adapt and help their customers engage in commerce in new ways and to support their employees and their communities during the pandemic." 

Each Star Award winner's response to the COVID-19 pandemic is detailed below.

Celero Commerce

Celero Commerce was formed to bundle payments, software, and data to help small to midsized businesses level the playing field and win in the marketplace. During the pandemic, its mission shifted to help American small businesses survive and thrive. The company responded quickly to the crisis, equipping its merchants with a "Celero COVID-19 Survival Kit" that included new tools — including gift cards, e-commerce, curbside and ordering tools, and virtual payment terminals — to help them stay in business while adhering to social distancing guidance and regulations. Celero's goal was to get its partners back to the point of not merely surviving but thriving. The company prioritized providing revenue-driving opportunities to its partners, setting up payment gateways for nonprofits, and offering email invoices for small businesses. Additionally, Celero served its local Nashville community by building a diverse team of engineers, half of whom joined Celero after experiencing employment cutbacks due to COVID-19. Learn more.

Homebase

Homebase played a pivotal role in educating policymakers and the media about the devastating impact of COVID-19 on small businesses and their employees. The company's extensive customer base allowed it to track in real-time how many employees were — and were not — clocking in for work across cities, states, and industries. Additionally, Homebase built a financial resource site that provided critical information to businesses and workers, provided live support from certified HR professionals, and reconfigured its blog and newsletter with resources to help employees navigate the crisis. The company paused billing and refunded annual contracts to allow customers to get back money they desperately needed, and it created solutions to allow employees to access their pay sooner. Learn more.

NCR Corporation

When the pandemic hit and brought most businesses to a screeching halt, NCR reprioritized and established a global COVID-19 Response Task Force to provide fact-based decision-making and frameworks that prioritized the safety of employees and customers while maintaining business continuity. Through its #KeepCommerceRunning campaign, the company brought new meaning to employees' work and re-engaged many of its 14,000 field service employees to roles in manufacturing and service centers in an essential effort to keep commerce moving. By rapidly transforming its internal operations and customer focus to respond to pandemic conditions, NCR became a trusted resource for customers seeking government assistance, product development, and support to keep commerce running with contactless payments, online solutions, and stand-alone solutions for hospitality and retail merchants. Learn more.

About ETA

The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) is the world's leading advocacy and trade association for the payments industry. Our members span the breadth of significant payments and fintech companies, from the largest incumbent players to the emerging disruptors in the U.S and in more than a dozen countries around the world. ETA members make commerce possible by processing approximately $22.5 trillion annually in purchases worldwide and deploying payments innovation to merchants and consumers. For more information, visit electran.org.

Media Contact
Joe Feese
Senior Director, External Communications
jfeese@electran.org
202-677-7401

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SOURCE Electronic Transactions Association (ETA)

Former TransNational Payments Now Part of Fast-Growing Payments, SaaS Provider for SMB

Nashville, TN– September 30, 2021– Nearly one year after its acquisition, Celero Commerce (“Celero”) today announced the full integration and rebrand of TransNational Payments (“TransNational”), a leading provider of electronic payments technology. 

With the addition of TransNational, as well as the previously acquired payments providers UMS Banking, Elmhurst Financial, FlashBanc, Tandem Innovative Payment Solutions, as well as SaaS developer RazorSync, the new Celero Commerce serves approximately 45,000 merchants processing more than $18 billion in card volume annually. Celero partners with more than 150 financial institutions and is now firmly ensconced as a top 10 non-bank payment processor in the United States. 

“The smooth integration of TransNational has only materially strengthened our ability to deliver bundled, simple to consume payment solutions to small and mid-sized businesses to help them compete, win and grow. With the team we have assembled, we aim to be the premier provider of bundled, technology-enabled payments solutions for the SMB segment,” said Jones. “It’s an incredible opportunity, but also an incredible responsibility we have to bring the very best products, services, and partnerships to the entrepreneurs who make our economy grow and our communities such great places to live and work.”

About Celero Commerce 

Headquartered in Nashville, Celero Commerce is a full-service, integrated electronic commerce solutions provider powered by leading-edge technology, strategic partnerships, and business intelligence. Celero offers payment processing services, business management software, and data intelligence to small and medium-sized businesses, empowering them to drive growth and profitability. 

Media Contact:
Celero Commerce
Scott Farace, Chief Marketing Officer
scottf@celerocommerce.com 
972-533-5655

Top performers and culture carriers from across the Celero Commerce family gathered in Nashville from July 14-16 for the company's first-ever Duffy Leadership Retreat.

Named in honor of a longtime mentor to many of the company’s executives, the Michael Duffy Leadership Award is bestowed quarterly and annually to top performers who also most exemplify Celero’s values. The first Duffy Leadership Retreat brought together the company’s Duffy winners since the awards program’s inception in 2019. 

Joining the Duffy winners were other top-performing employees from virtually every corner of the company, including financial institution relationship management, direct sales, marketing, software, customer service, and operations. Attendees enjoyed a mix of professional and fun events throughout the three-day retreat in Music City.

Keynoting the event and sharing speaking duties with CEO Kevin Jones was former NBA great and current head men’s basketball coach at Vanderbilt University, Jerry Stackhouse. In addition to a focus on continually developing the group’s leadership skills, the retreat also featured a group session on understanding mergers and acquisitions in the fintech sector. 

“We designed the Duffy Leadership Retreat as a way to not only honor and inspire our first generation of true leaders and culture carriers, but to equip them for the future,” said Jones. “Many of those in the room will be in high positions of leadership and even the C-suite in years to come, and it’s important that we share as much as we can about how we are building this company to fulfill our mission.”

Fun events included tours of Nashville’s world-famous murals, the Country Music Hall of Fame, as well as a surprise concert by Jake Owen and Friends at the venerable Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry and the city’s “Mother Church of Country Music.” The group also enjoyed nights out on Broadway, Music City’s unique strip of honky-tonks. 

Honorees at Celero’s first Duffy Leadership Retreat included the inaugural annual winner of the Duffy Award, Vice President of Marketing Lea Telonis, as well as quarterly winners Nicole Becher, Karo Torosyan, Kristia Poppe, Abigail Lucier, and Spencer Ellis. Joining the Duffy winners in earning elite recognition were an array of high achievers, including Jacqueline Porthouse, John Correa, Jeremy Price, Brett Hansen, Michelle Schmuhl, Albert Pinkowski, Karen Penley, Greg Ericson, Joe Campbell, Will Foley, John Bostow, John Fraggis, Michael Favia, and Joseph Astobiza.

According to Telonis, the most special part of the event was the fact that the company’s leaders could all be together in one room for the first time, due to the strains of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I think everyone’s hearts were beating just a little bit faster, and we were even more excited for this type of event,” Telonis shared. “Celero is like a family, with such a supportive culture, and the feeling was that we were bringing the family together. It was just an amazing week.”

Congratulations to this year’s honorees at the 2021 Celero Commerce Duffy Leadership Retreat.

When the pandemic first hit, many businesses were scrambling to adapt their operations to suit the needs of a social-distanced society. The health and hygiene concerns associated with the COVID-19 virus caused many consumers to opt for curbside pickup, contactless transactions, and over-the-phone payments. As part of our longstanding commitment to helping independent retailers not only survive, but thrive, we pursued a new partnership with NMI, a premier provider of payment gateways, and Mastercard to help usher in next-generation payment solutions built for small businesses. 

“Our team at Celero knew that we couldn’t just sit back and watch this pandemic--and associated shutdowns, lockdowns, and the like--wreak havoc on our nationwide portfolio of small businesses,” remembered Kevin Jones, the company’s founder and CEO. “Being proactive took on a lot of meanings, from checking in with customers to see what we could do, helping them go digital with integrated websites for online ordering, and much more. Among our proudest achievements during this time was working with NMI, a longtime partner of ours, and Mastercard on revolutionizing contactless payments, something that’ll continue to grow and help our merchants long after the pandemic is gone.”

Glen Ellyn Sweet Shoppe: A Pandemic Success Story 

An excellent example of a business adapting its payments to suit the needs of a changing world is Glen Ellyn Sweet Shoppe, a charming candy store nestled in a cozy Chicago suburb. For nearly 40 years, they’ve been putting a smile on their customers’ faces with nostalgic candy that sparks joy, comfort, and happiness. While they specialize in old-fashioned candy that speaks to a simpler time, the current owner, Sue Johanson, knows her customers aren’t old-fashioned when it comes to money. For years, she’s observed an increasing number of customers coming in without cash and choosing to pay via credit card. In response, she chose to remove all minimum charges for card payments. 

With the emergence of COVID-19, Sue decided to modernize her shop’s payments in a major way, by delivering tap-and-go checkout and curbside pickup. Thanks to Cloud POS, a tap-on-phone solution developed by Mastercard, this step in the right direction was made simple, easy, and inexpensive. Instead of dropping hundreds of dollars to upgrade her point-of-sale terminals, Cloud POS, powered by NMI and delivered via Celero merchant processing solutions, enabled Sue to unlock contactless payments using a device she already owns: her smartphone. This innovative program turns a smartphone or tablet into a contactless payment acceptance device, which eliminates the need to invest in new hardware terminals or extra features. Sue’s customers love the convenience, safety, and speed that a contactless payment offers. 

Because of this timely and efficient response, Glen Ellyn Sweet Shoppe was able to offer their patrons a better way to pay, start offering curbside pickup, and keep both her customers and employees safe. By leveraging technology and embracing change, Sue has successfully pushed her business to new heights, and continued to provide Chicago residents with a sweet, delicious escape during a time when everyone is struggling to stay positive. 

Empowering Our Merchants 

By partnering with NMI and Mastercard, and gaining access to this cutting-edge technology we’re positioned to help small businesses compete and win. Cloud POS moves key elements of the payments acceptance process to the cloud which allows for tightened security precautions, reduced maintenance costs, and immediate connectivity for participating businesses. It provides an expedient and hygienic way for consumers to support their favorite local shops. As the pandemic continues, this software will play an important role in propelling more small businesses further into the digital space. 

“It’s amazing to see the innovations that arise during times of trouble,” Jones reflected. “When talented people from our company, NMI, and Mastercard, and merchants like Glen Ellyn Sweet Shop pull together, great things happen. I’m proud of our team for coming through and setting up our merchants for the brighter days that surely lie ahead.”

If you’re a business owner interested in learning more about how we can help your organization succeed during this pandemic, contact us today. We pride ourselves in being a trusted ally to independent merchants like yourself. 

Created in honor of one of fintech’s greatest leaders and a mentor to many at Celero Commerce, the Michael P. Duffy Leadership Award is awarded to those who embody our most deeply held values as an organization: respect, excellence, communication, intention, performance, user experience, and simple, disruptive solutions. We’re excited to announce the latest recipient of this highest honor at Celero: Director of Bank Relationships Marcia Ortez.

While having a website enabled to accept card payments for your goods and/or services may increase your sales, there's an important need to ensure your website will not permit the submission of transactions other than valid sales from your bona fide customers. Unfortunately, invalid transactions can result in unexpected and unwanted costs. Let’s discuss card testing fraud, a growing type of fraud that is silently threatening the payments space, and how to effectively combat it.

The Basics

First, let’s define what card testing fraud is. When a fraudster obtains stolen credit card numbers, they need to determine if the cards are valid before making any significant purchases. To do this, they will attempt to make a small online purchase to determine if the card is approved and therefore eligible for use in fraudulent purchase transactions elsewhere. Additionally, they will be on the lookout for whether or not the Address Verification Service (AVS) and Card Verification Value (CVV) responses match. Typically, they will utilize bots or scripts that can run thousands of test transactions at a time. The successful cards are then used to make large, fraudulent purchases at various online retailers.

The Risks

In addition to the consumers who have had their financial information compromised, any merchant that accepts credit cards online is at risk for card testing fraud. Card testers look for websites with the least amount of friction and user verification requirements for making an online purchase. Non-profit organizations and charities are especially vulnerable to this type of fraud since their websites are specifically designed to make it as easy as possible to make a purchase or give a donation.

When a merchant experiences card testing on their website, there are several potential costs. Whether a sale is approved or declined, online transaction fees are still charged to the merchant. Completed sales that are not voided or refunded are subject to chargebacks and any associated fees. In addition to these fees, merchants will lose time and effort when dealing with the damage inflicted upon their brand and reputation as a result of the fraud attempt.

Preventing Fraud

When it comes to detecting this type of fraud, be on the lookout for multiple small-dollar transactions from different card numbers submitted within a short period of time. A majority of these transactions will either decline and/or have mismatched AVS and CVV responses. To reduce the likelihood of card testing, you can implement several measures that will improve your website’s security. There will always be a balancing act between tighter security measures and ensuring your customers have an easy checkout experience, but most consumers are already familiar with many of these security measures:

• Add a Captcha to your website: This makes it more difficult for bots and scripts to be used when testing cards. If you’re interested in getting this added to your website, make sure to contact us for assistance.
• Set AVS and CVV restrictions: These restrictions prevent sales from being accepted if there is a mismatched address, zip code, or CVV response. Most of the time, card testers will not have a valid address or CVV when testing illegally obtained credit card information. This will make their testing unsuccessful and often cause them to move onto less secure websites to perform their testing. To ensure the ultimate safety of your customers, we will set up your payment gateway to automatically perform this type of AVS and CVV filtering.
• Block fraudulent sales with IP restrictions: Another step you can take is to implement IP restrictions that will decline sales coming from outside of the United States, which is where most card testing happens. You can also set threshold limits on the number of sales that can be submitted from the same IP address. Most payment gateways and shopping carts already have these tools available.
• Fraud alerts: As an extra precaution, you can add an additional fraud monitoring product or software to your website to enforce transaction thresholds and alert you if potential card testing occurs.

Get Help

If you’re interested in learning more about card testing fraud and how to prevent it in your online shop, please contact us today! Ensuring the security of you and your customers is our top priority. 

The BankMax team at Celero Commerce is the driving force behind our promise of being "high-tech, high touch" with our largest community and regional bank clients nationwide. With dedicated support for your teams of bankers and customer service professionals, our team is committed to be a responsive, empowered problem-solver no matter the present challenge we face. 

As we go about our work, we use proprietary technology tools and human-driven processes to make our community and regional banks more competitive, not only against the larger direct competitor banks they’ve always faced, but also the rising tide of financial technology companies like Square. This new wave of competitors is coming through a back door of the community bank, the one that we should be guarding for you--merchant services. 

Protect Your Hard-Won Deposits, Grow NII

Oftentimes, bankers are challenged to know what’s happening within their own client base. At Celero, we help you identify your target market opportunity.

One of our aforementioned proprietary processes is how we mine data to examine your best fee income opportunities. This tool identifies fee income opportunities and, critically, your at-risk deposits. We also provide executive management at your bank with sales tracking tools, real-time revenue goals, and sales projections. With the BankMax growth program in place, we arm you for battle with facts--the facts you need in order to prepare your bankers and customer service teams with the information they need to protect your merchant base and help you grow it. 

A Sales Culture for the Win

In addition to great technology that helps you make data-driven decisions for precise targeting, our people equip your teams through the entire sales process, from training to prospecting, pricing, and closing the deal.

Banks have been implementing sales cultures for more than three decades, and we know that while there are some built-in challenges to arriving at a staff that’s engaged and motivated to sell, no matter the role, there are tried and true elements that solve these challenges rather routinely. In reality, your people need to see value in order to cross-sell and refer products and services outside of your core deposit and lending focus areas. When they have confidence placed in a competitive product and a trusted partner, they will indeed refer and pre-sell, on their credibility, your most valuable business relationships.

Our growth program adds fuel to the fire. You gain access to Celero's comprehensive sales training, best business practices, and even our own inside sales force to help you implement and execute not only a sales culture, but an elite one. In fact, our merchant sales practices are so successful that I’ve seen many of our relationships implement the BankMax way into all other banking products and services. These organizations are fast creating cultures based on results.

Banking the Right Way, As Always

Merchant pricing is complicated, and many of our competitors (and there are thousands of them) exploit this complexity in order to win merchant business that frankly, they don’t deserve. Celero partner banks pride themselves on leading with transparency and ethics, as they do with every product or service they sell. 

We help our partners reveal the predatory smoke-and-mirror pricing used by competitors to portray false savings opportunities used as incentives for clients to switch their services. Whether utilizing our real-time pricing tools and analysis or sending detailed statements into our office for comparison, our partner banks are on the cutting edge of product offerings and simplified sales tools.

BankMax: the Answer in These Challenging Times

With competitors now coming in all shapes and sizes, as well as many who will not only take their merchant services, but also their merchant relationships entirely, bankers are relying on data to make all sorts of decisions, from staffing to loan approvals to merchant processing. Now more than ever, having data that's presented in a visually engaging, simplified way is a necessary component for senior executives and board members at any company that’s in a competitive space. 

At Celero, our BankMax team understands your needs. We provide you with incredible analytics, from detailed daily merchant reporting to analysis to sales reporting. We pride ourselves on providing your bank with cutting-edge technology and reporting to manage and grow a successful portfolio. And we will always deliver this great technology with the kind of advice, training, coaching, and support to ensure that you succeed.