Merchant acquiring is looking toward 2010 with the hope that it will be a better year than 2009. ISOs and acquirers alike are looking to emerging markets, such as the mobile/wireless channel, to help them bounce back from the previous year and its sluggish processing volumes. Despite these hopes, merchant acquirers face increasing challenges in the forms of attrition, margin compression and PCI mandates that need to be enforced throughout all levels of merchants. Merchant satisfaction will be an important area of focus, and ISOs and acquirers need to concentrate on deepening their relationships with merchants, protecting their own reputations, and cultivating referral business.
"It is vital for ISOs and acquirers to realize that almost one-third of all merchants signed in the United States come from referrals," says Adil Moussa, analyst with Aite Group and author of this report. "This is of course means that ISOs and acquirers never have an opportunity to bid for a large percentage of the business out there. Because of this, providing top-notch service to existing clients doesn't only help retain clients, but win new business." This 31-page Impact Report contains 17 figures. Clients of Aite Group's Retail Banking service can download the report by clicking on the icon to the right.  | 
