Transparency and savings
CFIB partnership with Chase Paymentech benefits its membership
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been punching above its weight since it was founded more than 40 years ago, when John Bulloch launched a fight to stop the federal government from increasing the tax rate on small- and mediumsized firms.
In that time, CFIB has become an acronym to be feared and respected as it has battled to improve conditions for small business on several fronts including tax reduction, cutting government red tape, acceptance of temporary foreign workers and fairness in the lending practices of the big banks. And that’s not all.
“In the last decade, we’ve done a deep dive into the credit-card processing world,” says CFIB president Dan Kelly. “It’s been really murky.”
Kelly says CFIB has become a watchdog over the creditcard industry and has ramped up its surveillance with the introduction of premium cards. “There has been a huge degree of unfairness in the credit-card processing industry as a whole,” he says.
It seems there will always be a good fight for CFIB, but the Federation is up for the challenge. With 109,000 members, the size of CFIB’s membership has allowed it to bargain for cheaper and better services for small businesses along with transparency in contracts.
One of the best examples is the tight bond the CFIB has forged with Chase Paymentech for its service of processing credit and debit cards. The bond, which goes back to 2003, has been highly successful, with 35,000 CFIB members choosing Chase Paymentech to process transactions.
“That’s why we’re delight- ed to work with Chase Paymentech. The transparency they provide to small business owners is high and ultimately we’ve negotiated an exit-penalty-free relationship,” Kelly says.
“As long as they are CFIB members, merchants are free to come and go as they please and that gives them significant protections and peaceof-mind,” he says. “Virtually nobody else does that.”
The savings on a contract with Chase Paymentech can often offset the annual CFIB membership cost, Kelly says.
Phoebe Brown, owner of Nesbeth Groupe in Toronto, says the cost of processing payments dropped dramatically after she joined CFIB. “Our bill for the first month was $800 before we were referred to CFIB. After we joined, our monthly cost went down to $300 with Chase Paymentech.”
Her small business, now two years old, sells a wide
our bill ... was $800 ... after we joined , our monthly cost wentdown to $300
range of cleaning products such as paper towels, bathroom tissue and several types of sanitary gloves to resellers and janitorial companies. “I’m really glad we switched,” she says.
Chase Paymentech is a leading provider of payment, fraud and data security, capable of authorizing transactions in more than 130 currencies. The company’s proprietary platforms enable integrated solutions for all payment types, including credit, debit, prepaid stored value and electronic check processing; as well as alternative and mobile payment options.
Nick Samurkas, president of Chase Paymentech Canada, calls his company’s system the gateway to all payment net- works, a single point of contact to reach Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and Interac.
“Our relationship with CFIB strengthens with every passing year because we share the same core values,” Samurkas said. “We firmly believe small businesses are at the heart of Canada’s economy and are committed to making industry-wide improvements in merchant payment processing to help small businesses accept payments easily and securely.”
Samurkas says merchants receive a report once a month and it gives a clear picture of their expenses — what they’re paying in total for the fees related to payments.
“We realize that running a business is more challenging than ever, so our merchant accounts are designed to make it easy and affordable for business owners to accept payments online, in person, by phone, or with their mobile device.
He sees consumers moving to more sophisticated ways of paying their bills, such as the use of smartphones.
For example, the ability to tap your phone on a point of sale interface is very compelling for a consumer,” Samurkas says. “And from a merchant’s perspective, to be able to avoid handling a lot of cash in the till — there’s a real benefit.”
Chase Paymentech will also allow merchants to keep up with ecommerce or online transactions and some, such as plumbers, to make mobile transactions at the end of a house call.
Mobile transactions are more secure than cheques or even cash, because there is a reduction in the possibility of fraud. And there are more advantages on the way. Samurkas believes the cost of renting a point-of-sale terminal will come down because of continuing advances in technology.
“Organizations like CFIB challenge us to do a better job, and the constructive feedback we get and the open discussions we have allows an organization like Chase Paymentech to do a better job,” Samurkas says.
Kelly warns small business owners that there are a lot of fly-by-night operators in the business of processing transactions. “While there are a lot of unethical operations in this business, fortunately, there are great companies like Chase Paymentech operating with strong business ethics and an understanding of small business.”