The Payments Industry & Merchant Credit Card Program Experts
The Payments Industry & Merchant Credit Card Program Experts
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There may be many reasons for you to pursue a renegotiation of your merchant credit card program. You may be dissatisfied with your current card issuing partner, or simply looking for validation that your current agreement is competitive in a rapidly changing marketplace
Regardless of your motivation, these 4 key factors should be kept in mind before any merchant card agreement renegotiation process is initiated with your bank partner:
The card business has gone through a host of changes in the past five years prompting many issuers to refine their merchant card program strategies. It's important to have a clear understanding of how your card issuer partner feels about your business relationship.
Having these insights are foundational to a productive negotiating process.
A successful renegotiation will require broad based market intelligence and real-time facts about programs with similar characteristics. Understanding how your program benchmarks against others in your sector in terms of size, cardholder performance dynamics, financial contributions and other key agreement elements is the best way to initiate an informed negotiating process. Be sure to also consider program expansion opportunities….what will the projected size and performance of the program look like for the next term. It very likely that your program will be considerably larger in the future than it is at renewal.
The decision to create a competitive negotiating environment is a key strategic consideration for any merchant organization. If you have a positive relationship with your current credit card issuer and a successful program, a competitive process may not be required. This, of course also assumes that your card issuer has provided you with a new offer that meets or exceeds industry or sector benchmarks. If you do not have a positive relationship, or you believe the proposal provided by your issuer is not at parity with those for similar card programs, creating a competitive negotiating environment can be a smart strategic move that will likely generate enhanced proposals.
Successful co-brand relationships typically work equally for all parties involved. Motivation to succeed needs to be mutual and sustained over the contract term. With transparent communication and realistic expectations, a commercially reasonable balance will yield a high degree of satisfaction for all...and a successful partnership over time.