Payments in Enterprises

Enterprises often to come to Glenbrook with three core goals:

1. Increase Sales

2. Lower Costs

3. Improve Customer Experience

To support these goals, we bring expertise to help your team answer questions like:

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How can we optimize revenue by improving authorization rates and managing chargebacks?

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How are our payment providers performing? Are we using the right partners?

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How are our key payment metrics performing? How could they improve?

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Is our tokenization strategy effective? Does our payments architecture support our objectives?

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How can we lower processing costs?

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Is our organization structured effectively for managing payments?

How we can help

Glenbrook provides payment acceptors with strategic and operational expertise by conducting assessments of current operations and partner performance, optimizing acceptance rates and payments costs, supporting vendor selection, and developing targeted payments strategies. The practice builds upon Glenbrook’s 22+ years of experience, where the firm has developed a reputation as the most trusted name in the payments industry. Glenbrook’s team of experts combines decades of operating experience at enterprises, card networks, and payment service providers with exposure throughout the payments industry.

Common focus areas and services include:

Payments Operations Assessment and Strategy

  • Conduct a comprehensive assessment of payment operations to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and areas for improvements
  • Develop a tailored payment strategy that aligns with business goals and enhances customer satisfaction
  • Identify cost-saving opportunities, streamline processes, and recommend technology enhancements to optimize payment operations and maximize profitability

RFP Management and Vendor Selection

  • Create customized RFPs that reflect unique requirements and objectives
  • Evaluate vendor responses objectively, using custom scorecards based on priorities
  • Support negotiations to secure favorable terms, pricing, and service level agreements (SLAs) with selected vendors

Authorization Rate and Involuntary Churn Optimization

  • Analyze authorization and related data to identify patterns and trends affecting approval rates and involuntary churn
  • Develop strategies to increase approval rates, reduce declines, enhance checkout experiences, and retain customers
  • Develop customized KPIs and data dashboards for ongoing analysis and monitoring of authorization rates and other indicators

Price Benchmarking and Negotiation Support

  • Benchmark current pricing against industry standards and competitors
  • Develop strategies to reduce payment processing costs while maintaining service quality
  • Review contracts to ensure they align with negotiated terms
  • Provide expert guidance and negotiation support to help secure competitive pricing and favorable terms with payment service providers
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Team education on the payments industry and customized topics

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Glenbrook’s public and private payments workshops, and on-demand modules

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Access to Glenbrook’s team through expert retainer agreements

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Customized, deep-dive strategy workshops

Enterprises Case Studies

A global omni-channel merchant maximizes retention and growth

A global omni-channel merchant had a number of strategic payments objectives, including 1) increase subscriber growth and retention 2) support international growth 3) maintain redundancy and resiliency and 4) maximize authorization rates. Glenbrook was asked to develop strategic recommendations that aligned with these goals.

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A multinational grocer saves over 30% in annual operating costs

Glenbrook helped a major multinational grocer solve both short term issues and develop a long-term strategy to take advantage of current and forecasted industry developments in payments. We explored processing redundancies, expansion of credit acceptance, PCI compliance, and more, and then identified system architecture improvements and helped find a new partner to achieve their goals.

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Resources

Articles

Glenbrook shares our perspectives on activities in the industry.

Payments Post #17: Cutting Costs

Payments Post #17: Cutting Costs

In this Payments Post, we discuss the DOJ bringing a lawsuit against Visa that alleges the company operates an illegal monopoly in the debit card space. Does the argument have merit in our non-legal minds? And if so, what could the DOJ’s move mean for an evolving payments landscape?

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Payments Post #17: Cutting Costs

Payments Post #16: The Apple Drops

It’s time for another edition of Payments Post and (surprise!) we’re thinking about the Visa Flexible Credential again. Now that Apple has plans to open up the NFC chip and Secure Element to third party developers, we’re scratching our heads. Who benefits from this newfound NFC access? What opportunities can fintechs unlock? How will conventional financial institutions react? And to tie it all back, does the VFC still matter?

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Payments Post #17: Cutting Costs

Payments Post #15: BNPL Battles

In this month’s Payments Post, we revisit the prime use case for Visa Flexible Credential (VFC): BNPL. How are buy now pay later providers positioning themselves in the current environment, how are consumers using their tools, and how are regulators and issuers responding?

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Podcasts

Glenbrook speaks with industry leaders to share a variety of perspectives on the latest payments trends and activities.

Episode 253 – Glenbrook Partners: 2024 Payments Industry Trends Wrap Up

The Glenbrook partners reflect on key trends and challenges in the payments industry that shaped 2024 – from generative AI, open banking, the evolving regulatory landscape, and the rise of fast payment systems worldwide. And you can’t get the Glenbrook team in a “room” without discussing ongoing fraud implications, orchestration in merchant payments, and the progress of tokenization. Tune in to hear insights from our industry experts on these themes and more as we wrap up the year and look towards 2025.

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News

Glenbrook objectively curates the news to keep you abreast of important daily headlines in payments.

Ready to see how Glenbrook can support your enterprise to be as efficient and effective as possible?