“The lawsuit in question was filed in December of 2016 on behalf of merchants in California that received sales appointment setting calls from two independent sales organizations — International Payment Services and Ironwood Financial. The lawsuit alleges that Fifth Third and two payments processing companies were in a “principal-agent relationship” with IPS and Ironwood and, through that relationship, violated California’s privacy laws “by recording telemarketing calls without any warning that the recording was occurring,” according to the filing.”

“ISOs knew they were up against the flow of technology a decade ago, when the launch of Square undermined their business model. ISOs resolved to become tech savvy to stay relevant , and many ISOs were making that adjustment and even finding newer technology was easier to sell and provided faster ways to register merchant accounts. And then came the Apple Card announcement which, like the mobile point of sale market, operates without regard to the role of ISOs. But Apple may be hurting its prospects by ignoring the value of working directly with ISOs.”

“Surcharges and discounts for cash aren’t brand-new pricing tactics, but interest in them by independent sales organizations is rising because of falling legal barriers and the potential  profits. Repeated sessions about the topic were packed Thursday at the Western States Acquirers Association annual conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. The presenter was Ryan Sills, director of risk and compliance at Pivotal Payments, a Plano, Texas-based ISO that has a surcharging program.”