Drew Edmond Merchants Payments Views

Merchant Payments Operations: Accounting and Reconciliation

A core component of Glenbrook’s methodology for assessing a merchant’s payments operations includes review of certain processes managed by the business’s accounting team, particularly the level of effort required to reconcile payment activity.  The business’s accounting team is responsible for a variety of fundamental financial activities, including record keeping and reporting, accounts payable and receivable, […]

Cannabis Payments Views

The Latest on Cannabis and CBD Payments

Hosted as part of the Mobile Payment Conference (August 24-26) this inaugural conference brought together fintech influencers, payments experts, and providers to address issues facing financial services companies serving the Cannabis and CBD industry. Setting the Stage I was honored to kick off the workshop with an overview of the cannabis payments market. I stressed […]

COVID-19 George Peabody Glenbrook Payments Views

We Are All Connected - Payments in the Post-COVID Era

Economies, global and domestic, are both interconnected and interdependent. Routine perturbations like economic slowdowns and recessions illuminate those dependencies as pain in one sector spreads to an adjacent one. COVID-19, and the global economic, social, and political reaction to it, put these linkages in high relief. The COVID-19 pandemic’s disruptive impact on global trade, national […]

Drew Edmond Glenbrook Merchants

Merchant Payments Operations: Payment Processing

When Glenbrook is Assessing a Merchant’s Payments Operations, the goal is to understand whether the payments environment functions in a way that optimally supports their existing business needs as well as any future requirements. To do so, one of the major Key Assessment Areas that we address is the technical architecture and services a merchant […]

Glenbrook

Remote Commerce Domain Takes Center Stage

Expansion Under COVID-19 The Remote Commerce domain is home to e-commerce, many mobile payments, and the venerable mail-order, telephone-order method (MOTO). The growth in transaction volume in this domain has been nothing short of phenomenal accounting for a: 56 percent of overall U.S. retail sales growth in 2019 47 percent increase in U.S. sales forecasted […]

Glenbrook Payments Views

Point of Sale Domain - The Pain at the POS

The POS Domain is Synonymous with the Retail Industry The POS Commerce domain is the land of brick and mortar retail, representing the majority of retail activity. Despite the steady double digit annual growth of the Remote Commerce domain, the POS Commerce domain was responsible for  some 84% of retail sales in 2019. That said, […]

Domains George Peabody Glenbrook Payments Views

The Payments Industry Impact of COVID-19

Series Introduction COVID-19’s impact on the U.S. payments industry and domestic economy is profound. Multiple reports from the U.S. Department of Commerce, merchant acquirers and PSPs indicate the extent of the pain even at this early stage of this pandemic-induced recession. For the over thirty million U.S. citizens suddenly without jobs and income, with many […]

Glenbrook Merchants Payments Views

Merchant Payments Operations: Organization

In Kavita Jiandani’s post Assessing a Merchant’s Payments Operations, she introduced Glenbrook’s methodology for our in-depth assessment of a merchant’s payments operations. In her introductory piece, Kavita highlights the major Key Assessment Areas we evaluate during each engagement. In this continuation, we examine the impact of the payments organization and the company’s “money team.” How a […]

Global Payments Regulation Zak Kazzaz

UPDATED: Balancing KYC Regulation and COVID-19 Relief in Emerging Markets

Download the PDF of our Regulatory Analysis of KYC for Covid-19 in Emerging Markets or read the web version. Among today’s most pressing questions for emerging market governments is how to get assistance funds into the hands of those who need it given the COVID-19 crisis. This need is especially acute in emerging markets that lack […]

Glenbrook Kavita Jiandani Merchants Payments Views

Merchant Payment Operations: Partner Performance

Continuing on our theme of Assessing a Merchant’s Payments Operations, in this post let’s focus on the critical aspect of Partner Performance. The goal here is to gauge if the merchant’s payment providers are good partners. Having the right set of payments processing partners is a critical factor that can take a merchant’s payments operations […]

Drew Edmond Glenbrook Merchants Payments Views

Merchant Payments Operations: Reporting and Analytics

In Kavita Jiandani’s post Assessing a Merchant’s Payments Operations, she introduced Glenbrook’s methodology for our in-depth assessment of a merchant’s payments operations. In her introductory piece, Kavita highlights the major Key Assessment Areas we evaluate during each engagement. In this Payments Views entry, I continue with a focus on one of the Key Assessment Areas: […]

Glenbrook Regulation Sam Levitt

The Truth About Surcharging

Glenbrook’s Cici Northup and Sam Levitt co-authored this Payments Views post. You have likely observed an increase in the number of articles about surcharging. These articles show that the practice is on the rise and often tout significant benefits for merchants: “Fortunately for businesses operating in the U.S., surcharging is becoming more widely accepted” “Credit […]

Glenbrook Kavita Jiandani Payments Views

Assessing a Merchant's Payments Operations

I am often asked if Glenbrook Partners is a payments education company, and if I teach. My answer to both is yes. Our education programs are designed to give attendees a stronger payments foundation on which to build and refine their corporate strategies, product development efforts, and operational functions. We’re also very much a payments […]

Glenbrook

Prepaid Power and Financial Inclusion at Fintech South

Georgia is a nexus of global payment processing and merchant acquiring activity. Some two-thirds of all U.S. purchase volume is processed there. That’s a lot of debit and credit card transactions. But what are those same companies doing to improve payments for the underbanked? That combination of payments technology and financial inclusion concerns was the […]

Glenbrook

The Apple Card May Not be Revolutionary—But It Offers a Thoughtful Bundle of Features and a Glimpse into the Post-Card Era

Apple’s March 25th keynote event announced forthcoming offerings to further build out Apple’s Services line—video media streaming, print media subscriptions, gaming, and more. Most interesting to us at Glenbrook (surprise!) was Apple’s co-branded credit card launched in partnership with Goldman Sachs and Mastercard. The Apple Card, to be released in the summer, integrates consumer controls, […]