United Bank Card Bids for Fast Growth Through a Terminal Giveaway

In a bid to accelerate growth in its merchant base and in its transaction volumes, United Bank Card Inc. says it will give card terminals, check readers, and signature-capture devices free to merchants signed on by independent sales organizations contracted with the Hampton, New Jersey-based processor. The company, which says it is signing new merchants at a rate of 1,000 per month, expects the promotion to triple its annual dollar volume from $2 billion currently within six to 12 months. Still, it will take three years for the processor to break even on the giveaway, says James Millican, marketing director, assuming that the promotion at least doubles the current rate of merchant signings. United Bank Card currently processes transactions for 18,000 merchant locations. The promotion includes the Nurit 8320 card terminal and signature-capture devices from Lipman USA Inc. and the eN 2500 check reader from Ingenico. The point of sale terminal wholesales for $300, the check reader for $250, and the signature-capture device for $100. All equipment provided in the promotion is new, and should allow smaller merchants to gain access to quicker chargeback processing through electronic signature capture. To qualify for the offer, merchants must use a new signature-capture network United Bank Card has established in which merchants can store signed receipts electronically and transmit them daily to the processor for storage. Merchants can then access the signatures via a Web interface. The benefit to United Bank Card, says Millican, should be accelerated growth in its merchant base, particularly among small and mid-size merchants attracted to the signature-capture capability. “We just want our ISOs to bring in new accounts, that's our main goal,” he says. To compensate ISOs for lost revenue on terminal sales and leases, United says it will pay a $100 bonus for each signed merchant. About 650 ISOs are contracted with United Bank Card currently.