Ex-Global Payments Exec Cohen Seeks New Growth Channels at Moneris

The new president of Moneris Solutions Inc., the U.S. arm of Canada's leading merchant-acquiring operation, says he will diversify the company's distribution channels and at the same time seek profitable niches in a highly competitive industry. Buffalo Grove, Ill.-based Moneris currently derives most of its U.S. transactions from merchants booked through about 500 branches of its bank affiliates, Chicago-based Harris Bankcorp Inc. and Raleigh, N.C.-based RBC Centura, as well as Harris's approximately 100 agent banks. “We are going to expand on that through partners and direct channels,” says Gregory C. Cohen, who has joined Moneris from Atlanta-based merchant processing giant Global Payments Inc. He mentions “referral and strategic partners,” but won't get more specific. Part of his future strategy may include signing independent sales organizations, but there's no timetable, according to Cohen. Cohen was the senior vice president who headed Global's dealings with ISOs, financial institutions, resellers, and referral organizations. The U.S. operation of Moneris is part of Toronto-based Moneris Solutions Corp., a joint venture of Canadian banking giants BMO Financial Group, better known as the Bank of Montreal, and RBC Financial Group, parent company of the Royal Bank of Canada. BMO owns Harris, while RBC owns Raleigh, N.C.-based RBC Centura. In total, Moneris has about 350,000 merchant locations and generates 2 billion transactions annually. While it's No. 1 in Canadian acquiring, Moneris is a “top 20” acquirer in the U.S., says Cohen without being more specific. “Greg Cohen is one of the top industry experts on third-party payment-service providers, which is an important area of focus for Moneris in the U.S. market,” James Baumgartner, president and chief executive of Moneris Solutions Corp., said in a statement. Becoming No. 1 isn't Cohen's immediate goal, but he is in search of market niches that Moneris can dominate. “There are tremendous niche and segment plays,” though he says he's too new on the job to provide specifics. He does say, however, that micropayments are an area worth a look. And, regarding new products, he says merchants increasingly want more than just Visa/MasterCard services from their acquirers. “ACH [automated clearing house e-checks] is becoming a viable payments option,” he says. Cohen replaces Larry C. Wine, who left Moneris in August to become president and chief executive of Atlanta-based RBS Lynk, the U.S. acquiring arm of United Kingdom-based Royal Bank of Scotland Group. Cohen says he is coming into a strong, profitable organization. “It's a good group of people,” he says. “There's not a mess that needs to be cleaned up. This is not a turnaround business.” Moneris currently uses TSYS Acquiring Solutions and First Data Corp. for such functions as authorization and settlement, but Cohen says the company is building a North American platform to take over many services in-house. Moneris, however, will continue to use third parties to some degree. “No one processor can do everything,” he says. “We need to have strategic partners.” Moneris also will soon move its U.S. head office from a Harris building in Buffalo Grove to another Chicago suburb, Schaumburg, Ill., he says.