Trusted nationally, serving our small-mid size business community for over 28 years across 48 states nationwide. According to Thorpe, customer retention begins with "setting up the merchant properly from the beginning and making sure they're not receiving surcharges or fees that are not laid out in the contract." He sees a lot of the competition charging merchants $10 and $15 fees above what the card brands are charging merchant acquirers. Infinity has never charged its merchants monthly minimum fees, he said. Infinity spends more time in underwriting deals these days since many merchants are slower to pay their bills because of the present economic situation. "We're not going to decline somebody for something that has happened in the last few months, or the last six months or the last year, unless it's something very serious, like a judgment," Thorpe said. Infinity "tries to understand what some of the merchants are going through and maybe why they had some of these bad marks," he added. Infinity also stays in touch with its merchants, notifying them of new programs. When merchants call with questions, Infinity offers to do rate reviews for them, Thorpe said. The company checks in with the top 20 percent of its portfolio once a year via e-mails, letters or Christmas cards. "If you do the right job in the beginning and be fair with the merchant and not try and make a lot of money on surcharges, then I think your retention would be helped right there alone," Thorpe said. "Because if you're making $40 to $50 per month on a merchant, and the other company comes in and says they can save them $200 per month, how can that happen if you're working on a true interchange cost?"
