Merchant Sales Podcast

What does the future look like for ISOs as AI, vertical software, and changing payments models reshape the industry? James Shepherd sits down with Brian Abernethy, founder and CEO of Straata, to discuss the opportunities hiding in residuals, interchange optimization, merchant pricing, and the growing role of AI in payments. They also dive into why the ISO and ISV worlds have struggled to work together, whether that relationship could finally change, and why distribution may become one of the biggest advantages ISOs have in an AI-driven market. The episode wraps up with Patti Murphy’s Today in Payments, covering the Durbin Amendment, debit interchange, IRS card payments, Mastercard’s tax case, ACH growth, Checkout.com entering in-person payments, and what’s next for Clover.

What does it take to build a stronger, more competitive ISO in today’s payments industry? James Shepherd sits down with Duayne Haskett, Chief Revenue Officer at Netevia, to discuss the strategies, products, and support systems that can help ISOs grow and compete in an increasingly crowded market. Duayne shares lessons from building Define Payments, the importance of staying focused on what you do best, and how ISOs can use technology, AI, financing, and solutions like Clover to create more value for their merchants. He also discusses what’s ahead for Netevia and Define Payments as they join forces and look toward 2027. The episode wraps up with Patti Murphy’s Today in Payments segment covering stablecoins, Visa’s AI initiatives, declining check usage, retail spending, mobile commerce, and international payments.

The payments industry is changing—and according to Vlad Sadovskiy, CEO of Netevia, the agents who win in the next phase won't necessarily be the ones with the highest residual splits. They'll be the ones with the right solutions for the right merchants. In this episode, James Shepherd sits down with Vlad to discuss the changing ISO market, the growing importance of Square and Clover, and why solution-based selling is becoming more important. They break down Square's 70% offer, why a lower split can still produce more revenue, how verticalization is changing merchant acquisition, and why giving merchants a solution they'll actually say "yes" to can matter more than chasing the highest residual percentage. The episode wraps up with Patti Murphy's Today in Payments segment covering Toast's expansion into fuel stations, changes to Visa and Mastercard economics, international real-time payments, and the continued evolution of digital payments.

What does it take to build a successful payments business in today’s market? James Shepherd sits down with Chris Sandifer, CEO and founder of Peak Pay, to discuss why ISOs need to evolve beyond simply selling payment processing and start thinking like fintech companies. They cover building merchant stickiness through technology and service, adding business financing and consumer finance, processor-agnostic POS solutions, the future of dual pricing, finding profitable verticals, and recruiting the next generation of agents. Plus, Patti Murphy joins James for Today in Payments to break down the latest developments in retail spending, stablecoins and the $30 trillion B2B payments opportunity, AI-driven payments and fraud, and Europe’s push toward a new payments network.

James Shepherd sits down with Mike Collins, Head of the Reseller Channel at Square, for an in-depth conversation about the rapidly evolving role of technology in the agent and ISO channel. They discuss the Square Reseller Program, the build-vs-buy decision for ISOs, how agents can expand their sales opportunities, what successful Square resellers are doing differently, and the importance of technology and customer experience in building a strong portfolio. The episode also features Patti Murphy’s “Today in Payments” segment, covering Illinois’ interchange legislation, Visa’s response to cryptocurrency transaction classification, the rise of agentic commerce, increasing ACH fraud concerns, and what recent consumer data may, and may not, tell us about surcharging and differential pricing.