The Launch

The launch date of a new billing and payment program is a day of incredible anticipation at Multi Service. Everyone waits for news on the first transaction, the first merchant support call, the first completed billing cycle. Even though these programs belong to our clients, we tend to get attached, invested as we build the program for their requirements.

“Belong to our clients”….Yes, that’s our philosophy. Once a program is implemented, it lives and breathes as part of the client’s brand. The idea is that Multi Service is the well-oiled machine “behind the curtain”. There is a down-side to being “behind the curtain” of a private label program, though. That is, if you do your job well, nobody ever really finds out who you are or how it all works.

“Multi Service? I have never heard of you, but WOW! I wish we had known about you years ago!” Great compliment that causes great frustration for all of us at Multi Service especially those of us whose focus is to grow the company.

So, to solve this issue we’ve, decided to take a step out from behind the curtain to share what we know about the wonderful world of commercial billings and payments with a broader audience.

The blog:
We’ve developed the Payments Puzzle Box to examine all of the individual bits and pieces that come together to create the collective commercial payments industry. Throughout this blog, we will discuss payment methods, fraud protection, purchasing controls, Interchange fees, business interfaces, credit, apply and buy requirements, buying power, data security and compliance, and industry regulations as they relate to commercial payments.

What this blog is not:
This blog is not a consumer credit or consumer payments reference point. Multi Service specializes in commercial credit. We proactively choose to focus our business within the business-to-business sector, and, thus far, it has offered no shortage of interesting topics. So we’ll stick to what we know and what we love.

The bloggers:
The Payments Puzzle Box is a discussion of the commercial payments industry from two perspectives. Jenny Prater is Manager, Business Development at Multi Service. Through her years at Multi Service, she has developed a unique understanding of our clients’ and prospects’ business challenges which makes her not only an invaluable member of my team but a refreshing sounding board to brainstorm with. My name is Martha Salinas, I am Vice President of Multi Service and oversee the management of our private label programs. Jenny and I both enjoy tackling complicated subjects and complex puzzles but approach them completely differently which makes for interesting collaboration!

Periodically, you may also read posts by other specialists in the billing and payments arena – just to keep things more refreshing!

What to expect:
On a weekly basis, Jenny and I will discuss updates, trends, and our own opinions on the commercial payments world. Often times, we will comment on one another’s blog posts or directly address the other’s entry in a post of our own. In either case, we hope that you will also become a regular participant in the discussion.

3-2-1:
So today, we experience a launch date of our own. We’ll eagerly await our first comment, first subscriber, and our first healthy debate. We expect that they will be the first of many.
- Martha