Seeing a need for an independent, objective, third-party payments resource, Mercator Advisory Group was founded. Mercator serves our members through a unique blend of services including Research Advisory Services, Consulting, Primary Data Services, and PaymentsJournal.

This service focuses on the needs of issuers, acquirers, processors, and the vendors and investors who serve them. The emphasis is the “pay later” payment methods involving the extension of credit, examining the impact of technology and the competitive environment on business process.

This service focuses on the needs of debit issuers, acquirers, processors, and the vendors who serve them. The emphasis is on various forms of “pay now” methods that involve accessing a transaction account. These methods include, for example, debit cards, ACH, and Electronic Fund Transfer.

Tim Sloane and team began the Prepaid Advisory Service.  They tracked the evolution of virtual cards and mobile wallets and predicted that mobile distribution of prepaid would become a significant distribution channel for merchants and partners.

Technology-driven disruption in the payments industry is the new status quo. This service focuses on the business impacts and proposition of new technologies and their potential for issuers, merchants, card networks, acquirers, and the vendors competing on this tech driven landscape.

In 2008, Mercator launched PaymentsJournal, a free, online portal that keeps payments professionals informed through ongoing delivery of the latest news, analysts’ industry coverage, primary data infographics, whitepapers, executive interviews, podcasts, and more.

This service focuses on the needs of businesses paying and receiving funds, including cash management and treasury functions essential to support liquidity, risk assessment, and operational control.

Mercator Advisory Group’s Primary Data and Analytics Survey Series’ offers a library of valuable resources that combine relevant payments data with experiential survey analysis focused on today’s most critical and strategic issues.

In 2012, Mercator Advisory Group celebrated reaching our 100th client. Satisfaction achieved with a unique blend of services including Research Advisory Services, Custom Research and Consulting, Primary Data Survey Series, and PaymentsJournal.

Mercator Advisory Group’s Small Business Payments Survey provides data and expert analysis on the small business payments market in the United States through a series of annual reports based on a national survey conducted annually.

Buyers PaymentsInsights launched under it’s former name ‘Customer Merchant Experience’. This service explores the experiences of consumers as they shop. It is designed to highlight consumer expectations for shopping experiences with leading merchants and evaluate the value of loyalty and gift card programs to consumers and how they impact their shopping behavior.

Merchant Services focuses on consumer payments related issues within the retail sector. Key topics covered include the payment acceptance ecosystem, e-commerce and mobile payments, point-of-sale solutions, fraud management, and a variety of retail vertical markets.

To increase focus on critical areas of importance for payments, Mercator expanded and refreshed the primary research initiatives to currently include North American PaymentsInsights, Buyer PaymentsInsights, Fraud Experience PaymentsInsights, and Small Business PaymentsInsights.

As we adjust to these challenging times, our Clients’ needs for quick and effective solutions with near-term impact are apparent. We have developed many “out of the box” ways to deliver immediate help efficiently aimed at providing solid ROI on a fixed-price basis.

PaymentsJournal achieves 600,000 visits in one month, with 56,000 subscribers and remains a high growth platform!

Mercator Launches New Website with Enhanced Search, Analyst Chat, and a Online Purchase Capability.