| Nathan Roulston, founder and CEO of Alpha & Omega Processing (AOP), started his credit card processing firm last year. After working for a large bank that processed credit cards in-house, he realized how many problems the industry has. Roulston decided to find a new way of doing business — and says his company’s fees and business practices are unlike anything the industry has seen.
“When I started the company and told a lot of processors what I’m planning to do, they told me it can’t be done because I wouldn’t be making money,” he said.
Alpha & Omega Processing, based in Houston, Texas, doesn’t charge the customary credit card processing fees like application, annual and cancellation fees; it sells equipment to businesses that need it, and on rare occasion will lease equipment at a company’s request.
“Our pricing is the fairest in the industry. We show the merchants the true costs Visa and MasterCard charge us. If they sign up and don’t like the service, we let them go without penalties,” he said.
The company doesn’t use tiers but instead has a flat markup on the Visa and MasterCard costs it incurs. The markup does not increase so the only fluctuation comes from the Visa/MasterCard rate changes, which Roulston said typically stay the same throughout the year.
AOP recently partnered up with Port Orchard-based Family Bundles, which caters to independently owned businesses through a customer rewards program. Kim Vogler, who founded the company with her own retirement money, invested hundreds of thousands of dollars over a six-year period to refine her business concept. The company has a co-op loyalty program that Vogler says helps small businesses compete with the big box stores.
Vogler, who has been scammed by credit card processing companies three times, has heard many similar horror stories from her customers. She said when she heard about Alpha & Omega Processing, the more she checked into it, the more she liked it.
“It’s the first company I found that’s taking the high road and getting rid of all the junk fees,” she said. “I was really excited about their methodology.”
Vogler said the two companies share similar values and customer service philosophy. She has partnered with Roulston to provide AOP services to her own merchants — without getting paid anything in return. “This is just another benefit to have in our package,” she said.
Roulston said the company is planning to expand its customer base on the West Coast. The company has grown from eight sales people to 22. “We’ve been very blessed and doing very well,” he said.
Asked whether there are other companies following this type of model, he said: “If there are other companies like mine, God bless them and I hope they are very successful… The industry is messed up, but we are going to change it.”. | 