CHICAGO, IL, June 9, 2003 – Moneris Solutions, one of North America’s largest electronic transaction processors, today announced that it has been selected as the Association Forum’s exclusive provider for credit card processing and related financial services.
As a new member of the Association Forum’s Member Advantage Program, Moneris can deliver advanced payment processing solutions to the Association Forum’s membership base consisting of more than 1600 nonprofit organizations throughout the country. Together these member organizations contribute more than $11 billion to the local and national economy.
Under the agreement, Moneris Solutions will deliver advanced payment processing through point-of-sale hardware, software, e-commerce solutions and web-based financial reporting. Moneris will also offer gift cards and card-based customer loyalty programs.
“Keeping with our goal of continually increasing the value of membership in the Forum, we are pleased to be teaming with Moneris Solutions to offer our members a range of transaction processing solutions and related services,” said Gary LaBranche, CAE, president and CEO of the Association Forum. “In a recent survey, our members identified credit card processing services as one of the top two benefits they would like to see us offer. After a competitive search, we selected Moneris Solutions because of the company’s stability and leadership in the transaction processing arena, coupled with its commitment to customer service and its wide range of services. Those were all the qualities we demanded from an exclusive provider.”
The Association Forum is the "association of associations" and provides an array of educational and networking opportunities to advance the power of associations through effective association management. In addition to business services, such as web development and conference planning, organizations belonging to the Association Forum can now use Moneris’ hardware, proprietary software and service/support to accept credit and debit cards from their individual members. This means that individuals can use their credit or debit cards to pay for a variety of association services, including membership dues, conference registration, and educational materials.
In addition to payment processing solutions, Moneris also offers gift and loyalty programs that enable additional benefits such as point collection for use toward free services. With an online source for credit and debit card transaction reporting, associations can review their reports online or download the information into spreadsheets and accounting packages for forecasting and analysis.
“Credit and debit cards are fast becoming an important payment method in the association community, yet associations are typically underserved by processing companies,” said Larry C. Wine, president of Moneris Solutions U.S. Group. “The Association Forum’s recent study demonstrated the membership demand for cost-effective credit card processing solutions, and we are pleased to be collaborating with this prestigious organization to meet this demand. The Association Forum has a large membership base that is representative of a broad range of industries and we now offer associations a flexible range of capabilities at a simple and affordable price.”
About Association Forum
Founded in 1916, the Association Forum of Chicagoland is the “association of associations” for more than 1500 business, charitable, civic and professional organizations headquartered in the Chicagoland area. The Forum’s 3,000+ members are the CEOs and staff executives of these national, state, and local not-for-profit organizations, plus vendors of goods and services to these businesses. The Forum provides association management, education, information and career services to its members and advances the public service value of associations to the public. For more information, visit the Forum online at ( www.associationforum.org).
About Moneris Solutions
Moneris Solutions ( www.monerisusa.com) has a 30-year history as one of North America’s largest electronic transaction processors, delivering advanced payment card processing capabilities through point-of-sale hardware, payment processing software, e-commerce solutions and a gift and loyalty program. Moneris provides transaction-processing services nationwide through numerous agent banks and serves the small to medium-sized business market through direct sales and strategic partnerships. A joint investment of the Royal Bank of Canada and the Bank of Montreal, which have assets in excess of $700 billion, Moneris Solutions serves more than 330,000 North American merchant locations and has a staff of over 1,100 employees. U.S. headquarters are located outside of Chicago, IL.
| Marcie Cheney 202-296-2002 x103 mcheney@environics-usa.com |