FTS Acquires Lead Merchant Service Provider, Marathon Solutions, Inc.
CLEVELAND, OH / PITTSBURGH, PA – July 16, 2012
Financial Transaction Services (FTS), a full-service provider of electronic transaction services, announces its acquisition of Marathon Solutions, Inc. (MSI), a provider of electronic payment processing solutions based in Mission, Kansas.
Originally founded in 2002, MSI provides payment processing services to B2B merchants throughout the United States. By sourcing its merchant accounts through strategic relationships with trade associations, industry memberships groups, buying groups/co-operatives and software developers, MSI has achieved extraordinary success including annual revenue growth by over 50% the last 2 years.
Marathon uses a direct sales force to market its own proprietary payment gateway that is designed to provide card not present functionality specifically tailored to the B2B merchant community. Features include a PCI-DSS certified solution offer, full Level 3 processing capabilities, a secure rolodex for easy account lookup, customizable layouts for data fields and the ability to e-mail receipts to customers.
With the addition of MSI’s technology and successful distribution model, FTS will bolster its already proven success in the B2B merchant payment processing market segment. “MSI has experienced impressive growth over the last 3 years due to their niche payment processing products and services tailored toward the growing market segment of card not present business to business merchants. Since we have been focused on growing our overall business by targeting the B2B community, we are very excited to be able to leverage the momentum that MSI has built in this emerging sector of our market,” stated Jeff Shanahan, President of FTS.
Under the leadership of Tim Hutteger, MSI’s Founder and CEO, MSI will focus on integrating the operational efficiencies and bandwidth to add overall value to their core offerings, while continuing to operate of its Mission, Kansas office. “Our partnership with FTS provides an exceptional opportunity for Marathon to continue to focus on exactly what we do best, which is growth through strategic alliances by providing personalized merchant support. We will now have the additional resources to take our successful business model to the next level,” Hutteger stated.
About Financial Transaction Services, LLC
Financial Transaction Services (FTS) is a full service provider of electronic transaction processing services for merchants, independent sales organizations (ISOs) and financial institutions. FTS offers a comprehensive line of solutions for credit and debit cards, gift cards, electronic check conversion, verification and guarantee, as well as terminal services, online Payment Gateway Solutions, ERP Integration and PCI Compliance. FTS is one of the fastest growing ISOs in the industry and continues to separate itself from the competition by uniting around a single mission: to help our clients optimize their business performance through smart, efficient payment processing. FTS is privately held and backed by FTV Capital, a leading growth equity investment firm. Company and product information are available at www.ftservice.com. Financial Transaction Services is a registered ISO/MSP of Wells Fargo Bank, N.A, Walnut Creek, CA. and HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Buffalo, NY.
About Marathon Solutions, Inc.
Marathon Solutions, Inc. (MSI) is a niche provider of credit card-based payment processing services focused primarily on B2B organizations across the United States that predominately handle card not present transactions. Located in Mission, Kansas, MSI primarily sources merchants through strategic relationships with trade associations, industry membership groups, buying groups/co-operatives and software developers. Additional company information is available at www.marathonsi.com.
