Finding A Fix For Annoying Customer 'Service' Calls
Thursday July 31, 10:06 am ET
By Amy Reeves
Investor's Business Daily
biz.yahoo.com
One of the frustrating things about calling a customer service line is that you're talking to someone who doesn't know you from Adam.
If you have a complicated issue to deal with, the representative has to keep stopping and looking up information about you.
And often you'll end up getting referred to some other department, where you have to start all over again.
Total System Services Inc. (NYSE:TSS) has a product in the works that might simplify the process. The company, which usually goes by the name TSYS, is getting ready to roll out a computer system called ProphIT, made specifically for banks.
The software pulls together all the bank's business with a given customer - credit cards, savings accounts, mortgages, what have you - in a single portal that can be accessed anywhere.
So if you call in, talk to a teller or go onto your own online account, all of your info will be right there.
"We plan to have customers up and running by year-end," said Troy Woods, Total Systems' executive vice president. "We have tremendous expectations for the product."
His firm is so confident in the ProphIT system that it created a new business unit devoted to the line.
ProphIT is a new direction for Total System. The 20-year-old firm made its name with gear to process bank and credit card transactions. That business still generates more than 80% of Total System's revenue, and it continues to sign on new clients.
In March, Bank One Corp. agreed to migrate to Total System's TS2 platform next year for processing its credit cards. The deal will last only two years. After that, processing goes in house. But Woods says it's an important deal.
"(Total System) is the only one that can consolidate all that work and work out the bugs," he said.
Perhaps just as important, the platform that Bank One is leaving belongs to Total System's biggest rival: First Data Corp.
First Data has long held a bigger market share than Total System, which in turn holds a much bigger share than any other player.
That's changing, says analyst Bradley Moore of Putnam Lovell.
"(First Data) is not really emphasizing that business as much as the other parts of the business," he said. "It's losing market share to (Total System)."
The U.S. market isn't all that holds Total System's attention. A deal inked last year with Canadian bank giant CIBC gave the firm 55% of Canada's Visa market. It also won business last year from Sears Canada and Canadian Tire Retail.
In the near term, Europe holds the most growth potential, Woods says .
Total System manages around 12 million accounts there now. In March it added four new directors to its Total System Europe team. And last July it set up a new sales office in Italy to cover southern Europe.
Europe is fertile ground because even more consumers use plastic money there than do here, Moore says. European companies also are more willing to outsource card processing to a third party like Total System.
The firm's foreign plans don't stop at Europe, however.
"We're working our fingers off to acquire business in Asia-Pacific," Woods said. "We have a lot of opportunities, leads and good relationships. It's just a matter of time for it to pay off."
Total System has also boosted its business with strategic buyouts. In April it bought Enhancement Services Corp., which runs loyalty-reward programs such as frequent flier miles and points-based systems.
When scouting acquisitions, the company tends to be cautious, Woods says.
"To be honest, we've probably looked seriously at five or six deals in the last 12 months, but we can't get anything superattractive to us," he said.
Total System's move into rewards programs continues a trend to diversify its business. It also has products in e-commerce, debt management, fraud protection, portfolio management and other bank functions.
In the meantime, the card business provides steady if slowing growth. Second-quarter earnings rose 13% from the prior year to 17 cents a share - the lowest gain in eight quarters. Sales ticked up 7% to $257.7 million.
Analysts polled by First Call expect full-year profit to rise 11% to 71 cents a share. Next year they see earnings up 17% to 83 cents.
A growing market should help, Moore says. Consumers are moving from checks and cash to credit and debit cards. And banks are more willing to outsource these functions.
For his part, Woods sees growth potential in prepaid cards. While everyone's familiar with gift and phone cards, some firms are expanding the model.
Sears, for instance, recently launched a PayCard as an alternative to paychecks for its workers. Last fall, Total System rolled out Stored Value Online, a Web-based system for managing such accounts. |
