The Future of Payment Is In the Cards (Credit & Debit, that is)

• Ecommerce
• Creative Design
• Micro Sites

Moneris 

Moneris—one of North America’s largest payment processors—handles more than 2.5 billion credit and debit card, point of sale and Internet transactions every year. Currently servicing more than 350,000 merchant accounts, they offer business owners a single point of contact for VISA, MasterCard, American Express, INTERAC Direct Payment, and all Point of Sale (POS) equipment and solutions—from in-store terminals to mobile wireless to ecommerce.

Currently, Moneris and Acro Media are successfully partnering on a variety of Web initiatives. Recently, Moneris USA enlisted our help in targeting an industry on the rise: Rent-to-Own (RTO), which rents furniture, electronics, major appliances, computers, jewelry and other goods, with an option to buy. RTO currently generates $6.8 billion a year by serving 3 million customers through 8,500 stores in all 50 states and Canada.

   

Moneris desired a Web site with two main project goals in mind: firstly, to create the leading information portal for the entire RTO industry, and secondly, to support and promote their strategic partnership with the industry’s international voice: APRO—the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations.

Our response is a highly focused and motivating site that appeals directly to RTO dealers. Its homepage prominently features a Flash video player for convenient in-page viewing of dealer testimonials. (Moneris themselves can load additional videos whenever they wish.) Persistent navigation and onsite search guarantee ease of use and fast access to content. These and other factors including W3C compliant coding, meticulous Information Architecture and optimized copy bolster site performance in the search engines.

Numerous calls to action compel users to examine PayPartner—Moneris’ electronic payment solutions distinctly tailored to RTO dealers’ needs. To compel site visitors to join the online RTO community—and regularly return to it—social networking features include a blog, industry articles and in future, a user forum.

Current, relevant content complement social networking opportunities to foster an online community assembled under the Moneris/APRO banners.

Managing Easily

To facilitate trouble-free site management by Moneris themselves, Acro Media implemented a custom content management system (CMS) based upon Drupal, 2007’s Overall Open Source CMS Award winner. Drupal enables Moneris to easily create and instantly upload blog entries, articles and entire pages (as well as edit and remove them) without any need of complex technical skills.

Moneris USA extends content creation privileges to APRO, so both can contribute and publish articles and blog entries. Nevertheless, to ensure their brand integrity and site messaging, Moneris retains ultimate editorial control, which it handily exercises through straightforward backend tools.

With a Drupal CMS, Moneris and APRO enjoy benefits which include:

• Agility: quicker response to changing/emerging markets and conditions.
• Speediness: editing, adding or removing site content is near-instant
• Lower content production and conversion costs.
• Attractiveness: always-current, contextualized info draws visitors in and compels their return.
• Solid brand management with controlled access and permissions.
• Freedom from the “all–powerful”, outsourced Webmaster or IT staff.
• Flexibility to grow the portal with more content and ‘community’ functionality.
   

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

With this Web initiative, Moneris has created a welcoming, online “meeting place” for the RTO industry, thereby establishing their credibility amongst their target market of dealers. By partnering with APRO—and by sharing select content production and management capabilities through their Drupal CMS—they enjoy a living, growing organism destined to support them and their online goals well into the future. The result: win-win-win for Moneris USA, partner APRO and their shared, online community.