Wind River Financial wins new business and delivers seamless onboarding
Introduction
Wind River Financial is an ISO and payment processing company based in Madison, Wisconsin. The company offers merchant services and merchant accounts via their partnership with the acquiring bank Wells Fargo. They also provide payment technology for a large base of Independent Software Vendor (ISV) customers to integrate into their own solutions. The company prides itself on treating customers like family. Many of their merchants lack knowledge of the payments process, so Wind River has a staff of payments veterans who know all about the payment ecosystem and have been involved with it for the last 30 years.
Challenge
In 2016, Wind River began looking for a new payment gateway partner. Previously, they would choose a specialized gateway to solve a specific use case, or to go after a new merchant category or vertical. However, with the market changing, they wanted to provide their customers with a more robust offering to service multiple MCCs. They also found that many gateways were failing to address specific pain points reported by customers along with staying current with payment trends.
Their ISV customers are experts in their own software and industries, but they needed a payments processor with the knowledge and technology to get the merchants boarded and processing payments quickly and securely. Wind River also wanted a single gateway integration that would make it simple for merchants to accept multiple payment methods. Moreover, it had to offer next-level features like a virtual terminal, simple hosted payment pages and advanced integration to ecommerce websites.
Staying ahead of the curve requires providing more than just merchant accounts and payment processing. Wind River needed a solution that would allow them to offer new sources of value for merchants to help retain customers while increasing revenue. They also wanted a partner that could provide a unified commerce enablement platform that offered them and their customers’ complete flexibility, with a wide range of devices, processor connections and shopping carts to choose from.
How NMI helped
Wind River chose NMI as the gateway partner to meet their need for a complete payments solution that was flexible and feature-rich. They wanted a partner who would listen to their strategy and work together mutually on a shared strategy. Wind River now offers NMI as a hub that their ISV customers can connect with and customize accordingly. In addition to the gateway, Wind River also offers NMI’s ChipDNA Cloud and Collect.js solutions to their merchants.
ChipDNA Cloud integrates chip card payments into a cloud-based POS solution that lets merchants accept EMV payments immediately without having to deal with PCI compliance, device drivers and certifications. Users connect directly to NMI’s payment platform, eliminating downloads and incompatibility issues, easing device adoption and ultimately reducing support calls.
"A lot of our clients are not as versed in the payment industry and are able to pick up and run
with the NMI APIs and integrate their software into the NMI payments platform. What NMI has
produced from ChipDNA Cloud is massive, putting them ahead of other gateways who are
scrambling to the cloud.’"
COO and CPO, Wind River Financial
Collect.js is a data collection and tokenization JavaScript framework, which allows merchants to collect payment information from their customers without exposing their website to sensitive information. That means merchants can eliminate PCI compliance headaches while maintaining full control over the look and feel of their checkout experience.
Processing payments through the NMI gateway and taking advantage of various value-added services has won new ISV business for Wind River and enabled them to take on customers that they wouldn’t have been able to work with before.
"NMI breeds a lot of confidence in our sales and client care teams. We like showcasing NMI as
much as possible since our end merchants really appreciate the additional features the gateway
has to offer along with their commitment to continually add new capabilities."
COO and CPO, Wind River Financial
Results
Since beginning their partnership in 2016, NMI and Wind River have worked closely together to grow their relationship. Wind River has seen approximately a 25% increase in transactions using the NMI products along with a 10% increase in customer satisfaction.
NMI’s responsiveness and adaptability have also helped improve the solution for Wind River’s customers over time.
"A lot of things that NMI is currently working on are really hitting all the pain points we’re
hearing from the market, which we really like seeing. As a partner it’s been great since we’ve
been working very closely with the NMI gateway and putting through a lot more transactions
than we have 2 years ago, and that growth obviously benefits both parties.’"
ISV Channel Manager, Wind River Financial
Wind River has also found in NMI a partner that shares their pride in and emphasis on providing outstanding customer service. For example, NMI was able to help save a client who was dissatisfied with a card testing fee issue by promptly refunding the client on behalf of Wind River.
"I have been impressed with everyone I have worked with at the company. NMI has a lean team
and what they are able to do is very impressive. Our Partner Success Manager has been very
responsive and is always trying to help. Issues are quickly resolved, refunded and escalated as
needed."
COO and CPO, Wind River Financial
Wind River has also appreciated the transparency provided by NMI’s quarterly product roadmap webinars, which keep them up to date with the latest offerings and help them assess what would be beneficial to them and their customers.
"It was great to see a roadmap from a gateway company, since we just don’t normally see that
level of information from other gateways."
ISV Channel Manager, Wind River Financial
The future
In a year where so many businesses have struggled, Wind River Financial and NMI have continued to help their merchants survive and thrive. As things return to normal, both companies will continue to work together providing great customer experiences.
Wind River plans to continue focusing on the ISV market and distinguishing themselves from the pack with their superior customer service. They want to help their customers fully understand payments and their needs, find the right technology for them, and share in the revenue generated.
NMI’s partnership will continue to grow with Wind River as they look to implement a host of other services, including integrations with Google Pay and Apple Pay, expanded surcharge capabilities, and Pay by Text and interactive voice recording.
About NMI
NMI is a leading global full commerce enablement platform, processing more than $195 billion in payments annually. We enable payments for over 3,300 partners and over 267,000 merchants around the world and across the entire commerce ecosystem: online, in-app, mobile, in-store, unattended and whatever’s next. We’re constantly innovating in order to power the next era of payments, building in the latest technology so ISVs, ISOs, Banks and Fintech Innovators can focus on what they do best. NMI has offices in the US and UK and serves global customers.