W. Capra worked with a major retail petroleum company to review their interchange spend and its substantiation and identified a course of action to improve the fee qualification, thus reducing costs. We executed a proven process to identify causes for the large gap in fees and the resulting reasons for downgrades. Implementing our recommended changes to their systems and processes resulted in approximately $1.5M in annual savings to this company's bottom line. This project also allowed us to validate the current interchange trends and compare current data to industry benchmarks.



We have led two large projects to consolidate the card acceptance across two portfolios due to mergers and acquisitions. These have both been major retail petroleum companies each with 13,000+ sites. This involved reviewing the separate card portfolios and consolidated strategy, analyzing the rate structures and processing options, identifying a way forward and working with the POS vendors, processors, and head office settlement applications to consolidate portfolios and present a consistent offer to their consumers across their entire patch. Both projects involved changes in all platforms (POS, processor, head office applications. We led these projects from beginning to successful end.



W. Capra led a major effort to migrate all the card volume from one processor to another for a major retail petroleum company. The new processing environment replicated and improved the business functionality provided by the existing system, with equivalent or better transaction processor response time and availability. A transaction processor disaster recovery environment and process was also provided. The new processor developed interfaces to the existing site telecommunications, settlement systems, e-mail systems, POS systems and accounting systems.



We have extensive experience in the cash management and retail payments industries, providing expertise and leadership for payment analyses including PIN debit card acceptance, marketer processing fee structures and overall payment process strategies for major petroleum US retail networks. We have directed business development activities for successful transformation projects of electronic payment authorization processes including beta planning review and implementation. Initiated, negotiated and managed new banking and payment network relationships to give access to new market areas and improve reliability and efficiency of service offerings. We represented organizations on various retail payments industry related councils including both public and private sector payment systems.



We have provided technical and analytical expertise to several fraud identification and deterrent programs. We analyzed detailed transaction logs and implemented specific fraud detection capability. Working with internal security experts and the FBI, we assisted in various operations to identify and capture fraud perpetrators. We are currently leading an effort to implement zip code prompting at the dispenser for a major retail petroleum company. This includes working the POS vendors, testing, and deploying.



W. Capra provided leadership to a major industry shifting initiative to implement a nationwide credit card acceptance program at the world's largest quick service restaurant. We coordinated vendor evaluation seminars and participated in the RFP process for credit card processing service providers. We also participated on the leadership team for RFP response evaluations and vendor selection. Managed and tracked activities between the different departments (Systems, Operations, Procurement, Accounting, and Marketing) and external card processing service providers. Following implementation, we assisted in the initial phases of their gift card program.



For a regional retail petroleum operator, we led a card processor change effort by assessing their current processor arrangement and analyzing their transaction volume against several other processor fee structures. We helped them plan for the required POS changes, settlement process changes and eventual migration.