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Merchant Services Is Often A Cost Center, Not a Profit Driver
For banking providers, merchant services should be a growth channel. If the merchant services CX experience is not managed, however, the business line can, instead, become a cost center with high attrition and lost opportunities for cross-sales.
So, where do problems typically start? At the beginning, naturally. Merchant Services onboarding is the first prolonged interaction a customer has after buying the product or service, but it often doesn’t go well. It’s a complicated process with many moving parts and different departments and vendors, and research indicates that it shows through. In our Business Banking CX Report, we asked business banking customers who had recently onboarded a merchant services offering how it had gone.
They described long delays, confusing instructions, multiple handoffs and communication gaps. All of these factors damage trust and may lead to customer frustration and attrition.
They told us merchant services onboarding was:
- Too slow.
- Too confusing.
- Too much information required and asked for too many times.
Poor merchant services onboarding raises early doubts about bank promises, which weakens loyalty. Lacking post-sale support confirms it.
Analyst Insight: Just 4% of new account applications receive same-day approval. Four in 10 wait 6-10 days.
-Capgemini’s 2024 World Retail Banking Report
Merchant Services Onboarding Challenges and Friction
In our research, businesses that had most recently onboarded a merchant services product described it:
- Only 24% said onboarding was "very easy."
- Just 53% were satisfied with their onboarding experience.
- Information gaps were the biggest frustration during merchant services onboarding for most.
- 18% named “confusing instructions” as their top issue and 12% said it was difficulty accessing needed information.
Read our blog: Building Merchant Loyalty: How Banks Can Strengthen Relationships and Reduce Churn With CX
Why is Merchant Services CX Important For Banking Providers
Banks are under pressure. Customer expectations have skyrocketed. Fintechs continue to move into merchant services, and can deliver faster, without the drag of legacy tech and processes. They can often onboard merchants in minutes, not days.
“In the merchant services business, customers are ordering hardware… and they want to know: When was my account approved? Has the hardware shipped? When will it arrive? What do I do next? Most organizations don’t have visibility across that ecosystem. Activation and onboarding are where we saw the highest attrition.”
-Glen Kelley, OvationCXM
According to McKinsey, “Many banks simply do not have the technology infrastructure to make onboarding the seamless, transparent digital experience it needs to be.” The analyst goes on to say that half of all banks have no technology solution for onboarding. If they do, it’s custom, siloed legacy solutions that require intensive customization.
These facts are not a criticism of traditional banking institutions; they are simply an admission that the merchant services world has to adjust to SMBs becoming "consumerized" - they want high-quality, seamless interactions like they have in other parts of life, and banks must provide them. If they can’t do that with the tools and processes of today, it’s time to consider updated strategies that modernize and optimize.
CX challenges don’t end with onboarding, though. Businesses reported gaps in merchant services support post-onboarding when trying to use these banking products.
Highlights: Merchant Services CX Statistics
- 69% needed help from their banking provider during onboarding or to use the product
- 50%+ interacted with multiple teams or departments
- Only 53% are satisfied with the experience, though 93% feel valued
- 61% welcome AI support; 39% prefer humans
Merchant Services Customer Support Pain Points
There’s a business mantra that says: sales is how you get them; service is how you keep them. Once customers have a product in hand, they judge their experience with it by the help they receive when trying to use it.
Businesses Need Significant Support
Merchant services customers, furthermore, need a lot of assistance. Nearly 7 in 10 businesses reached out to their banking provider for help with their merchant services product.
Merchant Services Support is Slow and Disconnected
However, these businesses report support experiences that aren’t just slow—they’re disconnected. Nearly half of the merchant services customers we surveyed have to contact multiple departments to resolve a single issue (45%).
Poor Visibility and Long Wait Times Are Big Problems
One-third are frustrated by poor transparency into the status of their merchant services support and conflicting information. More than 1 in 5 cited long wait times. A majority of merchant services clients had to interact with 3 or more people to resolve an issue. This points to the complicated nature of merchant services, but nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for the client.
“Oftentimes, these enterprises have multiple systems, and none of them are integrated. That’s where visibility and control break down—not just for customers, but for internal teams, too.” -Glen Kelley, OvationCXM
How Journey Orchestration For Merchant Services Affects CX
These pain points come down to one thing: fragmentation. Support journeys fulfilled by various internal teams, systems and partners that aren’t aligned. And while that feels chaotic behind the scenes, it’s clear that disorganization is bleeding into merchant services CX.
Fixing this isn’t accomplished just with better training or more access to business knowledge (although both help). It’s solved by taking control of those disparate touch points and orchestrating service from end to end.
“You’ll see double-digit improvements in customer retention and significant increases in satisfaction when these journeys are orchestrated correctly.” -Glen Kelley, OvationCXM
What Businesses Want from Customer Support in 2025
Businesses were clear on what they most desire in customer support from their bank: speed and accuracy.
This is how merchant services customer priorities broke out:
46% Responsiveness to inquiry
39% Fast problem resolution
38% Support team understands their business needs
35% Reach a person quickly if needed
24% More easy-to-use, self-service options
23% Clear and accurate answers the first time
22% Multi-channel support across phone, chat, etc.
Merchant services customers value responsiveness more than anything. Nearly half (46%) named that as the most important part of support. Speed alone isn’t enough, though—banks expect attention as well as knowledge of their specific needs, too.
This trifecta reveals the need for banks to focus on efficiency, accuracy and personalization—all hallmarks of a well-orchestrated customer journey. Banks that currently operate with silos and rigid workflows or systems will find it difficult, if not impossible, to adjust to these rising standards at scale and speed.
Merchant Service Clients Tell Banks How To Win More of Their Wallet
Merchant services customers overall feel their bank knows them and values them, but when we dug deeper, they admitted there are things their provider could do to win more of their business.
When it comes to expanding wallet share, merchant services customers are looking for relevant offerings, not necessarily more of them.
Nearly half (47%) want their bank to come to them with proactive, personalized recommendations, not generic upsells. Improvements to digital channels (42%) and self-service tools (41%) round out the top asks. Surprisingly, just 17% said they want more products.
The takeaway? Banks that lead with intelligence, convenience, and seamlessness—not just new offerings—may earn deeper relationships.
"When customers and support teams share a single view of the process, we see call volumes go down, NPS scores go up, and operational expenses drop.” -Glen Kelley, OvationCXM
Recommendations: How Banks Can Turn Merchant Services Into Revenue
The data in this report paints a clear picture: the merchant services business lines can be a massive revenue engine if they’re optimized. From onboarding through support, from enterprises down to sole proprietors, banking customers are running into friction, fragmentation and frustration.
Banks that take action now can transform their merchant services business line into a profit and relationship driver, contributing to long-term value and growth.
"Most banks try to solve this by building it themselves, extending Salesforce or SharePoint or ticketing systems. But those tools weren’t designed for this. It becomes expensive, slow, and unsustainable.” -Glen Kelley, OvationCXM
1. Unify Merchant Journeys Across the Ecosystem
Most merchant services journeys span multiple teams, platforms, and external partners. It’s a busy, interconnected ecosystem. This complexity is invisible to customers—they just want clarity and resolution. Banks must connect these touchpoints through journey orchestration platforms that:
- Provide real-time visibility across internal and external stakeholders
- Automate steps and notifications to reduce manual delays
- Empower teams to collaborate behind the scenes without burdening the customer
OvationCXM helps banks orchestrate the merchant services journey end-to-end, replacing fragmented handoffs with connected workflows.
2. Simplify Onboarding To Build Trust Early
Only 24% of respondents said merchant onboarding was “very easy,” and just 53% were satisfied. That’s a trust gap at the moment of entry. Simplify onboarding by:
- Reducing repeated data requests
- Creating guided, step-by-step flows
- Embedding real-time updates and AI-powered support
Platforms like OvationCXM allow banks to design these flows visually and deploy them without code.
3. Make Post-Sale Support a Loyalty Booster
Customers reach out for support, and often hit a wall. Delays, handoffs, and confusion dominate. Fix it by:
- Consolidating support data and interactions on one screen
- Giving customers a single, visible place to track status
- Empowering teams with AI-driven recommendations and journey health alerts
Support is the proof point of your customer promise. OvationCXM is the banking customer experience solution that brings visibility and orchestration to that moment.
Learn more about our banking customer journey orchestration tools.
4. Use CX Orchestration Tools to Deliver Personalization
Nearly half of the respondents said they want proactive recommendations from their bank, not generic offers. Personalization is the new CX battleground. Use data from across the journey to:
- Tailor offers based on behavior and stage
- Anticipate questions before they become support calls
- Offer next best actions based on segment, activity, or journey health
OvationCXM integrates AI into the orchestration layer, surfacing these insights in real time.
5. AI in Merchant Services Support: The Signals Are Clear...
In our 2025 research, 6 in 10 merchant services customers said they are comfortable receiving AI-powered support, and 41% want more self-service options. That’s not just passive acceptance — it’s an active demand for AI-powered efficiency. For banks, this presents both a competitive opportunity and an operational challenge: how to deploy AI in ways that improve onboarding and support, without creating a disconnected, generic experience.
AI transforms merchant services in three key ways:
- Accelerating onboarding – By automating steps, keeping stakeholders aware of journey steps and progress, AI removes friction and miscommunication that causes early customer frustration.
- Enhancing support – Conversational AI handles routine queries instantly and routes complex cases to the right team, ensuring speed without sacrificing accuracy. It also leaves human agents available for issues that require high-touch service.
- Driving predictive insights – AI’s ability to analyze interaction patterns helps banks flag churn risks early, recommend the next best action, and tailor offers to customer needs.
The real difference comes when AI isn’t treated as a bolt-on chatbot, but as an embedded intelligence layer within a customer journey orchestration platform. This integration ensures that teams and customers share a single, real-time view of onboarding or support progress. It turns AI from a reactive tool into a proactive one — fueling faster resolutions, guiding team actions, and closing the gap between customer expectations and operational capabilities.
When embedded correctly, AI is more than automation. It becomes the bridge that connects fragmented merchant service journeys into a seamless, transparent experience — and that’s the kind of transformation that can drive both loyalty and growth.
“Generative AI is changing how banks support merchants—but it only works when it's embedded into the journey and visible across the ecosystem.” — Glen Kelley, OvationCXM
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6. Turn Merchant Services Into CX Excellence
This isn’t just a fix-it story. It’s a competitive strategy. When onboarding is seamless and support is smart, banks can:
- Accelerate how fast customers activate and generate revenue
- Reduce call volume and related costs
- Increase satisfaction and NPS scores
- Grow product adoption and share of wallet
Read the KeyBank Case Study: Transforming Merchant Services Into an Industry Leader
Conclusion: Fixing the CX Gap is a Revenue Booster
OvationCXM’s data shows persistent friction throughout merchant services experiences—even within trusted bank relationships. Analysts confirm that journey orchestration, embedded AI, hybrid human-AI support and digital merchant tools are now must-haves.
Banks that modernize merchant services CX will reduce costs, improve satisfaction, and protect market share, while laying the foundation for innovation like agentic AI and stable-native payments.
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About OvationCXM
OvationCXM is a customer journey orchestration platform purpose-built for financial institutions. We help banks and payment providers connect their internal teams, partner systems, and support channels into a single, guided experience, giving customers faster resolutions and teams the tools to deliver seamless service.
Our CX orchestration platform combines AI-powered automation, real-time visibility, and no-code journey design to streamline complex onboarding and support journeys, especially in high-friction areas like merchant services, business credit, and treasury onboarding.
Learn how banks use OvationCXM to deliver better business banking CX, accelerate issue resolution, and unify ecosystem experiences.
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