1. American Express ESA to OptBlue
Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time out of your schedules today to join us for this training. For those of you who don’t know me, I am Danielle Rourke and I am our Vice President of Business Development.. Please type in any questions that you have on the bottom right hand panel of the GoToMeeting pane and we will read them at the end.
The conversion to OptBlue for merchants processing on the Global & TPS/NP front end authorization networks that are currently accepting American Express via the ESA Program is going to occur beginning, now.  We anticipate the migration being completed within two weeks and these merchants will now be able to enjoy the benefits of the same deposit schedule and billing statement as Visa, MasterCard and Discover transactions. Nationwide has opted out any merchants that would not have benefited financially by moving to OptBlue. However, ESA is going to go away at some point, so it’s important to understand the impact because there will be a point when all merchants are forced to convert from ESA to OptBlue.
This call is meant to focus on the financial impact of the ESA to OptBlue conversion. Feel free to ask any questions regarding OptBlue, but the presentation itself is focusing on this.
presented by: Danielle Rourke

2. OptBlue Training Overview New Pricing Structure
Remaining Phases of Rollout
First we are going to do a quick overview of the difference between ESA and OptBlue, then discuss the new pricing structure, then go through some examples of how this will impact high volume American express merchants, and then talk about what you should do with the list you have either already received or will be receiving tomorrow from PS that identifies these merchants as well as the anticipated impact based on average ticket and annual volume using August American Express volume and transaction count.
Merchant Impact
ESA (External Sales Agent) vs OptBlue

3. ESA OptBlue (summary) vs
Two statements Fees charged and merchant pricing set directly by American Express Typically a higher fee structure * Deposit times not always the same as the other card brands
One Statement Fees charged and pricing set above wholesale rates by Nationwide Payments Lower fee structure for most merchants * Deposited as one batch with Visa/MasterCard/ Bankcard Discover
With the American Express ESA program, a merchant got two statements (one from us and one directly from American Express), the fees were charged directly by American Express and were often a little bit higher with a different pricing structure. Deposit times were also slower than the other card brands. American Express did speed up their settlement times for the ESA program sometime last year, but we never got confirmation that this is happening for all merchants.
With OptBlue, the merchants have American Express transaction data on our statement, their fees are charged by Nationwide, and there is a lower fee structure for many merchants. Their American Express funds are now deposited as one batch with Visa/MasterCard/Bankcard Discover.

4. New
Pricing Structure
Let’s talk about this new pricing structure

5. ESA
Rates
The rates that were charged to merchants through the ESA program were set by American Express. Nationwide had no control over this pricing.

6. OptBlue Pricing Structure – Wholesale Rates
Nationwide is now provided wholesale rates from American Express and we can mark them up in the same fashion we mark up Visa/MC/Discover interchange. It is important not to refer to these rates as interchange. Visa/MC/Discover costs are interchange, but American Express costs are referred to as wholesale rates.
The structure is quite different from the previous ESA structure, which I will get into in more detail shortly. So, here is the list of the wholesale rates. So you can see there are 3 tiers (4 for restaurant and bars and caterers) and each tier has a different rate based on transaction amount and industry type (as determined by the mcc).
Restaurant & Caterers/Drinking places have a tier 4 for tickets under $5 with a base rate of 1.90% + $0.04.

7. OptBlue Pricing Structure – Passthrough Fees
0.10% Participation Fee2
0.15% American Express Network Fee2
0.30% Card Not Present Fee
0.30% Digital Wallet Fee (for contactless payments)
0.40% Inbound Fee (assessed on all American Express issues outside of the United States)
0.50% ESA Conversion Fee
$0.03 additional cost for merchants participating in OptBlue and using the Global front end authorization network3
There are also pass through fees which are the equivalent of Visa/MC/Discover assessments.
There is a 10 BP participation fee and a 15 BP American Express Network fee that are billed as one line item on our statement.
There is also a 30 BP CNP fee. This is important because on ESA this fee only applied to Retail and Restaurant (but not fast food) merchants. This fee now applies to all industry types. This would mean someone who was a doctor or in the B2B category on ESA would now incur this assessment on CNP transactions when previously there were no percentage costs above their flat rate.
There is also a 50 BP ESA conversion fee that we do anticipate being lowered when we successfully convert a certain percentage of merchants. We have no timeline when that will decrease but we will notify Sales Professionals when it does. We will not adjust merchant pricing without a request from the Sales Professional.
Lastly, there is an additional $0.03 authorization cost on top of the existing authorization costs for merchants participating in OptBlue and using the Global front end authorization network. Nationwide is not sure how we will be billing that cost but will send out an alert with more information once we have it.
2 - Billed as one line item.
3 - Nationwide is still working on how we will be billing the additional $0.03 cost that is applicable to Global merchants participating in OptBlue. We will release more information as soon as we have it. 

8. Default Pricing Enrollment – Cost Plus Merchants
Tier
BP Markup (%)
Profit Margin * 1
0.90%
0.40% 2
0.80%
0.30% 3
0.60%
0.10% 4
Nationwide did not have as much time as we would have liked to analyze merchant impact and set pricing, so we had to choose default pricing for merchants scheduled to be converted.
Tier 1 is marked up 90 BP, with a 40 BP profit margin after the 50 BP conversion fee,
Tier 2 is marked up 80 BP, with a 30 BP profit margin after the 50 BP conversion fee
Tier 3 is marked up 60 BP, with a 10 BP profit margin after the 50 BP conversion fee
And tier 4 is
*after the 0.50% conversion fee

9. Default Pricing Enrollment – QDR Merchants
Industry Type
Tier 1 *
Tier 2 *
Tier 3 *
Retail
2.50% + $0.10
2.75% + $0.10
3.00% + $0.10
Service
Restaurant
3.25% + $0.10
3.35% + $0.10
Caterers/Drinking 
MOTO Purchases
2.60% + $0.10
2.85% + $0.10
3.10% + $0.10
Healthcare SE
2.45% + $0.10
2.65% + $0.10
2.90% + $0.10
B2B SE
Lodging
3.15% + $0.10
3.40% + $0.10
3.60% + $0.10
Recreation/T&E
Other SE
2.40% + $0.10
Prepaid
2.25% + $0.10
Qualified Discount rate billing merchants were enrolled at these tiers.
*not including pass through fees (e.g. Network Participation Fee). Tier 4 enrolled at 2.50% + $0.04

10. Summary Pricing Changes of
Let’s look at a summary of what these pricing changes really mean

11. ESA OptBlue (summary) vs
Set rate based on MCC & the applicable industry type category
Restaurant merchants paid a 3.50% + $0.05 per item (Fast Food was 3.50% + $0.00)
The only industries that paid a CNP fee of 0.30% were Retail/ Restaurant
The cost for American Express did not vary per network
Merchants processing over 1 million in volume couldn’t participate in ESA
Tiered rates based on both industry code and individual transaction amount *
Restaurant merchants pay $0.10 per item in addition to the wholesale rate that is applicable per tier
All merchants now pay a CNP fee on CNP transactions
There is an extra $0.03 per authorization cost on the Global network
American Express has much stricter auditing policies to make sure merchants processing over this dollar amount get taken directly by Amex.
I will get into each of these in more detail later on in the presentation.
With ESA, the merchants paid a set rate based on industry type. With OptBlue they pay 3 rates (4 for restaurant and caterers) based on industry type and individual transaction amount. As I mentioned previously, some MCCs also changed industry type. For example, schools used to have their own Industry category but are now listed under the Other industry.
With ESA, restaurant merchants paid 3.50% + $0.05 per item. They now pay a $0.10 per item in addition to the wholesale rate that is applicable per tier. This does make an impact for merchants who have a smaller average ticket that is between $5 and #25 and a high number of transactions.
With ESA, the only industries that paid a CNP fee of 0.30% were Retail and Restaurant. With OptBlue all merchants pay that 30 BP cost on CNP transactions. This would mean someone who was a doctor or in the B2B category on ESA would now incur this assessment on CNP transactions when previously there were no percentage costs above their flat rate.
With ESA, the cost for American Express acceptance did not vary per network. With OptBlue, there is an additional $0.03 cost per authorization for merchants processing on the Global Network. We are still working on how we will be billing this cost.
With ESA, merchants processing over 1 million were not supposed to be enrolled in ESA, they were supposed to be taken directly by amex and given a rate directly by amex. However Amex did not have very strict auditing procedures in place so they often stayed on ESA even if they processed over 1 million. We have been advised that since Amex is (in their opinion) giving up so much of their profit margin, that they will be much stricter with this auditing process.
The inbound fee and Digital Wallet fee aren’t mentioned here because the Inbound fee of 0.40% always applied to all cards issued outside of the United States. The 0.30% Digital Wallet Fee is a new fee for contactless transactions that Amex most likely would have added to the ESA program if ESA wasn’t being discontinued
* Certain merchants changed which industry type they are classified in.

12. Rates now based on tiers as well as industry codes
The first big difference - Let’s talk about how this change in the industry code and the tiers impact merchants

13. OptBlue Cost Examples for ESA Converted Merchants
(Global Network only)
Merchant Type and MCC
Existing ESA Industry
Existing ESA Rate 1
CNP applicable on ESA?
OptBlue Industry
OptBlue Tier 1 Wholesale Rate 2
OptBlue Tier 2 Wholesale Rate 2
OptBlue Tier 3/4 Wholesale Rate 2
College/University (8220)
Education
2.50% No
Other
2.25%+$0.13
<$100
2.60% + $0.13
$ $3k
3.05% + $0.13
>$3k
Direct Marketing - Catalog (5964)
MOTO
3.50%
2.75%+$0.13
<$150
3.10% + $0.13
$ $3k
3.55% + $0.13
Misc Publishing & Printing (2741) 3
Services
2.89% + $0.15
2.35%+$0.13
<$400
2.70% + $0.13
$ $3k
3.15% + $0.13
Doctor/Physician (8011) 3
Office-based healthcare
2.55%
Healthcare
2.30%+$0.13
$ $2k
>$2k
Restaurant (5812)
Restaurant
3.50% + $0.05
Yes
$ $150
3.50% + $0.13
>$150
2.65% + $0.07
≤$5
Fast food (5814)
Fast Food
Caterer (5811)
Drinking Place/Caterer
Here are some examples of different merchants and their old rates with ESA and new rates with OptBlue. As you can see in some instances in Tier 3, the rates are actually higher, Also, fast food had no transaction fee before and now has a $0.07 transaction fee on transactions under $5 ($0.03 of that being the global fee that applies to all authorizations) and a $0.13 fee on transactions between $5 and $25. For merchants not processing on Global, this cost is 4 cents and ten cents.
The other tricky part about this is the Card Not Present fee. On MCC code 5964, I know that it is all MOTO so the Card Not Present fee will apply to all transactions, so I can add that 0.30% to the OptBlue Rates. But on someone like Doctors or printing companies, we have no way of knowing the % of transactions that are CNP, so we don’t know what percentage of their transactions the 30 BP will apply to.
Please note these rates are cost and do not include a profit margin.
Not including prepaid rates
Including all pass through rates but does not include any profit margin
No way of knowing which transactions are CNP

14. Q: Who does this negatively impact the most?
So who does this negatively impact the most?

15. A: High volume high ticket merchants
Merchants that do a lot of volume in American Express and that have a high average ticket. As with anything in this industry, the higher the volume, the more the monetary impact

16. Average ticket /Tier based on average ticket
OptBlue Cost Examples for Large Ticket ESA Converted Who Will Pay More with OptBlue (With No Profit Margin)
Merchant Type
MCC Code
Average ticket /Tier based on average ticket
Annual Amex volume
ESA Rate
Annual ESA Cost
OptBlue Rate
Annual OptBLue Cost 2
Savings
Lumber & Building Material
5211
$7,000/Tier 3
$975,000
2.89% + $0.10 1
$28,191
3.15% + $0.10
$30,726
-$2,535
Auction House
8999
$8,000/Tier 3
$950,000
2.89% + $0.15 1
$27,472
3.00% + $0.10
$29,461
-$1,989
Misc Printing Services
2741
$12,000/Tier 3
$27,466
$29,932
-$2,466
Heating & Air
1711
$4,000/Tier 3
$900,000
$26,043
$28,372
-$2,328
Charitable Organizations
8398
$3,500/Tier 3
$800,000
$23,154
3.05% + $0.10
$24,422
-$1,268
Utility
4900
$3,100/Tier 3
$675,000
$19,540
$21,284
-$1,744
Medical Equipment/
Supplies
5047
$8,000
Tier 3
$28,195
$29,262
-$1,066
This is an example of 5 large ESA accounts processing under 1 million a year that will pay these new rates with OptBlue. These are actual merchants used for this example. As you can see, because they are all in Tier 3, they are actually not saving any money by switching to OptBlue. And, the negative amounts above don’t even include a profit margin. All of these merchants have been opted out of this round of the conversion. We opted out any merchants that would not have benefited financially by moving to OptBlue. However since ESA is going to go away at some point, it is important to understand the financial impact because there will be a point when all merchants are forced to convert from ESA to OptBlue.
Currently no CNP 0.30% charge with ESA. No way of knowing what percentage of transactions the 0.30% CNP fee will apply to.
Including all pass through rates except the Global 3 cents and does not include any profit margin

17. OptBlue Cost Examples for Large Ticket ESA Converted Who Will Pay More with OptBlue (W/Default Profit Margin)
Merchant Type
MCC Code
Average ticket /Tier based on average ticket
Annual Amex volume
ESA Rate
Annual ESA Cost
OptBlue Rate/ default profit margin
Annual OptBLue Cost 2
Annual OpBlue Cost with Profit Margin
Savings
Without profit margin
with profit margin
Heating & Air
1711
$750 Tier 2
$975,000
2.89% +
$0.15 1
$28,372
2.70% + $0.10/ 3.00% + $0.10
$26,455
$29,380
$1,917
-$1,007
Masonry & Stonework
1740
$2,100
Tier 2
$650,000
$18,831
$17,580
$19,530
$1,250
-$699
Misc Retail
5999
$85
$450,000
$0.10 1
$13,534
$12,679
$14,029
$855
-$495
Lumber & Building Material
5211
$900 Tier 2
$600,000
$17,406
$16,266
$18,066
$1,140
-$660
This is an example of merchants who wouldn’t lose money due to the new cost of OptBlue, but will lose money due to the default profit margin. Keep in mind
these numbers are annual, we just wanted to give different examples of merchants that could be impacted
Pricing can be adjusted (instructions on that later in the presentation)
Currently no CNP 0.30% charge with ESA. No way of knowing what percentage of transactions the 0.30% CNP fee will apply to.
Including all pass through rates except the Global 3 cents

18. Restaurant & Fast Food Merchants Are Also Impacted
Restaurant and Fast Food merchants are also impacted

19. OptBlue Pricing Examples for Restaurant/Fast Food ESA Converted Merchants (Global Network only)
Merchant Type
MCC
Average Ticket
$ Ticket for calculations
ESA Rate
ESA Cost per transaction
OptBlue Rate
OptBlue Cost per transaction
Difference per transaction
Bar
5813
<$5 $4
3.50% + $0.05
$0.19
2.65% + $0.07
$0.18
1.4 cents / 35 BP
$5 - $25
$15
$0.58
2.60%+$0.13
$0.52
5.5 cents / 37 BP
Fast Food
5814
3.50%
$0.14
-3.6 cents / 90 BP
$0.53
½ cent / 3 BP
Restaurant
5812
<$25
$ $150
$75
$2.68
3.20% + $0.13
$2.53
14.5 cents / 19 BP
>$150
$155
$5.48
3.50% + $0.13
$5.56
-$0.08 / 5 BP
$200
$7.05
$7.13
-$0.08 / 4 BP
Caterer
5811
$20
$0.75
$0.65
10 cents / 50 BP
$100
$3.55
$3.33
22 cents / 22 BP
$3,000
$175.05
$175.13
-$0.08 / 1 ½ BP
The restaurant industry is also impacted, but the largest impact is for fast food merchants with tickets under $5. This slide is different than the previous slides; it shows individual transaction cost difference based on average ticket instead of annual cost difference.
the first example is a bar with tier 4 rates, with an average ticket of $4. They will save a 1.4 cents per transaction with new OptBlue rates, which is equivalent to 35 basis points on a $4 transaction.
The next line is a bar with Tier 1 rates, and I used $15 for the transaction amount. They will save $0.06 per transaction, which is equivalent to 37 BP on $15.
The next line is a fast food merchant with tier 4 rates and an average ticket of $4. They will pay 3.6 cents more, which is equivalent to 90 basis points of a $4 ticket.
So most of the rest of the merchants will either save a little bit or not pay very much more, but remember that the calculations above do not include any profit margin. So for a higher end restaurant, they will only pay $0.08 per transaction in tier 3, but this leaves no room for profit until that 50 BP conversion fee is lowered.
I just want to note that I listed a caterer as a separate example than restaurant to get people thinking about any caterers they have that may have a large average ticket. Again, the merchant will only pay a small amount more, but there is no room left for profit margin until the 50 BP conversion fee is lowered. caterers did have the Card not present pass through previously, so it is not included in the OptBlue rate above.
1. Including all pasts through rates but not including any profit margin

20. CNP previously didn’t apply to all industries
Second big difference – the Card Note Present fee was not applicable for all industry types.

21. the 30 BP CNP fee only applied to Restaurant and Retail merchants
the 30 BP CNP fee only applied to Restaurant and Retail merchants. This means categories like Services and Education didn’t pay this cost previously, but will now.
Also, I have no idea why not all of the merchant types have the one star that says fee to be applied by American express. This is a screenshot of the ESA rates and they applied all fees previously.

22. Average ticket /Tier based on average ticket
OptBlue Cost Examples for Large Ticket ESA Converted Who Will Pay More with OptBlue (With No Profit Margin)
Merchant Type
MCC Code
Average ticket /Tier based on average ticket
Annual Amex volume
ESA Rate
Annual ESA Cost
OptBlue Rate
Annual OptBLue Cost 2
Savings
Lumber & Building Material
5211
$7,000/Tier 3
$975,000
2.89% + $0.10 1
$28,191
3.15% + $0.10
$30,726
-$2,535
Auction House
8999
$8,000/Tier 3
$950,000
2.89% + $0.15 1
$27,472
3.00% + $0.10
$29,461
-$1,989
Misc Printing Services
2741
$12,000/Tier 3
$27,466
$29,932
-$2,466
Heating & Air
1711
$4,000/Tier 3
$900,000
$26,043
$28,372
-$2,328
Charitable Organizations
8398
$3,500/Tier 3
$800,000
$23,154
3.05% + $0.10
$24,422
-$1,268
Utility
4900
$3,100/Tier 3
$675,000
$19,540
$21,284
-$1,744
Medical Equipment/
Supplies
5047
$8,000
Tier 3
$28,195
$29,262
-$1,066
As we already looked at on the slide with Examples for Large Ticket ESA Converted Who Will Pay More with OptBlue, some of these merchants will be losing money based off of their average ticket. However, merchants like lumber, charitable organizations, and heating and air, will now incur this fee, and we have no way of knowing the % of card not present transactions the 30 BP cost will apply to. If the lumber merchant in the example above is entirely card not present, their OptBLue rate would be 3.45%, not 3.15%
Currently no CNP 0.30% charge with ESA. No way of knowing what percentage of transactions the 0.30% CNP fee will apply to.
Including all pass through rates except the Global 3 cents and does not include any profit margin

23. The cost previously didn’t vary per network
Next big difference, - there was never an extra authorization cost for amex.

24. Merchant participating in OptBlue and utilizing the Global front end authorization network will have an extra $0.03 cost on their authorization fees. Here is a screenshot of the Value Added Rate and Fee schedule that shows were we disclose this fee. This extra 3 cents would make a 20 basis point difference on a $15 ticket, a 38 basis point difference on an $8 ticket, and a $75 bp difference on a $4 ticket
Nationwide Payments is still working on how we will be billing the additional $0.03 cost that is applicable to Global merchants participating in OptBlue (originally announced here). We will release more information as soon as we have it. 

25. $1 Million
ESA Cap
With ESA, merchants processing over 1 million were not supposed to be enrolled in ESA, they were supposed to be taken directly by amex and given a rate directly by amex. However Amex did not have very strict auditing procedures in place so they often stayed on ESA even if they processed over 1 million. We have been advised that since Amex is (in their opinion) giving up so much of their profit margin, that they will be much stricter with this auditing process.

26. Q:
What do I do now?
Ok so now the big question – what do you do now?

27. A:
Don’t panic
Well first a few Not to dos. Don’t panic

28. A: Don’t automatically opt all merchants out!
Well first a few Not to dos. Don’t panic

29. OptBlue Cost Ex. for Merchants Who Will See Savings
(with no Profit Margin)
Merchant Type
MCC Code
Average ticket /Tier based on average ticket
Annual Amex volume
ESA Rate
Annual ESA Cost
OptBlue Rate
Annual OptBLue Cost 2
Savings
Marina
5541
$450/Tier 2
$975,000
3.25% + $0.00
$31,687
2.60% + $0.10 1
$25,566
$6,120
Baseball Tickets (Professional Sports)
7941
$140/Tier 1
$900,000
2.89% + $0.15
$26,974
2.30% + $0.10 1
$21,342
$5,631
Veterinary
0742
$300/Tier 1
$800,000
$23,520
2.35% + $0.10 1
$19,066
$4,453
Industrial Supplies
5085
$740/Tier 2
$825,000
$24,009
2.55% + $0.10 1
$21,148
$2,860
Engraving Awards
2791
$550/Tier 2
$875,000
$25,526
$22,471
$3,054
This is a quick overview of a few merchants who will save money by converting from ESA to Opt Blue.
The first merchant is a marina who does almost a million dollars. Their MCC code puts them in the Other category, and their tier puts them in the tier 2 category for a cost of 2.60% as opposed to the 3.25% they were paying on ESA. Even with a CNP fee, their cost would still be lower.
Currently no CNP 0.30% charge with ESA. No way of knowing what percentage of transactions the 0.30% CNP fee will apply to.
Including all pass through rates except the Global $0.03 and does not including any profit margin

30. A: Do utilize partner support to help you with analysis
So since all of variables about a particular client have to be reviewed, we will not be letting merchants opt out without speaking to their rep. Customer service is following a script that is detailed in the sales alert that will inform merchants that they should speak to their sales professional to make sure Optblue doesn’t benefit them before opting out.
They will say, “"American Express has introduced a new pricing model that is intended to lower costs associated with American Express acceptance as well as give you the convenience of one deposit and statement for all of the card brands. Because so many merchants are seeing a significant decrease in costs, we are reviewing each request for opt outs to ensure merchants understand the benefits they would be missing out on if they choose to opt out. Let me take your information and I will have the proper department contact you shortly. We do have a piece we can you that addresses some of the most common concerns for you to review while you wait to hear back from someone."

31. Customer Service Script
“American Express has introduced a new pricing model that is intended to lower costs associated with American Express acceptance as well as give you the convenience of one deposit and statement for all of the card brands. Because so many merchants are seeing a significant decrease in costs, we are reviewing each request for opt outs to ensure merchants understand the benefits they would be missing out on if they choose to opt out. Let me take your information and I will have the proper department contact you shortly. We do have a piece we can you that addresses some of the most common concerns for you to review while you wait to hear back from someone." 
There are two things to do with merchants who have been opted out:
Review the account to see if there is a reason that the merchant should have gone through the conversion. Pricing isn’t the only reason to opt out a merchant. Unfortunately we had limited time to make the list of optouts so there may be some merchants who were opted out that you still want to enroll. These merchants will be included in the TSYS conversion which is anticipated first quarter of 2017.
Do a full analysis on these merchants with more accurate data to see how much more they will be paying when they are converted to OptBlue so you can talk to them or adjust other pricing if necessary. ESA will be ending at some point. Although we don’t have an end date, there will come a time these merchants will be forced to convert from ESA to OptBlue.

32. Customer Service Script
They are then ing merchants a copy of the Amex Objection handling piece.

33. Customer Service Script
There is a link to this piece in the sales alert and in the marketing center under American Express OptBlue

34. Partner Support is Providing a List of Merchants
Sales Professionals should have received a list of ESA merchants scheduled to convert on Tuesday, November 1st. There are several notes regarding these lists that are detailed in the Sales Alert that we encourage you to make sure you read through. (This is NOT all of the notes pertaining to the lists)

35. Merchants Who Were Opted Out
Review the accounts to:
See if there is a reason that the merchant should have gone through the conversion
Do a full analysis on these merchants with more accurate data to see how much more they will be paying when they are converted to OptBlue so you can talk to them or adjust other pricing if necessary.
Nationwide opted out most merchants that would have incurred a loss without a profit margin.
There are two things to do with merchants who have been opted out:
Review the account to see if there is a reason that the merchant should have gone through the conversion. Pricing isn’t the only reason to opt out a merchant as there is the benefit of one statement and deposit. Unfortunately we had limited time to make the list of optouts so there may be some merchants who were opted out that Sales Professionals still want converted to OptBlue. All merchants who were opted out will be included in the TSYS conversion (unless otherwise specified) which is anticipated first quarter of 2017.
Do a full analysis on these merchants with more accurate data to see how much more they will be paying when they are converted to OptBlue so you can talk to them or adjust other pricing if necessary. ESA will be ending at some point. Although we don’t have an end date, there will come a time these merchants will be forced to convert from ESA to OptBlue, so it’s better to start preparing for that now.

36. Merchants Scheduled to be Converted
Review the accounts to:
Look for accounts that will pay more annually with the profit margin and consider if you want to lower pricing. Keep in mind that the totals that show losses are annual losses.
Look for any low ticket accounts on Global that may be impacted negatively and not identified on this spreadsheet. Merchants can be converted back to ESA if necessary.
If you do, then Pricing modifications from the default pricing above can be requested by clicking here.  Due to the complexity of this project, all pricing modifications for ESA converted merchants must be requested via this link. If you need any assistance completing a pricing request, please reach out to Partner Support. 

37. Pricing Modification Requests for Converted Merchants
If you need to make a pricing modification to the default rates after merchants are converted, they can be requested by clicking here.  Due to the complexity of this project, all pricing modifications for ESA converted merchants must be requested via this link. If you need any assistance completing a pricing request, please reach out to Partner Support. 
I am going to go to this form and just breeze through it.
It has a place for cost plus and QDR, and please note that there is a place to modify the auth fee at the bottom. American Express authorization fees can only be billed at a flat rate, unlike Visa/MC/Bankcard Discover that can accommodate a cost plus authorization fee.

38. Q:
How do I keep all these rates straight?

39. A:
Cheat Sheet

40. American Express OptBlue Pricing Cheat Sheet
This piece is located directly on the OptBlue rates. I will open it up and go through it.
Please note this is a screenshot and not the entire piece.

41. The Paymentech Network
Remaining Phases
of Roll Out
TSYS Existing American Express Acceptors (and any ESA opt outs from this conversion)
The Paymentech Network
Unfortunately we do not have an ETA at this time

42. In
Summary

43. In Summary
If you haven’t read through the Sales Alert on this, please make sure you do.
Don’t panic but do review your accounts.
Work with Partner Support as needed to review the accounts. If they get overwhelmed they will ask Greg and I to assist.
Some merchants will be positively impacted, but we had to take action quickly on merchants that would be negatively impacted
The 50 BP conversion fee will be lowered at some point and ONLY applies to ESA converted accounts, not new OptBlue enrollments.
This is a great opportunity to approach prospective clients and tell them it’s very likely you will be able to save them money on their American Express processing volume.
We are here to help! We don’t want you to feel overwhelmed. Don’t ever hesitate to reach out to Greg or myself to discuss further.

44. Questions?
Just reach out to Partner Support or Greg or myself with any questions.