Merchant Services Case Study: The Buffalo Zoo Payment technology solutions from a dedicated partner. Not your average day at the zoo. The Buffalo Zoo has a longtime business relationship with M&T, and is also an important community partner in our hometown. One busy day, the Buffalo Zoo’s legacy point-of-sale systems crashed unexpectedly, leaving the zoo unable to take card payments and putting all its transactions from earlier in the day at risk. “All our credit card transactions are tallied and processed at the end the day. We’d had a very busy day at the zoo. For some reason at the close of day, our server crashed. The zoo is a nonprofit. We really can’t afford to lose an entire day’s worth of transactions.” M&T Bank Merchant Services jumped into action, recovering the missing transaction data and processing it efficiently and accurately. While the zoo’s team had to rerun every transaction to ensure proper funding, not a single customer was double-charged. Luckily, M&T already had a banking relationship with the Buffalo Zoo when its point-of-sale emergency caused the zoo’s team to reconsider the way it accepted payments. The zoo had complex—and growing—payment technology needs. The root of the problem. The zoo had been manually typing credit card numbers to process individual transactions using point- of-sale technology throughout the zoo that was neither secure nor cost effective. M&T evaluated the zoo’s existing system and identified opportunities to improve the situation. Its analysis revealed that the zoo needed to replace its old payment systems with something secure, sophisticated and modern. The old infrastructure: • Lacked a secure e-commerce payment processing system • Operated on an outdated point-of-sale system • Used multiple banks to handle payments • Was not operating on a uniform point-of-sale platform 01
Transcript
Merchant Services Case Study:
The Buffalo ZooPayment technology solutions from a dedicated partner.
Not your average day at the zoo.The Buffalo Zoo has a longtime business relationship with M&T, and is also an important community partner in our hometown.
One busy day, the Buffalo Zoo’s legacy point-of-sale systems crashed unexpectedly, leaving the zoo unable to take card payments and putting all its transactions from earlier in the day at risk.
“All our credit card transactions are tallied and processed at the end the day. We’d had a very busy day at the zoo. For some reason at the close of day, our server crashed. The zoo is a nonprofit. We really can’t afford to lose an entire day’s worth of transactions.”
M&T Bank Merchant Services jumped into action, recovering the missing transaction data and processing it efficiently and accurately. While the zoo’s team had to rerun every transaction to ensure proper funding, not a single customer was double-charged.
Luckily, M&T already had a banking relationship with the Buffalo Zoo when its point-of-sale emergency caused the zoo’s team to reconsider the way it accepted payments.
The zoo had complex—and growing—payment technology needs.
The root of the problem.The zoo had been manually typing credit card numbers to process individual transactions using point-of-sale technology throughout the zoo that was neither secure nor cost effective.
M&T evaluated the zoo’s existing system and identified opportunities to improve the situation. Its analysis revealed that the zoo needed to replace its old payment systems with something secure, sophisticated and modern. The old infrastructure:
• Lacked a secure e-commerce payment processing system
• Operated on an outdated point-of-sale system
• Used multiple banks to handle payments
• Was not operating on a uniform point-of-sale platform
The transformation.As a result of ongoing dialogue with the zoo’s leadership, an M&T relationship manager and dedicated team were able to help:
• Identify areas to cut costs, including an unused bank account for which the zoo was paying fees but not leveraging to its fullest potential
• Install a secure, user-friendly e-commerce system to support the zoo’s new website
• Implement a new, modern point-of-sale system, including mobile processing, throughout the zoo
• Replace multiple vendors with one relationship to simplify and save money
• Unify the zoo’s point-of-sale system onto a single platform
• Consult on adding more point-of-sale locations
• Increase the efficiency of the payment systems throughout the zoo
• Provide ongoing support and development as part of M&T’s relationship with the zoo, including responsive support during difficulties through its dedicated Merchant Support team
Three big wins for Buffalo Zoo.
In an ongoing partnership, M&T has been able to help the zoo:
• Update payment technology and recommend new processes to streamline payments
• Design and implement flexible solutions uniquely suited to complement and develop the zoo’s business as it changes
• Make better, more efficient use of the zoo’s financial resources
