Total Merchant Services Acquires Fanminder

BASALT, CO--(Marketwire - Jan 8, 2013) - Total Merchant Services (Total) announced today the purchase of California-based Fanminder. The acquisition adds a social, mobile marketing tool to Total's existing portfolio of innovative payment solutions. Fanminder will immediately provide Total's entire base of small to mid-sized merchants with enhanced social media, email and text messaging abilities -- that help stimulate sales via personal interaction with their customers and prospects.

"Merchants are demanding more, and our industry can no longer strictly sell on price and service. ISOs and Sales Agents need to forge partnerships with a company that helps businesses manage and grow their top and bottom lines," said Joe Kaplan, CEO, Total Merchant Services. "The acquisition of Fanminder helps accelerate our business strategy and competitive advantage. Now our sales partners can provide merchants with strategies for driving social media promotions to help grow their businesses. This results in more meaningful customer engagements through digital offers, quickly distributed through social media networks and mobile devices."

Fanminder is a multi-channel, mobile marketing platform that enables business owners to easily design and publish everyday promotional offers to Facebook, Twitter, SMS, email and even their own websites. The platform provides simple-to-follow templates, eliminating the need and expense for a professional graphic designer. Customers redeem promotions at the store of origin and all redemptions are tracked in a dashboard, "closing the loop" for the business owner and helping them grow sales. The company is adding more than 1,000 small business customers per month and is used by 10,000 small businesses ranging from clothing boutiques to pet shops, and casual restaurants.

"We built our company to provide merchants with a turn-key system for producing engaging promotions that drive the success of their businesses," said Paul Rosenfeld, Co-Founder and CEO, Fanminder. "We see many synergies between our offering and Total's current services; we look forward to integrating our perspective offerings for the benefit and growth of all small businesses."

About Fanminder

Fanminder powers fan relationships for small businesses and is leading the way for Fanbase marketing. Launched nationally in 2010, Fanminder is privately-funded and based in Silicon Valley, California. The company is happily satisfying artisan donut shops, hip urban clothiers, and edgy tattoo parlors, among its thousands of customers. From one easy, do-it-yourself place on the web, Fanminder helps businesses publish gorgeous offers that reach and reward their fans on social networks and through mobile and other devices.

About Total Merchant Services

Founded in 1996, Total Merchant Services (Total) is one of the fastest growing credit card merchant account acquirers in the nation. Total has quickly become a leader in the merchant bankcard business by providing cutting-edge and cost-effective solutions to merchants and sales partners, and focusing on technology-driven new products to help small businesses prosper and grow. In 2012, Total Merchant Services was named ISO of the Year by the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) for providing payment industry sales professionals with outstanding product and service innovation. For more information visit: www.isooftheyear.com.