"Honduras? Venezuela? Isn't Havana the capital of Cuba? How..."
"In fact, the staple food of Cubans is more black bean rice and Cuban-style sandwiches. Tacos are not exactly rare in Cuba, but the frequency at which Cubans consume tacos, and their love for tacos, is far less than that of Venezuelans or Hondurans."
"Havana is just a name. Who takes this stuff seriously?"
Upon hearing Carter's question, Goodman felt somewhat amused.
"Well, those Mexicans also love tacos, but Mexican cuisine tends to be spicier, so in terms of market adaptability, I think it's better to base it on the flavor from Honduras and then make improvements."
"Alright, alright, you guys handle this. You know my taste isn't representative. While Genas is still coordinating the construction of the cold storage and factories, during this time, please supervise Trifari to ensure that these chefs develop standardized operating procedures. Even if we don't aim to be exactly like McDonald's, we shouldn't fall too far behind. Also, there's the issue of taste. Similar to the tasting event we organized before, try to collect detailed customer feedback."
Reclining the seat's backrest, Carter instructed while yawning.
"Sorry, I didn't get much rest last night. I plan to rest on the chair for an hour. Things have been quite hectic lately."
"No problem, it has been quite busy lately indeed. Lastly, about Pearson City, Mr. Leoben called to inform us that the citizen referendum for the HT plan has been scheduled for April 10th. He hopes this timing will give you enough time to prepare your speech."
"Oh, sorry, I almost forgot. That's not the last thing. Regarding the credit card, Visa and Mastercard both called us this afternoon, and they both hope we can join one of them. This is..."
"I know about this. Are there exclusivity agreements between them? Like, once you join one, you can't join the other?"
Raising his arm and interrupting Goodman's attempt to introduce these two card organizations, Carter's question went straight to the core.
"Yes, currently both sides don't allow a card to simultaneously use channels from both organizations. We can only choose one!"
Visa and Mastercard have been around for a while. It's only yesterday that they were allowed to operate credit card businesses.
Goodman wasn't surprised that Carter knew about these two cards. However, Carter wasn't clear about their current pros and cons.
"What's your suggestion?"
"I suggest joining Mastercard! The National Bank of America's stamp on Visa is too heavy. Although their channels seem more mature now, and there are more affiliated merchants, with the core National Bank of America present, I just don't feel at ease."
Seeing Carter already lying flat on the chair, Goodman got up and walked to the window. He answered Carter's question while pulling the curtains that Carter had neglected.
"In my opinion, for organizations like these, used to unify standards and channels, there shouldn't be a situation where one member dominates. Otherwise, it naturally becomes the core of influence, and even Visa's settlement, I'm afraid, is handled by the National Bank of America."
"Although theoretically, these big banks are unlikely to do anything shady with our small funds, who knows what the future holds?"
"Compared to Visa, the Mastercard organization is basically composed of small banks that joined forces to counter Visa, or the previous NBI, BankAmericard. After each contributing a bit of money, everyone jointly acquired the MasterCharge patent, forming the card organization."
"Overall, the Mastercard organization currently doesn't have a dominant presence like the National Bank of America in Visa. Each member's strength is comparable, which is more balanced!"
"Okay, let's go with that! Do you need any help from me?"
Carter couldn't guess what NBI was just by the abbreviation. But BankAmericard was too obvious! It basically tells you, "I'm the big boss, you all have to follow my standards, use my brand!" Naturally, the settlement is also done by my National Bank of America.
Comparing the operation and flow of funds on someone else's turf with operating and flowing on one's own turf, Carter actually feels more at ease on his own turf. But without joining an organization, your card is basically limited to your own small territory, which is very unfavorable for attracting customers to apply for the card and then repay it after consumption.
"Maybe we really need to do something about this. Of course, you can continue to rest; just give me authorization. The two things we need to do aren't difficult. One is card issuance. After joining the card organization, they will recommend credit card production companies to us; the other is to sign contracts with some local merchants."
"Due to the absence of commercial banks in Douglas, it has been a desert for credit card services. Merchants here simply don't have the equipment and experience to handle credit card transactions. Card organizations hope we can help open up this market. Correspondingly, the more merchants we sign up, the more fees we can reduce in the future."
"Okay, no problem, you handle it!"
Goodman's words formed several logical equations in Carter's mind: Credit card = service platform, similar to group buying in the future; Signed merchants = grassroots promotion, increasing the number of merchants on their platform increases their attractiveness to consumers. This is something every platform business would do.
By agreeing to Mastercard's request or requirement, their Blake Bank would play a role similar to a local group buying company. First, integrate local resources, then be swallowed by a big platform, and become part of the monopoly channels that make up the big platform.
As someone who has been taken advantage of by these monopolistic platforms in the future, Carter feels a bit disgusted with the monopoly of big platforms, but he also understands that he currently doesn't have the right to choose. Because to sell their credit cards, they must join a card organization.
A credit card that can't leave the local area is no different from a useless card!
At present, he can only pray that Mastercard, formed by various individual banks, can be more ethical than Visa, for example, by reducing the fees a little bit.
Resisting is impossible; it's impossible to resist now.
Rather than thinking about resistance, it's better to just lie down. And now that Carter has already lain down, he just feels drowsy, but Goodman doesn't want to let him off so easily.
"Well, there's one more thing. If we decide to join the card organization, how should we organize the credit card sales team? Our bank clerks have never dealt with credit card business before. I'm worried they won't be able to explain it clearly to the merchants."
"If they don't understand, just explain it to them first! It's just about receiving payments; as long as the merchants can receive money, they won't care much, right?"
"Also, I'm really sleepy! Let me sleep for an hour first, please! Anything urgent, call me after an hour!"