In this week’s episode of the Merchant Sales Podcast, James Shepherd sits down with Chris Del Grande, payments entrepreneur and ISO operator, for an in-the-weeds conversation on scaling merchant portfolios through the 1099 agent model. They break down what it really takes to grow at scale - where agents struggle, how ISOs can better support them, and why the 1099 channel remains one of the biggest opportunities heading into 2026.
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In this week’s episode of the Merchant Sales Podcast, James Shepherd sits down with Chris Del Grande, payments entrepreneur and ISO operator, for an in-the-weeds conversation on scaling merchant portfolios through the 1099 agent model. They break down what it really takes to grow at scale - where agents struggle, how ISOs can better support them, and why the 1099 channel remains one of the biggest opportunities heading into 2026.
In this week’s episode, James Shepherd sits down with Allen Kopelman, CEO of Nationwide Payment Systems and host of the B2B Vault podcast, for a wide-ranging discussion on the biggest shifts reshaping merchant services today. From the Visa/Mastercard settlement and VAMP chargeback rules to the growing pressure on ISOs to own their tech stack, Allen shares what he’s seeing firsthand — and why agents must rethink how they sell, support, and position technology to compete in 2026 and beyond.
They break down the rise of processor-agnostic software, the future of hardware, the growing push for ISOs to streamline onboarding with automated funnels, and how agents can stay relevant by focusing on the right verticals, the right partners, and the right products.
After the interview, James and Patti Murphy dive into a new Today in Payments, breaking down fresh data on holiday spending, the continued rise of Buy Now, Pay Later, and the growing momentum behind real-time payments like RTP and FedNow—and how they compare to legacy ACH rails.
Merchant Sales Podcast
In this week’s episode of the Merchant Sales Podcast, James Shepherd sits down with Chris Del Grande, payments entrepreneur and ISO operator, for an in-the-weeds conversation on scaling merchant portfolios through the 1099 agent model. They break down what it really takes to grow at scale - where agents struggle, how ISOs can better support them, and why the 1099 channel remains one of the biggest opportunities heading into 2026.
