Meet The Disruptors: Micah Kinsler Of MiCamp Solutions On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Never forget that you are only as good as your reputation and name; you lose those, you will never succeed in the Fintech business and, more importantly, in life.
As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Micah Kinsler.
An Inc. 5000 entrepreneur and serial entrepreneur, Micah Kinsler is a known, established leader in the payments space, and is president of financial technology firm, MiCamp Solutions.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?
The idea behind MiCamp Solutions started in October 2006. I owned a franchised business and was frustrated with the high fees I paid to process credit card transactions. After doing some research, I discovered that many merchant processing companies were taking advantage of the business owners they were supposed to help. With a desire to help other business owners like myself, I moved into the payments industry, looking to save money for as many businesses as I could, while helping those businesses grow.
In early 2007, I launched MiCamp Solutions with just four employees and a vision of offering secure credit card processing that would also help customers maximize their profits.
MiCamp’s portfolio was soon labeled the fastest growing portfolio on Fiserv radar. Since then, MiCamp Solutions has grown into a company with over 150 employees around the country, we have 25,000 clients worldwide and process 15 billion payments annually. It is a Top 5 Fiserv ISO and Fiserv Chairman’s Circle Member.
Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?
As fintech disrupters we are always developing new cutting-edge technology that put people first. As a company, we spend a lot of time and resources so that we stay five-years ahead of everyone else.
For example, our new free point of sale (POS) program frees companies from being beholden to their current POS system and gives the merchant ownership of the POS equipment rather than continually leasing it. We offer free training, on-site installation, 24/7 onshore customer service and will even partner with the merchant’s POS vendor of choice. This program also incorporates our revolutionary WAVit cash discount program, which allows merchants to drastically reduce their credit card processing fees and earn significant cost savings.
Our goal is to continuously develop new technology that reinvents aspects of the merchant experience for greater efficiency and effectiveness, so that there are more and more ways for the client to save money and grow.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
When I just got into the payment processing industry, I was working on signing a very well-known and well-established liquor store with over 100 locations. During our conversation, I asked the owner if he would like to be able to cash out on a Saturday and receive funds on Sunday (because at the time I thought that’s how it worked). To my surprise this made him upset, and he basically chased me out of his store, cigarette in hand, because he thought I was lying to him to secure the deal. After going back to the office, I learned what I said was wrong. I called him back to apologize and explain that I knew what I said was incorrect. We’ve been working together for over 15 years, and I now live by the motto he said to me during our call: “Never ask a question you don’t already know the answer to.”
We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?
My mother is my biggest inspiration and mentor. There is nothing she would not do for her family. She worked extremely hard every day, no complaints to make sure that our family never went without. Every time I think that things are tough, I think of everything my mother sacrificed for us and I keep going. If I could be half the parent my mother is, I will have made it in life!
In today’s parlance, being disruptive is usually a positive adjective. But is disrupting always good? When do we say the converse, that a system or structure has ‘withstood the test of time’? Can you articulate to our readers when disrupting an industry is positive, and when disrupting an industry is ‘not so positive’? Can you share some examples of what you mean?
In our case, we think being disruptive is always positive. It’s important to constantly be thinking ahead, creating and driving new innovative technology and embracing the turbulence that goes with it. When we disrupt, other businesses follow and then it becomes the standard. For example, we launched our WAVit program in 2016 and today it’s becoming the standard both customers and merchants expect.
Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey? Please give a story or example for each.
- Don’t get complacent. Continue to challenge yourself, improve and do what scares you.
- Always remain authentic and transparent in every aspect of your business: on the internal, business side and on the external, client-facing side.
- Stay true to your values and principles. Have a great work ethic and a strong backbone.
- You can’t control other people’s actions, but you can control your reaction to them.
- Never forget that you are only as good as your reputation and name; you lose those, you will never succeed in the Fintech business and, more importantly, in life.
We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?
Very simple, continue to put people first, continue to develop and advance our technology, and always be at least five years ahead of our competition in every product offering within the fintech space.
Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?
Iacocca: An Autobiography
Lido (Lee) Anthony Iacocca was known as a bold, charismatic leader who excelled at hiring and inspiring great people. His career was the model of resilience, drive and innovation.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” –John D. Rockefeller
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
More support for teachers.
Teachers aren’t paid nearly enough, and they feel less appreciated, more stressed and less supported than they have in the past. My wonderful wife is a kindergarten teacher and I’ve seen it firsthand. We need to advocate for higher pay and support for teachers.
How can our readers follow you online?
Visit our website at www.micamp.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter @MiCampSolutions.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Meet The Disruptors: Micah Kinsler Of MiCamp Solutions On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
