TSYS Inks Partnership With National Golf Course Owners Assn.

TSYS, the payment processor, announced Wednesday (Aug. 16) that it has been named the official payment processing partner of the National Golf Course Owners Assn. (NGCOA).

In a press release, TSYS said the not-for-profit organization is the only trade association dedicated exclusively to owners and operators of daily-fee, semi-private, private and resort golf courses. With many members accepting electronic payments from customers booking tee times online or making onsite purchases, the NGCOA is encouraging its course owners and operators to speak with their software system representatives about integrating with TSYS, if the company has not already, the company said in the release. TSYS’ payment platforms and functionalities can be integrated to most golf point-of-sale systems on the market today, noted TSYS.

“We are very pleased to announce our commitment to provide the NGCOA and their members our full suite of processing capabilities,” said Mike Peters, president of commercial services of TSYS’ Merchant Services segment, in the press release. “We are looking forward to working with golf course owners and operators over the coming years to help them fulfill their payment needs. In addition to that, we are excited to support the NGCOA and the important work they do for the golf industry.” Jay Karen, chief executive at NGCOA, said in the same press release that the goal of the deal is to provide golf course owners with a reliable way to process payments. “The NGCOA understands the challenges operators face in navigating the payment processing world, and we’re proud to align with a company where we can work together for the benefit of the golf course owner,” Karen said.

In late July, TSYS reported results that topped Wall Street expectations. Sales came in at $1.2 billion, up from $1.1 billion last year, driving earnings to an adjusted 85 cents a share compared with the 80 cents expected by the Street and up from 73 cents a share last year. Management noted in the press release that accompanied the second-quarter earnings report that growth was organic, with the $2.4-billion TransFirst merchant processing acquisition included in both the most recent and the prior-year quarters. Free cash flow growth, said the company, has helped to reduce debt and boost dividends, the latter by 30 percent to 13 cents a share from last year’s dime per share.