IT'S IN THE CARDS: HIS METTLE FOR PLASTIC CREATES A NEW COMPANY.(Marc Gardner of North American Bancard Inc.)

Crain's Detroit Business, May, 1999 by ROUSH, MATT

Troy turnaround consultant Lawrence Gardner still remembers the day in 1992 when his son Marc showed up at the office door, saying he had a great business idea. Marc Gardner, three years out of college, had been working for a Chicago company called Cherry Payment Systems Inc. He was selling merchants electronic readers to replace mechanical devices that made paper copies of charge cards.

Merchants had been paying fees of 5 percent to 7 percent to accept cards using the mechanical devices, Marc Gardner said. "We showed them how they could get their money more quickly, electronically; not have to take their slips to the bank to make a deposit; and at the same time save them 3 (percentage points) on their costs," he said. "It was like fishing in a stocked...

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