The aftermath of a hurricane can lead to disaster for small businesses. A loss of electricity and communications can halt operations, slice profits, and sometimes lead to bankruptcy. But Hurricane Wilma was no match for the business savvy of Sam Zietz, President and CEO of American Bancard, LLC. In the wake of Wilma, faced with no way to run his Boca-based company, Zietz simply loaded up employees’ cars, made a reservation at Orlando’s Hard Rock Hotel, and started driving.

“From our safe room during the hurricane, I used my cell phone to call American Express,” explains Zietz. “We began implementation of our disaster recovery plan.” Within hours, American Express had contacted the Hard Rock Hotel and arranged for a large suite and block of rooms with sufficient bandwidth and equipment to handle American Bancard’s web-based systems and voice over IP (VOIP) phone system.

A Monday night curfew in South Florida was lifted at 5 am Tuesday. Within minutes, loyal employees were at the main offices, packing their cars with equipment. After arriving at the Hard Rock, they quickly went to work. By 10 am, the company was up and fully functional.

American Bancard provides credit card processing services and working capital to small and medium sized businesses throughout the United States. Zietz stressed that none of the merchants were without support at any time, thanks to the implementation of redundant systems. Due to the loss of power and communications, hundreds of nationwide agents, who sign up new merchant accounts daily, were in danger of having no way to contact company headquarters. Because of the swift, successful relocation, the agents were never affected.

Zietz was extremely appreciative of the efforts of Eric Oestreith, manager of the Hard Rock Hotel. “Eric was instrumental in creating a seamless implementation of our corporate offices at the Hard Rock Hotel. He accommodated all of our unique requests, including the deployment of equipment to merchants, to make sure our company was fully functional.”

Employees may be hard at work, but their storm-weary families are enjoying the vacation. Zietz secured rooms for family members, who have spent their time at Orlando’s theme parks. And when business hours are over, close-knit employees are out having fun, from group dinners to nights out at City Walk.

Zietz stated, “It has definitely been a challenge for us, but everyone’s cooperation and hard work has allowed us to provide our merchants and agents with the top quality service which American Bancard is known for.”

About AMERICAN BANCARD, LLC (www.americanbancard.com/?source=prweb)
AMERICAN BANCARD, LLC, Boca Raton FL, is a registered Independent Sales Organization/Merchant Service Provider (ISO/MSP) of HSBC Bank USA and is currently the fastest growing provider of electronic payment equipment and merchant processing services in the country. The company has re-directed its corporate philosophy towards becoming a more “price-sensitive and service-oriented” organization that focuses on helping merchants increase their profitability. AMERICAN BANCARD has achieved industry leadership by offering merchants an exceedingly low credit card processing rate in addition to the lowest available pricing on a wide selection of terminal processing equipment.

Media Contact:
Jessica Zietz
954.614.6527

Source: EMEDIAWIRE