How Tom Priore and Amberly Allen are transforming automotive payment processing

Modern dealership payment processing is evolving beyond simple transactions, and Tom Priore, Chairman and CEO of Priority Commerce, and Amberly Allen, Managing Partner of Priority Commerce Automotive, explain why. On this episode of Inside Automotive, they discuss how dealers are rethinking payments, compliance, and cash flow management as financial operations become more complex across multiple departments and rooftops.

In this episode, you'll learn:

•  How centralized payment platforms provide real-time visibility into cash flow across departments and dealership groups. 
•  Why FTC scrutiny and varying state regulations are making compliant surcharging more important than ever. 
•  How a "universal wallet" simplifies payments by supporting credit cards, Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, cryptocurrency, and more. 
•  The benefits of programmable cash flow management for controllers, CFOs, and accounting teams. 
•  Why flexibility and automation are becoming essential as payment technologies and regulations continue to evolve. 

Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick is powered by CBT News, your go-to source for the latest news, trends, and insights in retail automotive. Subscribe for more interviews with top industry leaders, dealership innovators, and experts shaping the future of automotive.

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Transcript

Rebrand And Why It Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:11

Payments today are about a lot more than simply processing a transaction. Dealers are thinking about compliance, accounting, and creating a better customer experience. As those needs continue to evolve, so has dealer merchant services, which is now Priority Commerce Automotive. Joining us today is Tom Priori, who is the chairman and CEO of Priority Commerce and Amberly Allen. You've seen them both here before on CBT News. She's the managing partner of Priority Commerce Automotive to talk about the rebrand, what it means for dealers, and where Automotive Commerce is headed. Thank you both for joining me in the studio once again.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

Thrilled to be here. Thank you so much, Jim.

Jim Fitzpatrick 0:47

Great to see you, Jim. Congratulations on the on the rebranding.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

Thank you. Thank you. Well, as you know, dealer merchant services had tremendous growth, and me trying to navigate payments and understand it all, I knew I needed some help. So with priority, we have now a 400-person development team. Wow. An in-house legal team. I know helpful to navigate all the evolving technology as well as the integrations, all of those pieces of it. And so we also wanted to bring the name of the company into what we feel like is the future of automotive commerce. And so we're no longer just payments. We are even, of course, moving past surcharging. I mean, we can do payments with our eyes closed. So credit card processing, both surcharging and traditional, but um now we have a lot more things to offer the dealer body.

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:31

Okay. Do we want to jump into those things?

Commerce Beyond Basic Processing

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Yeah, let's do it.

Jim Fitzpatrick 1:33

Absolutely. Let's do it. Let's go, Tom. So Tom, talk to us about what commerce means now.

SPEAKER_01 1:39

Modern commerce and automotive is more than just uh accepting credit and debit cards. Um you want to have visibility cash flow across all of your departments, particularly service, which is now 50% of the average dealership's gross profit. Yeah, for sure. And not just across all those departments, but across all your locations. So our technology allows for one command center to see all of your departments, all of your locations, all of your money in every day, even on weekends and holidays. Nice. And from that location, pay your bills, invest excess uh cash flow uh to really optimize the the financial performance at the dealership.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:23

Um that can all be controlled by the CFO and every controller in your location. So that is a very nice. That's elegance. Yeah. And that's what automotive commerce should be.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:33

Very nice. I see you shaking your head. Did you want to add to that?

SPEAKER_00 2:35

Yeah, we hear from controllers all the time that it's just a fragmented system, that they just need more visibility to be able to make better decisions. And you know, with the average car being $75,000, you can see a swing. One day they're they're doing well, and then you know, three days later they they're low $300,000 in cash flow. I was just talking to a 12-store CFO the other day. So they just need more visibility in having it all in one place for them to see it.

Jim Fitzpatrick 2:58

Yeah, yeah. It's the CITs that keep everybody awake at night, right?

unknown 3:02

That's right.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:03

So um you changed to and we talked a little bit about what commerce solution really means, and I think that's probably the biggest uh telltale of this whole merger is that you're so much more than just, you know, processing payments. Right.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Well JD Powers said that 35 percent of dealers are already surcharging, but there's still 65 percent of dealers that either are on the fence or maybe they're doing it incorrectly. So we've created a compliance assessment for them to make sure that they're doing it the right way. You've heard me preach that a lot from this chair. There's still some very specific guidelines that they have to follow. Sure. But moving way past payments and way past surcharging is really, like Tom was alluding to, all of the various solutions now that we can bring to the stores.

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:43

Sure,

Universal Wallets And New Payment Types

Jim Fitzpatrick 3:44

sure. How do you see the dealership financial uh ecosystem evolving and what will dealers need from their technology partners to stay ahead of all of this?

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Well, we're finding that a lot of stores and their customers are asking for additional ways to pay. And we know that there are a lot of customers that are asking for Venmo and PayPal and Cash App and some of these options, um, as well as crypto. We were just with all the ATA presidents last week, and they're they have questions about it. And luckily, we are endorsed by 19 of those state associations, and so um they look to us for those answers, but uh certainly we want to be a resource to any and all dealers across the country around those what we've dubbed as the universal wallet, so the additional payment types, yeah, and really helping them understand how to navigate that. And the great thing is having it all one place. So one deposit as opposed to having a relationship with all those different type companies, it all comes into one place. Sure, sure.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

And all of these evolving payment types, which are being driven by consumer demand, create complexity on the back end. If I'm receiving payments by crypto, which we're gonna enable, all the digital wallets, Cash App. Yeah.

Jim Fitzpatrick 4:51

Um I'm addicted to all of those apps too. And even right down to you, you know, Valet Parker's now. When I pull up, I'm like, you guys got Cash App Ray? Because I have no Cash.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

Right. And the and the demographic is such that that's only going to become increasingly in demand. Absolutely. Well, now I have to reconcile all those payments in. Yeah. Having a system that enables me not just to reconcile in an automated fashion credit debit, but all these other payment alternatives and then have visibility cash flow on a moment's notice across all my departments, across all my locations. That's just managing your commerce environment in a different fashion. And you know, that's that's really been at the at the uh the thrust of our evolution to to a commerce brand. Um because that's what we enable and we do it at scale across you know 160 billion plus in total payments volume.

Jim Fitzpatrick 5:44

160 billion?

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Yeah, across the organization. Incredible. You know, automotive, we're we're keen on um on delivering solutions because that it's the fourth largest um industry by GDP in the U.S. So it it needs it. Yeah, it needs it.

Jim Fitzpatrick 6:00

For sure, for sure. And as you all both know, time is money. So if it it's typically we're taking too long to get these things processed and get credit for your for your cash, you're in trouble as a dealer, right? Because you're counting on that, not every day, almost every minute that that cash is available to you and being processed.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

We found that the average dealer has 12 banking relationships, and so being able to see all of those and connect them into one place. We were talking to a Ford store the other day. He wants to know can I connect my Ford Motor Credit? Can I connect my Ford credit card? Can I connect my Sunbit? Yeah. All of these different places, uh pieces to see in one command center. So those are the cool things that that are coming down the pipe.

Jim Fitzpatrick 6:39

Yeah, that's fantastic. That that's huge for a dealer today. I mean, where it's 2026, why haven't we had something like this, right? It's crazy.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

No doubt, no doubt. Could you imagine every day having to log into 12 bank portals to see what's going on? So look, eliminating that, but also we're doing it in a way where it uh complements your existing bank relationships, where you can still use your purchase cards that you have with your bank. Sure. And it connects into your DACA accounts for for all of your you know, floor plan finance or other financing uh means. Um that's you know, that that's just a demand that's being put on technology providers in our space and you know, and we know we're gonna meet the demand.

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:17

Yeah, yeah, for sure. My next question was actually how are CFOs and controllers benefiting from the new way of doing business, but you've kind of answered

Surcharging Compliance And Brand Rules

Jim Fitzpatrick 7:24

that already. Do you want to add to it?

SPEAKER_00 7:25

First of all, surcharging is how I got the opportunity to really be a part of the payments industry. And we know that that is still very popular. There's so much momentum still with surcharging. Dealers are still not doing it correctly, but I think with all of the FTC and all the scrutiny they're under, that it really demands an even more credible partner as they navigate all of these different pieces. So you take the processing and the credit card processing and surcharging and make sure they're doing that the right way. But then you make their systems more graceful and less fragmented. They're just gonna make their day-to-day life much more simple.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yeah. Yeah, and and look, it's also I think it's it's all about flexibility. Yeah, right. We we like to say choose your adventure at priority. And um, for those who want to surcharge, you can surcharge. Maybe you have stores where you're not going to surcharge because of the brand and others where you will. All that flexibility persists in one location. You choose your you choose your adventure, but in the way cash flow comes in, hey, that is very programmatic.

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:24

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

You can control exactly how that how that occurs. Sure. Uh, how much you want to retain for excess cash flow, how much you want to sweep into your traditional bank accounts. Right. Um so it it really provides a tool set to controllers and the accounting team up to the CFO that um you know that they can program that in a way that fits their business.

Jim Fitzpatrick 8:47

Right, right. You mentioned the brands um to being compliant with brands as well on surcharging. Talk to me about that.

SPEAKER_00 8:54

So we found that there's uh a couple of manufacturers that just want to shy away from surcharging, and those are some of your luxury brands. Okay. And so there's certain brands that we oftentimes in those stores will only surcharge, maybe in the finance department. Okay. I do want to make note though, in California you cannot surcharge in the finance department at all. So and if there's any questions on the different states and complexity in and around that, certainly we want to be a resource to them on that. Interesting.

Jim Fitzpatrick 9:24

Is it just something that they the the luxury brands feel as though the the customer might not take to it kind to too kindly?

SPEAKER_00 9:30

You know, it's interesting because we have some exotic brands. I mean, that they just they want their American Express points, and so the dealer really likes having surcharging because they have their customers asking for it. And then there's other luxury brands that just don't want to do it or maybe not in the the parts and service department. So the nice thing, like Tom mentioned, we can customize it for your particular brand. I mean, we have a 12-store group, for example, where they have some luxury stores that one luxury store will not do it, the manufacturer shies away from it. Okay. But then all the others, they can pick and choose if they want it in all some or all departments.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:02

Gotcha,

Crypto Uncertainty And Staying Agile

SPEAKER_00 10:03

gotcha.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:03

Tom, with upcoming uh potential uh crypto legislation uh happening, how do you think that that will change the landscape of payments?

SPEAKER_01 10:11

Well, uh I'm gonna focus on a word you just use potential changes, right? Um we just don't know what they're gonna be. Right. And I think it's incumbent upon technology providers like us to just remain flexible, uh agile. Uh and that's what we're gonna do because the it there's just uncertainty as to how it's gonna how it's gonna evolve and resolve itself. Sure. Um but we need to handle them all.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:31

Yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say the uh I'm sure that you're working behind the scenes that whatever they come up with, uh that priority is gonna be there, right, for the dealer. Without question. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

And I think that's really what moves us past being just a credit card processor and really a partner as they navigate, customizing the best way it moves the money moves through their stores.

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:48

Sure, sure.

Final Takeaways And Dealer Next Steps

Jim Fitzpatrick 10:49

So Tom, talk to us. I'll give you final thoughts here before we close out the segment.

SPEAKER_01 10:53

Uh priority is here to be your commerce partner. Um and what that means for us, we've already highlighted some of the um you know some of the the attributes that we want to bring, but those are gonna change. So you need to have a forward-looking partner like us, um, and that's where we're gonna be on the lookout for changes, um the evolution of our systems that we're prepared to bring before you ever need them. Yeah um and then hand them over to an automotive specialist who you know is gonna make it work within your dealership.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:24

Sure. And I happen to know who that automotive specialist is. So what are your final thoughts? What do you want to leave the dealers with today on this topic?

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Well, I'm so grateful to have been in the car business for the last 22 years and to be able to take my vision of saving dealers money uh on the surcharging side, we've saved the dealer body over $110 million. Wow. And to be able to take this and take it to the next level and see what the next chapter can be and really have these great conversations with dealer principals and CFOs that just really need some solutions and us to be able to have the technology and and the partnership to be able to bring that. So that's really exciting for me to see where it can go.

Jim Fitzpatrick 11:59

That's great. Yeah. Tom Priori, Chairman and CEO of Priority Commerce, and Amberly Allen, managing partner of Priority Commerce Automotive. Folks, these are the kinds of solutions that we want to be bringing you here at CBT News. You may want to take this uh this segment here and forward it to your comptroller, have a meeting about it. Um you might have issues that you don't even know about. I know when I was running dealerships, I I often fell into that situation that I didn't know what I didn't know. Sometimes it happened to be in the area of money and uh cash flow. So uh highly recommend that uh if you've got questions in this area or if you would just want to reach out to these two and say, hey, come on into my store and tell me where I might be missing an opportunity here. Not just for a savings, but also on a compliance side, which as we all know is a very hot word these days. So, folks, thank you so much for joining me on the show. This is great. Thank you. Appreciate you. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Thanks for watching Inside Automotive with Jim Fitzpatrick.