Mr. Wilson began his payments career in early 1997 as a 1099 independent contractor for Card Service West followed by Superior Bankcard. Wilson immediately became successful cultivating many merchant accounts that were generated initially from canvassing retail businesses. However, Wilson quickly learned that pitching networking type referral sources not having a card acceptance program to refer him customers was a more lucrative path. These sources, who also benefited, included entities such as financial institutions (e.g., Heritage Oaks Bank, Bank of Walnut Creek, Washington Trust, etc.) and internet service providers (e.g., Earthlink Network, MallPark, etc.). In fact, Earthlink Network alone began referring Wilson approximately 30 accounts per day at the beginning of the internet boom.

In December 2001, Wilson elected to make a monumental leap from being a payments sales agent to founding CardReady International, Inc., a full-service Merchant Service Provider (“MSP”). As a full service MSP operation, it requires much more than card acceptance sales; such garnering a Principal Bank Member (“PBM”) sponsorship, having a team in place to handle the underwriting and boarding of new accounts, providing customer support, managing compliance and chargeback risks, etc. Subsequently, Wilson had secured an exclusive BIN sponsorship with Key Bank and a direct Third Party Processor (“TPP”) agreement with TSYS Acquiring Solutions and the company launched with 5-employees in December 2001. Within 6-months, Wilson had grown CardReady a staggering 1123%, amassing 1861 new merchant accounts (see Nilsen Report March 2003 page 7 below), consistently doubled its revenues, without fail, every week for 6-months straight, increased the staff to 35 employees and by June 2002, and CardReady revenues peaked at about $600K per month.

By 2^nd quarter 2003, Wilson exercised his exit strategy selling his interests in CardReady.

By 2006, TVP and EcoQuest agreed to launch a “Stored Value” Mastercard. Subsequently, FRB granted TVP a card Issuing BIN and TVP executed an Electronic Transaction Services Processing Agreement with I2C based in Redwood Shores, CA to manage the card issuing data processing.

Note: While the card issuing program proved to be a moderately successful campaign, TVP learned that this side of the payments business posed many challenges, such as (a) cardholders claiming they lost their card and TVP having to eat the losses, and (b) the initiative was a distraction taking away from TVP’s card acceptance focus. Therefore, by March of 2009, TVP elected to sell the card issuing portfolio.

Having a radio-controlled hobby airplane and model rockets background early in life, and now wanting TVP to target hobby stores for card acceptance accounts, in 2007, Wilson sought out a public relations strategy by investing $50,000 to develop a 1/37 Scale Radio-Controlled NASA Space Shuttle standing 6ft 10inches tall (from ground to nose). The initiative required the construction of molds to manufacture and replicate units. To promote TVP, Wilson engaged in live demonstrations at large amateur rocket events in remote desert settings. Listed below is a synopsis of the TVP Space Shuttle launch:

• Fires off the launch pad via five synchronized large solid rocket propellant motors
• Accelerates to a top speed of about 350 MPH
• Reaches a designated altitude of about 3000 feet
• Solid Rocket Boosters (“SRB”) are disengaged at about 2000 feet and parachutes are deployed
• Extra Tank (“ET”) is disengaged from the Orbiter at apogee and a parachute is deployed
• Orbiter is radio controlled down to a target landing strip

By early 2008, having successfully promoted TVP through its Space Shuttle initiative garnering profitable hobby store accounts, Wilson began positioning TVP to engage in various racing sponsorships. The objective was to bolster the TVP brand targeting various automotive and motorcycle type merchants.

Additionally in 2008, Wilson had secured many notable hotel gaming & casino house accounts including, but not limited to, the Las Vegas Hilton, Bally’s, Atlantic City Hilton, Resorts International and Tunica.

Further in 2008, TVP acquired Central Coast Processing (“CCP”) based in San Luis Obispo, CA. CCP was a boutique TPP for card acceptance. Ultimately, TVP learned that the platform was single threaded and highly unstable resulting in TVP selling the company back to Richard Moore.

In early 2009, TVP had considered going IPO, but ultimately decided instead to remain a private corporation and pursue becoming a formidable TPP, comparable to the CCP business model. Under the initiative, FRB agreed to apply for a DEX/MIP and received approval from VISA and Mastercard. TVP then executed an agreement with Radi El Haj of RS2 (based out of Frankfurt Germany and Malta) to license their “Bankworks” TPP platform. Millions of dollars had now been invested for the new TVP platform and TVP had about 40-employees on-hand ready to go live in June 2010.

While in Columbus, Ohio on January 29, 2010 (birthday of Wilson), Wilson received a call from Charles Arrindell stating that the FDIC had taken over FRB and sold the assets to First Citizens Bank (“FCB”). Immediately after the take-over, FCB announced it was going to terminate the MSP program that had been in place with FRB. Also, FCB stated they will not sponsor a DEX/MIP (routers into the Visa/MasterCard platforms as required by TPP’s). The FDIC gave TVP only 2-weeks to procure a new PBM for its TSYS portfolio. Due to this mandate occurring during the massive U.S. bank credit crisis of 2008, 2009 and 2010, it became an extremely difficult undertaking to get a new PBM in such short order. At the time, only one PBM was willing to sponsor TVP being Woodforest National Bank (“WNB”) based in Houston, TX. The 3-major conditions of WNB granting the TVP sponsorship was that WMB had to (a) be assigned full contractual ownership of the BIN, (b) have the TSYS contract assigned to WNB, and (c) WNB was not willing to sponsor a DEX/MIP for TVP’s TPP initiative. TVP had no choice other than to accept these unfortunate WMB terms.

The debacle of FRB’s collapse was a tremendous blow to TVP having invested millions into the TPP platform that was now at risk. Wanting to seek out a new DEX/MIP sponsor elsewhere under the TVP brand, and to hopefully avoid catastrophic losses, a decision was made to form a new entity, being Earth Payment Solutions (“EPS”) under the WNB transition.

Over the next 2-years, getting a DEX/MIP sponsorship proved to be difficult at best. Wilson made one final attempt contacting Jeff Harris of Barclay’s Bank, based in London, England. Initially, Wilson received word from Harris that Barclay’s Bank had approved the initiative. However, within weeks of the approval, Barclay’s announced that Jamie Dimon was hired and became the new CEO. Dimon immediately mandated that all contracts in flux were to be halted; which included Wilson’s DEX/MIP sponsorship. Harris so believed in the initiative that he sought out a second approval which amazingly was granted a second time. Subsequently, two weeks later, Harris again informed TVP that Barclay’s had reconsidered their second approval and elected to decline TVP and the decision was final. The TVP TPP initiative was permanently terminated and at a catastrophic financial loss. Subsequently, Wilson elected to close the TVP corporation and move the EPS brand forward permanently.

In the spring of 2012, a notable Las Vegas magazine “Gaming & Leisure” published an article about EPS.

Despite this initiative proving to be moderately profitable up until 2020, when Covid-19 hit and Chinese tourism to the U.S. completely collapsed, Wilson then terminated the initiative.

Additionally, in 2013, Wilson began working with large “high compliance risk” companies needing off-shore card acceptance solutions. Wanting to keep this targeted market separate and apart from EPS activities, Wilson elected to reinstitute the Terminal Velocity brand and formed a new corporation entitled Terminal Velocity Processing Services, Inc. (“TVPS”).

While this initiative proved to have profitable merit, it also had posed tremendous challenges and at a high price tag. The initiative required Wilson to travel to many countries negotiating with PBM’s and dealing with difficult merchants not always wanting to play by the rules. Today, TVPS only focuses on member banks domestically and works only with companies that are sincerely motivated to run a compliance risk-averse operation that meets card association chargeback rules.

Mid-year 2013, Wilson learned that the Nevada Gaming Commission had approved the nation’s first regulations for Internet Poker Play (REGULATION 5A). Companies already licensed by the state applauded the unanimous vote allowing them to expand their current Gaming License to include Internet Poker Play. Companies not having a Gaming License (such as EPS) and wanting to engage in Internet Poker Play transactions could now apply providing they undergo the same rigorous investigative scrutiny required by Nevada State Gaming Regulations.

Desirous of further expanding EPS’s hotel gaming & casino house accounts, Wilson pursued the arduous task of becoming approved to receive a Nevada Gaming License. However, pursuing a gaming license proved to be the most difficult and highly intrusive task.

Significance of the Nevada State Gaming License Approval Process

It is important to mention that receiving an approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission is among the most serious formal processes in the U.S. It is mandated by federal and state laws, rules, regulations, policies and procedures in order to ensure that no factors exist for potential corruption that can be inherent within the gambling industry. Wilson was told that even Donald Trump had been declined a gaming license approval by the Nevada Gaming Commission. Meaning, getting an approval was daunting.

The Nevada Gaming Commission requires any Gaming License Applicant to individually/personally undergo an extremely vigorous and unrestricted background investigation for consideration of approval ensuring any Applicant meets all financial criteria and has impeccable character traits. Further, Applicants must demonstrate a lifetime history of honesty, integrity and a proven business track record to warrant such an approval. Applicants cannot have any legal blemishes or potential ties to organized crime that may damage the integrity of maintaining a Nevada State Gaming License.

To retain this highly coveted License, it requires all previously approved applicants to continuously undergo a yearly background check and investigation before receiving an approved annual renewal. This ongoing process of certification and approval undoubtably assures that Wilson has and will continue to meet all standards of exemplary behavior.

EPS approved for a Nevada Gaming License

After applying for and undergoing a highly exhaustive investigation, Wilson was awarded a Nevada State Gaming License, effective April 14, 2014.

Amid the Covid crises in early 2020, Wilson elected to relocate from Thousand Oaks, California to Destin, Florida. California was under a stringent lockdown while Florida was open for business. Additionally, the Florida tax structure was much more favorable to businesses. During this period, Wilson adopted a national movement of allowing employees to work from home. Subsequently, he also dabbled in semi-retirement.

Finding semi-retirement extremely boring, Wilson elected to reenergize his payments career by sharing his industry knowledge and expertise to well-seasoned businesses under a first of its kind and highly beneficial Merchant Services Private Label Program.

Accordingly, in late 2022, Wilson formed the Merchant Service Provider’s Alliance Group with a mission to collaborate with well-seasoned companies, providing them a turnkey solution to establish a new Merchant Services division, with private label branding, to leverage their existing downline of business customers needing credit card acceptance, which entails no risks or financial support, all managed by the MSPA Group under a 1099 commission only basis, and that enables these partnering organizations to generate new untapped revenues, in perpetuity, without it distracting from their existing business model.