Going Digital: Why Kenosha News Moved to the Cloud with Payway

Imagine managing a newspaper with a history of innovation and still having to rely on paper-based and manual processes for certain business operations.

That was the reality for Patricia Ellis, Business Office Manager, Kenosha News. The Wisconsin newspaper has a rich 124-year old history, including having the first wire service in the state and the first high-speed printing press. Ellis knew the next page in the paper’s biography was upon them as they reviewed their operations.

“Our whole system was built on paper, so we knew we needed to bring our systems into the online era. Payway made this transition so easy,” said Ellis.

Legacy systems, not uncommon for businesses with a substantial history, had been the norm. The Kenosha News was also facing an all-too-familiar situation in the newspaper industry – being part of a larger corporate structure, in this instance the United Communications Corporation (UCC).

Now, it was time to innovate once again and take workflows, invoicing, and other Excel-driven processes to the Cloud, providing the Kenosha News’s finance department with added control, streamlining, and flexibility while also increasing convenience, safety, and security.

Taking the Technological Leap with a Trusted Partner

Payway® worked with Kenosha News to help them understand the complexities of payment processing and how those complexities could directly impact their business.

Up until 2017, UCC had utilized Payway’s payment gateway, but not the merchant account service offering. Payway performed a free in-depth analysis of the company’s payment processing activity as part of their account service.

“I knew Payway was the right business partner for us when they provided consulting services without any promise of a sale,” stated Tina Schmitz, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, United Communications Corporation.

Prior to the analysis, UCC had multiple merchant accounts for multiple properties, all with their own processors, rates, and pricing structures. This made balancing difficult and inefficient. With Payway’s help, UCC was able to consolidate all of its payment processing activity into one streamlined product set—existing entirely in the cloud.

During the analysis, Payway identified several other savings opportunities. Not only would Kenosha News pay less in processing fees with Payway but interchange would be significantly lowered on qualified Level III transactions. Payway’s industry expertise also led to special pricing for UCC’s American Express® activity.

To learn more about how Payway helped Kenosha News make the move to the cloud and save on payment processing, download the case study.