MAG Insights

MAG Merchant Members and Sponsors join the Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) for many different reasons. Payments education and resources, networking with industry peers, and staying on top of payments developments are among the top of the list for most. The value MAG provides in these areas is likely the reason MAG enjoys high membership and sponsorship retention year after year.

Over the years, the education and resources MAG provides to merchant members and sponsors has grown to be a vast catalog of information which include, but is not limited to: 

• Our new Payments Professional eLearning series (aka Merchant Payments 101 or MP101)
• Webinar and Conference content
• Best Practice Guides and Merchant Readiness materials
• Merchant survey information
• Infographics
• Special Interest Group (SIG) hubs
• Industry resources
  

MAG recently launched our MAG Learning Center (MLC) to provide the best user experience utilizing these resources! This new benefit offers a user-friendly interface making content easier to search and consume. 

Here are some tips on accessing the content, including a highlight of key sections and an overview for those who may be new to MAG or have been too busy to dig in. I highly recommend:

• Accessing the MLC to dig into areas of particular interest to you or your team.
• Viewing the webinar “Exploring the MAG Learning Center” from January 2021 on how to navigate the MLC. Simply click HERE to view (login required). It’s definitely worth the time! 
  

Accessing the MLC

The MLC is a MAG merchant member and sponsor benefit. While the landing page is viewable to the public, a login is required to access the content and is specific to merchants and sponsors.

This LINK will allow you to access the landing page. The Sign in is in the upper right corner:

MLC Landing page

The MLC landing page features the following key areas with quick access to each:

Past Webinars

• Check out our past webinar content you missed or want to revisit. There is a treasure trove of content for all levels of payment professionals.
• Submit a webinar for consideration any time using the portal located here. 
  

On Demand Learning

• The Merchant Payment 101 eLearning course 
• View our past Smarter Payments Series. Excellent information to provide to your C-Suite!
• View a sample of the Merchant Payment 101 course. This is a great tool to provide to a team member who may be interested in signing up for the course!

Member Resources

This is a main hub of information you may want to bookmark. We are adding new information all the time, so be sure to watch your MAGMail or check back often. This page contains valuable information such as the sections listed here:

• Readiness Guides
• Best Practices
• Merchant Member Surveys
• Quick Reference Guides        
• MAG Infographics
• Other Industry resources
  

SIG Central

• Special Interest Group (SIG) vertical meetings rank among the highest in value. Members can access the meeting notes of all past SIG meetings housed in the MLC! We have a hub for each vertical. This is a great way to catch up on meetings you missed.
• Additional resources that are discussed within SIGs are usually included here as well.
  

Committees and Community of Practice (CoP)

This hub contains all committee and CoP resources. Merchant members can access information even if you are not serving on a committee or CoP. Those interested in joining a groups can connect on the MAG website Committee and CoP page and complete the blue form on the right.  

• Access upcoming webinars, SIG meetings or other upcoming events in the “Live Events” section.  
  • To register for these sessions, simply login then click on the blue “Register” button!
  • And to save time, you can go in and register for multiple events at one time and add them directly to your calendar.
• On Demand Events contains past conference session materials since 2019.  This is a great resource to access content you may wish to revisit after an event!

• Capture your notes during the webinars and store them in the MLC by clicking on the clipboard icon in the bottom right corner of the webinar you are viewing. It will time stamp at the place in the webinar and your notes are downloadable.  
• You can track articles, activity and progress on the MLC home page, simply by clicking on your name (upper right corner). 
• All items are searchable by category vs. date and the MLC provides filter options to simplify your search.
• We continue to add content to the MLC so be sure to check back often and watch for MAGMail.

MAG continues to add value for our merchant members and sponsors. If your organization is not currently a part of the MAG and is interested in the resources described above, please contact me at kari.hartley@merchantadvisorygroup.org.