SILVER SPRING, MD, January 12, 2009 – Providing customers what the company calls “northwoods” hospitality, Stoneycreek Inns, a fast-growing group of expanded-service hotels throughout the Midwest, has recently added an offering that, while transparent to guests, is ensuring their credit card payments are managed securely and efficiently:  an Internet-based payments gateway from Merchant Link, a provider of enterprise payment and security systems.

With 10 locations across Illinois, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin, growing at a rate of one new property per year, and with nearly 95% of its guest transactions made via credit cards, Stoneycreek Inns until recently handled credit card payments via a dial-up system, which was less than satisfactory.

“The dial up system was causing intermittent processing problems, and in some instances batches would attempt to transfer twice.  When using more than one processor, this just added to our headaches,” reported Stoney Creek CFO Steven Noto.

In January, 2008, the company decided to address the ongoing issues by switching its property management system to MICROS Opera Express™, and to consolidate its processing under Chase Paymentech.  MICROS, in turn, introduced Stoneycreek Inns to Merchant Link.

“The MICROS folks recommended we look at the Merchant Link payments gateway and it’s one of the best decisions we made,” continued Noto.  “The changeover from dial up to the Internet-based processing was seamless, our people were quickly trained and up to speed, and I began to sleep better at night knowing our customers’ personal credit card data had the highest level of security available.”

Noto added that the Merchant Link gateway has made life easier for his staff as well, citing their ability to quickly pull reports, and to call on Merchant Link at any time, day or night, for support or to address any questions or problems.

“If the Merchant Link technology has been terrific, the Merchant Link customer support has been absolutely superb,” said Noto. 

About Stoneycreek Hospitality

Stoney Creek Hospitality Corp is a niche market hotel management company focused on strong guest service, with an upscale urban lodge theme.  They currently operate 10 hotels with medium to large venue conference centers in four states; Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Missouri.  Established in 1994, and headquartered in Iowa, Stoney Creek offers some of the latest amenities in convenience and technology, along with indoor/outdoor swim through pools and a smoke free environment.  With a People First philosophy, owner James Thompson stated “Serving the needs of others is our mission.  Finding joy in their success is the secret to our own.”  For more information visit their website at www.stoneycreekinn.com

About Merchant Link, LLC
Merchant Link provides secure solutions to the integrated point-of-sale industry, including high-end technical support and data transport services. Merchant Link currently supports more than 120,000 hotels, restaurants, ballparks, and other venues, and maintains connectivity to the major US payment card processors. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., Merchant Link is a subsidiary of Chase Paymentech Solutions, a joint venture between JP Morgan Chase & Co. and First Data Corporation. The company handles more than 1.7 billion transactions annually, in all 50 states, Antarctica, Canada, Bermuda, South Korea and Japan. Further information is available at www.merchantlink.com.