Bonita Payments
General Quarters

The Bonita newsletter — and field guide.

Practical writing for merchants, agents, and ISOs from people in the business. No fluff, no SEO sludge — just the things we wish someone had told us.

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Industry 1016 min

What Is an ISO — and Why It Matters Who You Sell For

A plain-language explainer for new agents weighing their first ISO relationship. Covers sponsorship, residuals, and what to ask before signing.

June 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants5 min

Interchange-Plus Pricing, Explained Without the Jargon

Most merchants are quoted interchange-plus and have no idea what it means. Here's how to read a statement and spot the games processors play.

June 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
Behind Bonita4 min

Why We Built QuarterSuite Instead of Buying It

The internal portal that became a six-module ecosystem. A story about why software-as-a-cost-center never made sense to us.

June 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Partners7 min

The Residual Math Every New Agent Should Run

Splits, attrition, and what a healthy book actually looks like 24 months in. The spreadsheet most ISOs hope you never build.

June 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
Industry 1016 min

How Credit Card Processing Actually Works

From swipe to settlement — the real path your money takes, the four parties who touch it, and why understanding the chain helps you spot a bad deal.

January 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants6 min

How to Choose a Payment Processing Partner Without Getting Burned

Rate is the easiest thing to fake on a proposal. Here's what actually separates a partner you can build on from one you'll be firing in eight months.

February 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants6 min

Choosing a POS System That Fits How You Actually Operate

Most POS buying advice is really hardware marketing. Here's how to pick a system around your workflow, your margins, and your support reality — quick-service, retail, or service.

March 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants5 min

QR Code Ordering for Restaurants: What It Actually Delivers

Past the hype, QR ordering is a labor and table-turn tool. Here's where it genuinely helps a New Orleans restaurant, where it doesn't, and how to roll it out without alienating guests.

March 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants5 min

B2B vs. B2C Payments: What's Different and Why It Costs You

If you sell to other businesses, you're probably overpaying on interchange — and missing Level 2/Level 3 data rates built exactly for you. Here's the gap.

April 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants6 min

Emerging Payment Technology — What's Real and What's Hype

Tap-to-pay, embedded finance, real-time rails, and AI in payments. A grounded look at what New Orleans businesses should actually prepare for — and what can wait.

May 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants6 min

The New Orleans Seasonal Sales Playbook

Festival season, summer tourism, and the slow months in between. How New Orleans merchants can use payments, equipment, and reporting to ride the city's revenue waves.

April 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
Risk5 min

Hurricane Season Readiness for New Orleans Businesses

Payments don't stop because the power does. A practical continuity checklist for keeping transactions running — and your data safe — when the storm comes.

May 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
For Merchants5 min

Cutting Costs with Energy-Efficient Restaurant Operations

Margins in New Orleans restaurants are thin enough without wasting money on the equipment that's always on. Where efficient systems and smarter operations actually move the number.

June 2026 · Elliott Forman, Founder & CEORead
Behind Bonita4 min

Community Connections: How Bonita Backs New Orleans Entrepreneurs

We're a New Orleans company that backs New Orleans businesses. What "relationship-based" actually means when the person answering the phone is two neighborhoods away.

June 2026 · Bonita PaymentsRead
Behind Bonita5 min

Meet Elliott Forman, Founder & CEO of Bonita Payments

Founder & CEO, author, veteran, and former boxer. The operator behind Bonita's transformation from merchant services into a fintech infrastructure company.

June 2026 · Bonita PaymentsRead
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Got something the industry needs to hear?

General Quarters runs guest essays from operators, agents, and merchants with hard-won lessons. No vendor puff pieces. No SEO sludge. If you've got a story worth telling, we'll help you tell it.

What we publish
  • Field notes from agents and ISOs in the trenches
  • Plain-language explainers on pricing, interchange, and risk
  • Operator stories — what broke, what worked, what you'd do again
  • Short, useful, never more than 1,200 words
Pitches to generalquarters@bonitapayments.net