The Paycast Network recently touched down at the Southeast Acquirers Association (SEAA) 2026 conference, and the energy on the floor was electric. To kick things off, we are combining our first two packed, fast-paced event interviews into one comprehensive insider’s guide.
Whether you missed the event or just want a scannable cheat sheet of the biggest takeaways, here is a breakdown of what went down on the conference floor.
Part One: Ground Floor Wisdom with Carlos Nieto & John McCormick
First up, Chase sat down with industry veteran Carlos Nieto to talk about his third year attending SEAA, followed by a surprise guest appearance from SEAA President John McCormick.
Carlos Nieto on Building Portfolios & Amplifying Voices
Carlos shared that his primary goal for this conference was simple: meaningful connections. Reflecting on previous discussions regarding women in payments, Carlos emphasized that he wants to see more diverse voices taking up space on the convention floor. His motto for the event? “Be loud, be seen, don’t get arrested.”
When it comes to the actual business of merchant services, Carlos offered invaluable advice for two distinct groups:
- For the Newbies: Learn how to protect and properly structure your portfolio from day one. Too many new reps board accounts without an exit plan. You need to ensure you are boarding the types of accounts you can actually sell down the road.
- For the Veterans: Stop hiding behind your phone. Use conferences like SEAA to meet face-to-face with the people you only ever talk to digitally. Your next great mentor could be a handshake away.
John McCormick on 25 Years of SEAA & Missing Booths
Mid-interview, SEAA President John McCormick snuck into the frame. While he joked that his strategy was to “hide in the office,” he couldn’t hide the massive success of this year’s event.
- A Legitimate Record-Breaker: John revealed that SEAA 2026 brought in 1,624 registered attendees, making it officially the largest turnout in the association’s history.
- The Missing Booth Caper: Every live event has its hiccups, and John shared a hilarious one. The shipping label from his official event crate accidentally peeled off in transit and stuck itself to a completely different box. Instead of his booth setup, John received a surprise delivery of pre-sonic gummies!
- 25 Years of Tech Evolution: Looking back at a quarter-century of SEAA, John marveled at how much the tech has shifted. In the early days, booths required literal telephone lines next to terminals to run transactions. Today, everything runs wirelessly via battery-powered devices over Wi-Fi.
Ultimately, John emphasized that this tech boom makes the independent sales organization (ISO) model more critical than ever. Merchants don’t want to build or understand complex backend tech—they just want to run their businesses, which means they need trusted advisors.
Part Two: Diving into Payment Orchestration with Mitch Buscemi
For the second half of our SEAA recap, Chase caught up with Mitch Buscemi from Gravy (stylized as GR4VY) for a masterclass on payment routing, a bit of history, and a classic sales pitch.
Sunshine State Trivia
Before getting down to business, Mitch had to survive the standard Paycast trivia intro. Chase tossed him a location-specific curveball: Which US city is the only major metropolitan area to be planned and founded by a woman?
Mitch confidently guessed Miami (founded by Julia Tuttle) and knocked it out of the park, adding a shoutout to Jane Jacobs’ classic book, The Rise and Fall of Great American Cities.
What Exactly is Payment Orchestration?
If you aren’t familiar with Gravy, they specialize in payment orchestration infrastructure. Mitch broke down how it works in plain English:
At its core, Gravy features an agnostic cloud vault on the base, with a massive library of connections (processors, payment methods, and fraud prevention vendors) sitting on top. They allow ISOs and merchants to orchestrate transactions in two main ways:
- The Front End (Dynamic Checkout): Automatically alters the payment options presented to a customer based on metadata like geographical location, what’s in their cart, and overall cart size.
- The Back End (Smart Routing): Intelligently routes transactions behind the scenes based on issuer, acquirer, BIN range, currency, or region to maximize approval rates and lower fees.
For ISOs, Gravy bundles all of this data into a single dashboard, allowing them to track sub-merchant performance, authorization rates, and cost-per-payment at a glance.
Fun Fact: Why the “4” in GR4VY? Mitch revealed that CEO John Wang initially tried to buy gravy.com for a reasonable price, but the seller jacked the price up to $10,000 the moment he found out they raised venture capital. The team pivoted, swapped in a “4”—which represents a dollar sign ($) on a keyboard—and a brand was born.
The Ultimate Pitch: Sell Me This Duck
To close the session, Chase handed Mitch a rubber duck for a live round of “Sell Me This Duck.” Mitch proved his sales chops by completely turning the tables.
Instead of pitching a toy, Mitch focused on the “existential dangers” of an average-sized bathtub. He convinced Chase that this specific rubber duck was a loophole-proof security asset designed to keep him safe in the tub when insurance companies fail.
Needless to say, Chase bought the duck.
This Is Just the Beginning!
From Carlos’s advice on structuring a sellable portfolio, to John’s celebration of a record-breaking 1,600+ attendees, to Mitch’s masterclass on smart transaction routing, our time at SEAA 2026 has already yielded incredible value.
The tech is getting smarter, but the need for transparency, education, and human connection remains the real engine driving the space forward.
These interviews are just the first two of many to come! We gathered a massive vault of content on the convention floor, so make sure to check back over the next few weeks as we roll out the rest of our exclusive SEAA 2026 interview series.
Connect with the Show: Missed the live broadcast? Make sure to check out the full catalog of episodes on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, and keep an eye out for upcoming payment education series starring Carlos Nieto!