Doug Green, Publisher of Technology Reseller News, sat down with Elie Y. Katz, Founder, President & CEO of National Retail Solutions (NRS), to discuss how payments, telecom, and point-of-sale technology are converging to reshape small and independent businesses. Katz explained how NRS, incubated within IDT, was created to give independent convenience stores and small merchants the same tools and insights long available to large national chains.

At the center of NRS’s success is its integrated point-of-sale platform, now deployed in more than 38,000 locations nationwide. Katz described how NRS combines POS, credit card processing, payroll, cash advance services, and telecom products into a single system. “We didn’t just build a register,” Katz said. “We built a platform that lets independent merchants compete with corporate America.”

The conversation highlighted the accelerating shift away from cash toward cards, mobile wallets, and peer-to-peer payment apps such as Venmo and Zelle—especially among younger consumers. Katz noted that safety, efficiency, and cost are driving merchants toward cashless or low-cash environments. “The phone has become the bank,” he said, pointing to how mobile payments are now central to everyday commerce.

Katz also outlined the opportunity this shift creates for telecom channel partners, MSPs, and resellers. By leveraging existing customer relationships, partners can expand into POS, payment processing, payroll, and cash advance services through NRS. “If you didn’t pivot, you went out of business,” Katz said. “Our platform gives channel partners a new stream of recurring revenue using relationships they already have.”

Finally, Katz detailed NRS’s growing ecosystem of integrations, including DoorDash, Grubhub, and NationsBenefits, which help independent merchants increase revenue and compete more effectively. With offerings like NRSPay and flexible, no-penalty credit card processing, NRS is positioning itself as a long-term partner for small businesses navigating the transition to a digital, cashless economy. For more information, visit https://nrsplus.com/.