The future of automotive commerce: A Q&A with Dealer Merchant Services’ Amberly Allen
Dealerships are facing tighter margins, rising transaction costs, and increasing compliance scrutiny. As a result, payments are drawing renewed attention across automotive retail. We spoke with Amberly Allen, managing partner at Dealer Merchant Services (DMS), about what dealers are focused on right now, how surcharging fits into today’s regulatory environment, and what the company’s recent acquisition by Priority means for dealerships.
Q: What are dealers most focused on right now when it comes to payments?
A: Many dealerships are taking a closer look at costs they’ve historically absorbed without much visibility. As transaction volumes increase and payment behavior changes, those costs add up faster than they used to. Dealers are looking for ways to protect margin while keeping operations simple and customer interactions unchanged.
Q: Why are payments becoming a bigger part of those conversations?
A: Payments touch almost every part of a dealership—sales, service and parts. They’re embedded across dealership operations. Even small inefficiencies or compliance gaps can have an outsized impact. Dealers are realizing that payments aren’t just a back-office function anymore; they’re directly tied to profitability, risk and CSI.
Q: DMS focuses exclusively on surcharging. Why is this such a difficult area for dealerships to manage on their own?
A: We regularly see dealerships try to handle surcharging themselves and end up in a difficult spot. It’s a complex and fast-changing area. It involves state laws, card brand rules, and operational details that aren’t always obvious. What’s compliant today may not be compliant six months from now.
Dealers don’t have the time or resources to track legal updates, card network changes, and enforcement trends on their own. That’s why specialization matters. Our job is to stay current on card brand, federal and state laws, so dealers don’t have to. That helps them avoid mistakes that can be costly and disruptive.
Q: What does compliant surcharging look like in practice inside a dealership?
A: It means having guardrails built into the system. Rules vary by state, card brand, and payment type. For example, credit card surcharging is prohibited outright in Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut, and there are strict guidelines in California, New York, Oklahoma and Colorado.
A multi-state dealer group can’t apply a one-size-fits-all approach. What works in one state may not work in another. Compliant surcharging requires structure, consistency, and constant attention to change.
Q: How important is employee training in making surcharging work well?
A: Training is critical. Even the most compliant program can fail if dealership staff aren’t comfortable explaining it. We spend a lot of time training teams—sales, service, and front-line staff—on what surcharging is, why it’s there, and how to talk about it clearly and confidently. That training directly impacts CSI. When transactions are explained clearly and consistently, customers feel informed rather than frustrated. When they aren’t, customers notice. Trust can erode quickly.
Q: How important is integration with dealership management systems like CDK?
A: Integration can be helpful, but it’s not a must. Dealers can still see real savings without tying directly into their dealership management system. In many cases, the cost savings they gain offset the access or integration fees charged by dealer management system providers.
Q: Mobile and remote payments are becoming more common. How are dealers approaching that shift?
A: Dealers want flexibility without risk. Mobile service visits, parts deliveries paid on arrival, and remote service authorizations all require secure payment acceptance without creating extra steps for staff or customers. The key is enabling those options in a way that works seamlessly with existing processes and doesn’t require retraining teams or changing how customers interact with the dealership.
Q: There’s growing interest in digital wallets and other payment options. How should dealers think about what’s next?
A: Dealers don’t need to chase every trend, but they do need to be prepared. Digital wallets—such as Apple Pay and PayPal—are already a customer expectation in many cases, particularly in service lanes and smaller-ticket transactions. Other payment types may follow when regulatory and compliance standards are clear. Having the right underlying infrastructure allows dealers to adapt over time without taking on unnecessary risk.
Q: DMS is endorsed by multiple state dealer associations. Why does that matter?
A: Endorsements aren’t given; they’re earned. State dealer associations vet solutions carefully. They talk to dealers, review compliance practices, and make sure partners truly understand dealership operations.
Being endorsed by nearly 20 state dealer associations matters because it’s independent validation that we do what we say we do. We recently completed a formal review process with the California New Car Dealers Association. California dealers operate in one of the most complex regulatory environments in the country, and getting it wrong isn’t an option. That level of scrutiny reinforces why specialization and compliance expertise matter so much in this space.
Q: Dealer Merchant Services was recently acquired by Priority, a payments and banking technology company serving businesses nationwide. What does this mean for dealers?
A: DMS remains dedicated to surcharging for dealerships. What changes is the infrastructure behind it. Being part of Priority gives us greater scale and deeper compliance resources. It does that without adding operational burden. Those things matter whether a dealership has one rooftop or many.
Q: What’s the biggest takeaway for dealers looking ahead?
A: Dealers who protect margins most effectively aren’t always the ones selling more vehicles. They’re the ones paying attention to where money is leaving the operation and addressing it thoughtfully. Payments are part of that conversation now. Dealers are better served by partners who understand dealership realities. The best improvements work quietly in the background.