Scott Ward likes to give credit where credit is due, and his mind, it’s the Tri-State. Where some may see economic hardships, he sees a fleet of workers, ready to bring not only credit card processing to local merchants but the chance of a new life to themselves.

Ward, an eastern Kentucky native, has been in the credit card processing business since 1996 when he founded Innovative Payment Solutions. He has since worked in areas throughout Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. But when the time came for him to find a new home base, he looked no further than Ironton.

Not only is Ironton centrally located among the businesses Ward serves, there’s also plenty of people willing to work, 51 of which he’s already employed.

In fact, he said, that’s the best part of his job: Providing people who need a little help to work.

“This gives them an opportunity for not just at a job, but a career,” Ward said. “There are some people who early on in life make the wrong choices, not going to college and trying to get a better education. That’s what we can help them with, without a college degree we can give them a career to look forward to.”

Ward said that, as an example, some of his employees who once made minimum wage are making upwards of $1,000 a week.

This fleet of workers, housed in a former bank building next to Dollar General on Third Street, provides credit card processing services to business, supplying not only the equipment, but the ability to connect with Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

He said his company also brought a feature previously unavailable in the area, the ability to scan checks and freeze the amount they are written for, so merchants never get stuck with a bad check.

Ward was previously a vacuum salesman who got into the credit card business practically on a whim, but said he has been continually motivated seeing how the Tri-State is treated by processing companies in bigger cities.

“Seeing as this is an economically depressed area, they look at us like, well, hillbillies I guess you could say,” Ward said. “They tend to want to overcharge merchants in this area.”

His feelings seem to be justified by the success he said he’s found in the new location. In fact, he plans on adding in the coming weeks to his workforce, allowing those who want a different life a shot at just that.

More information on Innovative Payment Solutions is available by calling (740) 532-1400.