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| What is Terminated Merchant File ? |
To put it simply, the terminated merchant file is a category of merchants who have been chosen to be blacklisted for transactions that land them outside the purview of standards agreed upon for the service. When the standards are violated, the merchant identification number is listed into the TMF. This warns potential service providers that this merchant is extremely risky and the chances of them being able to use account services become slim to nonexistent.
The following, are a few things a business should look out for in order to avoid landing on this list:
- Excessive chargebacks
- Outstanding Chargeback
- Depositing an excessive amount of counterfeit sales
- Participating in excessive and consistent fraudulent activity
- Money laundering
- Identity theft
- Merchant collusion
Out of all the possible violations that can land you on that list, the one to be most vigilant of is chargebacks. They are the most evident, common and likely, the easiest way to end up on the TMF if you are not careful.
History Of The Terminated Merchant File ( TMF FILE )
The TMF was designed to keep banks away from dishonest operators, merchants taking part in risky industries and businesses simply not overcoming internal issues. Some would choose the use of the list, which is in terms of modern eCommerce transactions, as a bit outdated. Over the years, due to the development of newer and more sophisticated technology, security has become more important, heightened and challenging ever. A couple of these developments include the use of EMV chips (seen in newer cards), the tokenization of customer data and the initiation of zero liability policies which are aimed at protecting the cardholders.
So, in the unlikely case that you happen to find yourself on the TMF, is there any way out to get taken off the list? Unfortunately, the answer is, not likely, with very few distinct exceptions. The first possibility would be if you are listed on the TMF by error. The bank who took you added to the TMF would have to report that error, the list is then rectified and then you are formally removed, saving your reputation. Another possible exception would be correcting a noncompliance to a requirement by the PCI/DSS. Lastly, rectifying existing chargebacks with the bank and ensuring that future ones do not continue is another possible way of removing yourself off the list.
Conclusion:
The reality of it is that there are slim chances of finding your way off the list, once you are put on it. However, there is a potential, tiny light at the end of the tunnel. There are some banks who may be willing to take risks and handle merchant account even as a dreaded TMF. How selective they will be, and whether or not you will actually be able to attain merchant services is a whole other issue. The best advice that can be taken away from all this… Do all you can to avoid getting on the list. No good can come from it.
So the real question is how to be off from the TMF list to keep our business secured and uninterrupted. Some of the Tips for staying off the TMF list:
- Don’t cross your official authorized maximum sales without permission of your merchant processor.
- Provide your customers with updated information regarding the status of how and when you will debit funds from their accounts.
- Give them easy access to contact methods for them to reach you with any of their questions, concerns or complaints.
- Respond to all inquiries timely basis.
- List your customer support contact number on your customers’ monthly statements. If they don’t recognize your debit entry they shall call you first before hastily-and mistakenly-disputing the charge.
- Try to provide optimum customer service and stay in touch with your customers. Email them, call them to confirm higher-than-normal charges or to solicit customer feedback, and send newsletters. It is important to be in touch constantly so they know you better.
- Monitor transactions closely with the help of transaction management system, so that you can protect your business from an expensive cost of interruption of service.
Surviving a Merchant Account Shutdown
Replacement account opening process is just akin to setting up of your original merchant account. Listed below are the steps you will have to take to go through it successfullyReasons for Termination
- It all starts here. It is a general phenomena to ask by the prospective processor from customer to disclose the reasons of why your previous service was shut down and for this you should obtain written statement from your previous processor. Be sure to also ask them whether or not your business and you personally, as its owner, have been placed on the Terminated Merchant File (TMF) / MATCH list. Do not hide information from your prospective processor, either about the causes for the termination or about a TMF listing. Keeping them in dark will lead to wrong course of action because they will gradually will find out what had occurred.
- Get your last statements. Make sure that you have your six latest processing statements from the terminated account with yourself, while you still have an access to the online reporting system. Those will be requested later during the new application process and not being able to provide them would not look good at all.
- Contact only high-risk payment processors. It is important that you recognize your limitations. A regular low-risk merchant account would not be a suitable option even if you were not placed on the TMF. No matter what the causes were, mainstream merchants would always be suspicious and unwilling and you need to look out for a high-risk processor.
- Be honest As said, honesty is the best policy, same is relevant under this process. When you contact your chosen high-risk processors, be completely honest and matter-of-fact about your situation. This is the real contention of the problem, as most merchants try to hide the real picture and present the false information to the processor. Don’t do that, as it does you no favors. Because the processor will eventually figure out exactly what happened with your terminated merchant account. The incomplete and false information would only put providers losing trust upon you and consequently being offered unsuitable terms of the agreement.
- Fill out all of the required paperwork. Do it instantly and submit all of the requested supporting documentation. Don’t crib regarding voluminous paperwork you are asked to provide and how time-consuming it may be to go through it all. If there could be any simplification of the process, we would have done it long ago. We get to work with banks all over the world under rigorous regulatory environments, a host of national regulations, etc.
- Be patient. High-risk underwriting process may take considerably longer time to run its course than the one used for regular merchant accounts. Underwriters need to be cautious with merchants whose accounts have been shut down by other service providers. However, it is true that high-risk underwriting process can sometimes take much longer than it could be justified.
- Prepare to be scrutinized. Your activity shall come under scrutiny once your application is approved and your account is set-up and functioning. You will be closely monitored with your activity to ensure that you are using your account in compliance with the terms of your agreement. You may also be asked to provide proof of some of your transactions. If you receive such kind of request, just don’t argue with your processor, give them what they want. Once they are satisfied with your functioning and operation in full compliance with the terms of agreement, they will let you do your business without any interruption.
- Be compliant If you want to last forever in high-risk processing, stay compliant. It is seen most high-risk merchant accounts get terminated within the first three months of their establishment. To avoid that fate, you should remain compliant with full the terms of your agreement.
To find out more about IPAYTOTAL’s merchant services, Give us a call at +44 800 776 5988 or get in touch with us through our website. Even if you’re not a customer of ours, we want to help you understand the process so you can make the best decisions for your business. We believe transparency and proactive education is the best policy.








