Breaking Down the Merchant Onboarding Process

In the traditional world of payment processing, a salesperson might go directly to merchant locations, applications in hand, seeking to sign up new customers. If they were successful, the process to onboard that customer could take weeks while the merchant completed and submitted a lengthy application, the payment provider completed underwriting, and payment devices were delivered to the merchant and set up.

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What is the Definition of a High-Risk Merchant?

While payment facilitators are known for their ability to reduce friction and to quickly underwrite and onboard new merchants, not all merchants are created equal. Some require more due diligence and ongoing risk monitoring than others.

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What is a Payment Processor?

Whether a transaction originates online or in person, completing it safely requires connecting to and securely sharing data among merchants, banks and card networks. Payment processors are the technology companies that sit in the middle of this process.

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Retail ISO vs Wholesale ISO: What’s the Difference?

Before payment facilitators existed, acquirers commonly extended their reach to smaller businesses by working with independent sales organizations, known as ISOs. Sometimes a distinction is made between what are known as retail ISOs and wholesale ISOs. So, what’s the difference?

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What is Embedded Finance?

Historically, financial services have been offered solely by traditional providers such as banks and insurance companies. But a new crop of providers is increasingly offering simpler and more intuitive ways for consumers and businesses alike to access a variety of services.

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What are Embedded Payments?

For decades, payments have been the purview of large companies and payment processors. Software companies have traditionally had to rely on third-party integrations to allow their customers to accept payments using their platform, which has caused a disjointed customer experience between software and payments.

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What is a Payment Aggregator?

The payments industry is filled with confusing terms, many of which are used interchangeably. This confusion is compounded by the fact that the industry has changed rapidly in recent years, giving rise to new terms while others fall away.

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