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When a processor closes a merchant account for cause, the bank behind it can add the business and its owners to the MATCH list. That is a Mastercard database of terminated merchants, and other acquiring banks check it before they approve a new account. Even without a listing, the closure stays in the merchant's file. The next underwriter will ask for the termination notice and the last few months of statements, and the answers set the reserve, the rate and the volume limit on any new account. A few high-risk providers publish a policy on merchants terminated elsewhere, and most publish none.
Underwriters look first at why the account was closed. Stripe, PayPal and Square are payment facilitators, or payfacs, which board many small merchants under one master account. A merchant removed by one of them after a risk review brings a different file from one that a bank shut down after chargebacks went past card-network limits. A third case is a closure caused by the category alone, where the old processor stopped taking a product type whatever the account's history. A MATCH listing is the fourth, because it attaches to the owners as well as the business.
Most providers that take these files are independent sales organizations, or ISOs. An ISO signs up the merchant and looks after the account, while a sponsor bank approves it and carries the risk. A processor moves the transactions itself. When an ISO has a policy on merchants shut down elsewhere, that policy covers which files it will send to its banks. The bank still decides.
The cost of a closure usually shows up in the terms of the next account. Under a rolling reserve, the bank sets aside part of every day's card sales for a set time in case chargebacks come in later. Reserves are standard on high-risk accounts, and an underwriter looking at a recent closure may set a higher percentage or a lower monthly cap.
Few providers in this group post rates for high-risk accounts, so the first quote after a closure has nothing to be measured against. A second written quote from another provider is the practical comparison.
PaymentCloud places high-risk accounts with a range of partner banks, and its focus is getting businesses approved after other processors turned them down. That suits a merchant declined or closed by a mainstream processor whose file has no chargeback problem to explain, since the underwriter's questions then center on the business model and the owners.
Each merchant gets its own quote, and setup fees and reserve terms change with the type of business, so a merchant can ask to see the reserve before signing anything. The cutoff that matters most after a closure is the chargeback ratio. PaymentCloud wants it under 3%, and a merchant shut down for too many disputes may still be over that on its last statements.
Durango Merchant Services has worked in high-risk payments since 1997 and sells its accounts as a registered ISO for Fifth Third Bank. It runs a recovery service for businesses whose accounts were frozen, closed or suspended, with separate help for merchants leaving Stripe, Shopify Payments, PayPal and Square. A merchant coming off one of those four platforms moves to a dedicated account with its own underwriting, and US accounts carry a $5,000 monthly processing minimum.
Durango says its team has negotiated accounts for more than 35,000 clients. It warns that a MATCH listing can lead underwriters to demand a personal guaranty and steep reserves, though it stops short of offering to take listed merchants.
PayKings places merchants with a network of acquiring banks, and its underwriters look at any past account closures as part of the standard file. It works with merchants that Stripe, PayPal or Square declined, froze or closed.
PayKings normally asks for three to six months of processing statements, which a merchant leaving a closed account can usually supply. Where mainstream processors turn down a MATCH listing on sight, PayKings has a specialist look at the context, but it makes no promise to take listed merchants. It only takes merchants based in the United States, and it won't say which banks it uses. Even the number of banks changes from page to page.
Corepay is a registered ISO and merchant service provider of North American Banking Company. Corepay reviews each file, past closures included, before the bank sees it.
Corepay says a complete application gets a pre-approval decision within one business day. Every Corepay account includes pre-dispute alerts from Ethoca, Verifi and RDR. An alert lets a merchant refund a disputed sale before it becomes a chargeback, and a business coming off a termination will have its ratio watched from the first month. The acquiring bank then does the formal underwriting and makes the final call.
Finix is a payment processor that underwrites high-risk merchants itself, while the other six providers here place files with partner banks. Its high-risk merchants include hemp-derived CBD sellers and licensed online casino and sportsbook operators, and each one is reviewed before its first sale.
Finix doesn't say whether it takes merchants shut down elsewhere or listed on MATCH. A MATCH listing for excessive chargebacks is the example Finix gives of a reason it might turn a merchant down.
eMerchantBroker, a registered ISO and merchant service provider of BMO Harris Bank, has a program for merchants on the Terminated Merchant File, the older name for the MATCH list. It also works with businesses that lost their merchant accounts because of high chargebacks.
The program asks for proof that nothing is owed to former processors, so any balance left on the closed account must be settled first. Applicants also need a chargeback ratio under 2%, so a merchant listed for excessive chargebacks has to show the ratio has come down. eMerchantBroker quotes every account, and its rates depend partly on past processing history, which for a merchant shut down elsewhere includes the closure itself.
SecureGlobalPay is an ISO sponsored by several clearing and settlement institutions, and it works with dozens of acquiring banks. It will consider merchants shut down by other processors. It will also consider MATCH merchants, as long as the merchant gives a reasonable explanation and shows it has fixed the problem. The application needs three months of bank statements, plus processing statements where the merchant has them. Its gateway can route transactions across more than one merchant account and split volume across banks when one bank sets a low cap. The company's own figures for how long it has been in business don't agree, so its track record is hard to pin down.
The documents for the next application depend on why the last account closed. A merchant closed over the category needs the closure notice and recent bank and processing statements. It also needs product documents, such as certificates of analysis for hemp-derived CBD or the operator license for gaming. A merchant closed for chargebacks needs three months of processing statements, the monthly chargeback ratio and a written account of what changed in delivery, billing or refunds. A MATCH-listed merchant needs the reason code for the listing, proof of what was fixed and a statement that nothing is still owed to the former processor.
