Receiving a termination notice from your merchant account provider is something that every business owner hopes never happens.  However, this is something that could happen, and you need to know what steps you should take if it does.  There are a number of steps that you can follow if this happens to you and knowing what they are can lower the panicked feelings you might have.

Find Out Why You Lost Your Account

The first step that you need to take after getting the notice of termination from the merchant account provider is to find out why this happened.  This is important because any future providers that you contact are going to want to know the reasons why your last account was terminated.  You should never try and guess what the reason is and you should ask your previous provider for a written statement regarding this.

When you contact the provider, you should also ask if you or your business has been placed on the Terminated Merchant File or Match list.  It is unpleasant to be placed on this list, but there are ways to work around this.  However, you first need to know if you have actually been placed on this.

When you contact a new merchant account provider, you should not hide any of the information that you are given or about TMF placement.  The provider will eventually find out and if you kept them in the dark they can terminate your new account.  When the provider finds out, they may also take a course of action that will harm your business.

Get The Last Statements

When your merchant account is terminated, you will generally still have access to the online reporting system.  Using this system, you will need to download and save the last 6 processing statements from the terminated account.  This is something that any new merchant account provider will ask for and you need to be able to provide this.

If you do not have access to the reporting system, you will need to contact your previous account provider and ask for these statements.  Not having these statements will place you in a precarious situation with any new providers.  You will have nothing to show regarding your transactions and the history of your business which is something they will want to see. 

Only Contact High-Risk Payment Processors

When you look for your new payment process, you need to recognize your limitations.   If you have lost one merchant account, another low-risk provider will no longer be an option even if you are not placed on the TMF.  Whatever the cause of your account termination, mainstream merchants are not going to be willing to take you on.

There are a lot of high-risk payment processors such as https://highrisk.solutions that you can contact at this time.  However, you will need to carefully choose the right one and ensure that you are not being charged a lot of fake fees.  There are many high-risk processors that take advantage of the fact that you cannot get a low-risk account and you need to avoid them.

Be Honest

When you contact high-risk processors, you need to be honest about your situation.  This is usually where people run into the most trouble because they generally want to hide some of the bad things about their situation.  Lying to the high-risk processor will not help you and they will find out about the terminated account.

Providing the merchant account provider with false or incomplete information will cause them to lose trust in you.  When this happens, they will offer you poor terms for your account.  These terms will generally be better if you are open and honest with them from the start.  Of course, you may be offered these bad terms anyway and it is important to note that high-risk processors will not work for every business.

If your business has been placed on the TMF list, you need to tell the new processor about this.  Setting up a merchant account with a business that is on the TMF list will be very different to one that only had their account terminated.  If you try to make it seem like you have not been blacklisted, you will be wasting everyone’s time. 

Fill Out All Of The Required Paperwork

When you are provided with paperwork to finish, you need to do this promptly.  You should also ensure that you provide all of the requested supporting documentation.  Complaining about the amount of paperwork will not help you and it will be time-consuming to finish, but it needs to be done. 

When you fill out the paperwork promptly, you will give the provider a good impression of your business.  Additionally, you do not want to be without a merchant account for too long and taking your time with the paperwork will prolong this. 

Be Patient

Once you have submitted your paperwork, you need to be patient.  The underwriting process for high-risk accounts will take a lot longer than the one for regular merchant accounts.  This is due to the fact that the underwriters will need to be more cautious with these accounts and ensure that the businesses are viable.  

Being patient is important at this point and you will not be able to speed the process along.  Contacting the provider all the time will not get the process completed any faster.  In most cases, you will only be labeled as a potential problem customer if you constantly contact the provider.

Prepare To Be Scrutinized

Once you have a new account, your activity will come under heavy scrutiny and you need to be prepared for this.  This is due to the fact that the new processor will want to monitor your activity to ensure that you are compliant with the terms of your agreement.  The fact that your previous account was terminated is one of the reasons for this as it places you as a higher risk user. 

The new provider may ask you to provide proof for some or all of the transactions that go through the account.  When you receive these requests, you should quickly give them what they want and not argue with them.  Arguing will make you look like you are breaking the agreement and will generally lead to further scrutiny.