Tips for the merchant application

Essential Advice by Section

• Tax & Industry information
• Primary owner information
• Expected processing amounts
• Bank account for funding

Tax & Industry information

Part of the onboarding process is validating the legal information you provide about your business.

• It is very important that the Legal Business Name entered on this application matches the name registered with the secretary of state and the IRS. If you are a sole proprietor without an EIN, enter your full name as it appears on government issued documents. This field is for business verification only. There is a field later in the application to provide the business name to display on your customer's statements.
• Use the phone & physical address associated with the business. This information may be displayed to customers. PO boxes are not acceptable.
• The Business Type is how you are currently registered with the state. 
• The Tax ID Number is the EIN issued by the IRS for your business. The EIN you enter must be assigned to the Legal Business Name you provide on the application. Sole Proprietors without an EIN will enter their social security number (SSN) for the tax ID requirement. If you enter your SSN for the tax ID, the Legal Business name on your application must be your full name as it appears on government issued documents. 
• If we are not able to verify that the legal business name matches the tax ID, you may be asked to provide a supporting document from the IRS. 
• If you do not see your industry listed in the dropdown menu, please reach out to us for assistance.

Primary owner information

This section is asking for the primary owner's personal information - phone number, email address, and home address.

• If you have a personal line in your name instead of the business name, it is best to provide that number.
• The address must be your most current residence address (a PO box will not be accepted). Only use the business address if all business operations are based out of your home. 

All information in the primary owner information section is used for identity verification purposes only. This information will not be shared with your customers.

Expected processing volumes

The application asks for your annual volume and average ticket size for credit cards and eChecks. If this is a new business for you, this is a difficult question, but it is required. The team is looking for realistic expectations according to your projections. This number is used as a benchmark in the beginning while this is a new relationship. Once you start taking payments, your actual processing history will replace those numbers.

The Payment Statement Descriptor field on the same page is how you would like your business name to appear on your customer's statements. If the name you use in marketing is different than your legal name, enter your Doing Business As (DBA) name in this field. 

Bank account for funding

The bank account you enter on the application is the bank account we will use for deposits.

• If you are using a business checking or savings account, the account must be under the name of the business listed on the application.
• If you are using a personal checking or savings account, the name of the account holder must match the name of the primary owner listed on the application.

Instant Connect uses Plaid to create a secure connection to your bank account for funding. This is the fastest option because the account verification process is completed in seconds. If you do not want to use Instant Connect or your bank does not partner with Plaid, you can type in your account name, routing number, and account number. Manual entry requires a copy of a voided check and a manual review, which may cause slower onboarding.