How to Become a Payment Service Provider

As an independent sales organization (ISO), you can upgrade your business by providing merchant processing services under your own brand. You may dismiss the idea at first, probably thinking that you don’t have the infrastructure or expertise on how to become a payment processing company. However, with white label payment processing, all you really need is a good ISO partner.

How a White Label ISO Program Works

To offer payment processing services under your own brand, your ISO partner will provide you with an online application page that doesn’t identify their company. This “white label” solution is ready for your brand and includes your logo, colors, and contact information, so your merchants only identify the payment solutions with your company. It eliminates any confusion among your merchant customers about who their service provider and primary contact should be. Your brand is the only thing the merchant will see on your website, merchant portal, and marketing materials. 

Your payments ISO partner becomes a silent partner, providing technology, payments functionality, and services. This puts you in more control, allowing you to deliver seamless, consistent customer experiences in all interactions – and enhance your brand’s reputation. With this white label payment solution, you won’t need to overcome negative perceptions a prospect may have about the company your working with. This is because you are creating a unique customer experience. Better still, you don't have to fall in line with another company's existing customer experience. 

Once you start providing white label payment processing services, you will also find that you build stronger, longer lasting relationships with your merchants. They'll begin to view you as a payments expert and an expert in the other solutions you provide. You may even find you are able to grow your customer base, as merchants in every vertical or niche can benefit from accepting payments, enabling you to market to more types of businesses.

Remember: white label payment processing enables you to earn huge residual income.

Our White Label Program Will Save Your Thousands in Fees

Put your brand on merchant statements and applications — build your brand with your sub-agents and merchants. Full white label payment solution with your logo and branding on applications, statements, online enrollment, merchant and partner portals.

We at Shaw Merchant Group have an awesome white label solution. There is no huge package of documents for you to fill out, no approval process by Visa and Mastercard and the sponsor banks, and best of all no annual dues. Here are some details on the “White Label ISO” program:

• Roughly 4–5 weeks to fully set up once we get the signed license document back.
• Executed addendum from you saying it’s OK for us to use your brand too.
• This program can run on our standard schedule A’s with bonus and free equipment and has no other obligations. from you other than the standard agent agreement.
• When we set up the DBA you will have access to EPX/BMO Harris for submitting merchants under your brand.

What do we brand?

• Paper Applications
• Online Applications (Simplified Enrollment)
• Partner.PaymentsHub for your back office.
• PaymentsHub for your merchants — It’s generic when your merchant logs in and then show your brand once inside.
• Merchant Support Email — TMS (ticket management system) which emails you and your merchant each time we speak with your merchant and shows the proper brand in the notice and as the from address on the email.
• Merchant Support Phone — Our call centers answer with a generic “merchant services” then once they have the MID identified, they represent your brand.
• Deployment Packages — Generic boxes and welcome docs inside with proper brand.

What we need:

1. A letter authorizing EPX to register your DBA on your company letterhead.
2. A high resolution image of your company logo.
3. A certificate of good standing from the state you are registered in. It may not be called a certificate of 'good standing' in some states.
4. The ISO Branding request form.

*Breaking Down the Process Without Our White Label Program*

The process of becoming a merchant services provider can be broken down into three main parts. If you are able to follow these main parts of the process, then you will have more success and a much easier time making sure you are setting your merchant services business for success. Here are the three main components of any plan to become a payment processor and what you can expect within each part of the process.

Preparation & Paperwork

The first step to making sure your merchant services business has the foundation that it needs is the preparation & paperwork stage. In this stage, you will be filling out and filing the necessary paperwork as well as creating a business plan. This lays a strong foundation for your business that will help you to go through all the other steps more seamlessly.

Create a Business Plan

The first thing that you will want to do is to create a business plan to start a payment processing company. This will include things like your services, strategy, outlook, and other details that are relevant to your business. Creating a high-quality business plan will lay the foundation and roadmap for your business that will help you to clearly envision what you are trying to achieve and ensure that you have a document to refer to when you need guidance.

Incorporate Your Business 

The next step once you have created the idea for your business is to incorporate your business. This means that you will be going through the proper federal and state channels to register your business as the correct type of venture. This is a very important step, as it will ensure you are compliant with all registration and paperwork requirements with governing bodies.

Connection & Contract

Once you have the paperwork foundation laid for your merchant service provider business, the next step is to start making the business arrangements that you need in order to actually provide your services. For merchant services providers, these arrangements are numerous, so you want to be sure that you are being diligent and have all the right arrangements in place. Here are some of the connections and contracts that you will have to enter into.

Request Approval From Discover

When you are a merchant services provider, you will have to make sure that you have gained acceptance from all the major credit cards to provide processing for these cards. Discover is undoubtedly one of the most important that you will work with in your time as a merchant services provider. To process payments with Discover, you will have to request approval through a meeting with a Discover representative. This will also give you access to Diner’s Club and others.

Register With Visa & Mastercard

Visa & Mastercard are probably the two most important payment networks in the world. You will have to request approval from these two networks if you hope to provide merchant services. Luckily, this has become a standardized process that is not very difficult to navigate.

Apply With PCI Data Security 

PCI Data Security is the organization that is responsible for verifying data security and ensuring that merchant services providers are compliant with regulations that ensure consumer data is safe and secure. You will have to register and apply with PCI Data Security to gain a trusted status as a merchant services provider.

Obtain a Payment Terminal Partner 

Once you have all the prior steps done, it is time to obtain a merchant services partner. All of the work that you have done on the digital side to ready your business to process payments will have been for nothing if you are not able to obtain a payment terminal partner that facilitates these payments and is the physical vehicle for the electronic side of payment processing.

Marketing & Business

When you have laid all the foundations of paperwork, agreements, registrations, and contracts out, the marketing & business side of being a merchant services provider is what remains. Many consider this to be the most difficult part, but luckily there is a proven blueprint for getting yourself started. Here are the steps that you should take if you are looking to kickstart your business and get started with marketing your merchant service business.

Online Presence 

The first step to marketing your merchant services business effectively is establishing your online presence by putting up a website and other digital properties such as social media. Make sure to dedicate time and attention to these efforts to ensure you are able to launch marketing initiatives and other campaigns based on your online presence.

Literature & Marketing Materials

The next step is to start acquiring literature and marketing materials for your merchant services business. These will help you to connect with others and provide them with easy-to-access information about your business. With the right literature and marketing materials in hand, you’ll be able to effortlessly provide your customers with the information that they need about your business and services.

Client Outreach/Sales

When you have all of your marketing efforts organized and the resources that you need on hand, then you are ready to start the process of client outreach and making sales. Make sure that you can establish a reliable funnel of leads and convert them with a high-quality sales team. This is the key to success in merchant services sales.