The Terminated Merchant File Match List
A terminated merchant file match list is a shared database of merchants dropped for cause. Here is who runs it, who checks it, and what a match means for you.
You got a letter or a phone call, and someone said your business is on a terminated merchant file match list. Here is what that is, who runs it, and what it means for your next application.
What the match list is
Visa and Mastercard each have a list that acquirers check. Visa's tool is the Visa Merchant Screening Service. Acquirers and their agents use this database to list merchants they have dropped. Mastercard's tool is MATCH Pro.
How a business gets on it
Visa's standards say a merchant terminated for cause is listed on the Terminated Merchant File. "For cause" is the key phrase.
Visa's payment facilitator guide adds a second path. A seller dropped for harmful activity must also be added to the Visa Merchant Screening Service. So a business can land on the list through a platform it sold on, not just through its own merchant account.
Why acquirers check it first
This is not a courtesy. Visa's rules require an acquirer to query a common terminated merchant database before entering into a merchant agreement with a prospective merchant. Visa's standards also say acquirers must check the Terminated Merchant File before they sign a contract with a new merchant.
Mastercard pushes the same way. Mastercard may add assessments for an acquirer's failure to inquire into MATCH Pro before signing the merchant. Its manual says an Acquirer must run MATCH inquiries under the proper ICA Number. Use the wrong number, and Mastercard may find the acquirer at fault and add a fee.
So a processor checks these lists because network rules tell it to. For how banks oversee processors, read why banks watch payment processors.
What a match does and does not mean
A match is not a verdict. Visa's rules say Terminated Merchant File data must be used only as an informational tool in the decision-making process. The acquirer still decides.
Visa's standards say a merchant's history of terminations, excessive chargebacks, fraud or illegal activity can affect the underwriting decision. Note the word "can". A past termination can count against you. It is not the whole decision.
The acquirer may still sign you after a match. Or it may decline.
Payment facilitators and the list
If you sell through a payment facilitator, the file can reach you too. Visa's guide says payment facilitators should use a terminated merchant file. It also says a payment facilitator must add a dropped seller to the Visa Merchant Screening Service if it ended the deal for cause.
Visa's standards go further. They say acquirers should make sure TPAs check the Terminated Merchant File for a match to the Sponsored Merchants. Acquirers must also give the TPA access to the file, such as VMSS, to watch for matches. So an acquirer's agents may screen you too.
Corrections and removal
Mastercard's manual has a section on acquirer requests for removal from MATCH Pro. Mastercard's rules also say the Acquirer must handle requests to fix or delete Personal Information in its MATCH Pro listings.
Read those two sentences again. So the acquirer that listed you handles requests to fix your personal details. Ask that acquirer about errors in your listing.
What not to do
Visa's guide says businesses declined or terminated may misrepresent information on merchant applications to obtain payment services. That is a warning about what happens, not permission to do it.
Do not apply under a different business name to hide a termination. Do not pick a new MCC that misstates what you sell. Do not split your volume across shell companies to stay under a threshold.
Before you apply
Be straight about a past termination before the acquirer finds it in the file. Explain what happened, what changed, and what you fixed. If chargebacks were the cause, say how you have cut them since.
If you sell by phone, read up on billing authorization rules first. A clean script is easier to explain than a chargeback pile.