Our global banking system makes it possible to conduct payments and transactions with the click of a mouse, giving you a sense of security and the option to do business at all times. These benefits made it possible for some people to accumulate enormous wealth, while others had a chance at entrepreneurship. Yet, there are certain restrictions and possible setbacks if you happen to violate some of the issued standards, and these restrictions can cost you your business.
We’ve heard of the MATCH list many times. However, many of us rarely understand how one ends up on such a list and what potential dangers follow. Therefore, we’ve made the effort to simplify these commonly asked questions for you in the text below.
In short…
Imagine you are a business owner and, over time, due to different factors, get a lot of chargebacks on your transactions. These chargebacks often exceed your thresholds, which is why MasterCard puts you on the MATCH list. It’s a regulated database with “high-risk” merchants and their credit history, putting certain restrictions on your ability to open new accounts in the future. So, even though you lose the revenue you would make from the purchases, you are also unable to perform basic payment transactions via new accounts until the issue is resolved. As it is such a dire fate, you are left wondering how to avoid it and what steps to take.
ECM
Obviously, one reason is massive chargebacks by your payers (consumers). There is even a term for this phenomenon, ECM, or Excessive Chargeback Merchant. A person who receives over 100 chargebacks per month is facing penalties at first to alert them to lower this rate. If nothing changes, the person becomes a high-risk merchant account, putting him on the list. The most obvious consequence is the merchant’s inability to open new accounts. It’s worth mentioning how the person can keep all their current active accounts, but they’ll have a harder time making new merchant agreements. Therefore, the next time the merchant tries to open an account, if they happen to be a TMF match, they’ll be rejected. This issue can be resolved if you seek legal help. You should hire or consult a professional legal team to help you establish a better case. You’ll need to authorize full disclosure and enable the legal team to have access to all the agreements, documents, and contracts you have with your credit card company. You’ll have to rewind to the moment that triggered this and resolve the issue.
Fraudulent activities
ADC, or Account Data Compromise, is classified as the intrusion into computer systems or the modification and destruction of cardholder data with an unauthorized disclosure. Then, one of the most common reasons is laundering. Laundering is known as the process of hiding the origin of the money you receive, and most often this happens due to the merchant’s involvement in illicit and illegal activities. Everything from corruption to embezzlement, gambling, trafficking of illegal items, and other activities punishable by law falls under this category.
Liquidation and bankruptcy. Of course, the main difference between the two is that liquidation happens to companies and the latter to individuals. In both cases, the inability to pay the debt is declared, which is followed by certain legal consequences. It is sometimes a safer option than trying to stay “afloat,” yet it can affect your credit history for years to come and, among other things, your inability to conduct merchant account agreements with banks. The same is achieved via the violation of issued standards.
Buyer-Seller collusions fall under the border category of collusion fraud. Basically, it is an agreement between two parties involved to conduct actions that are labeled as fraudulent or illegal, thereby achieving a profit. It often happens within workplaces, and the main goal is to “fool the system” in order to make a profit for both the buyer and seller. It is an often used tactic to somehow smear the movement of large sums of money while staying off the radar. These methods can be used for various reasons, sometimes with the goal of building the seller’s reputation when buyers are using stolen funds to buy from the seller under made-up accounts and identities. Or, to launder money or to claim promotional money and gifts. This abuse of the system’s loopholes can land the merchant on the MATCH list if it is established that the seller was involved in such activities.
What can you do?
There is not much you can actually do, except consult your legal team on the issue or look for alternative ways of processing payments. You can look for processors willing to cooperate with high-risk merchants, change some of your practices, or simply wait for 5 years until you have been taken off the list.
We strongly advise acting immediately as the issue can only become more complicated over time and is obstructing your ability to conduct business normally.
