Every year thereafter, ISOs / MSPs have their registration reviewed and additional fees of $2,500 per Association are due upon approval. Upon approval, the applicants must pay registration fees of $5,000 for each Credit Card Association. Ĝomplete list of current ISO employees / agentsĪdditionally, all principals have their credit history checked and evaluated to ensure that they are responsible with credit.Ĝopy of sales materials / solicitations.Ğxecuted Articles of Incorporation / Partnership documents.Personal financial statement for each principal.Two years business financial statements or personal tax returns (last 2 tax years) for all principals.The documents applicants must submit with their application include: The registration process to become an ISO/MSP is rigorous and required the potential ISO/MSP to prove they are financially capable of performing the required duties. How are ISOs / MSPs registered with Visa and MasterCard? This is most often disclosed in the footer of a company’s website. How can you tell if a company is a registered ISO/MSP?Įach ISO & MSP must display the name and location of their sponsor bank on their website and marketing material. An ISO / MSP can be sponsored by multiple member banks. Typically, processing banks are members of both Associations and the registration process for each Association is done simultaneously. Each ISO / MSP must be sponsored by such a processing bank, member of Visa and / or MasterCard, in order to be registered by either Credit Card Association. It is important to understand that ISOs and MSPs are not banks and the actual handling of the merchants’ money is done by the processing bank that has contracted with the ISO.
What are the ISO’s / MSP’s relations with member banks?
“a Member Service Provider as "a non-member that is registered by the Corporation as an MSP to provide Program Services to a member, or any member that is required to register, in the Corporation’s sole discretion, and has been registered as an MSP to provide Third Party Processor Program Services to another member”Įach acquirer must register each ISO/MSP with the appropriate Association. ISO’s can also be referred to ask Member Service Providers (MSP), this terminology most commonly differs between the card associations. However, ISO’s have bank card relationships with an Association Member (banks) who participate in issuing or acquiring functions. Independent Sales Organization (aka ISO) is a term used within the payment industry to identify a individual or organization that is not an Association (Visa & MasterCard) Member. What is an Independent Sales Organization (ISO)?