If you wind up on the Terminated Merchants File (TMF) list, it can feel like the end for your business. This list is a compilation of merchants whose accounts have been closed because they ended on bad terms with a bank processor. Once placed on the list, your business and others related to your business could possibly be banned by all US based processing banks. Although getting on this list can basically mean the end to your business, many merchants have no idea if they are on the list until it is too late. And once they know, few can get off it. Here are a few tips for navigating the TMF world.
How to Get On the List
The common way merchants get on the list is by not paying their final bill. The final bill includes any processing costs owed, and the termination fees on your merchant contract. In addition, merchants are also liable for up to 6 months past the settlement date of the last transaction. Having high chargeback ratios, breaking a merchant account contract, and processing fraudulent transactions are also ways merchants wind up on the list.
How to Get Off the List
Note that if you are placed on the list for fraud, it is almost impossible to get off, Still if your company is on the list for other reasons, the first step is to contact the company that placed you on it. Processors that are risking their businesses by allowing yours to process with them are the most common entities that will place a name on the list. Call the last merchant you dealt with and insist on contacting someone to help you understand the transgression and how to fix it. Make sure to get a direct phone number to the office of the people who have that information.
If your account was listed due to high chargebacks, time is the only way to get off the list. You must establish trust with the payment processor which shows decreased instances of unanswered bills from former customers. Unfortunately, it is not easy to get off the TMF list in a timely matter. The majority of the time, it takes several weeks or months before your merchant account are released.
eMerchantBroker.com provides specialized merchant accounts to all merchants who need them; even those on the TMF list. The only requirement is that the merchant has no outstanding unpaid amounts to previous processors. Contact us to learn more about receiving payment processing services for your TMF merchant account.