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Spotlight Innovators

them. For example, an adult online content streaming company must register with all the card brands as a restricted MCC
merchant, but merchants selling cigars online are only required to register with one of the card brands. Knowing when
this registration requirement applies enables sales professionals to inform the merchant early on where they stand.
Straight to “GO”
One of the toughest calls when supporting restricted MCC/specialty merchant accounts on the sales side is selecting a
processor that can be trusted to assess the application fairly. It is important to know how to guide the merchant, application
and account through the mitigation process as efficiently and professionally as possible. Humboldt Merchant Services has
decades of experience and has demonstrated thought leadership when it comes to supporting restricted MCC/specialty
merchant business. As a result, Humboldt has become known as a safe harbor for merchants selling legal products that
also have reputational risk. Certain banks and acquirers have made the business decision to prohibit these businesses, but
Humboldt has built a sound reputation on expertly evaluating these accounts and taking worthy applications all the way
to the finish line. “We’ve made it our primary business to understand and manage transactional and reputation account
mitigation better than anyone in the business, and we will work with a merchant to establish the tools they need to help
mitigate, monitor and recognize their own vulnerabilities,” Garcia assures.

Humboldt also helps sales partners recognize businesses considered by the card brands as a restricted MCC, but which
also process “clean transactions,” meaning they do not carry unusually high chargeback or dispute ratios. Some of these
accounts are required to register with the card brands, but Humboldt has the training expertise to help its sales partners
know when this is necessary, how to submit the registration addendums and when to assist with tools that scrub unwanted
transactions out of their systems before they reach the settlement stage. “It’s tremendously important that merchants and
sales professionals understand the commonalities and where the miscoding pitfalls are,” Garcia adds. “Business owners
get solicited on a daily basis for merchant processing, and uneducated sales representatives can make the boarding
process even more difficult for them by miscoding or misclassifying specialty merchant accounts.”

Garcia urges sales partners to contact the Humboldt support team and consider them business partners. The team can
share which documents are required and where to submit them, and they can help set expectations up front for merchants
regarding the process and turnaround time. “Sales support on a restricted MCC portfolio is not as intimidating as it may
seem,” concluded Garcia. “It simply takes a little knowledge, a strong team that understands the landscape, and people
willing to take the time to guide merchants through the process step-by-step.”

For more information on becoming a Humboldt Merchant Services sales partner and to learn more about the Humboldt
thought-leading business model, please visit the Humboldt Merchant Services website or contact the team directly at
877-387-5642.
ounded in 2001 and headquartered in Memphis,
Tennessee, Impact PaySystem made their mark
on the payments industry with their Petroleum
F Services. Impact’s Executive Team is composed
of industry veterans, with over 75 years’ combined experi-
ence implementing creative solutions for their customers.
Through strategic alliances with industry leaders like First
Data, Elavon, and Vantiv, Impact PaySystem is able to design
unique solutions for merchants’ individual needs. Product
solutions include credit and debit card processing, PIN
secured and signature-based debit, wireless solutions, gift
card, check services, loan products, Click2Don8 proprietary
donation product and development services.
What’s New:

Meet Impact PaySystem LLC

mpact PaySystem has grown from a few hundred merchants in 2002 to thousands of merchants today. The com-
pany endeavors to stand out as a leader in the payment solutions market among competitors offering many of the
same generic products. The company’s beginning was largely focused on petroleum merchants. Although this is
I still a focus, Impact has diversified greatly over the past 10 years, by branching into industries such as ecommerce,
restaurant, retail, lodging, and nonprofit.

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