Speeding Up Account Setup

Merchant Application Express First Data Merchant Services ISOs now have access to a system that covers everything to set up a merchant account and accelerates the process from start to finish. Web-based credit initiation, underwriting, account set-up workstations and tracking are all part of the Merchant Application Express package, one of five Merchant Express Tools introduced by First Data Merchant Services at the ETA annual meeting.

Merchant Application Express is a turnkey solution for ISOs, said Anthony Lucatuorto, First Data Merchant Services' General Manager. "It can be customized for any merchant acquiring business. Merchant Application Express is designed for today's fast-paced merchant acquiring environment."

The bottom line is that less time spent on administrative tasks means more time for selling. "ISOs will spend less time managing account acquisitions and more time earning revenue from them," Lucatuorto said.

Merchant Application Express will eliminate the tedious paper application process for ISOs and their merchant accounts. The customizable tool enables rapid enrollment for new accounts and gives ISOs the ability to monitor the accounts.

Users can key the merchant application data and route the information automatically to credit officers for faster approval; in some cases approval can be made on the same day. Web-based new account credit approval and setup are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week

ISOs also can customize the features they want to use on Merchant Application Express, depending on their merchants' individual business needs. Customized reports track accounts, reduce risk and provide historical storage of all applications processed.

Every phase of the merchant acquisition process can be tracked. From the moment the merchant information is input, the ISO can instantly track the status of the enrollment. For example, any missing information easily can be resubmitted and the account will begin generating revenue sooner.

Merchant Application Express manages the credit underwriting of new merchant accounts in real-time. The "Reassign" feature lets users automate and balance workload.

A built-in feature called Merchant Record Review lets ISOs check data entry for accuracy. Other customizable features include setting mandatory fields, using built-in security levels to assign user access or segregate by account types, generating standard reports with the built-in tool and generating custom reports through its specified query feature.