Get approved the first time
Get your merchant account application approved the first time.
Most declines and delays come from missing documents or details that don’t match. So before your merchant account application goes to underwriting, we pre-check it: we tell you exactly what’s needed, confirm everything lines up, and fix the gaps. You go in once, complete.
Checked before it’s sent
We review your file first, so underwriting isn’t the one finding the gaps and sending it back.
Built for your business
We board your account with your real volume and ticket sizes, so a good month is far less likely to trip a review.
A person answers
If a question comes up on your merchant account application, you reach a real person on our team, not a ticket queue.
How the merchant account application pre-check works
1
You send the basics
Fill in the short pre-check below. No documents yet — just enough for our team to see where you stand.
2
We review it
We confirm the business type with the processor, check your products and website, and tell you exactly which documents to gather. We reply within [1–2 business days].
3
One complete submission
Everything matches before it goes in, so it’s far less likely to come back with questions. Typical time from complete file to approval: [your range].
The documents to have ready
Every business
- Business formation documents and EIN letter (IRS 147C or SS-4)
- Government ID for each owner with 25%+ ownership
- Voided business check or a bank letter
- Last 3 months of business bank statements
- Last 3 months of processing statements (if you take cards now)
- Physical business address (no PO boxes)
- Monthly volume, average ticket and highest ticket
- Website with refund, shipping, privacy and contact pages
Firearms packet (add-on)
- Copy of your current FFL [license types accepted]
- SOT status, if you deal NFA items
- State and local dealer licenses, where required
- A one-page compliance memo (we help you build it)
- Website age gate and firearms policies
- Product mix: % firearms / ammo / accessories / services
- Gun-show schedule, if you sell at shows
See the full firearms underwriting packet in our FFL packet guide.
Why we pre-check every merchant account application
A merchant account application doesn’t usually get declined because a business is a bad risk. It gets declined, or pushed into a slow back-and-forth, because something small didn’t line up: a legal name that doesn’t match the EIN letter, a website missing a refund policy, a monthly volume that reads as a guess. Underwriting can’t see the business the way you do, so it reacts to the paperwork in front of it. When that paperwork has a gap, the file comes back — and every round trip adds days.
We pre-check the file so those gaps are closed before it ever reaches underwriting. We read it the way an underwriter will, flag the pieces that don’t match, and tell you how to fix them in plain language. That’s the whole reason a pre-checked merchant account application tends to go through once instead of three times — not a trick, just doing the boring part carefully before it counts.
What underwriting is actually checking
Underwriting is confirming three things: that the business is real and legally what it says it is, that the money moving through the account matches the business you described, and that the website and policies support the products you sell. Most of the documents on this page map directly to one of those questions. Your formation papers and EIN letter answer the first. Your bank and processing statements, plus your stated volume and ticket sizes, answer the second. Your website — refund, shipping, privacy and contact pages — answers the third.
For a firearms business there’s a fourth question — that you’re licensed and compliant for what you sell — which is why the firearms packet adds your FFL, any SOT status, and your age-gate and policies. When we pre-check your merchant account application, we’re making sure each of these answers is already in the file and consistent with the others, so underwriting has fewer reasons to come back.
Merchant account application questions, answered
How long does a merchant account application take?
Once your file is complete, approval typically runs [your range]. The part that varies most is gathering documents — which is exactly what the pre-check gets ahead of, so the file goes in complete the first time.
Do I need all the documents before I start?
No. The pre-check comes first, with no documents. We tell you which items from the list above apply to your business, so you only gather what’s actually needed for your merchant account application.
What if my business was declined somewhere else?
That’s common and it’s worth telling us. A prior decline is usually about a mismatch or a misclassified business type, not the business itself. We look at why it happened and build the file so the same issue doesn’t repeat.
Who actually reviews my file?
A real person on our team. You’re not routed through a call center, and if a question comes up during your merchant account application you reach us directly.
Start your pre-check
No documents yet — this is just so our team can tell you where you stand and what to gather.