Board Merchants
Learn how boarding merchants works
Boarding is the process of enabling a paypoint to process payments via Payabli, and is the first step toward monetizing payments. Boarding happens in stages. These stages include the initial submission of a merchant application, underwriting the merchant account, and configuration and backend setup to activate the merchant account and enable live processing.
To board and underwrite a merchant you need to collect key information about the business, the owners, and how they intend to process payments. This information is sent to underwriting to make sure the paypoint is legitimate, creditworthy, and isn’t a fraud risk.
The start-to-finish boarding process looks like this. Hover over steps for more information.
Start
Send boarding link
Send merchants a boarding link that’s created using your boarding template.
Merchant applies
The merchant fills out and submits the application, and e-signs the agreement.
Underwriting
Payabli reviews and decides on the application.
Paypoint created
If the merchant’s application is approved, the Payabli team converts them to a paypoint.
Templates, boarding applications, and boarding links all work together to get merchants ready for underwriting and going live.
Templates allow you to customize your merchant application for different boarding scenarios. The Payabli team creates your first template, called the root template. After you have a template, you can access a digital boarding link to send to merchants.
After the merchant enters their information in boarding link and submits it, it becomes an application in Payabli. You can monitor the progress of the merchant account from initial submission to underwriting to live and processing.
Boarding process overview
For partners, the boarding process includes three main steps. Create a boarding template, generate boarding links for your paypoints, and wait for the paypoint to submit the application and go through underwriting.
Get your boarding template
Payabli’s Templating system gives your organization the ability to decide what fields you want to capture in a boarding link. This flexibility lets you send different boarding links to different paypoint segments. For example, you can use different templates to present different pricing to small and medium business (SMB), middle-market (MM), and enterprise paypoints. Pricing packages are also built into the templates.
The Payabli team creates boarding templates for you. Your first template is the root template, and it’s used most often in testing and to build other templates. Many organizations only need the root template, but you can work with Payabli to create as many as needed for your use case.
Send boarding link
After your boarding template is created, you can send the boarding link to prospective merchants. The merchant uses the boarding link to create an application. They can save their application and return to complete the application later.
After the merchant submits their application via the boarding link, the application data is securely stored in Payabli. Payabli underwrites each merchant for payment acceptance. When the merchant is approved, Payabli activates their payment processing features and alerts the organization.
Set up notifications
Stay up-to-date on paypoint boarding status by subscribing to the boarding webhook notifications or set up notifications in PartnerHub or via the API.
| Notification | Description |
|---|---|
| CreatedApplication | A new boarding application was created. |
| SubmittedApplication | A boarding application was received to process. |
| ActivatedMerchant | A new merchant account was activated. |
| HoldingApplication | An application was put on hold. |
| DeclinedApplication | A boarding application was declined. |
| BoardingApplication | An application passed to boarding status. |
Learn more about Notifications
Activate and test
When the merchant is approved and activated, Payabli converts them to a paypoint. They can then run test transactions to make sure the account is working as expected. You can use the ActivatedMerchant webhook to receive the entry name for the paypoint, which you need to complete setup.
When testing boarding functions in the sandbox, applications don’t automatically move from one status to another like they do in the production environment. When you’re ready to test different boarding scenarios, let the Payabli team know when you want to move applications between statuses.
Required fields for boarding
Merchant underwriting is a similar process to applying for a mortgage or car loan. Payabli must gather certain information from merchants to meet federal know-your-business (KYB) and know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, and to confirm a merchant’s trustworthiness.
All applicants must complete a Payabli Merchant Application that includes the legal information for the business, and information about each beneficial owner. Other documents may be required if the screening verification doesn’t return any verifiable digital validation.
Business information
- Legal entity name of business registered with the IRS and the state in which the business is incorporated. If Payabli can’t verify the legal name during underwriting, we may request the applicant’s SS-4 (A document from the IRS that confirms the EIN and managing member of the business being underwritten) or articles of incorporation.
- Federal Tax ID: EIN/TIN. For a sole proprietorship, the sole proprietor may use their Social Security Number (SSN).
- Applicable DBA (“doing business as”) name or trade names registered to the legal entity that’s applying.
- Business legal address. This is the principal place of business or a local office.
- Business Type and description of product sold and or service provided. This description must be detailed enough for Payabli to determine the merchant’s Merchant Category Code (MCC).
- Business website URL.
Beneficial owner information
For each beneficial owner, Payabli needs the following information:
- Legal name
- Date of birth
- Contact information: current U.S. residence address, direct phone number, and direct email address
- Identification number: either a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
- Driver’s license number and state of issuance
Payabli uses this information to verify the individual’s identity and their with the business.
Application and boarding status
You can check a paypoint’s boarding status in PartnerHub. Navigate to Portfolio > Applications, and then find the application in the table. The boarding status appears in the Status column.
Substatuses aren’t currently available in PartnerHub. If you have a question about an application, reach out to the Payabli team.
| Value | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Not Submitted | -99 | The application is incomplete or hasn’t been submitted yet. |
| Declined | 0 | The application has been declined. |
| Pending Signature | 2 | The application is waiting on the applicant’s signature. |
| Underwriting | 3 | The application is in underwriting. |
| Submitted | 4 | The application is complete and submitted, but hasn’t moved to underwriting yet. |
| Manual Review | 6 | The application is in underwriting and requires further review. |
| Approved | 7 | The application has been approved and is queued for boarding. |
| Withdrawn | 8 | The applicant has voluntarily withdrawn their application. |
| Boarding | 10 | The application is boarding with our service providers, banks, and Payabli. |
| Activated | 99 | The paypoint has been created, and all configurations have been completed, but the paypoint hasn’t processed a transaction yet. |
| Live | 100 | The paypoint has successfully processed a pay in or pay out transaction. |
| Exception Error | -1 | An unidentified error has occurred with this application. Contact support to review. |
Substatuses
Some statuses have substatuses to give you more information about where an application is in the process.
Manual Review substatus
These statuses may appear when an application is in the Manual Review (6) status.
| Value | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Pending Review | 1 | The application was flagged during underwriting and is waiting on manual review. |
| Pending Documentation | 2 | The reviewer has requested additional documents from the applicant or org. |
| Pending Action | 3 | An additional task has been requested from the applicant or org. |
| Missing Data | 4 | The application needs additional data to complete underwriting. |
Boarding substatus
These statuses may appear when a merchant is in the Boarding (10) status.
| Value | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ServiceProvider Review | 5 | The application was submitted to service provider for review, validation, and boarding. |
| ServiceProvider Processing | 6 | The application is processing and waiting on final results. |
| ServiceProvider Hold | 7 | The service provider requires additional information or a correction from the applicant, org, or Payabli. |
| Pending Configuration | 8 | The paypoint has been created and is waiting on configuration and activation. |
Declined substatus
These substatuses may appear when an application has a Declined status (0).
| Value | Key | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Standard Decline | 9 | The application has been declined for a reason. The reason is provided in the status text. |
| Credit Decline | 10 | The application has been declined for a reason. The reason is provided in the status text. |
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