Modern Risk
For years, merchant acquirers have, out of both necessity and routine, utilized fairly streamlined categories and criteria when determining how to assess the risk a new merchant possesses. Whether credit, fraud, or reputational risk, the requirements primarily revolve around business type or MCC (Merchant Category Code), card acceptance method, transaction size, and processing volume. Other considerations like future delivery or billing method will factor in as well. Still, for the most part, processors typically place a prospective new merchant into one of a limited number of buckets and make their credit decisions accordingly.


Ready to accept payments anytime, anywhere?
“As the industry and commerce, in general, has evolved, it has become increasingly difficult to categorize merchants based on limited and narrow criteria. “
A New Approach
At Signature Payments, we look at each new merchant relationship with a consultative and qualitative approach. Our risk and underwriting teams understand the nuances of many new and emerging ecommerce business models and what risks they do or, more commonly, do not present. We utilize technologies and strategies tailored to reviewing and monitoring the unique fraud concerns of each merchant’s model and educating merchants on those challenges. Understanding the challenges and opportunities our merchants face allows us to focus on the most important factors and help our merchants succeed and grow while protecting our merchants, their cardholders, and our partners from risk and fraud.

It seems fundamental but understanding a prospective merchant’s business model is critical for effective underwriting and managing it. That includes understanding the third-party services and systems a merchant utilizes as integral components of servicing their customers. Often our eCommerce merchants rely on third parties for web design, hosting, affiliate marketing, fulfillment, customer service, and more. Understanding how these components work together to allow our merchants to get their product or service to the customer is essential for effectively monitoring these accounts.

Educating Merchants
Understanding the types of fraud each merchant is most susceptible to is equally essential. As the prevalence of EMV has shifted significant portions of fraud from the card-present environment to online and card-not-present transactions, the importance of educating merchants on proper fraud management and security techniques is critical. Advancements with the 3D Secure Protocol have allowed eCommerce merchants to fight disputes stemming from friendly fraud. Machine learning has allowed fraud filtering tools to more effectively combat the types of fraud that individual merchants experience based on their historical and current processing activities.
Signature is dedicated to educating Merchants and Partners on the latest and most pressing issues affecting them and their businesses regarding risk, compliance, and fraud. We look at every opportunity as a unique business with its potential and challenges, and we look to utilize the most effective tools and strategies best suited to them.
Signature would love to help you and your merchants assess risk. Contact our team, and let’s talk.
Top Payment Gateways
Top Payment GatewaysMay 26, 2023 | Gateway, Payments If you’re running an online business, you know how important it is to have a reliable payment gateway. Your payment gateway is what allows you to accept payments from your customers. There are a lot of different payment gateways out there, so…
Mastering Sales During a Crisis
I have had a number of questions lately from salespeople lately. Some are concerned about the next 30 to 60 days and are looking for direction. Others are using the time to change how they sell. They have been selling face to face, asking for statements,
Finding a Payment Processor for Adult Merchants
All businesses are unique. Every restaurant, grocery store, book shop and retail boutique have their own way of running their business. They have their own image, unique inventory mix, proprietary process, brand, etc. That “thing” that makes them unique.
Modern Risk
Modern RiskMay 24, 2023 | Payments, Risk For years, merchant acquirers have, out of both necessity and routine, utilized fairly streamlined categories and criteria when determining how to assess the risk a new merchant possesses. Whether credit, fraud, or reputational risk, the requirements primarily revolve around business type or MCC…
Square Terminal
Square TerminalMay 22, 2023 | Payments A Square terminal provides a modern interface to process your payments. Square is one of the largest payment processors in the world. As a result, their terminal technology is fast and easy-to-use for merchants and customers alike. It’s likely you’ve used a Square terminal…
Compelling Evidence 3.0, Visa
Compelling Evidence 3.0, VisaMay 22, 2023 | Payments, Signature News Empowering Merchants to Combat Friendly Fraud For online merchants, the worst kind of fraud is the friendly kind. Malicious fraudsters utilizing scaled techniques are comparably easier to catch when you have a…
How To Accept Bitcoin As Payment
How To Accept Bitcoin As PaymentMay 22, 2023 | Payments To accept Bitcoin as payment on your website you’ll need to install a crypto payment gateway. A gateway exchanges the data between the customer’s account and yours. These integrations are found through payment processors that support cryptocurrency exchanges. If you…
Elon Musk’s Twitter Payment Platform
Elon Musk’s Twitter Payment PlatformMay 19, 2023 | Payments Elon Musk has recently made a splash in the payments industry with his new Twitter Payment Platform, which promises users a fast and secure way to transfer money. But is this platform a threat to other payment processors? In this article,…
Accept Crypto Payments On Shopify
Accept Crypto Payments On ShopifyMay 19, 2023 | Payments With a surge in Bitcoin popularity, many eCommerce stores want to accept crypto payments on Shopify. Customers seek new options and checkout, and among them is cryptocurrency. For online stores, this means adapting payment gateways that suit alternative forms of payment. …
How to Accept Crypto Payments
How to Accept Crypto PaymentsMay 17, 2023 | Payments If you want to learn how to accept crypto payments, follow these simple steps. Find a cryptocurrency integration that works with your website There are major solutions like Bitpay or Coinbase that work with major websites If you currently have a…