Privacy Policy

START Merchant Services is the business name of Interchange Plus Solutions Inc. ("START", "we", "us"). We help businesses set up merchant accounts and payment gateways. START is a Registered MSP/ISO of Elavon, Inc., Georgia, and of the Canadian Branch of U.S. Bank National Association and Elavon.

This policy covers information we collect through startmerchantservices.com, its forms, and the emails and calls that follow from them. It does not cover websites or services run by other companies, even when we link to them.

Information you give us

What we collect depends on which form you use:

• Contact form: your name, business name, email, phone number, website, preferred contact method, subject and message.
• Merchant account application: business name, website, country and business address, the name of the person who will sign, email, phone, date of birth, preferred currency, largest expected transaction, preferred contact method and any notes you add.
• Rate review request: your name, business name, email, phone, the countries you process in, and, if you choose to add them, your gateway ID, sales rep and notes.
• Industry landing page forms: your name, business name, email, phone, notes, and short answers about your business, such as your monthly card volume or current processing situation.

We also keep what you tell us by phone or email.

Statements and documents you upload

The rate review form asks you to upload processing statements (up to 5 files, PDF, JPG, PNG or HEIC, 10 MB each). Statements usually show your business name and address, merchant ID, card volume, fees and sometimes partial bank account details. Please upload only statements for a business you are allowed to act for.

Information collected automatically

When you visit the site, our hosting, security and analytics tools receive standard technical data, such as:

• Your IP address and approximate location based on it
• Browser type, device type and operating system
• Pages you visit, how long you stay and the site that sent you
• Ad tracking details in the web address you arrive from, such as UTM campaign tags and Google click IDs (gclid). On our landing pages, these are saved with your form submission so we know which ad or campaign brought you to us.

Information from others

If a partner such as a web developer, hosting company or shopping cart provider referred you, they may pass us your contact details. During underwriting (the bank's review of your application), banks and processors may share their decision and related details with us.

Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. We use these tools:

• Google Analytics sets cookies to count visits and show us which pages are useful.
• Google Ads tags set cookies to measure whether our ads lead to form submissions.
• hCaptcha checks that a real person is sending our forms. It may read device and browser data and use cookies to do that.
• Browser session storage on our landing pages holds ad tracking details (UTM tags and click IDs) until you close the tab, so they can be sent with your form.
• Cloudflare, our hosting and security provider, may set cookies needed to protect the site from bots and attacks.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site will still work, but the hCaptcha check on our forms may need cookies to pass.

• Answer your questions and contact you by your preferred method
• Prepare and submit your merchant account application, and set up your payment gateway
• Review your statements and prepare a rate comparison
• Provide support once your account is open
• Send you information about our services. You can opt out at any time (see section 8).
• Measure which pages, ads and campaigns work, and improve the site
• Block spam, fraud and abuse of our forms
• Meet legal, regulatory and card network requirements, and protect our rights

We share information only as described here.

Banks, processors and gateway partners

To open a merchant account, we have to share your application details with the bank that will approve and hold the account (the acquiring bank), its processor, and the payment gateway. These include Elavon and U.S. Bank National Association, Authorize.Net, and, for businesses that need them, other bank partners we work with. They use the information to review and approve your application, set up your account and meet their own legal duties. Their own privacy policies apply to what they receive.

Referral partners

If a partner referred you to us, we may tell that partner whether your account was approved so they can support you and be paid for the referral.

Service providers

These companies handle information on our behalf, under contract, to run our business:

• Cloudflare hosts this website and runs the code that receives our forms.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) sends the email that notifies our team about each form you submit.
• hCaptcha (Intuition Machines, Inc.) checks forms for bots.
• Google provides website analytics and ad measurement.
• Our customer management system (the START Hub) stores your form details and uploaded statements.
• Our website developer, which maintains the site and its form systems.

Legal reasons and business changes

We may share information when the law requires it, to respond to valid legal requests, to prevent fraud, or to protect the rights and safety of START, our customers or others. If START is involved in a merger, sale or similar deal, information may move to the new owner under this policy.

With your permission

We share information in other ways only when you ask us to or agree to it.

We do not sell your personal information for money. Our use of Google advertising tags may count as "sharing" for targeted ads under some state laws. See section 9 to opt out.

We take reasonable steps to protect your information, including:

• Encrypted (HTTPS) connections for every page and form
• Spam and bot checks on every form, and forms that only accept posts from our own website
• File checks that accept only PDF, JPG, PNG and HEIC statements
• Statements sent straight to our customer management system, not attached to notification emails
• Access limited to staff and providers who need it for their work

No website or system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security. Please don't send full card numbers or bank passwords through our forms or by email.

We keep information only as long as we need it for the reasons in this policy:

• Merchant customers: for as long as your account is open, then for up to 7 years to meet legal, tax and banking record rules.
• Inquiries, applications and rate reviews that don't become accounts: up to 24 months after our last contact with you.
• Analytics data: as set in our Google Analytics settings.

Banks and processors keep what they receive under their own policies and legal duties.

• Stop marketing messages: use the unsubscribe link in any marketing email we send, or tell us by phone, email or text that you don't want them. We may still contact you about an open application or account.
• Limit analytics and ads: block cookies in your browser, install the Google Analytics opt-out add-on, or change your Google ad settings.
• See, correct or delete your information: contact us using the details in section 12. We may need to keep some records to meet legal or banking rules, and we'll tell you if so.

Depending on where you live, you may have more rights under local law. For example, Canadian residents can ask to see and correct their personal information under Canada's federal privacy law (PIPEDA).

If you live in California, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended (CCPA), may give you these rights:

• Right to know: ask what personal information we collected about you, where it came from, why we use it and who we shared it with.
• Right to delete: ask us to delete personal information we collected from you, with some legal exceptions.
• Right to correct: ask us to fix information that is wrong.
• Right to opt out of sale or sharing: we don't sell personal information. To opt out of "sharing" through advertising cookies, email or call us and block third-party cookies in your browser.
• Right to limit use of sensitive information: we use information such as date of birth only to process your application, which the law allows.
• Right to equal treatment: we won't treat you differently for using these rights.

In the last 12 months, we collected the kinds of information described in section 2: identifiers (name, email, phone, IP address), business and commercial information (business details, card volume, statements), internet activity (pages viewed, ad clicks) and approximate location. We collected it from you, your browser and the partners described above, and used and shared it as described in sections 4 and 5.

To make a request, email or call us (section 12). We'll need to confirm who you are, usually by matching details you already gave us. You may use an authorized agent if you give them written permission. We'll respond within the time the law requires.

Our services are for businesses and adults. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you think a child has sent us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

We may update this policy as our services or the law change. We'll post the new version here and change the "Last updated" date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll take reasonable steps to let you know, such as a notice on the site.

Information in this policy about third-party tools reflects how our site works as of September 2026. Links to other companies' websites go to their own policies, which we don't control. For how you may use this site, see our website terms of service.

Questions about this policy or your information? Contact us:

Interchange Plus Solutions Inc. (START Merchant Services)
1940 S. Fremont Dr STE 202
Salt Lake City, UT 84104
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 888-573-7587 (Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM Mountain Time)