The short answer
Most people who "become a merchant service provider" don't become a processor. They partner with an ISO (independent sales organization: a company registered with a sponsor bank to sign up merchants) and refer or sell under it. There are three levels:
- Referral partner: you introduce clients who need a merchant account. The provider does the rest. You earn a referral fee for each approved merchant.
- Agent or reseller: you work more closely with each client under an ISO's agreement. You earn ongoing residuals, a share of each merchant's processing revenue for as long as the agreement pays them.
- ISO: you're registered by a sponsor bank yourself and carry more of the risk, cost and compliance work.
For most web developers, agencies and software companies, referral partner or agent is the right start. Our guide to ISO vs agent vs referral partner compares all three side by side.
What It Takes to Become a Merchant Account Provider
A merchant account is an account with an acquiring bank that lets a business accept card payments and get paid. Someone has to find the business, understand what it sells and how, and get it through the bank's review. As a partner, you handle the first part. The provider behind you handles the rest.
Your part:
- Spot clients who take cards, or will soon: a new online store, a practice adding online booking, a client whose payment app held their funds.
- Introduce them and explain, in plain terms, what a merchant account is.
- Point them to the application and help them gather what it asks for.
- Stay the person they trust. That's what keeps clients, and your income, in place.
START's part, when you partner with us:
- We shop the right merchant account (acquiring bank) for each merchant and underwrite it. Most merchants are approved in 1–5 business days.
- We set up the Authorize.Net payment gateway within 24 business hours of approval, or send the account details to Cybersource if that's the client's gateway.
- Merchants get interchange-plus pricing, with no termination, annual or AVS fees.
- Real people support your clients Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 Mountain Time, and relationship managers support you.
START has partnered with Authorize.Net for more than 20 years, and more than 90% of our merchant customers come to us through referrals from business partners. Referring is how this business already works.
How to Become a Merchant Services Reseller, Step by Step
- Pick a model. Decide how involved you want to be. If you want to introduce clients and step back, a referral agreement fits. If you want to guide clients through pricing and setup and earn residuals, a merchant services agent or reseller agreement fits.
- Vet the program. Read how you're paid, when payments stop and what happens if you leave. Our guide to merchant services residuals and commissions lists the contract terms to check before you sign.
- Sign the agreement. A referral agreement and an agent agreement are different documents with different duties. With START, we'll walk you through the partner agreement before you sign.
- Get your co-branded application. START partners get applications that carry the partner's name and logo. Merchants apply and sign digitally, with no printing or faxing.
- Make your first referral. Start with one client you know needs a merchant account. You'll learn the process faster from one real application than from any manual.
- Get paid. Referral partners earn a referral fee for each approved merchant. Resellers and agents earn ongoing residuals. Ask us how that works for your partner type.
Once you've made a few referrals, you'll want a steady way to find the next ones. Our guide on how to sell merchant services to your existing clients covers where to put your link and what to say.
Registration, Licensing and Card-Network Rules
There's no card-network licence you apply for yourself. Visa and Mastercard deal with banks, and the bank registers the companies that sell for it. Here's what the current rules say.
| Visa | Mastercard | |
|---|---|---|
| What you're called | Third Party Agent | Service Provider (the ISO category covers merchant solicitation, including application processing) |
| Who registers you | The sponsor bank, before you perform any services | The sponsor bank, with a yearly revalidation |
| How many times | Once for each bank you work for | Once for each bank you work for |
| Fees | Not published; the bank is responsible for its agents | The bank pays an initial and an annual fee; amounts aren't published |
| Rules edition | Visa Rules, 18 April 2026 | Mastercard Rules, 2 June 2026 |
What the bank checks first. Before registering an agent, Visa requires the bank to have a senior officer review it, check the principals' backgrounds and inspect its site, including its sales materials. The bank reviews the agent every year after that. Any agent that signs up merchants needs a written contract with the bank, and that contract must require PCI DSS compliance.
What about referral-only partners? Neither network's public rules say plainly whether a partner who only makes introductions must be registered. The sponsor bank or ISO decides. START explains the requirements for each partner type before you sign.
ISOs are registered. Visa's registry page says ISOs that sign up merchants "without touching cardholder data must be registered with Visa."
PCI DSS (the card industry's data security standard) applies to anyone who stores, processes or transmits card data, or could affect its security. The current version is 4.0.1. A partner who never handles card numbers has little to do here, but the bank contract still requires compliance. Never collect card numbers from clients by email or phone. Our PCI compliance guide explains the basics.
Termination follows you. Visa's merchant screening service (VMSS) lists merchants and Third Party Agents whose contracts were terminated for cause, and U.S. banks must list terminated agents, including ISOs. Mastercard's MATCH list covers terminated merchants and their owners, not agents or ISOs.
Coming soon: from 24 October 2026, banks in the U.S. and Canada must also give Visa each agent's identifiers and the account ranges it works with. It's the bank's task, not yours.
State rules. We haven't found a primary source for state licensing of ISOs or agents, so we can't tell you none applies. Check your state's rules with your own adviser.
What It Costs to Start: Questions to Ask
Partners on forums say the same thing about programs that ask for a big fee up front: be careful. There's no rule against a signup fee, and Mastercard bills its registration fees to the bank, not to you. So if a program asks you for money, ask what it pays for.
- Is there a fee to join, a monthly fee or a minimum number of merchants?
- Are training, software or marketing materials charged for, or included?
- Who pays if a merchant I referred has chargebacks or losses?
- Can any of my pay be taken back, and when?
A good program answers all four in writing before you sign. If you're partnering with START, tell us about your business and we'll explain what it takes to start.
Mistakes That End Careers in Merchant Services
This industry has a reputation problem, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has acted on it. Two patterns show up again and again.
1. Promising savings or fees that aren't real. In 2022 the FTC sued First American Payment Systems and two of its sales affiliates. It alleged false claims about fees and savings to win small businesses, money taken from their accounts without consent, and contracts that were hard and costly to cancel. The order called for $4.9 million for harmed businesses, and the FTC had sent more than $2.6 million in refunds by 6 February 2025.
2. Signing up merchants you shouldn't. In 2022 the FTC finalized an order against Electronic Payment Systems, an ISO, and its owners. It alleged they opened merchant accounts for fake companies that were fronts for a business opportunity scam. The order restricts which merchants they can process for and adds screening and monitoring duties. The FTC has also acted against payment companies BlueSnap (2024) and Paddle (2025) over processing for fraudulent sellers.
How to stay clear:
- Quote only what's on the provider's written pricing. Never promise a saving you haven't seen on a statement. If a client wants a comparison, send their statement for a free rate review.
- Refer only businesses you know are real, and describe them honestly on the application.
- Don't sign anything for a client or hide a fee or term from them.
- Don't use Visa or Mastercard logos on your own business cards or letterhead, or suggest the networks endorse you.
Who Does Well as a Referral Partner or Agent
The partners who last usually aren't cold-calling strangers. They already have clients who trust them and who need to take payments. One practitioner on Reddit put it simply: in their view, the best partners are web developers.
- Web developers and design agencies: you build the checkout, so you know when a client needs a merchant account and a gateway.
- Hosting companies and shopping cart providers: your customers start selling online on your platform.
- Software, invoicing and billing companies: your users need to get paid through your product.
- Credit unions and franchisors: your members or franchisees need a provider they can trust.
- Bookkeepers and consultants: you see your clients' processing costs every month.
A common case is a client who's moving away from a payment app after held funds or a closed account. Our guide on what to do after a payment app shuts you down explains what that client needs next. START also serves high-risk, Canadian and Australian merchants, so more of your client list can be referred.
Ready to see how it works for your business? Start with our merchant services reseller program.
General payments guidance, not legal, tax or accounting advice. Card-network rules are from the Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules (18 April 2026), the Mastercard Rules (2 June 2026) and the Mastercard Security Rules and Procedures (4 August 2026). FTC case details are from the FTC's case pages. Facts as of September 2026; rules change, so check with your sponsor bank or ISO and your own adviser.
Becoming a Merchant Service Provider: FAQ
Do I need a license to sell merchant services?
There's no Visa or Mastercard licence you apply for yourself. The sponsor bank registers agents and ISOs with the networks, once for each bank. Whether a referral-only partner must be registered is up to the bank or ISO. We found no primary source on state licensing, so check your state's rules with your own adviser.
Do I need payments experience?
Not to refer. What matters most is having clients who take cards and trust your advice. As a START partner, we handle underwriting, setup and merchant support. If you move to an agent role, you'll need to understand pricing well enough to explain it honestly.
Can I do this part-time?
Yes. Many partners refer clients alongside their main business, such as web design, hosting or software. A referral agreement suits that best, since the provider does the application work after your introduction.
Can I work with more than one ISO?
It depends on your agreement. Some contracts are exclusive and some aren't, so read that clause before you sign. With Visa and Mastercard, each bank registers you separately. Ask us about START's terms and we'll walk you through the agreement.
Thinking about becoming a partner?
Tell us about your business and your clients, and we'll explain which partner type fits and what it takes to start. START has been in payments for 20+ years and has set up more than 60,000 Authorize.Net accounts.
New to this topic? Start with our Merchant Services Reseller Program overview.
