Website Terms of Service

These terms apply to your use of startmerchantservices.com (the "site"). The site is run by Interchange Plus Solutions Inc., doing business as START Merchant Services ("START", "we", "us"). START is a Registered MSP/ISO of Elavon, Inc., Georgia, and of the Canadian Branch of U.S. Bank National Association and Elavon.

By using the site, you agree to these terms and to our privacy policy. If you don't agree, please don't use the site. You must be at least 18 to use our forms. If you use the site for a business, you confirm you are allowed to act for that business, and "you" includes the business.

The site is for information and first contact only. Sending a form, including our merchant account application or rate review form, starts a conversation. It does not create a merchant account, a processing relationship or any contract for payment services.

Merchant accounts and payment processing are provided only under a separate merchant application and processing agreement. That agreement is with the bank that approves your account (the acquiring bank) and its processor, and may include START. Payment gateway services, such as Authorize.Net, have their own terms. If anything on this site conflicts with those agreements, the agreements control.

Every merchant account must be approved by the acquiring bank after it reviews your business. This review is called underwriting. The bank makes the final decision, and it can decline an application or set conditions, such as a reserve (money held back to cover possible refunds and chargebacks).

• Approval: we don't guarantee that any business will be approved.
• Rates and fees: any rate, fee or savings shown on the site, or estimated in a rate review, is for illustration. Your actual pricing is set only in your signed agreement.
• Timelines: approval and setup times on the site, such as "1–5 business days", describe what most merchants experience. They are not promises. Your timeline depends on your business, your paperwork and the bank.
• Industries: whether a bank accepts a given industry or product can change with bank and card network rules.

When you send us information or upload documents, such as processing statements, you agree that:

• The information is true, complete and your own, or you have the right to share it
• You are allowed to share any statements or documents you upload
• We may use it as described in our privacy policy, including sharing it with banks, processors and gateway partners to review your application
• We may contact you by phone, email or text about your request, using the details you gave us

Giving false or misleading information on an application can lead to a decline or to an account being closed later.

If you send us ideas or feedback about the site or our services, we may use them without owing you anything.

We work to keep the site accurate, but payment industry rules, card network policies and laws change often. Articles and guides show information as of the date given, and may become out of date.

Content on the site is general information. It is not legal, tax, accounting or financial advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your own situation, especially for regulated industries.

The site's text, design, graphics and logos, including the START name and logo, belong to START or its licensors and are protected by copyright and trademark law. You may view and print pages for your own business use. You may not copy, republish, sell or build on site content without our written permission.

Other names and logos on the site, such as Authorize.Net, Elavon, U.S. Bank, Visa and Mastercard, belong to their owners. Showing them does not mean those companies endorse this site. Images are used under their licenses.

When using the site, you agree not to:

• Break any law, or use the site for fraud or to help anyone else commit fraud
• Send false information, or apply using someone else's identity or business without permission
• Upload viruses, malware or any file meant to cause harm
• Try to get around our spam checks, or send automated or bulk form submissions
• Scrape, copy or collect data from the site with bots or other automated tools
• Try to access systems or data you aren't allowed to, or interfere with how the site works
• Harass our staff or use our contact details to send spam

We may block access or refuse service to anyone who breaks these rules.

The site links to other websites, such as payment gateways, card networks and government sources. It also uses outside services, such as hCaptcha for spam checks. We don't control those sites or services and aren't responsible for their content, policies or practices. Your use of them is covered by their own terms.

The site and its content are provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no warranties of any kind, express or implied. This includes warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy and non-infringement. We don't promise that the site will always be available, free of errors or free of viruses.

To the fullest extent the law allows, START and its owners, employees and partners will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential or punitive damages, or for lost profits, revenue or data, arising from your use of the site or its content. This applies even if we were told such damages were possible.

Our total liability for any claim related to the site is limited to one hundred U.S. dollars (US$100). Some places don't allow these limits, so they may not all apply to you. This section doesn't limit anything in a signed merchant or processing agreement, which has its own terms.

You agree to defend and repay START, and its owners, employees and partners, for any claims, losses and costs (including reasonable legal fees) that come from your breaking these terms, misusing the site, or sending information or documents you had no right to share.

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute about the site or these terms will be handled in the state or federal courts in Salt Lake County, Utah, and you agree to their jurisdiction. Before filing a claim, please contact us so we can try to resolve it informally.

We may update these terms at any time by posting a new version here and changing the "Last updated" date. If you keep using the site after a change, you accept the new terms.

If any part of these terms can't be enforced, the rest still applies. If we don't enforce a term right away, we can still enforce it later. These terms and our privacy policy are the full agreement about your use of the site. They don't replace any merchant, processing or reseller agreement you sign.

Questions about these terms? Contact us: