A terminated merchant file is a blacklist created by acquiring banks like Solid Trust Pay to protect themselves from merchants who have caused problems in the past. The merchants whose names are in this list would have had their merchant accounts terminated for cause. These files are also referred to as MATCH (Member Alert to Control High-Risk (Merchants) Files.

High risk merchants are ones who are engaged in business categories which are more likely to cause losses to the banks. Banks who are members use this list to assess the risk factors associated with potential customers before signing them in.

If a particular merchant causes heavy losses and high risk to the bank such as regularly violating the merchant agreement, committing fraud, large volumes of chargebacks and money laundering, the bank will generally take steps to terminate the merchant account and place the merchant on the Terminated Merchant File as the one maintained at solidtrustpay.

Having one’s name in the Terminated Merchant File and having your account cancelled means the merchant will be unable to accept credit card payments which will be a huge draw back to the business. Once your name appears in this file, acquiring banks as Solid Trust Pay will be reluctant to open another merchant account for you in future even though the name being entered in the list does not necessarily mean that you have been prohibited from acquiring merchant processing facilities in the future, though the process of getting a bank to authorize a new merchant account with them will be a very difficult task. Check with solidtrustpay.com for their policy on merchants listed in the TMF.

Banks use this list to assess the risk when opening new merchant accounts and if the risk of opening an account for a merchant listed in the MATCH file is higher than the bank’s risk tolerance, the application of the merchant to open an account will most likely be declined.

A MATCH file will provide the following fraud detection features to processing banks such as solidtrustpay :
• It uses multiple fields to determine possible matches.

• It supports retroactive alert processing of data residing on the database for up to 120 days.

• MATCH can processes daily, the data submitted by processors and provide daily detail response files.

MATCH will have in its record, information reported during the past five years and inquiries during the past 120 days.
One could find out if his name is in the list by contacting the bank which terminated the account, go to solidtrustpay.com if that is the relevant bank and find out if you are blacklisted and the reason for doing so along with the reason code. One could make a request from the bank that has added your name to the list to remove your name from it as only that bank will have the authority to request deletion or amendment of the information provided by them.

If you find your name in the Terminated Merchant File of solidtrustpay or any other acquiring bank act fast, if no attempt is made to remove your name you will be unable to open a merchant account with a reputable bank like Solid Trust Pay.