Kitchen & Bathroom Supplier: Restoring Card Payments After Provider Termination

Case study summary

A UK kitchen and bathroom supplier contacted Merchant Advice Service after its existing merchant account was terminated, leaving the business temporarily unable to accept customer card payments.

Merchant Advice Service reviewed the circumstances, the nature of the business and the requirements of the merchant before identifying a potentially more suitable provider route.

The business completed the application process and was able to accept card payments again within approximately one week.

Find Your New Processor

The business

The client was a small UK business supplying kitchens and bathrooms.

Card payments formed an important part of the way the business collected money from customers, so the loss of its existing merchant account created an immediate operational problem.

The problem

The company's existing payment provider terminated its merchant account.

This meant the business could no longer process customer card payments through its existing arrangement and needed to identify another provider capable of considering the business.

The case demonstrates an important issue in payment-provider selection: different providers can assess the same business sector differently.

A business falling outside one provider's acceptance criteria does not necessarily mean that every payment provider will reach the same decision.

How the business found Merchant Advice Service

The business approached Merchant Advice Service following a recommendation from another person within its industry.

Initial contact with Libby James, founder of Merchant Advice Service, was made through LinkedIn.

The immediate priority was to understand why the existing arrangement had ended and identify whether there was a realistic alternative provider route.

What Merchant Advice Service identified

Merchant Advice Service reviewed the requirements of the business and considered the way different payment providers approached the kitchen and bathroom sector.

The important issue was not simply finding another merchant account application.

It was identifying a provider whose acceptance criteria were potentially better aligned with the actual business model.

Factors considered included:

• the nature of the products being sold
• the way customers paid
• transaction values
• the business's trading model
• the reason the previous payment arrangement had ended
• provider appetite for the sector
• the need to restore payment processing quickly.

The provider route

MAS identified a payment-provider route that assessed the business differently from its previous provider.

Rather than repeatedly submitting applications to providers without first considering their likely suitability, the business was directed towards an option whose acceptance criteria appeared better aligned with its circumstances.

The provider remained responsible for its own underwriting, due diligence, pricing and final merchant-account decision.

The outcome

The new merchant-account application was approved and the business was able to resume accepting card payments within approximately one week.

The client also reported that the new commercial terms were more favourable than its previous arrangement.

The Merchant Advice Service matching and introduction service was provided to the business without a direct fee.

Customer feedback

The client subsequently left Merchant Advice Service a Google review describing the experience.

“Libby quickly matched us with a new merchant and we were up and running to accept payments within a week.”

The feedback also highlighted the significance of restoring payment acceptance quickly after the original provider had withdrawn its service.

Merchant Advice Service view

This case was ultimately a provider-fit problem rather than simply a search for another merchant account.

Payment providers have different underwriting policies, sector appetites and approaches to commercial risk. A business that is declined or terminated by one provider may therefore have other potential routes available, depending on the underlying circumstances.

Submitting multiple applications without understanding those differences can create additional delays.

Where a merchant account has been terminated, MAS generally believes the first step should be to establish what happened, understand the merchant's current requirements and then identify providers whose criteria are more likely to align with the business.

This same requirement-led approach is used more broadly across payment-provider comparison, including mainstream merchant accounts, ecommerce payments, payment gateways, integrations, international payments and more specialist requirements.

What this case demonstrates

• Provider appetite differs. One provider's decision does not automatically represent the whole payments market.
• Provider selection matters. Understanding the business before applying can help identify more relevant routes.
• Underwriting remains with the provider. Merchant Advice Service can identify potential options, but the payment provider makes the final decision.
• Speed can be commercially important. Losing the ability to take customer payments can create an immediate operational problem for a business.
• Price is not the only consideration. Sector appetite, underwriting, settlement and operational requirements can be just as important when selecting a payment provider.

About Merchant Advice Service

Merchant Advice Service is an independent UK business-to-business payments information, comparison and provider-matching service founded by Libby James in 2016.

MAS helps businesses understand their payment requirements and identify payment providers or specialist partners that may be relevant to the way they operate.

Merchant Advice Service is not an acquiring bank or payment processor and does not make merchant-account underwriting decisions.

The MAS information, matching and introduction service is free to businesses. MAS may receive commission or a referral fee from some commercial partners where an introduction results in a completed product or account.

Read How Merchant Advice Service Works for more information about provider matching and the MAS commercial model.

Find Your New Processor