Managing Merchant Accounts

Table of Contents

1. Overview
2. Prerequisites
3. List Accounts
   • Merchant Information
   • Company Contact
   • Billing Information
   • Merchant Users
   • Advanced Merchant Features
   • Merchant Status
   • Processing Services and Value-added Services
   • Fee Schedules
4. Video Tutorial

Overview

You're in control of how you manage your merchants, so why not take advantage of it. Here you will learn more on what you can edit and how to make these changes for your merchant account. 

Prerequisites

Your affiliate sub-users will need to have the 'Manage merchant accounts' permission to be able to manage merchant accounts; this also applies to your Sub-Affiliate sub-users so they can manage their own merchant accounts under their portfolio. Primary users have this permission set by default and it cannot be removed. 

List Accounts

The most common function of List Accounts is to manage your Merchants Gateway Accounts. Log in to your Partner Portal and head over to List Accounts → Merchant Accounts (this is viewable if you have at least one Merchant Account onboarded, and if so, it will display a list of your merchant accounts). 

If you have a Sub-Affiliate onboarded and they have merchants onboarded under their portfolio, you will be able to view and manage their Merchants Gateway Accounts. If applicable, head over to List Accounts → click the + sign next to Sub-Affiliate Accounts → click the + sign next to one of your Sub-Affiliate's name, this will display a list of all of their merchants, and if they don't have any merchants onboarded, it will display 'No accounts boarded'. 

On the List Accounts page, you can view when the merchant account was created, their contact name, and the last time they processed a transaction (viewable only if they've taken a transaction). The last transaction date is useful for you if you want to check how your merchants are doing. You may want to proactively reach out to them if you see that they haven't transacted for some time; e.g. check to see if they are still in business, or if there is a service you may want to offer that might help them run their business better.

The list is in alphabetical order, with the following hierarchy (these stem from if you have any pending, active, restricted, or closed accounts, e.g. if you don't have any pending accounts, the list will start with your active accounts, and so on):

1. Pending Accounts - these accounts are not yet activated, they are the ones that still require to complete the Merchant Creation.
2. Active Accounts - these accounts can be Active Delinquent, Active Past Due, or Active in good standing. 
3. Restricted Accounts - these accounts can be Restricted Delinquent, Restricted Past Due, or Restricted in good standing (please see the Merchant Status section below for more on Restricted Accounts). 
4. Closed Accounts - these accounts can be Closed Delinquent, Closed Past Due, or Closed in good standing (please see the Merchant Status section below for more on Closed Accounts).  
5. Test Accounts - and finally, you will see Test Accounts, if applicable. 

You can also download an Excel Doc or CSV of all your merchant accounts by scrolling to the bottom and clicking Download Excel Doc or Download CSV. This list will provide you with Sub-Affiliate Names (if applicable), Gateway IDs, Company Names, Contact Names, Dates Created, Last Transaction Dates, and their Status. 

To view your merchants account details → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name. This will take you to their Merchant Details page where you can view or edit their Merchant Information, Company Contact, Billing Information, Advanced Merchant Features, Merchant Status, Processing Services, Value-Added Services, and Fee Schedules. You will also be able to view their Merchant Users. 

Merchant Information

To edit a Merchants company name, external identifier, address, website, or time zone, head over to List Accounts → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name → within the 'Merchant Information' section click on Edit → make the necessary changes → click on Save.  

• Your Merchants Gateway ID can be found under Merchant Information section. This would be the Gateway ID you would provide to our Support Team in order to better assist you with your quires on a particular merchant account. 
• Editing the merchant Company here will change the name the merchant sees when they log in to their merchant portal, and will change the name you see when viewing or searching in List Accounts. 

Company Contact

The Company Contact is the primary contact for your Merchant. To edit their First and Last name, email address, phone number, or fax number, head over to List Accounts → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name → within the 'Company Contact' section click on Edit → make the necessary changes → click on Save.

• Editing the Company Contact here will change what the merchant sees under their Account Information → Merchant Information section within their merchant portal. This is the contact info for their primary user. 
  • Note - if the merchant has Blind Credits enabled, you will not be able to edit the merchants email address. 
    

Billing Information

To edit the Merchants Account Number, Routing Number, or Account Type, head over to List Accounts → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name → within the 'Billing Information' section click on Edit → make the necessary changes → click on Save.

• Editing the Billing Information here will change what the merchant sees under their Account Information → Billing Information section within their merchant portal. The Account Number and Routing Number is masked in their merchant portal. 

Merchant Users

The first user will always be the primary user. Sub-users will be listed under the primary user. If your affiliate sub-user has the 'Log in as merchants and sub-affiliates' permission, they will be able to log in as the Merchant user to view their account, run reports, change settings, assist in troubleshooting, and help with training, when needed. Your affiliate primary user has this permission set by default.  

• You can reset the primary users password here. To reset the primary users password, click on 'Reset Password' next to their username → it will ask you to confirm that you want to reset this users password → once you confirm and click on Reset Password it's going to immediately invalidate that user's password and send them an email to have them configure a new password.
  • Note - once you reset their password, it's going to immediately break their password; if they are using this for API transactions or if they're expecting that password to work before they gain access to their email, you want to make sure that you don't do this until they are actually ready to get that new password configured. 
• If their sub-users require a reset password link, you can Log in as their primary user (or have the merchants primary user log in themselves) and head over to Settings → User Accounts → click on the Username → under User Information → click on the Re-send User Welcome Email link.
• To change a primary username, please contact support@nmi.com. We can only change the primary username. If the merchant requires a sub-username to be changed, they will need to create a new one. 

Advanced Merchant Features

To turn on or off any of the Advanced Merchant Features, head over to List Accounts → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name → within the 'Advanced Merchant Features' section click on Edit → check or uncheck the features required → click on Save.

• Once you click Save, you will see the list of all the Advanced Merchant Features that you have enabled for a merchant. 

Merchant Status

If you need to restrict, close, delete, or re-activate a Merchant account, you can do this by editing their Merchant Status. Head over to List Accounts → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name → within the 'Merchant Status' section click on Edit → select the status that you wish for the account to be set to from the dropdown menu → click on Save.

• Active - the Merchant can process transactions and perform all Payment Gateway functions normally.
• Restricted - the merchant is able to log in to generate reports and change options, but they cannot process any transactions.
• Closed - the merchant is unable to log in, but their Affiliate-Partner has access for reporting and voids. (Not Billable)
• Deleted - the merchant is unable to log in, and is omitted from all reports, except for commission. It is highly recommended that the "Closed" status is chosen for any accounts with a transaction history.

You will see a History log of all actions taken on a Merchants Status. The history log will also include 'Test' status, which will show when a merchant enabled/disabled Test Mode. 

Processing Services and Value-added Services

You can add, edit, disable, delete, re-activate, and customize billing information for your merchants Credit Card, Electronic Check, and Cash processing services and their Value-added Services. These will be shown here if the merchant has any of them active or offered.

Processor statuses can be Active, Pending, Disabled, or Closed.

Value-added Services can be Pending, Active, Offered, or Disabled.

• Pending is a service that the merchant is set up for but isn't fully configured yet. This could mean that the merchant hasn't agreed to the terms of service yet, or it could be that there's additional steps NMI Support need to take/action internally to help with setting up the service. 

Head over to List Accounts → scroll to their name from the list or search their name in the search box → click on their name → scroll down to the Processing Services section/ Value-added Services section → click on the action you want to take (each described below):

• The Billing button will allow you to enter individual banking information if you want to bill the merchant for each service to a different account. Processors and services that do not have unique billing details will be billed against the default Merchant Billing information.
• Adding a new Processing Service - click the Add button on the right side of Processing Services → select Credit Card, Electronic Check, or Cash → from there, follow the Processing Service Information steps.
• Adding/Editing Value-added Services - click the Update Services button on the right side of Value-added Services → select Active, Offered, or Not Offered from the dropdown on the service you want to add/edit. Please see Value Added Services for more info on what each action does. 
• Editing a Processor - click the Edit button → make the necessary changes → click on Submit at the bottom. In some cases, you’ll come across a MID that is greyed out; this means that a successful transaction has been processed through it and it cannot be changed. This is to cut down on issues with settlement on an account. If the merchants configuration has changed on the processors side (e.g. the processors bank TID has changed), you will need to re-add the processor vs editing it. 
• Disabling a Processing Service/Value-added Service - Please see Important Notes below before disabling a processor. To disable a processor/service click the Disable button:
  • When a Merchant’s MID is being closed at the Processor level, a good practice is for you to always disable it at the Gateway level to avoid rejected charges due to an inactive MID.
  • Disabling a processing service will allow any pending transactions to settle properly as long as the MID is still active on the processor side.
  • Rerouting Refunds - if there is another processor onboarded onto the account, you will have the option to reroute refunds to that processor, as long as rerouting is supported on that processor. The new processor must be active in order for the reroute to take place. When disabling a processor you will choose to select a different processor to reroute future refunds. Processors that do not support refund rerouting will be removed from the dropdown. If you do not have another active processor, this option will not be available. 
  • Once disabled, the status will show as Disabled and the date it was disabled on. 
• Deleting a Processor - once you have disabled a processor, you will have the option to Delete a Processor. Please see Important Notes below before deleting a processor. If you delete the processor, pending settlement transactions will not settle. Deleted processors can be made visible by clicking Show Deleted Processors. This will give you the ability to Restore the deleted processor if necessary. Once you restore the processor, you will be able to reactivate it by clicking on Activate. 
  • Deleting a processor will do several things:
    • The Merchant will not be able to use this processor.
    • The Merchant will not be able to report on transactions run using this processor.
      
    • Any Refund Reroutes will cease to function.
      
    • Any pending settlement transactions will not settle. If the processor is deleted for more than 7 days, the settlement cannot be reinitiated automatically. If you reopen it within that timeframe, the Gateway will attempt the settlement automatically.
    • Any pending authorizations cannot be captured.
• Locking and Unlocking a Service - if you Lock a service, this will remove the Merchant’s ability to take action on that service. It will lock it as Active (i.e. disallow a Merchant from Disabling the service). It does not close the service, or keep them from using it if the Status is Active. 

Important Notes when Disabling or Deleting a Processor 

When you disable or delete a processor, it is important that you double-check a few things:

• • Is the Merchant using Transaction Routing, ATRI, or Processor Routing via API? If YES, address any software changes or ATRI/LB balancing changes that need to be addressed BEFORE disabling the Processor.
  • Do any of the Merchant’s Recurring Subscriptions point at a particular processor? If YES, point the Recurring Subscription at a different processor, or change it to the blank option BEFORE disabling the Processor.

Fee Schedules

Video Tutorial