Merchant Account ISO Explained:
What is an ISO? “ISO” stands for “Independent Sales Organization” and is a formal designation that a company must have in order to sell Visa credit card processing services under its own company name. Visa displays its registered and approved ISOs on the Visa ISO List. In many cases, sales organizations operate as “ISOs” under a Visa-approved ISO in a sales partnership. In these cases the sales organization may have its own company name, but it sells merchant accounts branded under the actual Visa-approved ISO.
Visa-approved ISOs represent an Acquiring Bank, or Processor, or both. ISOs are also allowed to set terms of their own merchant account contracts and mark up processing rates and fees. Although a Processor can also be an ISO, most ISOs are solely sales organizations that act as “middle men” that market point-of-sale solutions (terminals, payment gateways, mobile accessories, etc.) and pair them with acquirers and processors.
MasterCard has a similar designation called an MSP.
ISO Video Explanation
Use of this video does not constitute an endorsement of any kind by CardPaymentOptions.com.
About Phillip Parker
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I'm a former credit card processing sales director who left the industry to start my own a small business. From the time that I starting working in the merchant services industry to when I left to write about it, I've been on the pulse of payments for nearly 15 years. It didn't seem fair to keep this insider knowledge to myself, so decided to build this website to help you research which providers to use and how to save money on rates and fees. I've reviewed hundreds of companies, read thousands of user reviews, and learned the pricing tricks of every provider. If you have questions about credit card processing, you can find the answers here. Simply scroll to the top of the page to find the search bar. You can also message me if you need any guidance.
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