User’s Guide

Operating Policies and Procedures for the use of the AffiniPay Services

8/13/2019


The AffiniPay Users Guide

Last Updated: August 13, 2019

Welcome to AffiniPay!

This User Guide (“the Guide”), the Merchant Processing Application, and Terms of Service and schedules thereto (collectively, the “Agreement”), contains the terms and conditions under which AffiniPay and/or bank and/or other third parties will provide services to you. The requirements set forth in this Guide will apply unless prohibited by law. You are responsible for following any additional or conflicting requirements imposed by your state or local jurisdiction.

This Guide provides a general description of the Services that AffiniPay may provide to you, including those that allow you to accept payments from purchasers of your services or donors to your organization (your “Customers”).

A capitalized terms used but not descry bed herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Terms of Service. As used herein, the term “Networks” specifically includes, but is not limited to, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

Please read this Guide in its entirety as it contains important information.

Contents

Section A: General Operating Procedures. 3

1. Your AffiniPay Account 3

A. Our Role and Your Responsibilities. 3

B. Validation and Underwriting. 3

C. Changes to Your Account 3

2. Processing Transactions. 4

A. Prohibited Activities. 4

B. Responsibilities and Disclosures to Your Purchasers. 4

C. Charges. 4

D. Transaction Failure Responses. 5

3. Chargebacks/Disputes. 5

A. Chargeback Basics. 6

B. Retrieval Requests. 8

C. Chargeback Best Practices. 8

D. Retrieval and Chargeback Deadlines. 8

E. Disputing a Chargeback. 9

4. Fraud. 9

5. Account Suspensions. 9

6. Reserves. 9

7. Settlement and Payout Schedule. 9

A. Settlement to Your Settlement Account: 9

B. Payout Schedule: 10

C. Incorrect Settlement: 10

8. Reconciliation and Error Notification. 10

9. Dormant Accounts. 10

Section B: General Terms. 11

1. Network Rules. 11

A. Prohibited Merchants. 12

2. ACH RULES. 14


Section A: General Operating Procedures

1. Your AffiniPay Account

A. Our Role and Your Responsibilities

AffiniPay allows individuals, businesses, and non-profit organizations to register for AffiniPay if they are located in one of the 50 United States or the District of Columbia. Residents of Puerto Rico, U.S. territories (such as Guam), and U.S. military bases are not supported. A Customer must be either a United States citizen, a legal permanent resident of the United States, or a United States business or nonprofit organization having a physical presence in the United States and authorized to conduct business by the state in which it operates. A user who opens an Account must be eighteen (18) years of age or older. You may open an Account for a business or nonprofit organization only if it is legitimate and you have the authority to enter into this Agreement on its behalf. Your acceptance of this Agreement constitutes acceptance by the business or nonprofit organization.

Each Account must be linked to a verified U.S. bank account.

AffiniPay works with various AffiniPay affiliates, Banks, and Networks to provide you with access to the Payment Methods and Payment Processing Services. Where the Payment Processing Services enable you to submit Charges, we may limit or refuse to process Charges for any Prohibited Businesses, or for Charges submitted in violation of this Agreement. You may accept the Payment Methods specified when you opened your account, but you may opt out of accepting certain Payment Methods without penalty and without affecting your ability to accept other Payment Methods by notifying us.

B. Validation and Underwriting

When you register for an Account, you may be asked for financial information, or information we use to identify you, your representatives, principals, beneficial owners, and other individuals associated with your Account. Throughout the term of this Agreement, we may share information about your AffiniPay Account with Networks and Banks in order to verify your eligibility to use the Payment Processing Services, establish any necessary accounts or credit with Networks and Banks, monitor Charges and other activity, and conduct risk management and compliance reviews. We will review and may conduct further intermittent reviews of your Account information to determine that you are eligible to use the Payment Processing Services. We also may perform credit checks on you.

C. Changes to Your Account

Changes to Your Settlement Account

If you would like to change the Settlement Account where you receive the proceeds of your transactions, please contact our Customer Service department or your Relationship Manager immediately to have you settlement account information updated.

Changes to Your Legal Name or Structure

If your organization has changed your legal name or legal structure a new agreement is required. Please contact our Customer Service department or your Relationship Manager to start that process.

Changes in Company DBA Name, Address or Telephone Number

To change your company or location DBA name, address (or e-mail address), or telephone/ facsimile number, you must update your information on the Website or contact your Account Manager or Customer Support.

Changes in Your Company’s Status

Please notify us of any change to the information on file (merchant profile) with us related to your businesses status, including: (i) any new lines or types of business; (ii) change in ownership; (iii) the opening, closing or liquidation of business or any location; (iv) voluntary or involuntary party to a bankruptcy case; (v) entry into a loan or other agreement with a Person that seeks to affect this Agreement. We retain the right to terminate this Agreement if you fail to notify us of any change to the information in your merchant profile.

2. Processing Transactions

To enable us to process transactions for you, you authorize and direct us, our affiliates, the Networks and Banks to receive and settle any payment processing proceeds owed to you through the Payment Processing Services. You may not, other than as required by this Agreement, grant or assign any interest in payment processing proceeds to any third party until such time as the payment processing proceeds are deposited into your Settlement Account (as defined below). You appoint AffiniPay as your agent for the limited purpose of directing, receiving, holding and settling such proceeds. You agree that AffiniPay’s receipt of such proceeds satisfies the relevant end-customer’s obligations to make payments to you. We will promptly update your AffiniPay Account balance to reflect any such proceeds that we receive on your behalf.

You, as Customer, are responsible for: (i) acquiring appropriate consent to submit Charges through the Payment Processing Services on each Purchaser’s behalf; (ii) providing confirmation or receipts to Purchasers for each Charge; (iii) verifying Purchasers’ identities; and (iv) determining a Purchaser’s eligibility and authority to complete transactions. However, even authorized transactions may be subject to a Dispute. AffiniPay is not responsible for or liable to you for authorized and completed Charges that are later the subject of a Dispute, Refund, or Reversal, are submitted without authorization or in error, or violate any Laws.

A. Prohibited Activities

You may only submit Charges through the Payment Processing Services that are authorized by your Purchasers. When you accept payment card transactions, Network Rules specifically prohibit you from: (i) providing cash refunds for a Charge on a credit card, unless required by Law, or (ii) processing a credit transaction that does not correspond to a previously completed transaction.

Factoring

Factoring is considered merchant fraud and strictly prohibited. Factoring is the submission of authorization requests and/or sales drafts by a merchant for Card transactions transacted by another business. If you submit sales drafts on behalf of another person, you will suffer any losses associated with the disputes of any such sales draft and/or transaction. Also if any fraud is involved, you could face criminal prosecution.

B. Responsibilities and Disclosures to Your Purchasers

When using the Payment Processing Services you agree to: (i) accurately communicate, and not misrepresent, the nature of the transaction, and the amount of the Charge in the appropriate currency prior to submitting it for processing; (ii) provide a receipt that accurately describes each transaction to Purchasers; (iii) provide customers a way to contact you in the event that the product or service is not provided as described; (iv) and not use Services to sell products or services in a manner that is unfair or deceptive, exposes customers to unreasonable risks, or does not disclose material terms of a purchase in advance. You also agree to maintain and make available to your Purchasers a fair and neutral return, refund, cancellation, or adjustment policy, and clearly explain the process by which Customers can receive a Refund.

C. Charges

You may only submit Charges through the Payment Processing Services that are authorized by your Purchasers. To enable us to process transactions for you, you authorize and direct us, our affiliates, the Networks and Banks to receive and settle any payment processing proceeds owed to you through the Payment Processing Services. You may not, other than as required by this Agreement, grant or assign any interest in payment processing proceeds to any third party until such time as the payment processing proceeds are deposited into your Settlement Account (as defined below). You appoint AffiniPay as your agent for the limited purpose of directing, receiving, holding and settling such proceeds. You agree that AffiniPay’s receipt of such proceeds satisfies the relevant end-customer’s obligations to make payments to you. We will promptly update your AffiniPay Account balance to reflect any such proceeds that we receive on your behalf.

We may set certain transaction limits on your account based on our underwriting and risk assessments. Generally, we will initially establish your account with limits on the size of a single transaction, a rolling 24 hour transaction volume limitation, and a rolling 30 day transaction volume limitation. Currently we restrict all eCheck/ACH transactions to a maximum of $5,000 per transaction unless you receive pre-approval from our risk departments. All accounts are also established with a geolocation lock that restricts processing payments from countries outside of the United States and Canada. If you plan to receive payments from other countries, please contact our support team and we will be glad to add any country you select.

You, as Customer, are responsible for: (i) acquiring appropriate consent to submit Charges through the Payment Processing Services on each Purchaser’s behalf; (ii) providing confirmation or receipts to Purchasers for each Charge; (iii) verifying Purchasers’ identities; and (iv) determining a Purchaser’s eligibility and authority to complete transactions. However, even authorized transactions may be subject to a Dispute. AffiniPay is not responsible for or liable to you for authorized and completed Charges that are later the subject of a Dispute, Refund, or Reversal, are submitted without authorization or in error, or violate any Laws.

You may use the Payment Processing Services to receive recurring or subscription payments from your Purchasers. If you use the Payment Processing Services to submit these recurring or subscription Charges, you agree to comply with applicable Laws, including clearly informing Customers in advance of submitting the initial Charge that they will be charged on an ongoing basis and explaining the method for unsubscribing or cancelling their recurring billing or subscription.

If you engage in Transactions with Customers who are individuals (i.e. consumers), you specifically agree to provide consumers disclosures required by Law, and to not engage in unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (“UDAAP”).

D. Transaction Failure Responses

When you submit a transaction you will either receive an approval or a decline response. The following codes and descriptions are the most common responses received when a transaction is declined:

  • 05 Decline – generic decline from the card issuer.
  • 14 Card No. Error – The card number entered is not a valid number.
  • 51 Decline – Insufficient Funds. The cardholder has insufficient funds available for the transaction requested.
  • 54 Expired Card – The card that is being used has expired.
  • 57 Serv Not Allowed - This error will occur if the Customer’s bank has declined the transaction as this card cannot be used for this type of transaction.
  • N7 – The CVV value from the back of the card is invalid.

3. Chargebacks/Disputes

Both the Cardholder and the Issuer have the right to question a transaction. In some case, a Dispute will occur. As a result, we will debit your Settlement Account or settlement funds for the amount of each Disputed charge. You are immediately responsible to us for all Disputes, Refunds, Reversals, Returns, or Fines regardless of the reason or timing. We may decline to act upon a Refund instruction, or delay execution of the instruction, if: (i) it would cause your Account balance to become negative; (ii) you are the subject of Bankruptcy Proceedings; or (iii) where we otherwise believe that there is a risk that you will not meet your liabilities under this Agreement (including with respect to the Charge that is the subject of the Refund instruction).

In many but not all cases, you may have the ability to challenge a Dispute by submitting evidence through the API or the Website, or directly through our support team. We may request additional information to provide to the Networks and Banks to assist you in contesting the Dispute, but we cannot guarantee that your challenge will be successful. Networks and Banks may deny your challenge for any reason they deem appropriate. Where a challenge is entirely or partially successful, your Settlement Account will, subject to our exercise of our rights under Section B.9 below, be credited with the funds associated with the Charge that is the subject of the Dispute (or a portion thereof). You may not submit a new Charge which duplicates a Transaction that is subject to a Dispute. You are also prohibited from individually billing or collecting from a Cardholder for any purchases or payments made or received through the Payment Processing Services unless (i) a Chargeback has been exercised, (ii) you have fully paid the associated Charge, and (iii) you are otherwise permitted to pursue the Cardholder by the Network Rules and applicable Laws.

A. Chargeback Basics

Regardless of whether you respond to a transaction documentation request, a Chargeback may be debited to your Settlement Account for numerous reasons (see below). If the Issuer submits a Chargeback, we will send you a Chargeback notification, which may also include a request for transaction documentation. Due to the short time requirements imposed by MasterCard, Visa, Discover Network and American Express, it is extremely important that you respond to a Chargeback notification and transaction documentation request within the time frame set forth in the notification. Do not process a Credit transaction once a Chargeback is received; the Issuer will credit the Cardholder’s account. Credits issued after a Chargeback has been received may not be recoverable and you may be financially responsible for the Credit as well as the Chargeback. If the information you provide is both timely and sufficient to warrant a representment of the transaction and/or reversal of the Chargeback, we will do so on your behalf. However, representment and/or reversal is/are ultimately contingent upon the Issuer and/or Cardholder accepting the transaction under applicable Card Organization guidelines. Representment or reversal is not a guarantee that the Chargeback has been resolved in your favor.

For Visa Chargebacks: If we reverse the Chargeback and represent the transaction to the Issuer, the Issuer, at its sole discretion, may elect to submit the matter for arbitration before Visa. Visa currently charges a $250 filing fee and a $250 review fee. You will be responsible for all such fees and charges whether or not a decision is made in your favor, and any other applicable fees and charges imposed by Visa, as they may change from time to time. Such fees and charges will be debited from your Settlement Account or settlement funds, in addition to the Chargeback.

For MasterCard Chargebacks: If we reverse the Chargeback and represent the transaction to the Issuer, the Issuer, at its sole discretion, may elect to resubmit the Chargeback. In such event, at our discretion, we will debit your Settlement Account or settlement funds for the Chargeback. However, if you feel strongly that it is an invalid Chargeback, we may, on your behalf and at your request, submit the matter for arbitration before MasterCard. MasterCard currently charges a $150 filing fee and a $250 review fee. You will be responsible for all such fees and charges whether or not a decision is made in your favor and any other applicable fees and charges imposed by MasterCard as they may change from time to time. Such fees and charges will be debited from your Settlement Account or settlement funds, in addition to the Chargeback.

For Discover Network Chargebacks: If Discover Network rejects our representment request and you feel strongly that the Chargeback is invalid, we may, at the our discretion and on your behalf and at your request, submit the matter for dispute arbitration before Discover Network. Discover Network charges fees for representment requests and an arbitration fee as published in their fee schedule.

For American Express Chargebacks: You may request a Chargeback reversal if the Chargeback was applied in error. In order for us to consider your request, you must have responded to the original inquiry within the specified timeframe set forth in your dispute notification, and provide all supporting documentation to substantiate the error.

If the Chargeback is not disputed within the applicable time limits set forth by MasterCard, Visa, Discover Network and American Express rules and regulations, reversal rights are forfeited. Our only alternative, for Visa and MasterCard non-fraud Chargeback reason codes, is to attempt a “good faith collection” from the Issuer on your behalf. This process can take up to six (6) months and must meet the Issuer’s criteria (e.g., at or above a set dollar amount). Good faith collection attempts are not a guarantee that any funds will be collected on your behalf. Issuers normally charge good faith collection fees, which are deducted from the transaction amount if accepted in addition to any processing fees that are charged by us. Discover Network and American Express do not offer good faith collection for Acquirers.

MasterCard and Visa Card Organization Rules require that a merchant make a good faith attempt and be willing and able to resolve any disputes directly with the Cardholder. Discover Network rules and regulations, however, prohibit you and/or us from contacting the Cardholder directly regarding dispute(s) or any other matter, except as required for acceptance of Discover Network transactions, and require you and/or us to submit any responses to dispute notices directly to Discover Network.

Due to Network Rules, you may not re-bill a Cardholder after a Chargeback is received for that transaction, even with Cardholder authorization.

Do not process a refund transaction once a Chargeback is received. Refunds issued after a Chargeback has been received may not be recoverable and the merchant would be financially responsible for the credit as well as the Chargeback.

We strongly recommend that you include a detailed rebuttal letter along with all pertinent documents when responding to a transaction request or a Chargeback notification (e.g., contractual agreement).

B. Retrieval Requests

Retrievals are non-financial requests for information on a transaction. If the Issuer submits a retrieval request, we will send you a Chargeback notification, which may also include a request for transaction documentation.

C. Chargeback Best Practices

Due to the short time frames and the supporting documentation necessary to successfully (and permanently) reverse a Chargeback in your favor, we strongly recommend the following:

  • Avoid Chargebacks by adhering to the guidelines and procedures outlined in this Guide.
  • If you do receive a Chargeback, investigate, and if you dispute the Chargeback, submit the appropriate documentation within the required time frame.
  • Whenever possible, contact the Cardholder directly to resolve the dispute, unless the dispute relates to a Discover Network Cardholder, in which case direct contact with the Discover Network Cardholder regarding the dispute is prohibited by Discover Network Card Organization Rules.
  • Obtain all authorizations in writing/text. Verbal contracts and authorizations are not accepted.
  • Be sure your terms/conditions, cancellation policy, and fee structure are clearly outlined and agreed to in writing by the cardholder. If business is conducted electronically, “click to accept” terms/conditions are accepted, as well as electronic signatures.
  • Always enter the correct billing address and CVV code when taking a credit card payment manually. If the cardholder is present, obtain a signature on the receipt.
  • Make sure the name on the credit card matches your client. If not, you may need to obtain a third party authorization prior to running the card.
  • Keep detailed records of the work performed for up to 2 years from the date of service. Cardholders typically have 180 days to dispute a transaction. The cardholder’s bank has up to 2 years to file the dispute.
  • Refunds should be made via the same credit card used in the original transaction.
  • If you have any questions, call our Risk Department.

D. Retrieval and Chargeback Deadlines

The deadline to submit supporting documentation for a MasterCard and Discover chargeback case is 40 days, and 25 days for a retrieval. For Visa and American Express disputes, you have only 15 days to respond for chargebacks or retrievals. If you fail to respond to a retrieval case, you may forfeit your rights to dispute the resulting chargeback.

  • Documentation is submitted to Merchant Services (the dispute committee for the card brands). Merchant Services generally makes a decision on the case within 10-14 days, but can be up to 30 days.
  • Retrievals are considered “fulfilled” once the request for information has been satisfied. No further action is needed at this time.
  • If the chargeback decision is in favor of the cardholder and there is still time before the deadline, you may submit a rebuttal with additional documentation. If the decision is in favor of the cardholder and the deadline has passed, you will need to resolve the issue directly with the cardholder.
  • If the chargeback decision is in your favor, the funds remain in your account or will be credited back within 2-3 business days if they were debited during the chargeback process.
  • The cardholder then has the right to file a 2nd chargeback or pursue arbitration if they wish to continue the dispute.

E. Disputing a Chargeback

Notice of a chargeback/retrieval is sent to you via mail or fax from the card-issuing bank. As a courtesy, AffiniPay will attempt to notify you via email or phone to expedite the process.

  • Respond quickly with documentation to support your case
  • Documentation requested includes:
    • Proof of cardholder authorization
    • Receipt bearing the cardholder’s signature, a mag-swiped or chip-read receipt, or evidence of a positive AVS (billing address) and CVV security code match and IP address
    • Proof of services rendered
  • Additional accepted forms of documentation include:
    • Itemized billing invoices
    • Emails
    • Phone log records
    • Credit card authorization forms
    • Third party authorization forms
    • Sign-In sheets
  • Sensitive information may be redacted if necessary, however, it is important to show the work performed for the cardholder.
  • A Cardholder Letter of Acceptance may be used for Visa and MasterCard disputes only. The cardholder may sign and return the form to authorize the disputed charge. This form can be used in lieu of submitting supporting documentation.
  • If you do not wish to dispute the chargeback, you may simply inform AffiniPay and the funds will be returned to the cardholder through the chargeback process.

4. Fraud

You shall be responsible for all losses you incur when lost or stolen payment credentials or accounts are used to purchase products or services from you. AffiniPay does not and will not insure you against losses caused by fraud under any circumstances. For example, if someone pretends to be a legitimate buyer but is a fraudster, you will be responsible for any resulting costs, including Disputes.

5. Account Suspensions

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6. Reserves

If we impose a Reserve, we will establish the terms of the Reserve notify you of the amount, timing, and conditions upon which the funds in the Reserve will be released to you. The reserve amount will be established in our discretion. We may change or condition the terms of the Reserve based on our assessment and understanding of the risks associated with your Account, if required to do so by Networks or Banks, or for any other reason. We may fund the Reserve with funds processed through your use of Payment Processing Services, by debiting the Settlement Account or another bank account associated with your AffiniPay Account (other than a Trust Account), or by requesting funds directly from you.

7. Settlement and Payout Schedule

A. Settlement to Your Settlement Account:

AffiniPay will, with its banking partners, arrange to settle funds to the bank or other financial institution account that you designate on our Website (your “Settlement Account”). A positive balance in your Account will result in settlement to your Settlement Account and a negative balance in your Account will result in a deduction, set-off and/or debit of the amounts owed in accordance with Section B.9 below. We may reduce the amount settled to your Settlement Account by the amount of Fees, Fines, and amounts owed to us for any reason. You represent and warrant to us that you are authorized to initiate settlements to and debits from the Settlement Account. If a settlement or debit is processed via ACH, you acknowledge that the NACHA Operating Rules will apply to the settlement or debit, and you agree to be bound by these rules.

B. Payout Schedule:

The term “Payout Schedule” refers to the time it takes for us to initiate settlement to your Settlement Account. Your Payout Schedule is communicated to you from time to time by us. AffiniPay may require a holding period before making initial settlement to the Settlement Account. After the initial settlement of funds, we will settle funds to the Settlement Account according to the Payout Schedule; however, please be aware that a Network, a Bank, or the financial institution holding your Settlement Account, may delay settlement for any reason. We are not responsible for any action taken by the institution holding your Settlement Account to not credit the Settlement Account or to otherwise not make funds available to you as you expected.

We reserve the right to change the Payout Schedule or to suspend settlement to you. Examples of situations where we may do so are: (i) where there are pending, anticipated, or excessive Disputes, Refunds, or Reversals; (ii) in the event that we suspect or become aware of suspicious activity; or (iii) where we are required by Law or court order. We have the right to withhold settlement to your Settlement Account upon termination of this Agreement if we reasonably determine that we may incur losses resulting from credit, fraud, or other legal risks associated with your Account. If we exercise our right to withhold Settlement for any reason, we will communicate the general reason for withholding Settlement and give you a timeline for releasing the funds.

C. Incorrect Settlement:

The information required for settlement will depend on the financial institution holding the Settlement Account. Please make sure that any information about the Settlement Accounts that you provide to us is accurate and complete. If you provide us with incorrect information (i) you understand that funds may be settled to the wrong account and that we may not be able to recover the funds from such incorrect transactions and (ii) you agree that you are solely responsible for any losses you or third parties incur due to erroneous settlement transactions, you will not make any claims against us related to such erroneous settlement transactions, and you will fully reimburse us for any losses we incur

8. Reconciliation and Error Notification

On the Website, we will provide you the ability to review Charges, Charge history, and other activity on your Account. Except as required by Law, you are solely responsible for reconciling the information generated by your use of Payment Processing Services with your records of Customer Transactions, and for identifying any transaction errors. You agree to review your Account and immediately notify us of any errors. If you fail to communicate a Transaction error to us for our review without undue delay and, in any event, within 60 days after the erroneous information is made available to you in your Account, you waive your right to make any claim against us, the Networks, or any Bank we work with for any amounts associated with the Transaction error.

9. Dormant Accounts

If you leave any funds dormant in an Account and you do not give us instructions where to send them, we may be required by Law to deem the funds to be abandoned by you, and to deliver them to various government agencies. To the extent required by Law, we will attempt to provide you notice if we hold funds payable to you in an account beyond the applicable dormancy period for abandoned property. If we are unable to contact you, we will treat the funds in your Account to be abandoned, and will deliver them to the appropriate government authority.

Section B: General Terms

1. Network Rules

When accepting payment card payments, you must comply with all applicable Network Rules, including the Network Rules specified by the Visa Rules and Regulations Rules specified by Visa U.S.A., Inc. and Visa International (“Visa”), the MasterCard Rules specified by MasterCard International Incorporated (“MasterCard”), the American Express Merchant Operating Guide specified by American Express, and the Discover Network Rules specified by Discover Financial Services, LLC (“Discover”), in each case, as amended from time to time. Collectively, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover are referred to in this Agreement as the “Networks”. The Network Rules are incorporated into this Agreement by reference.

Network Rules can be viewed at:

For all payment card payments, we require that you have a direct contractual relationship with Wells Fargo, as described in the Wells Fargo Financial Services Terms.

You may only accept payments using payment cards for bona fide legal commercial transactions for goods or services that are free of liens, claims, and encumbrances, and you may only use payment network trademarks or service marks consistent with the Network Rules. You acknowledge that the Network Rules also limit your ability to discriminate by card type or charge surcharges for acceptance of payment cards, and you may only charge surcharges or convenience fees for your acceptance of payment cards in accordance with the Network Rules.

The Networks may amend the Network Rules at any time without notice to you, and AffiniPay reserves the right to change the Payment Processing Services at any time to comply with the Network Rules. We may share with the Networks (and the Banks) information you provide to us that we use to identify the nature of your products or services, including the assignment of your business activities to a particular payment network merchant category code (MCC).

When you accept payment card transactions, Network Rules specifically prohibit you from (i) providing cash refunds for a Charge on a credit card, unless required by Laws, (ii) accepting cash, its equivalent, or any other item of value for a Refund, (iii) acting as a payment intermediary or aggregator, or otherwise reselling Payment Processing Services on behalf of others, (iv) submitting what you believe or know to be a fraudulent Charge, or (v) using Payment Processing Services in a manner that is an abuse of the payment card networks or a violation of the Network Rules.

If you misuse the Payment Processing Services for payment card Transactions or engage in activity the Networks identify as damaging to their brand, or if we are required to do so by the Network Rules, we may submit information about you, Representatives, your beneficial owners and principals, and other individuals associated with your AffiniPay Account, to the MATCH terminated merchant listing maintained by Mastercard and accessed and updated by Visa and American Express, or to the Consortium Merchant Negative File maintained by Discover. Addition to one of these lists may result in your inability to accept payments from payment cards. You understand and consent to our sharing this information and to the listing itself, and you will fully reimburse us for any losses we incur from third-party claims, and you waive your rights to bring any direct claims against us that result from such reporting. Our reporting of information under this paragraph is separate from any other right that we may exercise under this Agreement, and we may separately terminate this Agreement or suspend your Account due to the misuse or damaging activity that caused us to make the report.

A. Prohibited Merchants

The following merchant categories are prohibited:

  • Adult products or services (such as):
    • Adult book stores, video stores, toys
    • Adult websites and content
    • Adult entertainment (misc.)
    • Any products on the internet containing graphic or nude content
    • Audio (phone sex and adult phone conversations)
    • Companion/escort services
    • Dating services (sexually-oriented)
    • Fetish products
    • Illegal activity (e.g., child pornography, bestiality)
    • Massage parlors (sexually-oriented)
    • Membership, clubs, subscriptions
    • Prostitution
    • Gentleman’s clubs, topless bars, and strip clubs
    • Video (web-based sexually oriented video)
  • Airlines
  • Bail bonds
  • Bidding fee auctions (a/k/a penny auctions)
  • Business/Investment opportunities operating as “get-rich-quick schemes” (e.g., real estate purchase with No Money Down)
  • Business physically located outside the U.S. (offshore acquiring)
  • Businesses selling age or legally restricted products or services (e.g., sale of alcohol and tobacco), Internet/MOTO
  • Cell phones/pagers (billing for services only)
  • Chain letters
  • Charities without 501 (c)(3) or equivalent status
  • Collection agencies or firms involved in recovering/collecting past due receivables
  • Counterfeit goods/replicas (i.e., knock-offs, imitations, bootlegs)
  • Credit repair/restoration or card protection (including identity theft protection)
  • Cruise lines
  • Data pass (merchants up-selling or cross-selling products or other merchants and then sharing the cardholder data with the third party or receiving cardholder data from third parties)
  • Debt consolidation and mortgage reduction/consulting services
  • Decryption and descrambler products including mod chips
  • Door-to-Door sales
  • Drug paraphernalia
  • Embassy, Foreign Consulate, or Other Foreign Government
  • Essay mills/paper mills (i.e., ghostwriting services that sell essays, term papers, etc. with intent that the purchaser will submit documentation as their own)
  • Extended warranties
  • Fake references and other services/products that foster deception (including fake IDs and government documents)
  • Fantasy sports leagues where participants receive cash or cash-equivalents or prizes with/of material value (e.g., electronics, travel, gift cards)
  • File sharing services
  • Fortune tellers
  • Game of skill where participants receive cash or cash-equivalents or prizes with/of material value (e.g., electronics, travel, gift cards)
  • Gambling involving:
    • Illegal or legal gambling where the cardholder is not present when the bet is made
    • Lotteries
    • Illegal or legal gambling, including internet gambling
    • Sports forecasting or odds making
  • Government grants
  • Illegal drugs, substances designed to mimic illegal drugs, and/or other psychoactive products (e.g., K2, salvia divinorum, nitrate inhalers, bath salts, synthetic cannabis, herbal smoking blends, herbal incense, and HCG/HGH-like substances)
  • Illegal products/services or any service providing peripheral support of illegal activities
  • Jammers or devices that are designed to block, jam or interfere with cellular and personal communication devices/signals
  • Mail order spouse and international match-making services
  • Marijuana, marijuana products (e.g., cannabidiol (CBD) oil/patches, edible marijuana products), marijuana services and marijuana related businesses (excluding hemp products)
    • Medical benefit packages
  • Membership/Subscriptions in excess of one year (i.e., two year, three year, lifetime etc.)
  • Merchants engaged in activity prohibited by MasterCard and Visa
  • Merchants engaged in any form of deceptive marketing practices including but not limited to:
    • Hidden disclosure
    • Bogus claims & endorsements
    • Pre-checked opt in boxes
    • Refund/Cancellation avoidance
    • Poorly disclosed negative options
  • Merchants offering substantial rebates or special incentives (e.g., free gift, prize, sweepstakes, or contest) as an inducement to purchase products/services
  • Merchants that have ransom-like or extortion-like basis for their business model (e.g., mugshot removal)
  • Merchants utilizing tactics to evade Card Brand excessive chargeback monitoring programs
  • Money Service Businesses1
  • Multi-level marketing or pyramid schemes
  • Negative response marketing techniques by any type of merchant (i.e., customer is automatically charged if they don’t return the merchandise at the end of a free trial periods
  • Nutraceuticals (e.g., acai berry or health related teas or drinks)
  • OFAC restricted activity
  • Payday loans and unsecure loan/lines originating from non FDIC insured banks
  • Peptides, research chemicals
  • Prescription drug products sold without a prescription (e.g., contact lenses, steroids)
  • Prescription drug sales, Internet/MOTO
  • Products/services that promote hate, violence, harassment or abuse
  • Pseudo pharmaceuticals (e.g., weight-loss, anti-aging, muscle-building, sexual-stimulant supplements, colon cleansers, detox products)
  • Security brokers, funding portals, and other similar investment entities
  • Shipping/forwarding brokers
  • Social media “click farms” (i.e., the sale of clicks/likes/reviews/endorsements on social media sites)
  • Telemarketing companies involved with the following methods of operations:
  • Offering a free gift, prize, or sweepstakes/contest entry as an inducement to purchase their product or service.
  • Inbound telemarketing companies that receive calls as the result of post cards or similar mailings (as opposed to catalog or media advertising)
  • Selling products/services as an agent for a third party
  • Third Party Payment Processors/Aggregators/Payment Service Companies (e.g., bill pay service, crowd funding, peer-to-peer payments, digital wallets, commissary accounts) falling outside of Card Brand approved requirements (Payment Facilitators)
  • Timeshares
  • Tobacco products (including e-cigarettes), Internet/MOTO
  • Virtual currency that can be monetized, re-sold or converted to physical/digital goods/services or otherwise exit the virtual world
  • Weapons, ammunitions, and firearm parts, Internet/MOTO

2. ACH RULES

The ACH network is controlled and managed by the National Automated Clearinghouse Association (NACHA) and its member organizations. Where submitting Charges over the ACH network, you are required to comply with the NACHA Operating Rules. NACHA may amend the NACHA Operating Rules at any time, and we may amend this Agreement or make changes to the Payment Processing Services as necessary to comply with the NACHA Operating Rules.

You understand and accept your role as the Originator (as defined in the NACHA Operating Rules). You agree to obtain your Purchaser’s consent to debit or credit their bank account and initiate a Charge over the ACH network. Such consent must be in a form and manner that complies with the NACHA Operating Rules and the Documentation for ACH Transactions. As with other Payment Processing Services, you may not, and may not attempt to send or receive funds to or from a person, entity, or state where such Transactions are prohibited by applicable Law. You also agree to maintain the security and integrity of all information you collect as part of an ACH Transaction.

Any Disputes or unauthorized Charges using the ACH network may result in you becoming unable to accept ACH payments.

You authorize us to act on your behalf as your agent to receive and process ACH payments from your Purchasers in connection with your use of the Payment Processing Services. When we receive funds from your Purchasers on your behalf through ACH payments, you hereby agree that you shall consider our receipt of such funds to be the same as your receipt of such funds, regardless of the time at which you actually receive settlement funds with respect to the underlying Charge. Accordingly, you shall ensure that your Purchasers are given credit for the transactions underlying any Charge submitted using the ACH network at the time we receive funds on your behalf.