When a new merchant partners with an ISO and submits a signed merchant processing application (MPA), their data and supporting documentation needs to be submitted to the payment processor for verification, due diligence, and approval. That process is known as boarding, and it’s an extremely important part of the new merchant acquisition process for all ISOs for a couple of reasons. First, there is risk involved with a new merchant for both the ISO and the processor, and a smooth merchant boarding process with all of the correct documentation provided ensures that risk can be mitigated properly. On top of that, the submission of an application containing errors or omissions could easily result in denial of an application. That makes efficient and accurate onboarding a priority for all ISOs – one that their merchant roster and their residuals depend on.
Running an Inefficient Process?
The biggest problem with the boarding process is that it isn’t standardized. Each payment processor has its own individual boarding system with its own idiosyncrasies and, more importantly, its own portal for connection and transmission of data. That means two things: first, that ISOs need to tailor their boarding efforts to the system of the processor they’re connecting with, and second, that ISOs need to create a unique piece of software for each payment processor they wish to connect to.
Traditional onboarding also requires an ISO’s boarding staff to manually verify and transfer all of the information from a new merchant’s signed MPA into the payment processor’s boarding portal, a process that is not only monotonous and time-consuming but also introduces an enormous potential for human error – an error that could wind up costing an ISO a lot of money or result in outright rejection.
The result of all that complexity and manual work is that boarding is extremely time-consuming. So much so that submitting a single merchant application through traditional means could take an experienced employee up to 30 minutes! That puts a bottleneck on the onboarding process and also necessitates entire boarding departments for larger ISOs.
How TurboApp Makes Boarding Fast and Easy
IRIS CRM’s TurboApp boarding application eliminates all of the problems with traditional boarding by automating as much of the process as possible and standardizing the inputs across multiple major payment processors. With TurboApp, even a new user with no experience can upload and submit a complete boarding application in as little as five minutes!
TurboApp uses IRIS CRM’s built-in e-signature functionality to pull all the relevant data directly from a merchant’s e-signed MPA. That means zero manual data transfer between MPAs and the boarding portal and the elimination of the wasted time and human error manual data handling causes. Once a new application has been populated, the only manual work required is reviewing the information for accuracy and uploading any necessary supporting documents.
TurboApp seamlessly interfaces with Fiserv Omaha, Fiserv North, TSYS ELAPP, TSYS Express, Paysafe, Priority Payments, and Worldpay MAG. It’s designed to automatically self-configure based on the payment processor selected so that regardless of which of those leading processors a merchant is applying to, the ISO only needs one boarding platform – TurboApp. And because TurboApp has to be certified for use by each processor, any time they change their requirements or add a new field to their boarding applications, IRIS CRM automatically makes that update – a huge time and resource savings for ISOs who would otherwise have to reprogram their own boarding software.
The result of using TurboApp for boarding is an increase in boarding speed of up to 600% and the ability to have any team member – including the independent agents already working with merchants – handle the boarding process with unparalleled accuracy.
For more information on IRIS CRM, it’s built-in TurboApp boarding portal, or any of the platform’s industry-leading sales and productivity features, reach out to a member of the team or start your no-commitment free trial today!