Does Finix Offer Merchant Validation?

This item is outside of Finix Payments’ scope and the responsibility sits with the Payment Facilitator to validate the legitimacy of the merchant. For card-present merchants, such as retail stores, an onsite inspection typically addresses this compliance component. However, for card-not-present / e-commerce merchants, validating the legitimacy of the merchant can be a bit more tricky.

The overall goal of this process is to ensure that the merchant’s principal business activity is consistent with the MCC assigned to the merchant by the acquiring bank. For example, if a merchant’s MCC classifies it as a “Magazine and Newspaper Store”, the Payment Facilitator should have a process in place to ensure the merchant is in fact only selling magazines and newspapers. It is all too common for merchants within this MCC to pivot over to selling adult content, which is strictly prohibited under the payment card network rules. The Payment Facilitator should periodically monitor the merchant’s e-commerce store to ensure that the MCC code is being used for its intended purpose.