Skip to content
Dash/Process

Financial services

Specialist acquirer

Debt collection payment processing

Collections agencies are underwritten on licensing and consumer-communication compliance, because the regulatory exposure travels to the acquirer.

Commonly assigned MCC

7322

The category actually assigned is set at boarding and can differ from these.

Reviewed

The short version

Debt collection is restricted for a reason that has little to do with card risk. The FDCPA and its state analogues create a well-litigated liability, and an agency that runs afoul of it becomes a problem for the bank behind its merchant account as well as for itself.

The offsetting fact is that a collections payment is about as clean as a card transaction gets: the consumer knows what they are paying and there is a documented obligation behind it. Ratios in well-run agencies are low.

What is actually being priced

What underwriting is looking at.

Licensing is per state

Collection licensing and bonding requirements differ by state, and underwriting checks them against where you actually collect.

Communication compliance

Call recording, disclosure scripts and validation notices form part of the file.

Descriptor sensitivity

A descriptor that reveals the nature of a debt on a shared statement is a compliance problem, not just a support ticket.

What their lists say

Stripe, Square and PayPal on debt collection.

Their own published policies, quoted verbatim and dated, next to where the category stands with our acquiring partners.

Stripe

Prohibited

“Debt collection agencies”

Square

Prohibited

“bankruptcy attorneys or collection agencies engaged in the collection of debt”

PayPal

Not listed

Not named. 'Debt settlement services' are prohibited.

Dash Process

Specialist acquirer

A specialist acquirer that writes collections as stated policy. One dashboard, one relationship.

What we ask for
All twenty categories, with sources

In the product

What your application looks like from your side.

The same five stages we publish on the site, a named contact, and the document list for debt collection in one place — received, requested, or not needed.

How it works
Meridian Botanicals/Application
Sandbox
  1. Apply
  2. Underwriting
  3. Approve
  4. Integrate
  5. Live

Underwriting in progress

Acquiring review · Debt collection program · MCC 7322

In review

Documents · 3 of 4 received

  • State licenses and bondsReceived
  • Your consumer communication and validation processReceived
  • Portfolio composition and average balanceReceived
  • Existing processing statements and chargeback ratioRequested
Illustrative · figures are fictional, not a quote

What we put in place

  • A specialist acquirer that writes collections as stated policy
  • ACH and eCheck alongside cards, which is how most collections volume settles
  • Virtual terminal and secure payment links for agent-taken payments
  • Descriptor configuration built for consumer-statement privacy

What underwriting will ask you for

Assemble these before you apply anywhere. The list does not get shorter by waiting, and having it ready is the single biggest thing you control about how long this takes.

  • State licenses and bonds
  • Your consumer communication and validation process
  • Portfolio composition and average balance
  • Existing processing statements and chargeback ratio
Why each document is on the list

Questions

About debt collection.

Collections sits with specialist acquirers who write it as stated policy. We prepare the file and present it; you still get one dashboard and one relationship, and the underwriting decision is the acquirer's.

On this account

What an account in this vertical usually runs on.

Next

Credit repair

Tell us about your debt collection business.

We will tell you which of our acquiring partners writes it and what your file needs before it goes anywhere.

Get approvedAsk a questionor call (347) 594-9686