Recurring & direct response
Multi-level marketing merchant accounts
Commonly assigned MCC
5964 · 5968 · 5122
The category actually assigned is set by the acquirer at boarding and can differ from these.
The short version
Direct-selling companies run two payment flows: distributors buying inventory and enrolment packages, and end consumers buying product. Acquirers care about the ratio between them, because a business selling mostly to its own distributors is a structure regulators have taken an interest in.
Compensation plan documents form part of the underwriting file here in a way they do not in any other vertical.
What is actually being priced
What underwriting is looking at.
Retail versus distributor mix
A low proportion of genuine end-consumer sales is the pattern regulators look for and acquirers price against.
Income claims
Distributor-generated income claims on social channels are attributed to the company at underwriting.
International distributors
Cross-border distributor payments add currency handling and cross-border interchange to the account.
What we put in place
- Separate MIDs for distributor and retail flows with distinct descriptors
- Multi-currency acceptance for international distributor bases
- Recurring billing for autoship with account updater
- Compensation plan review as part of pre-submission
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.
- Compensation plan and distributor agreement
- Retail versus distributor revenue split
- Income claim policy and how it is enforced
- Processing statements across all current MIDs
On this account
What a boarded account in this vertical usually carries.
Also in recurring & direct response
Tell us about your mlm & direct sales business.
We will tell you whether a route exists right now, which acquirers are writing the category, and what your file needs before it goes anywhere.