Your Merchant Account Was Terminated: What to Do Next

A termination stops your ability to take card payments and follows you into your next application, so the first job is understanding the stated reason and gathering evidence, before approaching another provider.

Last reviewed September 2026

First, establish the stated reason

Ask for the termination reason in writing. Excessive disputes, a prohibited activity, a scheme monitoring programme and an undisclosed business change are treated very differently by the next underwriter, and answering a question you have guessed at is worse than answering the real one.

Check whether you were listed

Card schemes operate terminated-merchant listings that other acquirers query during underwriting. A listing does not automatically prevent acceptance, but it does mean the reason will come up, so it is better to raise it yourself with the supporting facts.

What to prepare before applying again

The termination letter and the reason given.
Processing statements covering the period in question.
Dispute and refund figures, month by month.
What you changed afterwards: descriptor, delivery times, fraud rules, support.
Current ownership, licences and the markets you sell into now.

How to present the history

Disclose it. Providers assess the pattern and the remediation, and an undisclosed termination discovered later usually ends the application. Nobody can promise acceptance after a termination — what improves the odds is a complete, consistent file.

iGaming

iGaming acceptance is decided almost entirely by licensing and player geography. Providers that support a Malta or Curaçao licensed operator are rarely the same ones that support a UK or Ontario facing brand.

Forex & CFD

Trading platforms are underwritten on regulatory status and client geography. A regulated brokerage in a recognised jurisdiction has a materially different provider pool than an offshore entity taking retail clients worldwide.

United Kingdom

A UK company is straightforward to onboard for mainstream card acceptance, and the questions that decide the outcome are usually your sector, your trading history and where your customers are, rather than the country of registration itself.

Malta Gaming Authority (MGA)

For a gaming operator, the licence is the first thing an acquirer looks at, and an MGA licence is one of the most widely recognised: what then decides the outcome is which markets you actually accept players from, because permitted geography, not the licence alone, drives gaming underwriting.

Chargeback rate too high

A rising chargeback rate is the most common reason processing is restricted or withdrawn, and because schemes measure it monthly against your transaction count, it can cross a threshold faster than most merchants expect.

Chargeback ratio

Chargeback ratio is the number of chargebacks in a month divided by the transactions or volume in that period, expressed as a percentage. It is the metric acquirers watch most closely, because card schemes place merchants above their thresholds into monitoring programmes with fees and remediation requirements.

PSP vs acquirer

The PSP provides the technology and the commercial relationship; the acquirer holds the scheme licence, underwrites your business and settles your money. Many merchants need both, sometimes bundled by one provider, sometimes contracted separately.

Check which payment routes may fit your business

Answer a short set of questions about your business and we will check your profile against the requirements providers have given us. No approval is decided here.

Start assessment

Nothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.