Getting Started with Merchant Link

Meet the Teams...

The Merchant Link Service Delivery Group is comprised of four teams working together to ensure timely, customer-centric service for your payment transactions.

SETUP

The Implementation Team interfaces with processors, vendors, merchants and dealers to obtain all necessary information to ensure an accurate and smooth installation.

CONFIGURE

The Installation Team provides fast, efficient, problem-free installations with service uniquely specialized to our merchants’ needs.

SOLVE

The Technical Support Team provides comprehensive, expert assistance to merchants and dealers for issues related to reporting, authorization and settlement.

RECOVER

The Financial Resolution Team assists with batch recovery and corrections. From processing credits to a full batch rekey, they save merchants more than $7 million each year in recovered funds.

Getting Started The establishment of your Merchant Link account begins with the Implementations Team. Once a service order for a new account or change-of-service is received from your POS provider, the Implementation Team will make contact with a representative of your company and your credit card processor.

Getting Started: Best Practices

In the case of a change-of-service from one credit card processor, do not close or schedule closure of the current account until the new account is up and running.

If the POS system that you are using was previously used by another company (change of ownership, etc.), do not use the equipment for credit card transactions until cleared by your POS provider. This will ensure that you do not send your transactions to the previous owner’s account.

Make sure that your point-of-sale (POS) provider has correct setup documentation provided by your merchant services.

Getting Started

Tip:

Always keep the name and phone number of your merchant services account representative on hand.

In cases where processor support is needed to resolve future problems that may occur, this contact is your quickest route to service.

Going Live At the time of installation, your POS provider will contact Merchant Link and work with a member of our Installation Team to properly configure the POS system with the correct settings to send transactions to your processor. Once the configuration is complete, an authorization and a settlement transaction will be run to confirm that the setup is correct. If both transactions are successful, your establishment will be clear to process credit cards.

Going Live: Best Practices

For a change-of-service from one processor to another, make sure that all funds authorized by current processor are accounted for and that there are no unsettled transactions in the system.

Going Live

Tip:

Most processors deposit funds within 3 days after settlement. After a new installation or change-of-service, please check with your bookkeeper or accountant to make sure that you have begun receiving settlements. Contact Merchant Link’s Technical Support Team for assistance.

Getting Help Any issues with credit card authorization and settlement that occur after a successful installation will be handled by the Technical Support Team, available 24 x 7 x 365.

Technical Support should be your first call when experiencing authorization or settlement errors. One of our technicians will assess the problem and work to quickly resolve it.

Should the problem be beyond Merchant Link’s capability or scope, our representative will assist with determining and contacting the entity that can best resolve the issue.

Getting Help: Best Practices

In the case of authorization or settlement failure, please document any error messages or uncommon behavior being displayed by your POS system. Also, if possible, have the information for a card that failed.

In the case of settlement problems, please provide the date, number of transactions, and amount of the failing batch(es).

If you need to retrieve a credit card number, a manager from the site must call and be able to provide specific information about the credit card and transaction. (Note that Merchant Link can only retrieve card data for transactions run through our system.)

Getting Help

Tip:

Should any changes be made to your POS system (software upgrades or patches) or internet equipment (firewall changes, hardware changes) please note the nature of the change and the date and time.

This will be important information should any issues surface after the change is made.

Recovering Funds Should you experience a problem where a batch settles twice, data in the batch is corrupt or your settlement is missing funds, the Financial Resolution Team will assist you with resettlement or possible rekeying of credit card transactions.

Recovering Funds: Best Practices

The Financial Resolution Team requires a request form be filled out and signed by a manager at the site for all affected batches. This is a legal form that allows Merchant Link to act as the site’s agent in the adjustment of transactions. It is very important that this form be returned as soon as possible, along with a copy of the batch report for each affected batch, as work cannot proceed without it.

When contacting the Financial Resolution Team have the date, number of transactions, and amount of any batch in question available.

Recovering Funds

Tip:

Many duplicate batches are discovered only after a customer calls a merchant and complains of duplicate charges.

Should your site receive such a call, and the reason is not obvious from your sales records, please note the business date of the transactions in question and call Merchant Link Technical Support as soon as possible.

“One Call Solves All” Service Philosophy Acting as the merchant advocate and hub in the payment infrastructure, we are uniquely positioned to work with all vendors and solutions to solve any service issue, no matter where it occurs. Our “One Call Solves All” service philosophy means a merchant makes one call to us and we will either resolve the problem directly, or coordinate all of the subsequent actions necessary to correct an issue. Our mission is to provide comprehensive, round-the-clock support to allow our merchants to focus on their core business.

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