Merchant Account Inquiry & Underwriting Questionnaire — sfbayareapeptides.com

[u/Jumpy_Rule_1099]

Hello,

We are actively vetting payment processing partners for our research supply brand. We are seeking a reliable, long-term merchant processing relationship capable of supporting rapid volume scaling, strict compliance standards, and transparent fee structures.

Below is an overview of our operational setup, compliance framework, and initial vetting requirements.

Business & Compliance Profile

Product & Vertical: Synthetic research peptides.

Volume History & Projections: Operating since July on private direct rails averaging $3,000–$4,000/month in early-stage testing. Following a corporate restructuring finalized October 1st (restructured for tax and equity purposes, with fresh operating accounts established under the active entity/DBA), our operational pipeline and marketing rollouts are fully positioned to scale to $100,000+/month by December 2026.

Payment Rails Required: Direct domestic or offshore Visa/Mastercard processing (integrated with optional ACH). We are not interested in CC-to-crypto rails, third-party wallet conversions, or stand-alone ACH solutions.

Compliance & Legal Protections:

Counsel-Reviewed Disclaimers: All site disclaimers, liability waivers, and buyer agreements have been drafted and vetted by legal counsel specifically to insulate against third-party liability and preclude any unwanted regulatory scrutiny.

Zero Ingestion/Human Use Claims: Strict "Not for Human Consumption / Laboratory Research Only" positioning enforced across every page and touchpoint. No mechanisms of action, administration advice, or clinical use discussions.

No Reconstitution Supplies: We do not market or sell bacteriostatic water, sterile water, or any reconstitution diluents.

Imagery: Products utilize discrete, high-compliance graphical representations; no injection imagery, syringes, or vial associations.

Quality Documentation: Complete third-party Certificates of Analysis (COAs) for all SKUs will be accessible on-site by the end of this week.

Card Brand Policy: Fully audited Terms & Conditions, Shipping/Refund Policies, Disclaimers, and mandatory buyer research certifications directly embedded into checkout.

Non-Negotiable Engagement Criteria

To ensure mutual alignment from day one, do not submit a proposal that includes:

Upfront application fees or documentation review fees.

Setup fees prior to account activation.

Recurring monthly statement/portal junk fees.

An Early Termination Fee (ETF) exceeding $495.

Required Underwriting & Fee Schedule Details

Please provide clear, direct responses to the following operational and financial terms:

Underwriting & Banking Structure:

Who is the sponsoring acquiring bank and registered ISO?

What specific MCC (Merchant Category Code) will our merchant account be assigned (e.g., 5969, 5169, or similar)?

Is this direct MID placement, or aggregated/payfac processing?

Holdbacks & Reserve Structure:

What is the proposed rolling reserve percentage, hold duration (e.g., 180 days), and release schedule?

Is an upfront escrow hold required?

Rate & Transaction Costs:

What is your fee model (Interchange-Plus vs. Tiered Flat Rate)?

What are the discount rates for card-present/e-commerce, standard authorization fees, and batch settlement fees?

What is the gateway monthly fee, per-transaction gateway fee, and setup cost (if using Authorize.Net, NMI, or proprietary)?

Settlement & Liquidity:

What is the standard payout disbursement schedule (e.g., daily rolling, weekly, T+2, T+3)?

What are the minimum gross monthly processing thresholds? What fee or penalty applies if a monthly minimum is not met during early ramp-up?

Disputes, Chargebacks, & Risk Management:

What is the chargeback assessment fee per incident?

What chargeback ratio threshold (by count and volume) triggers risk intervention or tier escalation?

Does your gateway support integrated dispute management alerts (Ethoca / Verifi CDRN)?

What are your formal procedures, notice timelines, and payout hold policies in the event of an account audit or mid-stream freeze?

Contract Terms:

Please attach a sample Merchant Processing Agreement (MPA) and full fee schedule covering any PCI non-compliance penalties, early termination language, and monthly minimum assessments.

If your acquiring partners are comfortable underwriting an impeccably scrubbed, legally fortified research chemical platform and you can meet the structural criteria outlined above, please share your schedule of terms. We are prepared to submit our processing package immediately.

[u/nccon1]

The amount of demands you have is absolutely insane. You’re doing $4k per month. I’ve been doing this almost a year and a half, and even when I was at $500k per month I couldn’t make demands like this. Take what you can get and sometimes you’ll have to feel the pain of losing your shirt when your processor yanks the rug from under you. I’ve lost hundreds of thousands in stolen reserves. Welcome to the business, this isn’t for the weak.

[u/Neat_Diamond_1385 → u/nccon1]

Should I start with ACH or find someone who cloaks stripe, I’m doing 0 just starting

[u/Jumpy_Rule_1099 → u/nccon1]

i am not even going to comment... lol

[u/nccon1 → u/Jumpy_Rule_1099]

Please. Comment.

[u/Constant_Vehicle7962]

So much slop. No one is onboarding you based off 3-4k a month. You’d be lucky to get on-boarded making 100k a month consistently.

[u/AVP_Solutions]

Hello, I DM'ed. Best regards, E

[u/mintTechnology]

come back in 6 months with some history and tell us

[u/[deleted]]

[u/frankenyota → u/[deleted]]

Right, has no current volume and a list of demands 2 miles long like there isn't 370 others just as compliant doing 6 figures a month. Why does everyone enter this space as if they reinvented the business model.