FAQ’S

Merchant Rewards… Extraordinary benefits. $0 Cost!

How is Merchant Rewards Different than other reward programs?

Merchant Rewards is the only rewards program that rewards merchants with a rebate for accepting payments by credit card. All other reward programs reward cardholders for purchasing with credit cards.

Why do MSPs and ISOs need Merchant Rewards when they already earn revenue streams from Merchants?

It’s simple… Merchant Rewards provides MSPs and ISOs with differentiation from other merchant services providers. It reduces attrition and enables MSPs and ISO to not have to sell on price alone, plus it provides MSPs and ISOs with a new revenue stream.

What benefits does Merchant Rewards offer merchants?

Merchants earn a 1% Reward Dollar rebate each month on their total Visa and MasterCard sales. (1% on first $50,000 of monthly processing and 1/2 of 1% thereafter). Merchants can also apply for a vendor account, and market their products and services to the vast network of buyers in the Merchant Rewards network.

How can Merchant Rewards pay millions of Rewards Dollars to merchants if the service is free and there are no fees paid by MSPs, ISOs or merchants?

Merchant Rewards is a service of Intertrade Capital Group, a company that has been facilitating tens of millions of dollars in trade credit transactions for major companies for over 15 years. Merchant Rewards leverages Intertrade trade credits to fund its reward rebate and redemption program.

What type of an agreement does a MSP or ISO have to sign to offer Merchant Rewards to its merchants?

MSPs and ISOs agree to the Terms of Service that details their duties and responsibilities as well as those of Merchant Rewards. The term of service is three years and renews automatically for additional terms of one year unless cancelled by either party.

Can MSP’s and ISO’s terminate their agreement any time, and is there an early termination fee?

The MSP / ISO agreement can be cancelled anytime by either party for breach of any term of the agreement if the breach is not cured. Should MSP or ISO cease operations, sell their portfolio to another MSP or file for bankruptcy, either party may terminate the agreement with 60 days notice. Any agreement terminated within 12 months of activation shall accrue a $500 early termination fee to cover cost of integrations and marketing. The early termination fee will be deducted from MSPs revenue share prior to disbursement of collected fees.

Do merchants have to sign an agreement?

When merchants login to the Merchant Rewards marketplace for the first time, they must agree to the Terms of Service for Merchants in order to activate their account and receive Reward Dollar rebates.

Is there an early termination fee for merchants ?

No, merchants can terminate their membership in Merchant Rewards at any time and there isn’t any termination fee. 

How does Merchant Rewards obtain merchant’s processing volume?

Merchant Rewards will assist MSPs and ISOs to implement an API that automagically deposits Reward Dollars to each merchant’s account based on their total Visa and MasterCard processing each month.

What does the MSP’s and ISO’s have to provide Merchant Rewards about their merchants?

Merchant Rewards simply requires a spreadsheet or CSV file with company name, contact person, email address, and phone number for each merchant so that we can send them relevant reward redemption opportunities. City and State can also be provided, so that we can send merchants offers based on their location.

Does Merchant Rewards integrate with all processors?

Total monthly Reward Dollars to be issued to merchants is automatically provided to Merchant Rewards via API. Most processors already provide processing data reporting to MSPs and ISOs via APIs, so there shouldn’t be an issue acquiring the needed data to issue Reward Dollars from most processors.

How can a MSP or ISO be assured their merchant data remains confidential and is secure?

The Terms of Service dictate that MSP and ISO data is Confidential Proprietary Information not to be used for any other purpose. Intertrade Capital Group has been providing Information Technology services to companies, business networks and chambers of commerce for over 15 years, and has never experienced a data breach.

How can MSPs and ISOs be assured about uptime reliability and security?

Merchant Rewards has been online providing rewards and redemption to merchants for over 5 years utilizing Amazon Cloud servers for its database, applications and hosting environment. Merchants have experienced 99.9% uptime with no data breach or loss.

Is there any rewards or redemption liability for MSP’s and ISO’s?

There is no liability for MSPs or ISOs, as Merchant Rewards assumes all liability for issuing and redeeming Reward Dollars.

How do merchants get setup on Merchant Rewards?

Merchant Rewards uploads your provided merchant data into the Rewards Marketplace and sends each merchant a welcome email with a unique username and password.

Do Reward Dollars earned by Merchants expire?

Reward Dollars do not expire. Merchants can accumulate Reward Dollars to use them towards the payment of large purchases.

What happens to Reward Dollars if a merchant decides to close their Merchant Rewards account?

Earned Reward Dollars in a closed account can be transferred to a merchant’s MSP or ISO and redeemed towards purchases for their own use. Transfers must meet certain terms, conditions and fees, as detailed in the Terms of Service agreement.

What is the MSP’s and ISO’s revenue share on the merchants that signup for Merchant Rewards Preferred or Elite member accounts?

Merchant Rewards pays from 25% to 50% of collected monthly fees depending on the number of MSP or ISO merchants participating in the program. Typical revenue share to MSPs and ISOs with 5000 merchants in their portfolio could be about $5,000/month, and MSPs with 30,000 merchants could earn about $40,000/month.

How is the merchant notified about their earned Reward Dollars each month?

Merchants receive an email notification each time Reward Dollars are posted to their account. And, they always have online access to a statement detailing earned rewards and redemption transactions.

Can merchants accrue Merchant Reward Dollars, and if so, for how long?

There is no time limit to accrue rewards. Many merchants accrue Reward Dollars for a year or more and then use their earned Rewards towards payment of major advertising campaigns often reducing cash requirements by thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.

How does Merchant Rewards incentivize merchants to upgrade to a Preferred or Elite paid account?

Merchant Rewards sends relevant purchasing opportunities to merchants several times each month. Free accounts can typically redeem from 10% to 20% Reward Dollars towards payment of purchases and pay the balance cash. Preferred Members with paid accounts can typically use 20% to 30% Reward Dollars and Elite Members with paid accounts can typically use 30% to 50% Reward Dollars. The balance after redeeming earned Reward Dollars is paid in cash with a credit card.

Why would a merchant upgrade to a paid account if they can remain a member for free?

The difference in the cash balance due after deduction of Reward Dollar payments can be substantial. For example a typical $3,000/week all inclusive Mexican or Caribbean vacation would cost $2400 cash with a free account, $2100 cash with a Preferred account and $1800 cash with an Elite account. The cash savings on just one reward redemption with an Elite account that costs just $25/month could be $600 or more.

How are purchases done in the online marketplace?

The Merchant Rewards online marketplace typically features $200 million in reward redemption opportunities. Merchants can view the marketplace of product and service offers, select the items they wish to purchase, and add them to their shopping cart. At check-out merchants can apply earned Reward Dollars towards payment of their purchase up to the maximum percentage available for their subscription type. The balance after applying the Reward Dollar redemption to the selling price is paid with a credit card.

How is Technical Support provided to MSPs and ISOs?

Merchant Rewards support specialists do all the heavy lifting and will collaborate with your IT department or processor to facilitate any required integrations.

Does the MSP or ISO have any obligations to Merchant Rewards?

Once the required merchant information is provided to on board merchants into Merchant Rewards, MSPs and ISOs will get additional benefits by marketing and promoting Merchant Rewards to its merchants.