ETA releases new edition of Merchant and ISO Underwriting and Risk Monitoring Guidelines

According to the press release, the revised guidelines incorporate recent industry rule changes and trends related to risk monitoring that help mitigate risk in the US card acceptance ecosystem.

The ETA Underwriting Guidelines, launched in 2014, were developed to provide guidance to payments technology companies, including Independent Sales Organisations (ISOs), payment processors, and merchant acquirers, in maintaining strong and modern risk management programmes.

Moreover, the ETA Underwriting Guidelines are grounded in the Operating Regulations of the various payment networks, existing governmental regulations, and industry best practices for risk management. They are developed by ETA in conjunction with the ETA Risk, Fraud and Security Committee, which is made up of legal, policy, and industry experts. 

Accordingly, changes in 2020 include: 

Furthermore, the Guidelines also serve as the core of ETA's Self-Regulation Program (SRP), which provides ISOs, payment facilitators, and acquirers the ability to demonstrate reliability and industry acumen by attesting that they adopt and utilise either the ETA Guidelines on Merchant and ISO Underwriting and Risk Monitoring or the ETA Payment Facilitator Guidelines.

The ETA Underwriting Guidelines are available to ETA members. ETA will host a webinar on 15 September 2020 with legal, policy, and industry experts to outline the notable changes to the fourth edition of the Guidelines.