Deactivated without warning, and why the structure makes it likely.
Instant onboarding and sudden account closure are the same design decision seen from two ends. Nobody underwrote you before you started, so the risk work happens afterwards on live volume, and the only lever available is stopping the money.
What this page settles.
Three questions, in the order most people ask them.
The trade you made at signup
You signed up in minutes. No application, no underwriting, no questions about delivery times or ownership. You were taking payments the same afternoon.
That was possible because the aggregator placed you under its own merchant account, as one of thousands of sub-merchants. The acquiring bank’s relationship is with them, not with you. Nobody assessed your business individually, because the model does not require it in advance.
The risk did not disappear. It was deferred. It gets managed afterwards, by watching live volume and intervening when a pattern looks wrong — and once money is already moving, the interventions available are holding the balance or closing the account.
Instant onboarding and sudden deactivation are the same design decision seen from two ends. That is not a defence of how it feels; it is the reason it happens, and knowing it tells you both how to respond and how to make it not happen again.
What usually triggers it
A volume spike. The most common by far. You got written about, a product went viral, you had a launch. From outside, a sudden fivefold increase looks the same as a merchant collecting money they cannot deliver against.
An unusually large transaction relative to your history.
Disputes or refunds rising.
Selling something in a restricted category. Every aggregator publishes a prohibited and restricted list, and they are broader than most people expect. Worth reading before you launch a product line rather than after.
A mismatch with what you said you sold at signup, including an entirely legitimate change of direction nobody told them about.
Long delivery lead times becoming visible. Pre-orders, custom manufacture, events, crowdfunded launches. The dispute exposure is real and the system is right to notice it.
Links to a previously closed account — same bank details, same owner, same device.
Working the appeal
Read the notice properly. It usually names the reason and the review period. Merchants frequently react to the headline and miss both.
Send documents, not arguments. Invoices, proof of delivery or fulfilment, supplier contracts, customer correspondence, your refund policy, and anything evidencing the trigger — the article that drove the spike, the campaign that caused it.
Explain the pattern in two sentences. “We were featured on the 14th, volume went from 400 to 2,000 orders, all fulfilled within our usual three days, tracking attached.” That is the entire appeal, and it works more often than people expect.
Keep fulfilling orders. A business still delivering during a review looks completely different from one that has gone dark. It also prevents the disputes that would confirm their concern.
Be reachable and prompt. Slow replies extend reviews.
Do not open a second account. It breaches the terms, it is detected, and it converts a temporary hold into a permanent record.
Getting your customers paid in the meantime
Practical, because the business still has to run.
Have a backup way to take payment. This is the lesson most merchants only learn once. A second processor, even one you barely use, means a freeze is an inconvenience rather than a stop.
Invoice and take bank transfer for larger orders in the short term.
Tell customers plainly if fulfilment is affected. Silence produces disputes, and disputes confirm the concern that caused the freeze.
Do not take payments through a friend’s account or another entity. That is transaction laundering, it is a serious breach, and it is the fastest route to a MATCH listing.
Whether to move, and when
If you have been frozen once, you will likely be reviewed again, because the trigger is usually structural — your volume pattern, your category, your delivery cycle — rather than a one-off.
The question worth asking is whether a held payout would damage the business. If you have staff to pay on Friday and suppliers on delivery, the answer is yes, and that is a far better reason to move to a merchant account than any rate comparison.
A merchant account underwrites you before you start. Somebody looks at your category, your delivery times and your ownership while nothing is at stake. Holds can still happen; the surprises are far fewer.
And the honest counterweight: if you are small, new, and the software is doing real work for you, staying is reasonable. Just keep a second route to taking money, and read the restricted list.
What we charge
Interchange + 0.50% + 10¢ in person, interchange + 0.75% + 25¢ keyed, with no contract and no monthly fee. Your own merchant ID, underwritten up front.
If you have been deactivated, tell us what you sell and what you were told. We will tell you honestly whether being underwritten in advance would have changed the outcome — and if your category is the real problem, we will say that instead of boarding you into the same situation.
While we are on the subject
Can they really keep my money?
They can hold a balance for a review period under their terms, typically to cover the window in which customers could dispute. Holding it permanently without cause is different, and that is where the terms and, if needed, a regulator or lawyer come in.
How long is the hold?
Commonly a defined review period tied to the dispute window. Check the notice you were sent, because it usually states it, and merchants frequently do not read that far.
Can I appeal?
Yes, and appeals do succeed, particularly where the trigger was a volume spike you can evidence. Supply documents rather than argument.
Should I just sign up again?
No. Opening a new account to get round a closure breaches the terms and risks turning a temporary problem into a permanent record against you.