the identities of all new and existing customers will be verified to a reasonable level of certainty. Any suspicious activity will be reported. Records of all identity checks will be maintained for up to 5 years.
MATCH Database - The MATCH File (Member Alert to Control High-Risk) is maintained by MasterCard International and is the way by which MasterCard and Visa acquiring banks identify merchants, and the principals, which have been terminated for specific reasons. These checks find information such as when a merchant has been convicted of credit card fraud, deposited sales that were not authorized by cardholders, deposited transaction that were for sales generated by another business (known as laundering.)
TMF Database - If the acquiring bank ends the processing contract with the merchant on negative terms, it is most likely that the account will be terminated. A TMF merchant account also known as a terminated merchant file is the worst thing that can happen to your business. If your merchant account comes under a “TMF” it means that your account has been blacklisted and will remain so for a minimum of 5 years. Once an account is blacklisted, it is almost impossible to come back from it and you will be unable to get an account from any other bank.
The Visa Merchant Alert Service (VMAS) - VMAS is one of the only effective pan-European terminated merchant files available. It helps acquirers maintain the quality of new customers, and provides alerts of ‘acquirer hopping’ - merchants moving from acquirer to acquirer, either within their own country or outside. VMAS is fully compliant with European Commission data protection guidelines on data retention, security and usage.
Credit Checks - During our assessment of your application, we will use the services of credit reference agencies to confirm your home address and calculate your personal credit score. Information held by the credit reference agencies is used by us and others to help verify the identity of customers and to assess their ability to meet financial commitments. This enables accounts to be opened more quickly and reduces the need to obtain third-party references.