We help UK businesses get card payments approved, including the ones banks turn away.
Merchant Advice is an independent payments broker. We are not a bank, an acquirer or a payment gateway. We sit on the merchant's side of the table, work out which providers will realistically approve a business, and help the application get through underwriting. Advice costs the merchant nothing.
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An adviser on the merchant's side of the table
Most businesses meet the payments industry at its worst moment. An application is declined with no reason given, or an account that worked fine for a year is closed at a week's notice with settlement held back. Nobody explains why, because the people who could explain it are not the people you can reach.
Merchant Advice exists to close that gap. We know which acquirers underwrite which sectors, what their risk teams actually look at, and how to present a business so it gets a fair reading. That knowledge is worth very little to anyone selling a single product. It is worth a great deal to a business that has just been told no.
We work across ordinary card processing and the sectors banks avoid on policy alone. A vitamin brand and a licensed gambling operator have very little in common commercially, but both end up in the same position: turned away by processors who never looked at the business properly.
You deal with someone who knows your file rather than a call centre queue, and that person is still there when something changes six months later.
What an independent broker actually changes
The value is not access to a secret provider. It is knowing, before you apply, which door is worth knocking on and what to have ready when it opens.
One conversation, not fifteen applications
Approaching providers one at a time is slow, and every decline leaves a mark on your record. We know which acquirers underwrite which sectors, so the shortlist is short and the applications that go in are ones with a realistic chance.
High-risk is the day job
CBD, supplements, adult, vape, gambling, raffles, psychic services. These are the sectors mainstream processors exclude by policy, and they are the ones we place most often. We know what each underwriter will accept before an application is sent.
We fix the application before it is seen
Most declines are about presentation, not the underlying business. Product claims that read as medicinal, missing policy pages, an undisclosed prior closure. We find those first, because you rarely get a second look from the same acquirer.
We stay involved after go-live
Rates get reviewed, reserves get renegotiated, and accounts occasionally come under pressure. Being placed is the start of the relationship. Merchants come back to us when something changes, and we would rather they did.
Four steps, and the advice is free
Most enquiries start with a ten minute conversation and end with a live account. Here is what happens in between.
Tell us about your business
What you sell, how you bill, what you turn over, and what has already gone wrong with payments. Ten minutes on the phone is usually enough.
We check what is realistic
We look at your site, your product range and your processing history the way an underwriter will, and tell you honestly where approval is likely and where it is not.
We shortlist and apply
We match you to providers whose appetite genuinely covers your sector, help assemble the document pack, and put the application in properly the first time.
We stay with it through onboarding
Underwriter questions get answered the same day. Once you are live we are still here for rate reviews, reserve changes and anything that threatens the account.
Advice is free. In almost every case, so is the rest.
Talking to us costs nothing, ever. Having your setup reviewed and finding out whether approval is realistic is free whether or not you go ahead, and there is no fee for enquiring.
In the overwhelming majority of cases you pay us nothing at all. When a business we introduce goes live, the provider pays us a commission, and that is the whole of it.
One exception is worth naming rather than hiding. We manage the application and the submission to underwriting, and occasionally that is a serious piece of work: an application needing a lot of back and forth, or a sector at the far end of the risk scale where getting a decision takes real effort. In those cases a setup fee may be due to us. It is rare, we keep it to a minimum, and we would rather avoid it.
Either way you get the full fee structure in writing before anything is submitted, covering what is due to us and what is due to the provider. Nobody should discover a cost once their application is already sitting with an underwriter.
The fair follow-up is whether commission influences where we place people. It does, if we get it wrong. A merchant placed with a provider that closes their account in six months costs us the relationship and any future work, which is worth considerably more than the difference in commission between one acquirer and another. That is the honest commercial reason our interests line up with yours, and it beats asking you to take a promise on faith.
With some acquirers we are a registered ISO, which means we submit and manage the application directly rather than handing it on. With others we act as an introducer. We will tell you which applies to yours. The commission arrangement, including our anti-bribery commitments, is set out in our Terms of Use.
What Merchant Advice is not
We ask merchants for detailed information about their business. That only works if we are precise about our own position first.
- Not authorised or regulated by the FCA. OCRO LTD holds no FCA authorisation. What we provide is general commercial guidance, not regulated financial advice, and not legal, tax or accounting advice.
- Not a bank, acquirer, gateway or lender. We do not process payments, hold merchant funds or provide credit. Whatever you take is operated by the provider, under a separate contract between you and them.
- Not a review site or affiliate directory. We do not publish ranked "best provider" tables or sell placement. Where we name providers, it is because we place merchants with them and can say something factual about their appetite.
- Not able to guarantee approval. Underwriting decisions belong to the provider. We improve the odds and set realistic expectations. Nobody in this market can promise more than that honestly.
Reviews from merchants we've placed
Real reviews from businesses we've helped - across payments, finance, and utilities.
"Steven was incredibly helpful from start to finish - took the time to understand my needs and came through with a competitive offer that we ended up going ahead with. Support has continued throughout onboarding and I'd definitely recommend Steven to anyone looking to change their payment services provider."
"Steve has been absolutely fantastic from start to finish. Even now if I have a question he's straight on it. I cannot recommend this guy enough for what he's done for us so far at bigtimewinners. We massively appreciate it."
"Communication was fast, Steve was professional and super helpful. Process was smooth and simple. Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for these services, especially if you need a payment gateway for a supplement company sorted."
Tell us what you sell and what has gone wrong.
We will tell you which providers are realistic for your business, what underwriting will want to see, and what to fix before you apply. If we do not think we can help, we will say so. The advice costs you nothing either way.
Speak to an adviser