Getting Started with Merchant Search

About Merchant Search

The Merchant Search API can be used by developers in the sandbox. To use the API in production, client must be pre-approved by Visa. The Merchant Search API licensing agreement and approval process is available as part of the Production Onboarding.  Use of the service is subject to the use restrictions and other terms and conditions set forth in the applicable agreement.

Merchant Data is only available for the United States and Canada merchants at this point in time. For additional queries, contact [email protected]

The sandbox and samples only show the basic list of attributes available. For a full list of attributes, contact your Visa representative or email [email protected] with the subject “Merchant Data API”.

Visa does not make any warranty or representation as to the accuracy, currentness, or completeness of the information provided via the Merchant Search API, nor does Visa assume any liability or responsibility for claims or damages that may result from reliance on such information. Users of this information should communicate directly with the business entity for verification of accuracy.

Availability

The following table lists the regional availability for Merchant Search. To view availability of all products, refer to the Availability Matrix.

North America Asia-Pacific Europe CEMEA LAC Notes
    KEY
  • Available in entire region
  • Not available
  • See notes for available countries

Things to Know

Merchant Search helps enhance the power of your services by providing access to Visa- accepting merchant identification data that uses Visa’s transaction data, third party data, and other systematic intelligence to improve data quality across the Visa payment network.

The Merchant Search API lets clients find the merchant identification information using the acquirer provided Merchant Name and other attributes such as address and card acceptor identifiers.

Group Names  

All merchants will be assigned one or more Group Name(s) that are configured with attributes. When the clients specify the Group Name in the request, the attributes assigned to such Group Name will be sent in the response.

Wildcard Search

The clients can use the wildcard search with the Merchant Name when at least the first 3 characters of the Merchant Name are known.

Max Records per Request

The clients can use the maximum record functionality to limit the number of records returned in response to each request. When maximum record is not defined, a default of up to 50 records will be sent in the response.