Getting Started with Visa Merchant Screening Service

About Visa Merchant Screening Service

The Visa Merchant Screening Service (VMSS) is a risk management tool and central database designed for participation by Visa acquirers to facilitate the Merchant and Third Party Agent acquisition due diligence process, by allowing Visa acquirers to determine if a potential new Merchant, Sponsored Merchant or Third Party Agent (including but not limited to a Payment Facilitator, Marketplace, Staged Digital Wallet Operator (SDWO) or Independent Sales Organization) (each as defined in the Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules) had previously been terminated for defined reason(s) by any acquirer and assessing the risk associated with Merchants, Sponsored Merchants or Third Party Agents in onboarding decisions (VMSS Purpose).

Things to Know

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

For additional information, contact your Visa representative or email [email protected] with the subject “Visa Merchant Screening Service API”.

Visa does not make any warranty or representation as to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information provided by the Visa Merchant Screening Service 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.

VMSS Mandate

Subject to the effective dates and notes set out in the table below, per Visa Rules ID# 0030572, unless prohibited by applicable laws or regulations, an Acquirer must:

  • Before signing an Agent or Merchant Agreement, request information about the Agent, Merchant or Sponsored Merchant through the VMSS. The Acquirer must not refuse to enter into an agreement based solely on information held on the VMSS.
  • List complete information for each Terminated Agent, Merchant and Sponsored Merchant on the VMSS by the end of the business day following the termination of the agreement

The following table lists the effective date of the VMSS mandate in Asia Pacific and Europe regions.

REGION MANDATE
ASIA PACIFIC

Effective in April 2019 for the 14 markets (Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam)

Effective in April 2022 for all markets in Asia Pacific (except Japan and South Korea)

EUROPE

Effective in September 2018

CEMEA Effective April 2023

Regional Availability

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

North America Asia-Pacific Europe CEMEA LAC Notes

Asia-Pacific : Effective in April 2019 for the 14 markets (Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam) Effective in April 2022 for all markets in Asia Pacific (except Japan and South Korea)

Europe : Effective in September 2018

CEMEA : Effective April 2023

    KEY
  • Available in entire region
  • Not available
  • See notes for available countries