Merchant Onboarding: Overview and Setup

DrivenSuite merchant onboarding lets an agent take a business from a lead to a boarded, live merchant account without leaving the CRM. It replaces the CoPilot workflow with a smoother, fewer-clicks path: fill the application, price the deal, collect a signature and documents, and hand the signed application to a processor.

This guide covers the one-time setup an administrator does before agents start onboarding merchants.

What you get

• A full Merchant Processing Application (MPA) built into every lead and customer.
• Encrypted storage for sensitive fields (SSN, EIN, date of birth, bank account and routing, driver's license). Secured fields are never shown in plain text unless a permitted staff member reveals them, and every reveal is logged.
• A Generate Proposal tab that prices the deal, lets you choose the processor and pricing model, and produces a merchant-ready proposal.
• E-signature sending plus document requests (voided check, driver's license).
• Automatic support-ticket creation, in the assigned agent's name, when the merchant signs.
• An affiliate portal so outside agents can onboard and manage their own merchants.

One-time setup (administrator)

1. Confirm the CardConnect module is active under Setup then Modules.
2. Open CardConnect then Settings.
3. Choose your default processor: CardConnect or Paysafe. Both are supported per deal; this only sets the default the proposal opens with.
4. Enable Paysafe if you intend to offer it. When enabled, agents see Paysafe as an option in the processor dropdown on every proposal.
5. Set the surcharge cap (default 4.0 percent). This is the maximum card-brand-allowed surcharge and is enforced in the pricing screen.
6. Leave PII audit enabled. This records who views or edits a secured field, when, and from what address. Turning it off is not recommended and is not required for normal operation.

Pricing templates

Templates save you from re-entering the same rates on every deal.

1. Go to CardConnect then Pricing Templates.
2. Create a template for each common offer, for example "Interchange Plus 25 bps" or "Flat 2.6 percent plus 10 cents".
3. For each template set the pricing model (interchange plus, flat rate, tiered, or cost plus), the monthly fees (statement, gateway, PCI, minimum), and any surcharge, cash-discount, or dual-pricing options.
4. Mark one template default so new proposals start from it.
5. Templates carry the processor selection, so a "Paysafe Flat" template and a "CardConnect IC Plus" template can both live side by side.

Processor accounts

Because the CoPilot and CardPointe boarding APIs are not yet live for this account, the final application is submitted manually by a DrivenSuite employee. Setup for that is minimal:

• Keep a blank MPA on file for each processor (CardConnect and Paysafe). The signed application is downloaded from DrivenSuite and submitted to the processor's portal (CoPilot or iAccess).
• Optional: if a staff member has a personal CardPointe login, an administrator can store it under CardConnect then User Access. Stored credentials are encrypted at rest.

Who does what

• Agents build the MPA, generate proposals, and send applications.
• Assigned agent receives all sales, support, and follow-up notifications for their leads and customers, and is the name on the auto-created submission ticket.
• Administrators manage settings, templates, and processor accounts.
• Affiliates onboard and manage only their own merchants through the affiliate portal.

Next: Completing the MPA and securing PII.