How we work, and how we get paid
Satora introduces merchants to payment providers and independent specialists who may be able to support their category. We do not process payments, hold merchant accounts, underwrite applications or make boarding decisions — the provider does. We may receive a commission from a provider if an introduction leads to a live merchant account.
What an introducer actually is
There are three roles in this market and they are routinely blurred, usually on purpose. It is worth being precise about which one we occupy.
An acquirer is a bank or licensed institution that holds your merchant account, underwrites your business, carries the risk of your chargebacks and settles money to you. A payment service provider or gateway supplies the software that moves the transaction between your checkout and the card networks. An introducer — us — connects merchants to those parties and is paid a commission if the introduction results in a live account.
We are only the third. We do not touch your money, we do not hold your account, and we have no ability to approve, decline or reverse anything.
How we are paid, stated plainly
You pay us nothing, at any point. We are paid by the provider, as a commission, if an introduction we make becomes a live merchant account. Depending on the provider that is either a one-off fee on boarding or a share of the ongoing processing revenue.
That model has an obvious conflict built into it: if provider A pays more than provider B, we have a financial reason to prefer A regardless of which is better for you. We are not going to pretend that conflict does not exist. What we do about it:
- We match on appetite first. A provider that will not board your category is worth nothing to either of us, however well they pay.
- We introduce you to one provider at a time, chosen for fit. We do not sell your details to multiple parties and let them compete for you.
- We tell you when the answer is no. An introducer whose only outcome is an introduction will always find one; that is how merchants end up wasting three weeks on an application that was never going to work.
- We do not charge you a fee, so we have no incentive to take on merchants we cannot place.
What happens to your details
When you complete the pre-qualification form, the first four answers — category, volume, situation, urgency and jurisdiction — carry no personal information at all. You can answer them and leave without telling us who you are.
At the final step you provide contact details, and you tick a consent box that is not ticked by default. That consent covers one thing: sharing your application details with partner payment providers and specialist consultants for the purpose of finding a provider that fits your business. We record the exact wording you agreed to and the time you agreed to it.
Your contact details are encrypted before they are stored. They are not included in internal notifications, are not written to logs, and are not sold, rented or shared for marketing.
Why we introduce you to one provider at a time
Some lead businesses in this market operate on a ping-post model: your application is broadcast to every partner simultaneously and whoever responds first, or pays most, gets you. It maximises the introducer's revenue per lead.
We do not do that. It is not what you agreed to when you consented to your details being shared to find a provider that fits — being auctioned is a different thing, and describing one as the other would be dishonest. It also destroys the thing that makes an introduction worth anything: a provider who knows you were sent to them because they fit reads your file differently from one who knows they are in a race.
What we cannot do
Worth stating explicitly, because parts of this industry imply otherwise:
- We cannot guarantee that any provider will approve you.
- We cannot overturn a decline or accelerate an underwriting decision.
- We cannot remove a MATCH listing, and neither can anyone else who is not the acquirer that placed it. Anyone charging you for removal is charging for something they cannot do.
- We cannot release funds a previous processor is holding. That is between you and them.
- We do not give regulated financial, legal or tax advice.
Who we will not work with
We decline introductions where the business is unlicensed in a market that requires a licence, where the compliance position on age verification or consent is unclear, or where the merchant is asking for help presenting the business as something it is not. This is not caution for its own sake: no provider we would introduce you to would board those applications, so taking them on would waste your time and damage relationships we depend on.
Questions about the model
Are you a payment processor?
No. We do not process payments, hold merchant accounts, move money or issue settlements. We introduce merchants to payment providers and independent specialists who do those things. If you need to raise a dispute about a transaction, that goes to your provider, not to us.
Do you decide whether I am approved?
No. Underwriting and boarding decisions belong entirely to the provider. We can tell you early whether placement looks realistic based on what providers are boarding, but we cannot approve you, cannot overturn a decline, and would be misleading you if we implied otherwise.
How are you paid?
By the provider, as a commission, if an introduction results in a live merchant account. You pay us nothing at any stage. Commission arrangements vary between providers, which is a conflict of interest we manage by matching on appetite rather than on payout — see the section on that below.
Who do you send my details to?
One provider at a time, chosen because their stated appetite matches your profile. We do not broadcast your application to multiple partners simultaneously. The consent you give at the final step of the form covers sharing your details for the purpose of finding a provider that fits, and nothing else.
Can I ask you to delete my details?
Yes. Email privacy@satorapay.com and we will delete the record, subject to any legal retention obligation. If we have already introduced you to a provider, you will need to contact them separately about the copy they hold, and we will tell you who that is.
Now you know how we are paid
Five questions, no documents, and an honest answer about whether we can place you — including when the answer is no.