In the vocabulary of merchant accounts, TMF stands for Terminated Merchant File. You may find yourself on a TMF listing in the event that your merchant file has a termination. In some cases, this is also referred to as a Member Alert to Control High-Risk (MATCH) Record.
You may have a TMF listing if you have participated in fraudulent activities, if you have several chargebacks, or if you have violated your card network’s regulations. Being on this listing can have adverse effects on your business, one of which is finding difficulty in working with acquiring banks or being turned down. You may also be considered high-risk.
Mastercard both creates and manages the TMF list of merchants with terminated accounts in the last five years, and they send out reason codes for those who have been added to it. If you find yourself on this list, you may reach out to your banking institution to work out or work through what brought you to the list in the first place.
You may be able to argue your case, also with the help of a lawyer. However, if you are unable to remove yourself from the TMF listing, you may remain on it for five years.
Merchant accounts can be difficult to navigate. Check out the rest of Processing Card to learn more about merchant accounts and the world of credit card processing today!
Florence Carpenter is passionate about ensuring that the process of opening merchant accounts is as straightforward as possible. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing.
