How to present your business to an acquirer

This section explains some ways in which you should present your business to payment providers based on its maturity, marketing strategies, and public reputation.

Business Maturity

If you have a New business, you won't have processing history, so focus on preparation instead:

Submit a business plan with a detailed cash flow model
Be ready to answer: Who is your target market? What are your unit economics? What's your customer acquisition cost? When do you project profitability?
Highlight any relevant founder or industry experience

If you have an Established business, the acquirer will look at your track record:

Provide 3–6 months of processing statements and matching bank statements
Show that incoming revenue aligns with outgoing supplier payments
Be prepared for closer scrutiny of dispute and chargeback ratios if you're in a high-risk sector

Customer Acquisition & Traffic

Underwriters need to understand exactly how customers find you. Unexplained traffic is a red flag.

Prepare documentation based on your channels:

Channel	Evidence Required
Paid advertising	Recent invoices or screenshots of active ad accounts
Affiliate marketing	Copies of network or partner agreements
Organic/SEO	Brief explanation of your strategy and how it was built

Underwriters will independently verify your traffic using external tools. Projected sales volumes should match the scale of your digital presence.

Public Reputation

Underwriters verify claims you make about your business online — on review platforms, social media, and search results.

To succeed in your application we recommend that you:

Ensure all public claims (e.g. "38,000 satisfied customers") are backed by verifiable evidence
Understate rather than exaggerate — conservative claims signal maturity and compliance
Prepare links to genuine customer reviews

Underwriters are looking for authenticity and a good (not necessarily perfect) track record.