Declined Onboarding experience

Not a very great experience with this company. yet i am only trying to make my customers shopping experience better, signing up as a merchant with mobicred offers me as the business owner no benefit.

I have recently sent an application to mobicred and they denied my merchant application saying i do not meet their onboarding critirea, yet this criteria is not mentioned anywhere on the sign up page, so you actually do not know what their criteria really is, Its like some trade secret of some sorts.

Whats strange is, i previously had a merchant account with mobicred, and i disabled it, now that i want to add my new business to it, its seems to be an issue.

Id like to let mobicred know that using their service is not a benefit to business owners but to consumers, denying me access to be a merchant, is not my loss.

It would be professional enough to call and chat about the following:

1. What is your onboarding criteria? Since this isnt listed anywhere and is used as a scapegoat to decline a merchants application. Some real feedback is required. (You cannot operate in SA as a FSP and not provide these details, I will plan to challenge this with FSP ombudsman when i have some time).

2. Since i do not meet the so called criteria, no options were made available to make to make changes to my website or any other information to then onboard after giving a merchant the opportunity to meet criteria.

3. The overall process in which you vet merchants needs to be looked at and to provide further information to the merchant on why the merchant cannot be onboarded.

Dear Mobicred Merchant Support, I am reaching out to express my strong dissatisfaction with the Mobicred merchant services and the experience my business has endured. My primary goal in seeking a partnership with Mobicred was to improve the shopping experience for my customers. However, the onboarding process has proven to be unclear, inconsistent, and frankly unfair to business owners who wish to extend credit options to consumers. After submitting an application to become a Mobicred merchant, I received a denial stating that my business does not meet your onboarding criteria. However, these criteria are not available on your signup page or elsewhere on your site, making it impossible for prospective merchants to understand the requirements they are expected to fulfill. It is puzzling, as I previously held a merchant account with Mobicred but chose to deactivate it. Now that I wish to onboard my new business, I am denied without a transparent rationale. In addition, no opportunity was provided to modify any business details or website features that might address this mysterious “criteria” issue. The current system offers no constructive feedback for businesses to act upon, which is highly restrictive and counterproductive for South African businesses attempting to collaborate with Mobicred. It is worth noting that as a registered Financial Services Provider (FSP), Mobicred has an obligation under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act to ensure transparency and fairness in its dealings. The FAIS Ombud specifically addresses cases where FSPs fail to provide consumers and business owners with sufficient information or act in an arbitrary manner. The lack of published onboarding criteria could raise concerns with the FAIS Ombud and other consumer protection bodies, as it contradicts the principles of fairness, accountability, and transparency required by law To prevent further frustration, I request a professional conversation on the following points: Clear Onboarding Criteria: Could Mobicred explicitly share its onboarding requirements so businesses can assess eligibility before applying? Constructive Feedback Mechanism: If an application is denied, merchants should receive clear guidance on what can be adjusted or improved to meet your standards. Review of Current Merchant Vetting Process: The process should offer a more consistent, fair, and transparent approach to evaluating merchant applications. I look forward to a prompt response, and I hope we can resolve this constructively. However, if these issues remain unaddressed, I will have no choice but to escalate this matter to the FAIS Ombud for further investigation. PS: Signing up to be a merchant on mobicred offers me as a business owner absolutely no added value. I signed up for this to offer consumers a better way to afford their purchases but will under no circumstances do I feel that participation into your merchant service is something to be celebrated or upset about, this assists consumers. Not me. Kind Regards