Money services business: merchant account help after a politically exposed person in the ownership
Refused over a politically exposed person in the ownership? Xavion helps money services businesses assess the obstacle, prepare the relevant evidence and seek a suitable merchant account. We review your business before accepting the case, rather than send the same application to another provider.
We review your business first. Approved cases are guaranteed onboarding.
- Decline reason
- A politically exposed person in the ownership
- Your sector
- Money services business
- Account type
- merchant account
- First step
- Business assessment
- Service
- Evidence preparation & placement
- Guarantee
- Onboarding for approved cases after review
A placement plan for your business, not another blind application
Decline assessment
Document the public role, relationship to the applicant and available source-of-wealth evidence for enhanced review.
Application evidence
A transparent PEP disclosure and source-of-wealth evidence index.
Sector-specific placement brief
Trace sender receipts through agents and settlement partners to the final beneficiary by corridor. We use applicable remittance permissions, AML procedures and the agent and corridor lists to explain the model, not just its industry label.
What we need to establish before accepting your case
- What public role or connection triggered screening, and what evidence supports the wealth entering the business?
- The answer determines which evidence is missing and whether this is a correctable application issue or a restriction that prevents placement.
- What money will this merchant account handle?
- Trace sender receipts through agents and settlement partners to the final beneficiary by corridor. The key distinction is whether all parties in the transfer chain are disclosed and within the authorised model.
- What does a workable account need to support?
- Tell us the customer markets, processing currencies, monthly volume, maximum ticket, delivery timing and acceptable settlement delay. We assess these against the actual business model.
Evidence we may need
Send the decline and a short business summary first. We confirm which records are relevant; not every item applies to every case.
- +Source of wealth report
- +PEP declaration
- +Evidence the role has ended, where applicable
- +MSB registration or licence
- +AML programme and audit
- +Corridor list
What this service cannot bypass
- -PEP status is not automatically unlawful, but we cannot guarantee that a particular provider will accept the exposure.
- -We do not conceal ownership, funds origins or the real business activity. Unlawful activity cannot be fixed by a better application.
If the model itself is not lawful or licensable, no application fixes that, and we will say so at the review stage.
Our approach to a politically exposed person in the ownership
Document the public role, relationship to the applicant and available source-of-wealth evidence for enhanced review. The practical output is a transparent PEP disclosure and source-of-wealth evidence index.
For money services businesses, we connect that work to applicable remittance permissions, AML procedures and the agent and corridor lists. The decision is not simply whether a provider accepts your industry: it is whether all parties in the transfer chain are disclosed and within the authorised model. If the records do not answer the issue, we identify the gap before presenting an application.
Card acceptance and settlement, not just an account
Card acceptance is a separate underwriting decision from opening a bank account. We clarify the merchant of record, processing history, average and maximum ticket, refund exposure and settlement needs. The provider's proposed limits, reserves and release terms need to work with your cash flow; a bank account alone does not enable card acceptance.
From review to provider onboarding
We review the decline, ownership and operating model first. We then identify the evidence gaps, prepare a provider-facing explanation and seek a placement route that fits the activity and required payment features. Any proposed terms need to be reviewed before you commit.
For cases Xavion approves after reviewing the business, we guarantee successful onboarding with a suitable bank or payment provider. Not every case is accepted. Xavion is an intermediary, not a bank or acquirer; providers perform their own checks and decide the facilities and terms they offer.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Every bank and payment provider makes its own final decision; Xavion is an intermediary, not a bank, acquirer or processor.
- Can you help money services businesses after a politically exposed person in the ownership?
- We can assess the case and the evidence needed for a suitable placement route. Document the public role, relationship to the applicant and available source-of-wealth evidence for enhanced review. PEP status is not automatically unlawful, but we cannot guarantee that a particular provider will accept the exposure. We only accept a case after reviewing the business; a previous refusal does not by itself establish that a replacement account is available.
- What should I send for the first assessment?
- Start with the decline or termination correspondence, your company country, website and the merchant account features you need. For this issue, relevant evidence includes source of wealth report, pep declaration, evidence the role has ended, where applicable. Tell us what is unavailable rather than creating or altering records. We confirm what is needed for the actual case.
- What is different about placing money services businesses?
- Trace sender receipts through agents and settlement partners to the final beneficiary by corridor. We need to understand whether all parties in the transfer chain are disclosed and within the authorised model. Relevant supporting material includes applicable remittance permissions, AML procedures and the agent and corridor lists. This lets us present the operating model accurately instead of submitting only a generic industry description.
- What is guaranteed, and how long will it take?
- Xavion guarantees successful onboarding for cases it approves after reviewing the business, not for every applicant. We do not promise a particular provider, account feature or completion date before review. Timing depends on evidence gaps, any required legal or regulatory work, and the provider's checks.
Let’s assess your route to a suitable account
Tell us where your business operates, what the provider said about a politically exposed person in the ownership, and what you need the merchant account to do. Start with a summary; do not send identity documents through chat.