A Merchant Services Agreement (often called an MSA, a payment processing agreement, or simply a merchant agreement) is the contract a payment company signs with a business before it starts collecting money on that business's behalf.

It answers the questions that always come up later, in writing and up front. What services are actually being provided? When does the merchant get paid, and after what deduction? Who carries the loss when a customer disputes a charge? How much is held back as security, and for how long? What happens if the merchant gets hacked, or starts processing something it should not be?

Payment companies need this document because money is moving through their licence. If a merchant sells something illegal, breaches card scheme rules, or racks up chargebacks, the provider is the one the regulator and the card schemes come to first. Merchants need it because it is the only place the fees, the settlement timing and the reserve are actually written down.

This merchant services agreement template turns a long, expensive-to-draft contract into a guided set of questions. Fill in your company, your merchant, your fees and your service levels, and the finished agreement is generated instantly, ready to download as PDF or Word and sign.

Who this template is for

- Payment service providers, gateways and aggregators onboarding new merchants and needing one consistent contract for every account.

- Fintech startups launching collections, payouts or card acquiring and putting merchant paperwork in place for the first time.

- Banks and licensed institutions offering merchant acquiring alongside their core products.

- Merchants and finance teams who have been sent an agreement to sign and want a plain reference for what each clause normally says.

What the agreement covers

The template follows the structure a real payment company uses, with 22 numbered clauses plus a services schedule and two appendices.

- The commercial basics: who the parties are, what services are provided, and how the agreement can be supplemented over time.

- A full definitions table, so terms like Acquirer, Card Scheme Rules, Chargeback, Payment Date and Merchant Bank Account mean the same thing throughout.

- Set-off and fraud prevention, letting the provider net off what it is owed and pause suspicious transactions.

- Merchant representations and warranties, covering good standing, licences, correct use of the API, and compliance with anti-money laundering rules.

- Cybersecurity, security breaches and a right to audit, including who pays for the audit and what happens after an incident.

- Intellectual property and confidentiality, with a survival period you choose.

- Limitation of liability and indemnity, with a liability cap tied to fees paid in a period you set.

- Term and termination, including automatic renewal, a cure period for breach, and the specific events that let a provider suspend immediately.

- Notices, force majeure, assignment, and governing law with your choice of court or arbitration.

- A signature block for two authorised signatories on each side.

The schedule and appendices

- Schedule 1 (Services) sets out how the services work in practice: the settlement account, how fees are recovered, the rolling reserve or security deposit, the full chargeback and refund process with thresholds and deadlines, and the extra card data rules that apply to card acquiring.

- Appendix A (Fees and Pricing) is a table you build row by row. Add a line for every fee you charge, whether that is collections, payouts, settlement, chargebacks, refunds or security deposit tiers.

- Appendix B (Service Level Agreement) covers support hours, your escalation contacts, response and resolution targets by priority, and the chargeback timelines merchants have to work to.

How to create your merchant services agreement

1. Open the template and click Generate.

2. Answer the guided questions about the two companies, the services, and the commercial terms. Most of the timing and threshold questions come pre-filled with standard market values, so you can accept them and move on.

3. Build your fee table in Appendix A by adding one row per fee, then add your support contacts and priority levels for the service level agreement.

4. Review and download as PDF or Word, then send it for signature.

Disclaimer: This template is provided for convenience and general information only and is not legal advice. Payment services are a regulated activity, and the terms a provider may lawfully impose vary by country and by licence. Have the finished agreement reviewed by a qualified lawyer in your jurisdiction before you use it with real merchants.

#merchant agreement template templates

Merchant Services Agreement Template