Partnership Marketing: Merchant Requirements

January 2020

Merchant Qualifications

  1. Promotional offers must not be available to the general public.
  2. Merchant partners must provide compelling offers. Any offer with less than 15% savings (on an ongoing basis) must be pre‐approved by the Access Marketing committee.
  3. Businesses may include offers for every participating location enrolled by an authorized merchant contact. Locations are defined as the representation of a merchant's store, either physical, serving your area, or online.
  4. Certain merchant discounts conflict with Access owned products and/or corporate client relationships. These market segments include: some travel products, membership clubs, roadside assistance, debt elimination, network marketing, insurance, home‐based businesses, financial services (including without limitation mortgage financing, real estate, securities brokerage, trust services, loans, credit cards and deposit accounts). Other merchant partners may also be prohibited from participation to protect client relationships, or the relevance of the merchant content.
  5. Access will not promote businesses with questionable public reputations. Examples of these businesses include: Tobacco products, pornography, adult entertainment, escort services, fast cash services, unlicensed massage therapy.
  6. Exceptions to the requirements above will only be considered for pre‐approved merchants that have been cleared by the Access Marketing Committee.

National Merchant Qualifications

  1. National merchant partners must do business in at least ten states.
  2. National merchant partners must have at least 100 total locations.
  3. National merchants must meet all standard merchant qualifications.
  4. Exceptions to the National Merchant Qualifications may be made for merchants with nationwide appeal and brand recognition.

Dotcom Merchant Qualifications

  1. Online merchant’s company headquarters must be part of Internet Retailers Top 500 list.
  2. Website design must be pre‐approved by the Access Marketing Committee.
  3. Online merchants must use a secure checkout that accepts all major credit cards.
  4. Promotional offers must be exclusive to Access members.
  5. Exceptions to the Dotcom Merchant Qualifications may be made by the Access Marketing Committee.