Underwriting

Underwriting is Moov's risk assessment process that lets us safely enable payment capabilities for accounts on your platform.

As a payment processor, Moov is required to do due diligence and understand an account's business model, transaction patterns, and risk profile before enabling money movement capabilities. Through underwriting, we can understand and prevent unnecessary financial risk while ensuring high-volume established businesses have adequate processing thresholds.

Quick start

Underwriting is required for all capabilities except transfers. Here's what you need to know:

Request capabilities → Moov returns the baseline required underwriting fields
Submit underwriting data → Use the underwriting API
Re-check capabilities → Additional requirements may appear based on the submitted values
Repeat until no requirements remain → Once all requirements are met, capabilities are enabled

Most approvals are instant. Some high-volume or high-risk profiles may take up to two business days.

How requirements work

Underwriting requirements are tiered based on the account's business profile. This means low-volume, US-only businesses have minimal requirements, while higher-volume or international businesses need to provide more detail.

Baseline requirements (all capabilities)

Every capability requires these two fields:

Field	Description	Values
`geographicReach`	Where are the account's customers located?	`us-only`, `us-and-international`, `international-only`
`monthlyVolumeRange`	Estimated monthly transaction volume for the capability	See volume ranges

Fast path: If geographicReach is us-only AND monthlyVolumeRange is under-10k, these are the only fields required for most capabilities.

Extended requirements

These fields are required when either of the following is true:

monthlyVolumeRange is greater than under-10k
geographicReach is us-and-international or international-only

Field	Description	Format
`businessPresence`	How does the business operate?	See business presence types
`volumeShareByCustomerType`	Percentage of transactions that are B2B vs B2C vs P2P	Object with `business`, `consumer`, `p2p` (must total 100)
`pendingLitigation`	Current or pending legal matters	See pending litigation
`averageTransactionAmount`	Average transaction size in USD	Integer (per capability)
`maximumTransactionAmount`	Maximum transaction size in USD	Integer (per capability)

Card payment requirements

The collect-funds.card-payments capability has additional requirements:

Condition	Additional fields required
All card merchants	`currentlyAcceptsCards`, `cardAcceptanceMethods`
Card-not-present merchants (`inPersonPercentage` < 80%)	`fulfillment`, `refundPolicy`
Currently accepts cards (`currentlyAcceptsCards` = true)	Upload processing statements via files API

Capabilities reference

All capabilities follow the same tiered requirement structure. The table below shows available capabilities:

Capability	Description
Collect funds
`collect-funds.ach`	Pull funds via ACH debit
`collect-funds.card-payments`	Accept cards and digital wallets (e.g. Apple/Google Pay)
Send funds
`send-funds.ach`	Push funds via ACH credit (standard or same-day)
`send-funds.push-to-card`	Instant disbursement via Visa Direct or Mastercard Send
`send-funds.instant-bank`	Instant bank transfers via RTP & FedNow
Money transfer
`money-transfer.pull-from-card`	Pull funds from debit/prepaid cards for me-to-me account funding or person-to-person
`money-transfer.push-to-card`	Push funds to debit/prepaid cards for me-to-me transfers or person-to-person

API workflow

Check requirements

Use the capabilities API to see what's required. Underwriting fields are prefixed with underwriting.:

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{
  "capability": "collect-funds.card-payments",
  "status": "pending",
  "requirements": {
    "currentlyDue": [
      "underwriting.geographicReach",
      "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.estimatedActivity.monthlyVolumeRange"
    ]
  }
}

Submit underwriting data

Use the underwriting POST endpoint to submit data:

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{
  "geographicReach": "us-only",
  "collectFunds": {
    "cardPayments": {
      "estimatedActivity": {
        "monthlyVolumeRange": "under-10k"
      }
    }
  }
}

The POST endpoint is required for API versions v2025.07.00 and later.

Check for additional requirements

Re-query capabilities after each submission. New requirements may appear based on the submitted values:

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{
  "capability": "collect-funds.card-payments",
  "status": "pending",
  "requirements": {
    "currentlyDue": [
      "underwriting.pendingLitigation",
      "underwriting.businessPresence",
      "underwriting.volumeShareByCustomerType",
      "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.estimatedActivity.averageTransactionAmount",
      "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.estimatedActivity.maximumTransactionAmount"
    ]
  }
}

Repeat until complete

Continue submitting data until currentlyDue is empty and status changes to enabled.

Full example

This example onboards a merchant requesting collect-funds.ach and collect-funds.card-payments.

Request capabilities

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curl -X POST "https://api.moov.io/accounts/{accountID}/capabilities" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "capabilities": [
      "collect-funds.ach",
      "collect-funds.card-payments"
    ]
  }'

Response: Initial requirements for both capabilities:

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[
  {
    "capability": "collect-funds.ach",
    "status": "pending",
    "requirements": {
      "currentlyDue": [
        "underwriting.geographicReach",
        "underwriting.collectFunds.ach.estimatedActivity.monthlyVolumeRange"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "capability": "collect-funds.card-payments",
    "status": "pending",
    "requirements": {
      "currentlyDue": [
        "underwriting.geographicReach",
        "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.estimatedActivity.monthlyVolumeRange"
      ]
    }
  }
]

Submit baseline underwriting

Submit geographic reach and volume estimates:

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{
  "geographicReach": "us-only",
  "collectFunds": {
    "ach": {
      "estimatedActivity": {
        "monthlyVolumeRange": "under-10k"
      }
    },
    "cardPayments": {
      "estimatedActivity": {
        "monthlyVolumeRange": "10k-50k"
      }
    }
  }
}

Result: ACH is approved (low volume, US-only). Card payments triggers extended requirements because volume exceeds under-10k:

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[
  {
    "capability": "collect-funds.ach",
    "status": "enabled",
    "requirements": {}
  },
  {
    "capability": "collect-funds.card-payments",
    "status": "pending",
    "requirements": {
      "currentlyDue": [
        "underwriting.pendingLitigation",
        "underwriting.businessPresence",
        "underwriting.volumeShareByCustomerType",
        "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.estimatedActivity.averageTransactionAmount",
        "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.estimatedActivity.maximumTransactionAmount",
        "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.currentlyAcceptsCards",
        "underwriting.collectFunds.cardPayments.cardAcceptanceMethods"
      ]
    }
  }
]

Submit extended requirements

Complete all remaining requirements:

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{
  "pendingLitigation": "none",
  "businessPresence": "online-only",
  "volumeShareByCustomerType": {
    "business": 80,
    "consumer": 20,
    "p2p": 0
  },
  "collectFunds": {
    "cardPayments": {
      "estimatedActivity": {
        "averageTransactionAmount": 150,
        "maximumTransactionAmount": 1000
      },
      "currentlyAcceptsCards": true,
      "cardAcceptanceMethods": {
        "inPersonPercentage": 10,
        "onlinePercentage": 90,
        "mailOrPhonePercentage": 0
      },
      "fulfillment": {
        "method": "shipped-physical-goods",
        "timeframe": "within-7-days"
      },
      "refundPolicy": "full-refund-within-30-days"
    }
  }
}

Upload documents (if required)

If the merchant currently accepts cards, upload processing statements:

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curl -X POST "https://api.moov.io/accounts/{accountID}/files" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {token}" \
  -F "file=@/path/to/processing-statement.pdf" \
  -F "filePurpose=underwriting"

Reference

Use the following sections as a reference for various parts of the underwriting process.

Volume ranges

Select the range that matches the account's expected monthly transaction volume for monthlyVolumeRange:

Value	Range
`under-10k`	Less than $10,000
`10k-50k`	$10,000 – $50,000
`50k-100k`	$50,000 – $100,000
`100k-250k`	$100,000 – $250,000
`250k-500k`	$250,000 – $500,000
`500k-1m`	$500,000 – $1,000,000
`1m-5m`	$1,000,000 – $5,000,000
`over-5m`	Over $5,000,000

Business presence types

Select the option that best describes how the business operates for businessPresence:

Value	Description
`commercial-office`	Traditional office space
`retail-storefront`	Physical retail location
`home-based`	Operated from residential address
`online-only`	No physical customer interaction
`mobile-business`	Service provider that travels to customers
`mixed-presence`	Combination of physical and online

Pending litigation

Select the option that applies to current or pending legal matters for pendingLitigation:

Value	Description
`none`	No current or pending litigation
`government-enforcement-or-investigation`	Regulatory investigations or enforcement actions
`fraud-or-financial-crime`	Allegations of fraud or financial misconduct
`consumer-protection-or-class-action`	Consumer complaints or class action suits
`data-breach-or-privacy`	Data security or privacy violations
`bankruptcy-or-insolvency`	Financial distress proceedings
`employment-or-workplace-disputes`	Employee-related legal issues
`personal-injury-or-medical`	Injury or medical malpractice claims
`intellectual-property`	Patent, trademark, or copyright disputes
`other`	Other significant legal matters

Card acceptance

Indicate whether the business currently accepts card payments for currentlyAcceptsCards:

Value	Description
`true`	Business currently accepts card payments (requires uploading processing statements)
`false`	Business does not currently accept card payments

Card acceptance methods

Describe the distribution of card transactions by payment channel for cardAcceptanceMethods. All three percentages must total 100:

Field	Description
`inPersonPercentage`	Percentage of transactions where the card is present (POS, tap-to-pay)
`onlinePercentage`	Percentage of transactions from online/ecommerce channels
`mailOrPhonePercentage`	Percentage of transactions via mail order or phone order (MOTO)

Example:

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{
  "cardAcceptanceMethods": {
    "inPersonPercentage": 10,
    "onlinePercentage": 85,
    "mailOrPhonePercentage": 5
  }
}

If inPersonPercentage is less than 80%, fulfillment and refundPolicy details are also required.

Fulfillment

For card-not-present merchants, provide details on how goods or services are delivered. The fulfillment object contains two fields:

Field	Description
`method`	How the account's customers receive their purchase — see method values below
`timeframe`	When the account's customers typically receive their purchase — see timeframe values below

Example:

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{
  "fulfillment": {
    "method": "shipped-physical-goods",
    "timeframe": "within-7-days"
  }
}

Fulfillment methods

Select how the account's customers receive goods or services for fulfillment.method:

Value	Description
`shipped-physical-goods`	Items shipped via carrier
`local-pickup-or-delivery`	Customer pickup or local delivery
`digital-content`	Downloads, streaming, digital products
`in-person-service`	Service provided at business location
`remote-service`	Service provided remotely/virtually
`donation`	Charitable contributions
`bill-or-debt-payment`	Utility bills, loan payments, etc.
`subscription-or-membership`	Recurring access or services
`other`	Custom fulfillment method

Fulfillment timeframes

Select when the account's customers typically receive their purchase for fulfillment.timeframe:

Value	Description
`immediate`	Instant delivery (digital goods, in-person services)
`within-7-days`	Standard shipping timeframe
`within-30-days`	Extended delivery window
`over-30-days`	Long-term delivery (custom orders, pre-orders)
`scheduled-event`	Delivery tied to specific event date
`recurring-schedule`	Ongoing subscription deliveries
`pre-order`	Payment before product availability
`other`	Custom timeframe

Refund policy options

Select the option that describes the business's refund policy for refundPolicy:

Value	Description
`no-refunds`	All sales final
`full-refund-within-30-days`	Standard 30-day return window
`full-refund-extended-window`	Returns accepted beyond 30 days
`partial-refund`	Reduced refund amount (restocking fees, etc.)
`store-credit-only`	Refunds as store credit/gift cards only
`prorated-refund`	Refund amount based on usage/time
`conditional-refund`	Refunds under specific conditions only
`event-based-policy`	Refunds tied to event cancellation/rescheduling
`custom-policy`	Unique refund terms

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