What is the sequence?
- Submit the application, which takes around ten minutes for most businesses.
- Underwriting reviews it, with a decision on complete applications typically within 24 to 48 hours.
- On approval the merchant ID is issued and equipment or gateway credentials are configured.
- You go live on the new account and confirm settlement lands correctly.
- Only then do you close the old one.
All applications are subject to underwriting approval.
What should I check in my current contract first?
Three things: the early termination fee and how it is calculated, the auto-renewal date and the notice window before it, and whether your equipment is owned, leased or rented.
Leased terminals often sit under a separate finance agreement with its own term, which does not end when the processing agreement does.
How long should the overlap be?
Long enough to see at least one full settlement cycle deposit correctly into your account, and to confirm that recurring or stored transactions have migrated. For most businesses this is a few days. For subscription billing it is a full billing cycle.
What usually goes wrong?
Closing the old account too early, forgetting stored card credentials tied to a gateway that is being retired, and overlooking an equipment lease that continues billing after processing has moved. All three are avoidable by sequencing the closure last rather than first.