You can test and refine your Merchant onboarding process by simulating risk review outcomes. Use Merchant boarding simulators in the Payrix Pro Sandbox environment to build workflows with realistic platform responses for denied and held Merchants. Emulate real-world risk scenarios, develop your response plan for held and denied Merchants, and set accurate expectations for all onboarding experiences.
Activate Merchant Boarding Simulators
Trigger each simulator by entering specific values in the Merchant Signup Form. These values simulate different risk review outcomes by platform:
Vantiv Merchant boarding simulators use the Zip field to trigger the realistic boarding status updates without manual Payrix Pro Underwriting Team intervention or review.
To trigger a VAP Merchant boarding simulator:
Select Signup Forms in the left navigation panel.
Click More Options (⋮) for the relevant Signup Form to copy the link.
Paste the Signup Form link into a new browser tab.
Complete the Business Overview and Business Details sections.
Use one of the following triggers for the Zip field on the Business Address section to simulate a manual review or decline risk review response scenario:
Zip Value
Merchant Boarding Status
Simulator Response Message
11111
Manual Review
Platform denied boarding this merchant.
55555
Denied
Platform denied boarding this merchant.
Complete the remaining sections as required and submit the completed Merchant Signup Form.
Result: The boarding status for your new Sandbox Merchant is shown as Manual Review or Denied, depending on the trigger.
VCore Merchant boarding simulators use the TIN (tax identification number) field to trigger the realistic boarding status updates without manual Payrix Pro Underwriting Team intervention or review.
To trigger a VCore Merchant boarding simulator:
Select Signup Forms in the left navigation panel.
Click More Options (⋮) for the relevant Signup Form to copy the link.
Paste the Signup Form link into a new browser tab.
Select EIN from the TIN Type dropdown.
Use the following trigger value for the TIN field on the Business Overview section to simulate a decline risk review response scenario:
TIN Value
Merchant Boarding Status
Simulator Response Message
Note
[2-9]xxxxxxxx
Denied
Platform denied boarding this merchant.
The TIN value can be any nine-digit number that starts with 2 through 9, such as 234567890.
The TIN can’t begin with the number 1 to trigger the simulator response.
Complete the remaining sections as required and submit the completed Merchant Signup Form.
Result: Your new Sandbox Merchant’s boarding status becomes Denied.
Important!
To activate Merchant boarding simulators, use only the specified trigger values. Non-trigger values return the standard Successfully Boarded response.
Check Simulator Responses
When triggering the Merchant boarding simulators, an artificial platform risk review updates the Merchant's boarding status. You can verify expected responses and simulated platform messages.
Verify the Merchant boarding simulator responses in two ways:
Boarding Status: The Boarding Status field for the Merchant account updates to show Manual Review or Denied.
Alerts: The Alerts menu on the Merchant Profile page displays the simulator response message.
Check the Boarding Status
To verify the Merchant’s boarding status has successfully updated with the simulator response:
Select Merchants in the left navigation panel.
Select the relevant Merchant to access the Merchant Profile page.
Select the Account tab on the Profile Overview menu.
Result: The Boarding Status field shows the boarding status for a Merchant after boarding. When a simulator is successfully triggered, the Merchant’s boarding status immediately updates to Manual Review or Denied based on the platform and trigger value entered on the Merchant Signup Form.
Check for Platform Alerts
To verify the simulator response message was returned after submitting the trigger value:
Select Merchants in the left navigation panel.
Select the relevant Merchant to access the Merchant Profile page.
Select Alerts in the Merchant Profile left menu.
Result: The Alerts menu displays a list of platform alerts and responses to Merchant activity. For Merchant boarding simulators, the response for submitting a successful trigger will always be Platform denied boarding this merchant, regardless of platform.
Note
The Alerts page always shows the platform is Vantiv. However, VCore simulators can only be triggered using EIN values. This means if you receive an alert from using an EIN value, you’ve successfully triggered the VCore simulator.