What was a traditional challenge associated with the boarding process?

The boarding process for merchant services traditionally involved extensive paperwork for each service type. This challenge reflects the bureaucratic nature of onboarding, where merchants often had to fill out numerous forms, provide various documents, and go through multiple approvals before they could start processing transactions. This paperwork was not only time-consuming but could also lead to delays in getting merchants up and running, impacting their ability to generate revenue promptly.

The extensive documentation required was designed to verify the identity of the merchants and to comply with regulatory and risk management standards. Each type of service—such as credit card processing, online payment gateways, or point-of-sale systems—typically demanded different sets of information, compounding the inconvenience for the merchants seeking to utilize these payment solutions.

In addition, the paperwork could lead to higher chances of errors in data entry, further complicating the boarding process and lengthening the time it took for merchants to be operational. By understanding the factors that contributed to this traditional challenge, it's clear why the paperwork aspect was a significant hurdle in the merchant onboarding experience.