The Merchant Importer enables you to create new merchant accounts in your CRM automatically by importing a CSV file with the merchant data. 

Additionally, the Merchant Importer can also be used to update the information for existing merchants. 

In this article, we show you how to create a CSV file with merchant data and import it into the CRM. 

 

Preparing Your CSV File

The CSV file you're importing must contain at least the MID and the DBA Name columns.

If you wish to automatically assign splits to one or more users while importing the merchant data, then you may also add additional columns in your CSV file.  The following items may be updated using additional columns:

• Processor - assigns the merchant to one of your existing Processors.
• Datasource - assigns the merchant to one of your existing Datasources.
• Date Opened - sets the open date on the merchant.  If this column is not included, the Open Date will be set to the day of the import.
• Date Closed - sets the closed date on the merchant.  If this column is not included, the Open Date will be set to the day of the import.
• Group ID - assigns the merchant to a group, using the numeric Group ID as the reference.
• Group Name - assigns the merchant to a group, using the Group Name as the reference.
• Active - sets the Merchant as active (1) or inactive (0). Active merchants contribute to the number of merchants in the billing process, while inactive merchants are not counted. If there are processor integrations on the site, merchants set as active will be updated with data from the processor.  
• Closed - sets the Merchant as closed.
• VIM - adds the Very Important Merchant flag to the merchant record.
• Days Until Notice - if the merchant does not perform a batch in this amount of days, assigned users will receive an automated Stopped Processing Alert email notification.
• User ID - assigns a user to the merchant by the numeric User ID as the reference.
• Username - assigns a user to the merchant by the username as the reference.
• Split - assigns the split percentage that the assigned user will earn on the account.
• Split Year - sets the earliest date that the split will be set on the assigned user.  If this is not filled in, the split will be set for the user indefinitely for past and future months. 
• Split Month - sets the earliest date that the split will be set on the assigned user.   If this is not filled in, the split will be set for the user indefinitely for past and future months. 
• Apply Split to Future Months - sets the split to occur on the user account for every month after the earliest date that the split was assigned.  If this is not filled in, and a month/year split was filled in, the split will be set for the user only for the month/year specified.
• Group Split - sets the percentage that a split is being taken on (e.g. if a user earns 50% of 85%, 85 is the group split).  Note: this only applies when the user is not getting a Gross Split.
• Year of Split Expiring - sets the split to expire at a certain date.
• Month of Split Expiring - sets the split to expire at a certain date.
• Split After Expiration - sets a new split after the expiration of the previous split.
• Group Split of Split After Expiration - sets the percentage that a split is being taken on after the expiration of the previous split.

For example, to assign splits for two users you would need to add four columns in your CSV file, which can be named as username1, split1, username2, and split2 (or similar).

With these columns in place, you will be able to assign two splits to two users for each merchant in your CSV file, by simply entering the CRM usernames and their associated splits in the appropriate columns. 

For convenience, you may download an example CSV file which you can use as a template for your merchant imports.

The CSV file contains all the columns that are available in your CRM, so you can simply enter the merchant data that you wish to import into the appropriate columns and save the file.

The file also contains some sample data and three username/split column pairs for which serve as an example of how to save your user splits in the CSV file. You may delete these when running a real import.

Tip: If you're editing your CSV file in Excel, you'll need to make sure that Excel doesn't save the MID numbers (or any other numbers used) in scientific notation, as it will do so on its own if the numbers are very long:

 

 

To work around this potential issue, select the entire MID column in Excel, right-click to show the cell formatting options, click Format Cells and change the cell type to Text. 

Another way to make sure that your CSV file contains the correct import values is to open the CSV file in a text editor such as Notepad. On Windows, right-click on the CSV file in the File Explorer, click Open With, and select Notepad from the list of programs.

 

Using the Merchant Importer 

Here are the five steps to import your CSV file into the CRM: 

 

Step 1. Upload a File

Open the Merchant Importer page from the administration menu (Merchants > Merchant Importer), select your CSV file, and click Save & Continue:

 

 

Step 2. Select Defaults

In the next step, select the merchant's default group, processor, and the data source. If the merchants listed in the CSV file do not show a different group, processor, or a data source, then the Merchant Importer will use default values selected in this step instead. 

If needed, you may also use the links to the right of the selection menus in order to create a new group, processor, or data source on the fly, and then set those options as the defaults:

 

 

 

Step 3. Map Fields

In the next step, map the columns identified in the CSV file (shown under Identified Columns) to the appropriate CRM Merchant fields in the middle column (Map to Merchant Fields):

 

 

Some of the fields in the middle column (such as "Split", "Date Opened", etc.) also require you to select an additional mapping option which will automatically appear in the third column (Advanced Options).

See the reference list at the end of this article for an explanation of all the available merchant fields that you can map to.

 

In the top-right corner of the mapping tab, select what will happen if the CSV file contains a merchant whose MID number is already registered with a merchant account in the CRM:

 

 

Select "Don't Import" if you want the Merchant Importer to ignore such merchants during the import.

In case you want the Merchant Importer to update the information on that merchant account (by inserting the new values found in the CSV file into the merchant's fields), then select "Update":

 

If you wish to automatically assign user splits during the import process, then map each CSV username column (e.g. Username1, Username2, Username3) to the "Username" field in the CRM:

 

 

Similarly, map each "Split" column in the CSV file (e.g. Split1, Split2, Split3) to the "Split" field in the CRM.

After you select "Split" in the middle column, another drop-down menu will automatically appear in the column on the right (the Advanced Options column) where you can select the CSV username column that will be associated with the split:

 

 

In the above example, the split value listed in the "Split1" column will be assigned to the username listed under the "Username1" column in the CSV file (a similar mapping exists for the "Split2" and "Split3" columns). 

After you finish mapping your fields, click Save & Continue in order to move on to the next step of the import process. 

 

Step 4. Preview

In the next step, you may preview the data that will be imported, and if everything looks OK, click Continue to move on to the final step:

 

 

While you are on the Preview tab, you may use the Search box to locate a specific merchant faster.

If you need to edit any of the merchant values before the file gets imported, you may do so by clicking on the Manage button for that merchant. 

This will bring up a popup window where you can change the merchant's values as needed and save the changes:

 

 

Step 5. Import Activity

In step 5, you can view the imports in progress, view or start the pending imports, and view the finished imports:

 

 

The action buttons provided on each pending import allow you to manage the import options and data further before the import is started (or if needed, to delete the saved whole import job). Once you are ready to start your import, click on the Start Import button:

 

 

Your import will now move into the Import In Progress section, where you can track its progress: 

 

 

After the import is finished, the information on the completed job will be shown in the My Finished Imports section: 

 

 

It is also recommended to spot-check a few merchants in order to ensure that the merchant data has been imported correctly and that the user splits have been correctly assigned:

 

 

 

Merchant Field Reference List

Below is a reference list of the merchant fields that you can map your CSV file to, including the information on the advanced options for special fields, and the expected CSV value for each merchant field:

 

Merchant Field	Advanced Options	Expected CSV Value
DBA		Text
Datasource		Text
MID		Text
Processor		Text
Date Closed	Select Date Format ( If your date has a two-digit year, the options with a four-digit year will work.)	Date
Date Opened	Select Date Format ( If your date has a two-digit year, the options with a four-digit year will work.)	Date
Group ID		Number
Group Name		Text
SIC Code		4-Digit Number
Closed		1 or 0 (1 is enabled, 0 is disabled)
Active		1 or 0 (1 is enabled, 0 is disabled)
VIM		1 or 0 (1 is enabled, 0 is disabled)
Days Until Notice		Number (if blank, the default value of 3 is set on the merchant)
User ID		Number (User ID is the number shown in the URL when viewing the user in the User Accounts page)
Username		Text
Split	Select CSV Column With Username	Number
Split Year	Select CSV Column With Username	Number (e.g. 2020)
Split Month	Select CSV Column With Username	Number (1 through 12)
Apply Split To Future Months	Select CSV Column With Username	1 or 0 (1 is enabled, 0 is disabled)
Group Split	Select CSV Column With Username	Number
Year of split expiring	Select CSV Column With Username	Number (e.g. 2020)
Month of split expiring	Select CSV Column With Username	Number (1 through 12)
Split after expiration	Select CSV Column With Username	Number
Group split of split after expiration	Select CSV Column With Username	Number