NON-US MERCHANT REFERRAL PATH
You need a US-capable payment relationship. First, the right provider has to be willing and able to serve you.
For a business based outside the United States, the credible path is not a vague promise of global processing. It is a documented referral to an independent provider that reviews eligibility, contracts directly and owns onboarding and the payment relationship.
See How the Review Works
HOW THE REFERRAL MOVES
Make every handoff—and every company boundary—visible.
Start with the merchant’s real entity, ownership, industry, customer geography and processing need. Then identify who screens the inquiry, who receives the referral, and who independently contracts and onboards.
WHAT MUST NOT BREAKA referral is not approval, onboarding or processing. DATA ONE does not contract, underwrite, settle or hold funds for the independent provider that ultimately serves the merchant.
THREE REFERRAL CASES
A US referral, a European handoff and a no-fit case require different answers.
A non-US business needs a credible US route
Identify the exact operating need and the independent provider that may review it.
A separate regional provider may be the fit
Keep the additional referral, separate company, direct contract and independent onboarding explicit.
Eligibility or coverage does not line up
Record the gap honestly rather than implying a route exists for every country, product or risk profile.
THE STRESS TEST
The handoff is the product. The boundaries are part of it.
Map who introduces, who evaluates, who contracts, who onboards, who processes and who handles settlement and support. If one role is unclear, the referral path is not ready to present.
DATA ONEClarify and connect
US REFERRAL PROVIDERReview and route eligible inquiries
REGIONAL PROVIDERSeparate review and direct contract
ACQUIRER / PROCESSORAuthorization, reserves and settlement
WHERE THE DECISION BREAKS
Catch the referral-boundary error before the merchant reaches the wrong company.
Separate companies sound combined
The merchant cannot tell which entity it will contract with or who owns the relationship.
Referral sounds like approval
An introduction is presented as if eligibility, underwriting or onboarding is already settled.
Funds responsibility is blurred
The referral chain is described without identifying the regulated provider that actually handles authorization, reserves, settlement and payouts.
CONFIRMED REFERRAL BOUNDARIES
The named companies are separate. The contracts stay separate too.
This evidence card names the current owner-confirmed relationship. The rest of the page stays capability-based so the operating explanation remains accurate if the referral set changes.
OWNER-CONFIRMED PATHUS company ≠ Swiss companyRelationship diagram · not a combined entity
PROCESSING PARTNERS INC. · CREATIVE CLOUD AG
One referral chain, two independent companies.
DATA ONE refers eligible inquiries to Processing Partners Inc. in the United States. Processing Partners may refer an eligible European inquiry to Creative Cloud AG, a separate Swiss company that contracts and onboards the merchant independently. DATA ONE and Processing Partners do not directly process or hold merchant funds through this description.
Owner-confirmed relationship: 2026-09-19. Official corroboration: processingpartners.com · retrieved 2026-09-19 · text-only evidence; no third-party image reused.WHAT A REVIEW COVERS
Put the legal entity and referral path on one page.
MERCHANT INPUT
Document the entity and requested US capability
Bring ownership locations, industry, customer geographies, currencies, fulfillment, history, disputes, refunds and the US need.
DATA ONE WORK
Separate each company’s referral responsibility
Map which independent company screens, refers, contracts, onboards and owns the processing relationship.
NEXT STEP
State the eligible referral path
Name the next responsible party and open questions without implying onboarding, approval or direct processing.
You leave with the referral chain and each company’s role stated plainly. Eligibility, onboarding and processing approval remain with the accepting provider.
QUESTIONS BEFORE DECISIONS
A credible referral path should answer these six questions.
Who is the global-payment-flows page for?
It is for a business based outside the United States that needs a credible path to a US-capable acquiring or processing relationship. A referral begins eligibility review; it does not guarantee onboarding or approval.
Does DATA ONE process directly for non-US merchants?
No. DATA ONE helps identify and refer an eligible inquiry to an appropriate independent provider path. The provider that accepts the referral controls its own review, contract, onboarding and processing relationship.
Is the US referral partner the same company as the European provider?
No. They are separate companies. An eligible European inquiry may move through a referral, but the European provider contracts and onboards the merchant independently.
What determines whether an inquiry is eligible?
The reviewing provider may consider entity location, ownership, industry, products or services, customer geographies, fulfillment, processing history, disputes, currencies and required documentation. Exact criteria belong to that provider.
Who holds or settles merchant funds?
Acquiring banks and regulated payment providers handle authorization, reserves, settlement and payouts under their own agreements. DATA ONE does not receive, hold or control merchant or customer funds in this referral path.
What should we bring to a global-payment-flow review?
Bring the legal entity and ownership locations, industry, customer geographies, currencies, fulfillment model, processing history, dispute and refund profile and the US capability the business actually needs.
DISPUTE AND FRAUD PROTECTION
Assign risk monitoring to the company that owns the route.
A global payment route should identify who monitors fraud reports, disputes and network thresholds after activation. Coverage can vary by merchant country, acquirer, card brand and issuer, so the responsible provider must confirm the exact controls. Keep prevention, monitoring and representment ownership explicit in the referral. See the chargeback and fraud framework
A clear next step