What should an ISO confirm during lender onboarding?
A signed broker agreement is only one part of a usable lender relationship. Which contacts, products, submission rules, compliance requirements, and escalation paths should an ISO confirm before sending the first file?
10 replies
Confirm the current buy box, product structures, minimum package, submission channel, hours, expected response time, and who handles status requests.
Ask which requirements are hard rules, which allow exceptions, and what evidence is needed for an exception review.
Identify primary and backup contacts for sales, underwriting, closing, renewals, and servicing instead of routing every issue to one rep.
What compliance items should be completed before the first submission?
Broker agreement, data-security expectations, consent language, marketing rules, compensation terms, and any required training should be settled first.
The ISO should also know how product structure and material terms must be described to merchants.
We request a dated guideline, restricted-industry list, state availability, holiday schedule, and escalation procedure.
Store contacts by purpose and confirm them periodically. An old submission inbox or former employee creates both delays and privacy risk.
Run one internal onboarding review so originators know when the relationship is ready and which files actually fit.
Confirm criteria, product, package, contacts, compliance, compensation, and escalation before the first merchant file is shared.