Payment Processing Expert Witness | Merchant Acquiring & Card Network Rules

Merchant Processing Agreements — obligations of merchants, acquirers, ISOs and processors.

Merchant Reserves — establishment, control, funding, release and application of reserves.

ISO & Agent Residuals — residual ownership, compensation structures, portfolio transfers and termination.

Early Termination Fees — contractual provisions, industry practices and calculation methodologies.

Processor & Acquirer Responsibilities — responsibilities under merchant agreements and card-network rules.

Payment disputes frequently require interpretation of Visa, Mastercard and American Express Rules in conjunction with merchant agreements, ISO agreements, processor agreements and industry practices.  Napa Payments and Consulting provides expert analysis regarding the responsibilities of merchants, acquirers, processors, ISOs and other payment participants particularly with respect to:

• Visa Rules
• Mastercard Rules
• Discover Rules
• American Express Rules
• Chargebacks and Disputes
• Merchant Monitoring
• Acquirer Responsibilities
• Payment Facilitator Requirements

Expert analysis may include merchant underwriting practices, credit and fraud risk, merchant monitoring, reserve methodologies, transaction monitoring, card-network compliance and the reasonableness of an acquirer's or processor's actions based upon applicable industry standards and practices.

• Case and document review 
• Industry-standard analysis 
• Card Network Rule analysis 
• Damages and residual calculations, where applicable 
• Expert reports 
• Rebuttal reports 
• Depositions 
• Trial testimony 
• Attorney consultation

Ken Musante has more than 35 years of experience across merchant acquiring, payment processing, integrated payments, underwriting, risk management and card network compliance. His experience includes executive and ownership roles with acquiring organizations, payment technology companies and financial institutions, as well as consulting and expert witness engagements involving complex payment industry disputes.

• 35+ years in payments 
• Founder/President Napa Payments and Consulting
• Former WePay/JPMorgan Chase Executive
• Founder/President Eureka Payments
• Former Moneris Executive
• Founder/President Humboldt Merchant Services 
• Experience managing large merchant portfolios
• Published payments-industry author
• Civil and criminal expert witness experience