In order to create a new sub-merchant account, you will need to first collect certain information about the applicant and their business. You'll then use this information to onboard the new sub-merchant via the Braintree API; the Control Panel does not offer this capability. We will verify the sub-merchant data and confirm the sub-merchant’s status via a webhook. After that, you will be responsible for supporting your sub-merchants and ensuring that they deliver products or services that don’t break any laws.

Collecting sub-merchant data

The type of onboarding information you collect from your sub-merchants depends on how you plan to use Braintree Marketplace. For example, if you collect your sub-merchant's bank account information, funds will be disbursed into their bank account; if you choose to collect an email address or mobile phone number instead, funds will be disbursed via Venmo.

Sub-merchant data parameters

Required parameters

• First Name
• Last Name
• Address
• DOB
• Email: If you plan to disburse sub-merchant funds to Venmo via email address, the email address provided must match the sub-merchant's Venmo account.

Optional parameters

• Business Name: This is only required if a Tax ID is provided instead of a SSN.
• Mobile Phone: This is only required if you plan to disburse sub-merchant funds to Venmo via phone number.
• SSN or Tax ID: You can collect the full number, last 4 digits, or nothing at all. It is up to you whether you want to collect each sub-merchant’s full SSN (Social Security Number) or Tax ID during the onboarding process; sub-merchants can process up to 200 transactions or $20,000 in total transaction volume without providing this information. If you expect your sub-merchants to exceed these thresholds, however, we recommend collecting the full SSN or Tax ID upfront, as you'll need to distribute 1099-K tax forms to these sub-merchants come tax season.
• Routing Number: This is only required if you plan to disburse sub-merchant funds to a bank account.
• Account Number: This is only required if you plan to disburse sub-merchant funds to a bank account.*

*The account submitted must be a checking account. Savings, deposit-only, and prepaid debit accounts will not be accepted.

Merchant agreement

In order to accept payments, your sub-merchants will need to accept our merchant agreements. To facilitate this, you'll need to add a short passage of text to your website's existing Terms of Service, which will allow your sub-merchants to agree to both your terms and ours at the same time. You can find the required text and learn more in our developer docs.

1099-Ks

We will provide you with pre-generated 1099-K tax forms for all of your sub-merchants who met both of the following thresholds within the year:

• Processed more than 200 transactions
• Processed at least $20,000 in total transaction volume (excluding service fees*)

*Example: A sub-merchant sells a $100 item and the service fee is $10. The transaction volume generated by this sale is $90.