Independent Sales Organization (ISO)

An independent sales organization (ISO) is a company that is contracted by a third-party processor, acquiring bank, or other licensed entity of VISA and MasterCard to administer merchant and/or cardholder servicing.

ISOs also contract with one another depending on their size. Larger ISOs that are able to underwrite and accept the risk associated with their own merchant accounts often resell processing services to smaller ISOs by charging a buy rate for services. These ISO may also be referred to as aggregators.