Board merchants via XML

The Boarding File Upload utility lets you board merchants by submitting an XML file to Fexco via Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). Fexco processes the file automatically and returns a response file with the results. This guide covers how to build a Boarding File Upload XML file for creating new merchants. For updating, deactivating, or reactivating existing merchants, see Update a boarded merchant, Deactivate a merchant, and Reactivate a merchant.

Before you start

You need the following before you can build and submit a Boarding File Upload XML file.

Secure connectivity setup completed, including SFTP credentials.
An acquirer ID assigned by Fexco.
A file group ID and rate margin group name for your merchant template.
The Boarding File Upload XSD schema file provided by Fexco for validation.

If you do not yet have your acquirer ID, file group ID, or rate margin group name, contact your Fexco project manager.

Boarding File Upload XML file structure

An Boarding File Upload XML file has the following structure:

A merchantBulkUpload root element containing one or more acquirer elements.
Each acquirer element contains createMerchant, updateMerchant, deleteMerchant, and reactivateMerchant child elements.
Each createMerchant element defines a single merchant record with its name, address, originator configuration, and optional terminal definitions.

All element and attribute names are case-sensitive and use camelCase exactly as shown in the example below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<merchantBulkUpload
  xmlns="http://www.fexco.com"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.fexco.com
    https://reporting.fexcodcc.com/dais/schema/VanillaMBU_V26.1.xsd">

  <acquirer id="128">
    <createMerchant mcc="7314" id="10000001">
      <name>Cafe Berlin</name>
      <address>
        <line1>Friedrichstrasse 43</line1>
        <line2>Berlin</line2>
        <countryCode>DE</countryCode>
        <postalCode>10117</postalCode>
      </address>
      <originator
        tag="10000001"
        fileGroupId="10154">
        <baseCurrency>978</baseCurrency>
        <rateMarginGroupName>Standard</rateMarginGroupName>
      </originator>
    </createMerchant>
  </acquirer>
</merchantBulkUpload>

In most cases the merchant id and originator tag are the same value. The example above uses matching values to reflect this. A merchant can have multiple terminals. Terminals are entirely optional. See the Build the XML file step for a more detailed example.

File naming convention

Fexco uses the filename to identify the source acquirer and match the file to the correct processing pipeline. Name your Boarding File Upload XML file using the following format:

MBUXXXYYYYMMDD.hhmmss.XML

The table below describes the components of this filename.

Component	Description
`MBU`	Fixed prefix (mandatory).
`XXX`	Three-letter merchant identifier assigned by Fexco.
`YYYYMMDD.hhmmss`	File creation timestamp. `YYYY` = year, `MM` = month, `DD` = day, `hh` = hour, `mm` = minute, `ss` = second.
`.XML`	File extension (uppercase).

For example, a file created on September 20, 2026, at 14:30:00 for the identifier ACQ would be named MBUACQ20260920.143000.XML.

Build and submit the file

Follow the steps below to build your Boarding File Upload XML file, validate it, and submit it to Fexco.

Build the XML file

Create an XML file with one createMerchant block per merchant you want to board. Add multiple createMerchant blocks within the same acquirer element to board several merchants at once. Each merchant is processed independently, so a data error in one does not affect the others.The key parts of each createMerchant block are:

id: your unique merchant identifier (mandatory).
name: the merchant display name (mandatory).
originator: the DCC configuration for this merchant (mandatory). The tag attribute is the Merchant ID (MID) used for rate service queries and settlement files.
address, contact, bankAccount, and terminal are optional.

The baseCurrency element uses an ISO 4217 numeric currency code instead of a three-letter code. For example, 978 is EUR and 826 is GBP. See Currency codes for a reference.

The following example boards a single merchant under acquirer 128 with one originator and one terminal.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<merchantBulkUpload
  xmlns="http://www.fexco.com"
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.fexco.com
    https://reporting.fexcodcc.com/dais/schema/VanillaMBU_V26.1.xsd">

  <acquirer id="128">
    <createMerchant mcc="7314" id="10000001">
      <name>Cafe Berlin</name>
      <address>
        <line1>Friedrichstrasse 43</line1>
        <line2>Berlin</line2>
        <countryCode>DE</countryCode>
        <postalCode>10117</postalCode>
      </address>
      <originator
        tag="10000001"
        fileGroupId="10154">
        <baseCurrency>978</baseCurrency>
        <rateMarginGroupName>Standard</rateMarginGroupName>
      </originator>
    </createMerchant>
  </acquirer>
</merchantBulkUpload>

A merchant can have multiple terminals, but terminals are entirely optional.Child elements must appear in the order shown. Use XML entity references for special characters (for example, & for &).For the full list of elements, attributes, and validation rules, see XML Boarding File Upload format.

Download the sample Boarding File Upload XML template to see the expected file structure. It includes two example merchants with different levels of detail.

Validate the XML file

Validate your XML file against the Boarding File Upload XSD schema before submission. Structural or syntactical errors cause the entire file to be rejected.See Validate an XML file before submission for detailed validation instructions and common schema errors.

Submit the file via SFTP

Upload the validated XML file to your dedicated Fexco SFTP folder. Fexco picks up files from this folder automatically at a scheduled time.

Submit create requests before update requests. If you need to create and update the same merchants, use separate files and submit the creation file first.

Check the response file

After Fexco processes your file, a response file is placed in your SFTP folder. The response file is named using the same prefix as your input file, with a .csv extension. It is in CSV format.The following table describes the key fields in the response file.

Field	Description
`Status Code`	Result code. `200` means success. `400` means a data error. `500` means an internal error.
`Merchant Identifier`	The merchant `id` from your XML file.
`Merchant Originator`	The originator `tag` from your XML file.
`Warning List`	Warning messages separated by `#`, each in `Code\|Title\|Message` format.
`Error List`	Error messages separated by `#`, each in `Code\|Title\|Message` format.

A 200 status code with an empty error list means the merchant was boarded successfully. A 200 status with warnings means the merchant was boarded, but some data may be incomplete (for example, an unrecognized account manager name).A 400 status means the merchant record was rejected. Correct the errors and resubmit only the failed records in a new Boarding File Upload file.

Each merchant in the response file has a 200 status code and an empty error list. If any merchants failed, correct the data and resubmit only the failed records in a new Boarding File Upload file. Do not resubmit records that were processed successfully.

Next steps

Validate an XML file before submission: learn how to validate your file against the XSD and resolve common schema errors.
Update a boarded merchant: modify an existing merchant’s configuration using the updateMerchant element.
Deactivate a merchant: deactivate merchants using the deleteMerchant element.

Getting started

Merchant boarding

Rate service

Transaction import

Android app

Go live

Before you start

Boarding File Upload XML file structure

File naming convention

Build and submit the file

Build the XML file

Validate the XML file

Submit the file via SFTP

Check the response file

Next steps