Many wellness merchants assume that Certificates of Analysis (COAs) exist primarily for customers.
After all, shoppers want to know what’s inside a product. They want confidence that what’s on the label matches what’s in the bottle.
While that’s certainly true, consumers aren’t the only audience reading your COAs.
Banks are too.
For payment processors, acquiring banks, and compliance teams, a Certificate of Analysis is far more than a quality document. It helps answer one of the most important questions in underwriting:
“Does this merchant actually know what they’re selling?”
That distinction has become increasingly important as banks face greater regulatory scrutiny over high-risk wellness products.
A COA Is Evidence—Not Marketing
Many merchants think of a COA as something they upload because someone asked them to.
In reality, it’s documentation.
It demonstrates that a product has been tested by an independent laboratory and provides measurable information about what’s inside the product.
While requirements vary by product category, a complete COA often includes:
- Laboratory name
- Batch or lot number
- Testing date
- Product identification
- Active ingredient analysis
- Contaminant screening (when applicable)
- Laboratory methods
- Authorized signatures
When these elements are missing—or when no COA exists at all—it becomes harder for a bank to evaluate the product being sold.
Banks Aren’t Trying to Validate Effectiveness
One common misconception is that banks review COAs to determine whether a product “works.”
They don’t.
Banks aren’t evaluating medical value or product performance.
Instead, they’re trying to reduce risk.
They want confidence that:
- Products match what’s advertised.
- Ingredients are consistent.
- Restricted substances aren’t present.
- The merchant maintains documented quality controls.
- Inventory can be traced back to testing if questions arise later.
The more documentation available, the easier it becomes for compliance teams to understand the business they’re underwriting.
COAs Reduce Uncertainty
Risk and uncertainty are closely connected.
When information is missing, financial institutions often assume additional risk.
Imagine two supplement companies.
Both sell similar products.
Both have identical websites.
Both apply for payment processing.
The first company publishes current COAs for every product, clearly matching each test to the correct SKU.
The second company has no testing available—or uploads a single outdated PDF that doesn’t correspond to its current inventory.
Which business appears easier to understand?
Which one gives an underwriter more confidence?
The products may be identical.
The documentation isn’t.
Outdated COAs Can Create Problems Too
Uploading a COA once isn’t enough.
Many merchants forget that products evolve.
New batches are produced.
Suppliers change.
Formulas are updated.
If your website displays reports from several years ago, banks may question whether they still reflect the products currently being sold.
Expired laboratory reports can create the same uncertainty as having no COA at all.
Keeping documentation current demonstrates that testing is part of an ongoing quality process—not a one-time exercise completed during onboarding.
Product Pages Matter
Another common mistake is storing COAs somewhere customers—and compliance reviewers—can’t easily find them.
Banks increasingly expect documentation to be associated with the specific product being sold.
That means each product page should clearly display the corresponding COA rather than linking to a generic folder containing dozens of unrelated reports.
This reduces confusion during underwriting and makes ongoing compliance reviews significantly more efficient.
COAs Help During Ongoing Monitoring
Merchant approval isn’t the end of the compliance process.
Banks continue monitoring merchants throughout the life of the account.
If a merchant adds new products, changes formulations, or expands into different categories, compliance teams may request updated documentation.
Having organized, current COAs readily available makes those reviews faster and reduces unnecessary back-and-forth.
For merchants operating in highly scrutinized wellness categories, this can help maintain a smoother relationship with payment partners.
A Missing COA Doesn’t Always Mean Rejection
Not every missing document leads to a declined application.
However, incomplete documentation often results in additional questions, longer underwriting timelines, or requests for clarification before approval can move forward.
Strong documentation helps remove friction from the review process.
Transparency Builds Confidence
Today’s wellness industry is more heavily scrutinized than ever.
Banks, processors, regulators, and consumers all expect greater transparency from merchants selling products in regulated or high-risk categories.
A Certificate of Analysis helps demonstrate that transparency.
It’s not simply a laboratory report.
It’s evidence that your business understands its products, maintains consistent quality practices, and can support what it sells with documented testing.
That kind of documentation doesn’t just support compliance—it helps build confidence with the financial institutions responsible for keeping your payment processing stable.
How WAAVE Helps
At WAAVE, we work with wellness merchants that operate in highly regulated industries where documentation plays a critical role in payment processing. Our compliance tools help merchants manage Certificates of Analysis, monitor expiration dates, display the correct COA on each product page, and identify documentation gaps before they become underwriting issues. The result is a stronger compliance posture and a smoother experience with banking partners.
