It is the function of this section to declare, with lucidity, the functions, duties, and responsibilities delegated by the EMERALD Marketplace Global Co-Operative, and Administrators of the same, for the purpose of carrying out the necessary actions and processes required of itself as an Administrative Body of the Cooperative and bound by several portions of the Cooperative’s Terms and Conditions of Transacting and Ethics.
The division shall be introduced to each Party in the ‘Terms and Conditions…” as “Merchant Management and/or Escrow Services.” The Division is indebted to and bound by all limitations, liabilities, expectations, non-circumvention and non-disclosure provisions, all other expressions included within the EMERALD Cooperative Member Participation Agreement, all Buyer-Seller Agreements (whether currently in process or completed and executed), and this escrow agreement.
To be particular and intentional, this Division services each Member primarily by remaining adamantly obedient and subservient to Sections 6.5-6.6, and 6.7 of the Cooperative Member Participation Agreement; also, to the compliance declarations and pledges set forth in Sections 6.11 through 6.17 of the same, which speaks to our overall culture, for which this Division of Cooperative is also proud of and devotes allegiance to.
It has been the intention of EMERALD to provide a streamlined buyer-seller process that emphasizes compliance and efficiency along the transaction’s cycle time and processes. As a result, EMERALD has found it necessary and tremendous in value to provide an all-inclusive, in-house closing escrow, payment processing and remittance structure that defies the usual deployment of a third-party provider.
For the purposes of this Cooperative, escrow management (if deployed as part of a transaction’s cycle) is tasked with holding and securing valuables such as money, proprietary documents, attestation certifications, business finance information and other pertinent data on behalf of the agreeing Parties until specified conditions are met during a financial transaction for a single-purchase or on-going purchase of CBD Isolate and Biomass materials.
Overall, escrow managers—or simply, the eCommerce platform– acts as a neutral party that collects the required funds and documents involved in the closing process, including attestations forms from the Buyer and the Seller that verify the receipt of materials as acceptable and expected commensurate to the terms of the Buyer-Seller agreement. Additionally, the Division could also be responsible for the underwriting and vetting involved in approving merchants and buyers for participation in the EMERALD Diversified Cooperative Marketplace.
For the purposes of this Cooperative, member services are tasked with assisting the Buyers and Sellers of the Cooperative with reaching a mutual understanding of the agreed to transaction(s), with reinforced emphasis placed on each piece of cost that represents the total agreed price for materials, services, and Administrative Fees (commonly and comprehensively described in the Closing Disclosure). Member Services serves at the pleasure of the Buyer and Seller to resolve problems and member concerns, gives support to the Parties to execute document submissions, payments, and change management procedures.
And, as our culture insists upon, we will strive towards providing the best member experience for participators in the Cooperative, serving as the primary point-of-contact for all membership- and transaction-/agreement-related requests and concerns and issues. Member services shall provide a multitude of channels and options for all Cooperative members to contact our Division, with live assistance available that will cater to domestic as well as foreign Cooperative Members.
In the execution of its duties, all Parties should assume and expect the Marketplace to execute the deployment of ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) vendors and applications to ensure compliant, secure, data breach- and fraud-free submissions of all sensitive documents and data, and purposefully highlighted, the transmission and remittance of digital payments, made solely through the Automated Clearing House Network (ACH). The ACH Network is governed and managed by the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA).
The ACH Network electronically moves money and related payment information quickly and securely from any U.S.-based financial account to another. Nacha develops and administers the private sector Nacha Operating Rules for ACH payments, which define the roles and responsibilities of ACH Network participants. NACHA continues to safely grow and enhance the use of ACH payments through collaboration and innovation.
Escrow Management administrators carry an extensive background in the financial services industry with an intimate understanding of payments and the intricacies involved with expediting digital payments over the ACH Network. All payment gateways and other applications used are bound to a global payments security standard created and updated by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (Note: although none of the transactions executed to or by the Cooperatives parties will ever involve a debit or credit card, still, the PCI Worldwide Standards include security and data-breach guidelines for the software applications that aid in the transmission or remittance of digital payments and funds).
There are two priorities for PCI’s work:
Maintaining payment security is required for all entities that store, process or transmit cardholder data. Guidance for maintaining payment security is provided in PCI security standards. These set the technical and operational requirements for organizations accepting or processing payment transactions, and for software developers and manufacturers of applications and devices used in those transactions.
A comprehensive look into this Standard is available for review on PCI’s website at https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/pci_security/maintaining_payment_security.
There is nothing more pertinent nor more important and vital than the security of data and funds this Division is responsible for, as well as maintaining the integrity and trust of the Cooperative, its governors, and participants.