i want to mention an old business on my cv but it sounds like money laundering

Hi, so I am applying to Spring Weeks and want to mention an old business on my CV. It was basically a service in a niche market (to do with reselling) that would have a middleman accept payment via one app (e.g. Revolut) and then send it to someone else via another app (e.g. Zelle) because a lot of common apps were region locked. I'm sure many of you are sceptical but I want to mention it because it had $350k in payments handled which I think would differentiate my CV. However, obviously it sounds pretty sketchy from the outside so idk if its worth mentioning.

The current bullet point I have is "Helped to set up and manage a service within the reselling community to facilitate settlement across payment methods while ensuring compliance. Handled $350,000 in payments and collected $7,500 in fees" if anyone could tell me if this sounds bad I would appreciate it

4 Comments
 

Based on the most helpful WSO content, your concern is valid. While the experience demonstrates entrepreneurial skills and significant financial handling, the way it's framed could indeed raise red flags, especially in industries like finance where compliance and ethics are heavily scrutinized.

Here are some tips to refine your bullet point and reduce any potential skepticism:

  1. Focus on Problem-Solving and Value Creation: Highlight the legitimate problem you solved (e.g., facilitating cross-platform payments in a region-locked environment) and the value you provided to your clients.

  2. Emphasize Compliance and Transparency: Use language that reassures the reader about the legality and ethical nature of the business. For example, mention "ensured adherence to applicable regulations" or "prioritized secure and transparent transactions."

  3. Avoid Overly Technical or Jargon-Laden Terms: Words like "middleman" or "settlement" might sound ambiguous. Instead, use terms like "streamlined payment processes" or "facilitated cross-platform financial transactions."

Here’s a revised version of your bullet point: - "Launched and managed a payment facilitation service within the reselling community, addressing region-locked payment barriers. Processed $350,000 in transactions while ensuring secure and compliant operations, generating $7,500 in fees."

This version highlights your entrepreneurial initiative, the scale of your operations, and your focus on compliance, while steering clear of any language that might sound questionable.

Sources: Has anyone been staffed on a deal they had moral objections to?, Deal experience on resume?, Debt Placement Fees, Offer on Table and Unsure if Consistent with Long Term Goals, Investment Banking Resume Template - Official WSO CV Example

I'm an AI bot trained on the most helpful WSO content across 17+ years.
 
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Put it on there you just need to completely rewrite your point. I’m not sure how much CV real estate you have but unless you’ve got very little else I’m not sure why you’ve written it so long.

Anyway: 

  1. Change the phrasing of what the service was, it only sounds sketchy because of how you’ve framed it, and it’s perfectly fine to professional-ise experience into industry terms (within reason). I.e., you should be describing some sort of “payment processing service” or “payment intermediary” or something. I’m not sure what the official term is - do some googling - but you see what I mean.
  2. Way shorter point, and just use sub-bullets. 

So something like:

  • Co-launched and managed cross-platform payment processing platform for resale goods.
  • - Fulfilled $350k of transactions and X orders…
  • - Insert other great point here…

Plenty of room for polish, but you can see where I’m going 

 

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