A merchant scoring system predicts and reports the likelihood that a merchant is reliable (e.g., trustworthy, honest, and reputable), which is expected to translate into a positive consumer experience. The system collects data from a variety of data sources, including combinations of the merchant, third-parties, and/or customers who have transacted with the merchant. A scoring model is executed on this collected data to determine an independent and objective merchant reliability metric that predicts the expected reliability of a merchant within a range. The system may also track transactions of individual merchants, populating a transaction history database with information about each merchant for use in this collection and scoring process. The transaction history data and other data may also be accessible to a prospective customer to build his or her confidence in and understanding of the merchant reliability metric and his or her trust of the merchant.