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A high risk merchant account is an ideal solution if your business deals with online gambling, adult services, pharmaceutical products, travel services, sports wagering, online cigarette or tobacco companies or any type of business that involves a high turnover or an increased risk of fraud. If you think your business is not considered to be high risk you will need a standard Ecommerce merchant account or consider applying for an offshore merchant account. Once attained, a High Risk Merchant Account enables you to process credit cards over the internet for the high risk services you provide.

High Risk Merchant Account Rates and Fees

When shopping around for a high risk merchant account don’t be surprised that you will need to pay a setup fee when a standard merchant account usually requires no or a very small setup fee. This is because the merchant account provider is in risk with your account and a high risk merchant account isn’t so easy to attain. You will be also paying relatively high rates for the credit cards you will be processing.

Difficulty Issues with High Risk Merchant Accounts

If you tried applying for a high risk merchant account and were declined for any reasons consider contacting a third party credit card processor. Some merchant account providers just won’t take the risk of predicted charge backs they estimate in your line of business. Don’t think that if your business is considered to be high risk you can’t get a merchant account just proper research has to be done.

For more related information visit our merchant account provider informational page.

A risky venture demands an equally safe backup plan. And a high risk merchant account is an important part of your protection policy. So if you are involved in a high risk online business like online gaming and gambling, travel, and pharmaceuticals etc. you have to make sure that you are backed by a flexible and reliable high risk merchant account. However, finding a merchant service provider to cover a high risk venture may prove to be a challenging task. Most banks and financial institutions are wary of offering merchant services due to an increased risk of credit card frauds and other payment problems that are a part and parcel of high risk undertakings.

Now by logging onto merchant-accounts.com and applying for a merchant account you will get a number of unique benefits your high risk enterprise deserves. Merchant accounts with AMS will give you the flexibility of offering multi currency transactions to your customers. This is an important feature for businesses that are spread outside the US and UK. Moreover you can call AMS customer support executives any time of the day and get all your queries answered. The customer support numbers of Advanced Merchant Services are toll free so you won’t be charged a penny for any of your calls. AMS moreover offers swift real-time processing and recognizes all major credit cards.

Most merchant service providers take up to several weeks to approve high risk merchant accounts. This is not the case with AMS. We greatly pride our ability to get most merchant accounts approved within 24 hours of their application. You won’t be required to wait or run around.

As far as the rates are concerned, AMS offers the cheapest among all our competitors. This is not just a promise but a guarantee embedded in the official website. If you ever come across a merchant service provider offering a lower price than any of the goods and services offered by AMS we will beat it by 5%. All you need to do is to log on to the Price Bust section of the AMS website and mention the name of site that offering you the lower rate. No site is as pocket friendly as AMS. AMS unlike its competitors is backed by largest conglomeration of processing banks in the United States of America. So whether you need to process thousand dollars or a million, your account is absolutely secure with Advanced Merchant Services. Visit us at www.merchant-accounts.com and cut the risk factor in your business by half.

In the world of online sales, there are a lot of things written on the page but are left unread between the lines. In other words, you go about selling your products and services but there are lots of things high risk merchant account providers don’t tell you. Not because they could not or would not, but because they would not discuss the issues with you until you have experienced them. A good example is going through possible freezing of your merchant account.

If, as a high risk merchant, you have not exerted an effort to make a research concerning frozen accounts, then you’re in BIG trouble. I’ll keep it short. Once your merchant account is frozen, your present and future business is put under horrible risk. First, because you will lose the ability to process credit cards online. Second, you will be denied merchant account if you applied for another one. You certainly cannot allow this to happen and it will never if you are smart enough to take preventive measures.

VOLUME LIMIT EXCESS

Okay, so what gives? You would think if you made a mistake in stating your processing limits or average ticket size, there is an easy way to get out of the mess. But underwriters and high risk merchant account providers are realistic. If you make more profit than you have actually stated during the assessment period, you will be likely incurring more chargebacks. When this happens, your underwriter is liable to pay the issuing bank the losses. Obviously, the little mistake you made spelled trouble to your provider.

How do you prevent this? Find a high risk merchant account provider that is flexible with your monthly processing volume limit. This means that as soon as your ticket size grows, you can negotiate an adjustment on the discount rate and other fees.

NICHE PRODUCT/SERVICE FLEXIBILITY

Another issue that will most likely cause you trouble with your merchant account provider is your niche product or service. This is pretty easy to figure out and it’s lot like choosing a domain name. Define your product or service in the broadest way possible. Pick pharmaceuticals instead of hoodia. That way if you expand your catalog or change into a different but related product/service in the industry, then it will be easier for the provider to adjust.

REFUNDS

This issue will speak for itself. Is giving refunds to your customers a bad practice? Sure it may hurt your business, but a business also has to maintain a good reputation. One way to keep it is to make sure dissatisfied customers are able to return your products and get their money back, if only because you would want them to buy again and not spread ill words about your company. Above all, you do not want them to commit fraud against your business.

BACKUP ACCOUNT

Two merchant accounts? To some business owners, having one alone can be a pain especially with high discount rates. But there’s also an advantage in obtaining a back up merchant account. There is if your business relies solely in processing credit cards online! If one provider halts processing or encounters a glitch, you have support that will not put inconvenience to your business or customers. Having a backup merchant account is quite tricky but it always serves its purpose.

Frozen merchant accounts are horrible for your business. Now is the time you find out the issues with your high risk merchant account provider before your business goes down the drain!

Get the experience from not just a seller of a high risk offshore merchant account – but a merchant who has been thru all the hoops and has seen everything from “both sides”.

The risks of offshore high risk merchant accounts

Most sellers of such high risk merchant account are delivering low-grade products – or simply take your money and run away (this has happened to me several times in the past). These sellers have never processed 1 single cent themselves from credit cards – and therefore do not know (or care) about the requirements of a merchant. They only know how to sell a useless “solution” that will go down after 1-2 months of use.

These days the scam artist make your account run for 2 months and then suddenly it gets closed – and then you never see the funds from the last 3-5 weeks processing – plus the standard 10% reserve that you normally should get back after 6 months.

A new variation of this scam is that the high volume high risk merchant account processor has very poor reporting system making it difficult or impossible for you to see when and how much you will get paid for which period.

For example a gateway processor that claims to be located in Switzerland (they have no telephone that actually works) and be operated by a Swiss person shows only 7 transactions per page – and has no reporting system whatsoever. This processor claimed that their discount rate was 8% and reserve was 10% – but actually, they kept 53% of all processed amount – and after7-8 weeks the account suddenly closed. This so-called Swiss gate also put a chargeback belonging to a completely different merchant on my account and never removed it even though they promised to do so. Another chargeback I was able to prove that the product was delivered but the chargeback still remained.

Another example was a so-called Chinese gateway processor using a gateway went down (lost their bank connection) also after 6 weeks of processing with them – and never told anything to me – ever – so for 2 weeks all my orders got declined – making my potential customers upset and me very frustrated. Besides the cheating then this gateway is so badly built that you can only use Internet Explorer to access the gateway with and you must disable popup blockers. The DNA-gateway does not permit you to use the mouse for copy/paste of customer info which makes it very slow to use. This doesn’t really matter because they never pay you 1 single cent.

A great way that these sellers also make money is to make up fines from Mastercard or VISA – that supposedly requires 1-4 years litigation. These fines do not exist at all or at a much lower amount – or, are only temporary fines that are refunded to the processor after a short “hold”-period. The processor has already deducted these funds from the merchant – but the merchant never gets these funds again. Ever.

A processor broker/seller having a foreign name – Gany Karim – (this is not his real name – just the name he uses for his customers – so he can not sue me for defamation and supposedly located in Canada sold me those 2 solutions. The total loss was more than 40.000 USD in direct losses – plus I was not able to process for several months waiting for a new solution to be made – which never came. However, all his “fees” that ran into 2.000 USD – including extra fees that were never explained to me – was deducted from my processed funds and funny enough I never saw 1 cent at all.

Before a processor loses his bank connection then the bank has for some time asked the processor to change certain procedures which the processor chooses not to do so. Then the bank closes the processors merchant account and then the processor blames the bank for the problem.

When you ask the processor which bank they use then they will never tell you.

After a couple of years you have forgotten all about it and have moved on – which is what these scam artists hope for.

These processors also have no or very poor customer service (before they close down your account). And after they close down the account – then they have zero customer service and you can not get hold of them at all or not talk to the decision maker.

Other times then the processor sets up another corporation which they process thru. Then in your contract it says that the processor is not liable for losses incurred if your processor is not paid. The funds will then be in the other company (that the processor also owns).

Are there any offshore credit card processors that are not con artists?

Yes, there are some good offshore merchant account processors out there. I use some of them myself for my own websites so I know that they are reliable.

You will get your own MID account and be able to accept VISA, Mastercard, ACH and maybe other cards also (depending upon your business area) – for a small setup fee of $599.

You also get to talk to a real life person – who knows the requirements of a merchant – and uses the very same processor solutions that I sell. So, I practice what I preach so to speak.

Many merchants complain about the lack of information when it comes to high risk merchant account application. It’s not that there’s no information at hand; it’s more likely because merchant account providers do not provide standard customer service or are simply too lazy to share the nuts and bolts that the applicants need.

CASE IN POINT

For example, a merchant may have already submitted his application before the merchant account provider (MAP) reveals the improbable terms: that he may not receive payment until x number of months or that he may not be approved for a merchant account unless he changes his marketing plan. When this happens, the worst case scenario is that the merchant’s application may never be approved. If the company doesn’t offer a money back guarantee, he may lose money even before he earns it.

The dark side of high risk merchant application involves a possibility that the MAPs may take long to approve your account. The reason is that they need to assess your business in relation to the rate of frauds and chargebacks that might be incurred. Also, you may spend more on fees than a regular merchant account.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

However, it’s never a dead end road for the high risk merchant. Here, I have compiled a list of some insider information you might want to check out first before diving headlong into your high risk/offshore account application.

Some accounts may be approved within 24 hours.
When it’s offshore (account) there is less likelihood that it will be declined.
Merchants with bad credit rating can still apply and get approved.
There’s no need to open a new bank account as the funds get transferred

directly to the merchant’s bank of choice.
Most high risk merchant account providers require from as small as $10,000 to $50 million on monthly credit card sales volume.
MAPs will provide pricing quotes after analyzing the merchant’s business’ status. The following are likely criteria for pricing the application:

1. business profile

2. personal credit of the owner

3. business lifespan

4. monthly processing volume

5. business solvency

6. processing history

7. fraud / chargebacks history

Some MAPs require minimal volume caps or none at all.
Merchants may choose your own international bank.
Merchants previously listed under terminated merchant file (TMF) list still get a chance to get their application approved, as long as they were not involved in fraud in the past.
When merchants apply for an offshore merchant account, they do not have to spend for credit card terminal or software to process your transactions.
Merchants may also accept a good number of international currencies as well as have the ability to offer other payment processing options such as by fax, phone, or e-mail.
Merchants may start accepting credit card payments in a matter of a week as soon as their application has been approved and the terminal or software has been set up.

GOING THE OFFSHORE WAY

Now, for businesses who have originally planned to go the route of offshore merchant account application, there is no need to convince them of the benefits they will earn. Going the offshore way means getting a ton of perks when it comes to taxation. Internal bank policies in international banks are not as strict as U.S. banks. The drawback is the higher processing costs and a holdback on proceeds as reserve to protect them against chargebacks in the future.

Is your business considered high risk? And can you still get a merchant account?

In credit card processing, there are many different reasons why a business may be considered high risk.

First, it may be the actual business industry that has been tagged “high risk”, such as travel, multi-level marketing (MLM), e-commerce, aggregators or collection agencies.
Second, the reason may simply be the business volume that places a business in the high risk category.
And third, it may be a reflection of the business or the business owner’s credit history.

The question still arises: Can High Risk Merchants Obtain a Merchant Account?

The answer is YES. But you have to know where to go for the expert advice and guidance needed so you and your business are safe from excessive expenses often associated with high risk merchant accounts.

Working with an expert in high risk merchant accounts is critical to the success of obtaining the best merchant account solution for your business.

5 Points to Consider When Selecting the Best Merchant Account for Your High Risk Business:
Your application needs to be handled by a high risk professional expert
Your high risk merchant account processor should have experience with merchants in your business industry
The high risk merchant account processor needs to have access to numerous credit sources – including more liberal banks and offshore options
If your business does have to be taken offshore, your high risk experts need to work on getting the lowest rate available
All rates should be disclosed prior to contract with the high risk credit card processing company

3 Insider Tips To Ensure Approval for a High Risk Business Merchant Account:
Do you have a poor credit rating? Be honest about disclosing any past financial challenges. Acknowledging previous liens, bankruptcies, judgments, etc. will only improve your credibility and alleviate one more barrier.
Be open to offshore options as sometimes they can offer your business the best merchant account solution.
Shop around for a credit card processor that has expert knowledge in high risk merchant account approval – and don’t be afraid to ask questions. The more you educate yourself in the process, the more you will recognize a good high risk merchant account processor giving you intelligent, experienced answers to your questions.

Operating a high-risk business does not exclude you from being able to process credit cards. Like any business, you want to provide your customers with as many non-cash payment options as possible. It is statistically proven that accepting credit cards help generate revenues and stimulate impulse purchases.

Owning a high risk business doesn’t mean you won’t be able to open a merchant account. It does mean, however, that you may have to do a little more in setting one up that is right for your business. Do your “due diligence”, shop around and ask questions to find a credit card processing company that specializes in high risk and offshore merchant accounts and will offer their expertise to businesses who fall into the high risk category.