About Merchant Account And High Risk Credit Card Processing

The merchant accounts get approval or disapprove from the risk departments. Any business with bad personal or business credit scores, a high chargeback history, a startup, or high frequency or high average tickets can be at high risk. On an individual basis, the majority of high-risk businesses are among such by the industry they operate in. At First American Merchant we specialize in high risk credit card processing and high risk merchant accounts. We work with virtually every business type and any credit situation. We specialize in helping high risk business owners get the credit card processing services they need. We have helped thousands of online and retail business owners get merchant accounts.

Best High Risk Merchant Accounts & Credit Card Processing Options

If your business is part of a so-called high-risk industry, it may be difficult to find quality credit card processing. After sifting through dozens of contracts for high risk merchant account providers and speaking with many sales representatives, we found a good number of companies offer little transparency, confusing and contradictory information and a plethora of hidden fees. We compiled a list of the best high-risk merchant account providers and top high risk credit card processors to help small business owners more easily find options that suit their needs.

The Challenge Of High Risk Merchant Accounts

High risk merchants know that getting the right merchant account is challenging. Not all banks are eager to provide payment processing for industries deemed high risk. In 2001, Merchant stronghold carved its own niche in the high risk merchant services space and has been providing quality solutions since then.

Benefits Of  Merchant Stronghold High Risk Merchant Accounts

• More Acquiring Banking Solutions
• We Work Within the Guidelines of Visa, MasterCard, and More
• 3D Secure – Something to Think About
• Fraud Protection Tools
• Offshore and International Merchant Accounts
• Multi-Currency Processing
• Live Customer Support

High Risk Merchant Accounts

At Host Merchant Services we realize that some merchants fall into “high risk” categories. This means that it can be harder for the business to obtain a merchant account.

But what if you've been categorized as a high risk?

High risk merchants don’t qualify for traditional processing agreements. They're stuck working with acquirers and processors who offer high risk merchant services and are willing to accept liability for the increased risk associated with these businesses (known as a high-risk payments processor). As you might imagine, "high risk" service comes with a higher price tag.

Let’s Understand the High-Risk Merchant

It is difficult to start a business, as well as applying for a merchant account. The merchant accounts get approval or disapprove from the risk departments. While considering the business to be high-risk business or Low-risk. There are few reasons why any business can be in high-risk business.

Why Are Offshore High Risk Merchant Accounts So Popular

Internet was a revolutionary idea and till date, it is evolving. Not only for sending emails or social networking, it has also gained popularity in the field of E-commerce. When we talk about E-commerce, a couple of things strike our minds like credit card processing, data security, merchant account, etc. A merchant account is a necessity to accept card payments online along with reliable payment processors. While setting up online businesses, a merchant also needs to take care of these things but if a merchant is planning to grow his business and want to reach customers around the world, he needs to open an offshore account.

What Is An Offshore Account?

The term ‘offshore’ is basically used to describe banks from countries other than home country or foreign lands. An offshore account is like any other merchant account opened in any country other than merchant’s home country. The main benefits of an offshore account are the security and the option of accepting major currencies. It also helps the merchant in increasing revenue due to tax relaxation, provides greater privacy to merchants and helps in gaining more customers (major currency acceptance).

Why It Is Popular Among Merchants?

E-commerce and offshore accounts are highly linked as merchants, irrespective of their industry types. It aims at attracting a majority of customers and look for maximizing sale to earn good profit. To achieve this, the merchant needs to have a merchant account that accepts the majority of credit cards. But it is not that easy to open a merchant account, as it includes many requirements and lengthy procedures, which is not the case with an offshore merchant account. Most of the businesses like to maintain an offshore account as it provides many financial and legal advantages to its client.

Why Offshore Merchant Account?

Most of the merchants choose offshore accounts over merchant accounts for various reasons. Few of them are listed below:

• Hassle free procedure
• Low taxes/ tax relaxation
• Low initial costs
• International Reach
• Different currencies
• Major credit card acceptance

Why Are Offshore Accounts So Popular?

No matter how small or big business you own, any merchant can get an offshore account. Especially, merchants who are planning to set up an online business, irrespective of their size, prefer offshore account over merchant account due to low initial cost.

Every merchant running an online business wants to hit the international market at a certain point of growth. Offshore merchant account makes the acceptance of various currencies as well as credit cards much easier. Although, merchants who are dealing with local customers with the prime objective of capturing domestic market are not much benefitted by offshore merchant account as compared to the merchant targeting the global market.

Things To Remember

If you are searching for an offshore Merchant account provider, there are many providers available online. But it is completely merchant’s choice to decide which one is better for their business and which one will turn out to be more beneficiary. Making a decision and choosing a suitable offshore account provider is very important because benefits provided may vary from one provider to the other. So take your own sweet time to think, decide and choose the right one to enjoy the benefits of an offshore account.

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Credit Card Processor

If you are running a business of sales and purchases, you need to choose a new credit card processor. But it is not as easy as it seems, it is a big decision to make. Before making the decision, you must know it includes the fee charged and contracts. Also the customer service department and cost-effective tools available. Do the comparison, study the market and then make the final decision. Let us now discuss it further. 3 questions you should ask your new credit card processor before finalizing it:

Structure of Fee Charged

When you opt for such tools, you are charged with a certain amount of fee. But it is important to know what exactly those fees are, more commonly called breakage of the fee. The fact is that most of the high-risk merchants have no idea about the process and end up paying a high amount of fee without actually knowing the hidden high markups in their pricing structure. To process the transaction, an interchange part of pricing structure is paid to the card issuer. Apart from this, there is an extra fee that they put on the top of it to gain more profit. So, when you are applying for new credit card processor/merchant payment processor, request them to separate out the interchange fee so that you can have a clear idea about how much money they are making or charging you in total.

Contract and Time Duration

Whenever a merchant wants to opt for a new credit card processor, he/she needs to sign a contract, which will lock you with them for certain period of time. It is important for high-risk merchants to check for options when shopping around for new processor and also to finalize the processor with shorter time duration instead of multi-year contracts. The advantage of choosing a short-term contract is:

• They will work hard for your business to impress you so that you renew the contract instead of shopping for new credit card processor or merchant payment processor once the contract expires. If you end up signing a multi-year contract, you will soon be forgotten and ignored and service quality provided may deteriorate.
• In case of serious trouble when you have a short-term contract or non-existing contract, immediate help will be provided. Everything to resolve the issue so as to retain you as a customer. Whereas, if you have a long-term contract, it might take longer to resolve the issue you are facing.
• When you are not happy with the services provided by your current credit card processor, you can try out the new processor. They can meet your needs, but if you have a long-term contract, you only stick with the same provider till the contract expires.

Customer Service Department

Efficient and knowledgeable customer service department is like icing on the cake. Get the opinion of the current customers of the credit card processor. Also, find out about their experiences with the customer service department.Look for the processor whose,

• Support representatives are knowledgeable and can tackle any kind of issue if arises.
• Call waiting time is minimum
• Support representative should be able to resolve issues in the first call and in shortest time duration.

If you are lucky enough and end up buying a credit card processor or merchant payment processor for your high-risk business that fulfills all your needs and the fee charged is worth every single penny you pay, hold on tight to it and never let it go. If you are happy with the services provided and a fee charged, it would be a good decision to renew the contract with the same provider than starting the process all over again.

How to Accept Credit Cards with an Online High Risk Merchant Account

Regardless of the size of your business, your goal must be to increase annual sales revenue. For this, you must give your customers more alternative mode of payments. It includes credit card payment, debit card payment, net banking and others.

A Study to know

According to studies, business accepting credit card payment is likely to generate more revenue as compared to others. The main purpose of you being in the industry is to earn profit and credit card is a great mode of payment. So, it is better to get a reliable credit card processing before starting off.

There are many third-party service providers with payment solutions for credit card processing like PayPal, but it comes with shortcomings. But special measures must be taken to provide a secure environment to conduct transactions. Else customers will either drift away or will not come back for another sale, and this will increase abandonment rate and funds paid through check or direct deposit will take days to get transferred. Payment solutions like PayPal are good if merchant needs to handle low-volume sales. But if you are looking for growth, the merchant has to look for alternatives.

What do Business Owners need?

If you want to accept payments through credit card, the first thing that is must is Merchant Account. To carry out online transactions and validate credit card acceptance, a merchant account is mandatory. A merchant account is like any other bank account with a slight difference; it enables merchant/business to accept payment through various means like credit and debit cards. If the merchant has an online merchant account, so this will eliminate the need for credit card processing machine or terminals to accept payments.

Parties involved in merchant account set up process are: 

• The Retailer
• Payment Processor
• Merchant Bank

Three things that every merchant should be aware of when accepting credit card with an online merchant account are discussed below in detail:

ONLINE PAYMENT GATEWAY

A payment gateway is a merchant service provided by e-commerce provider responsible for carrying out transactions or direct payment processing for e-business or retailers. E-commerce transactions (online transactions) are authorized by this e-commerce service (payment gateway). E-commerce service provider can be: 

• Bank
• Specialized financial service provider.

A payment gateway transfers the information between a payment portal and acquiring the bank, where payment portal can be any of the following: 

• Website
• Mobile phone
• IVR machine (Interactive Voice Response)

MERCHANT DISCOUNT RATE

For every payment processing service on debit/credit card transactions, the merchant has to pay. It is a fee imposed on the merchant that he/she must consider while managing overall costing of the business. Merchant must discuss the fee for this service before starting to accept debit/credit card payment. It is basically a card-processing fee that is charged to the merchant. Discount rate includes the following:

• Card processing fee
• Dues
• Assessments
• Markup and network charges

ADDITIONAL FEE

Hence, along with the merchant discount rate, an additional fee is there to the merchant when conducting transactions through an online merchant account. These fees are:

• Statement fee
• Monthly minimum fee
• Authorization fee
• Annual fee
• Chargeback Fee
• Early termination fee
• Customer service fee
• Batch fee (charged when settling a terminal)

13 Tips For Merchants To Avoid High Risk Credit Card Chargebacks

For many small businesses that accept credit cards, chargeback is way costlier but there are ways where you can protect your business against those unfair chargebacks. Before going further, let us understand what is a ‘Chargeback’?

Chargeback

Chargeback happens when a customer after purchasing a product, contact to his/her card issuer to dispute the charges. In simple words, when a customer purchases a product and due to some reason disputes a charge with his/her bank, the money is returned to that customer as well as he/she gets to keep the product. But the bank charges the business owner, from whom the product was purchased. This payment, which the business owner gets to pay to the bank, is called the chargeback.

Here are few tips that can help you prevent chargeback and minimize the time and money spent while dealing with it. Being business owner you should understand that disputes could be considered valid due to many reasons. Customer may dispute charges if:

1. A hacker using the customer’s identity made the purchase illegally.
2. The wrong item was received.
3. The product was adulterated
4. The customer does not recognize the charge on his credit card statement.
5. The customer was billed incorrectly.

LET US NOW DISCUSS FEW TIPS WHICH CAN HELP YOU IN PREVENTING A CHARGEBACK.

DECLINED AUTHORIZATION

If the authorization request is declined once, do not go ahead with that particular transaction instead ask customers to opt for different payment method. Also, keep in mind not to request multiple authorizations for a particular transaction.

AUTHORIZATION CODE

There will be cases when word “Call” is displayed on your terminal while authorization is being checked. At this point call the credit card company right away. The representative will ask you a few questions and may speak to its customer as well. After that he/she may or may not provide you with an authorization code. If the authorization code is provided, record it else request the customer to try a different card.

System not working

There can be cases where a system is not functioning properly or the card is worn out. At this point, you should key-enter the credit card number, and also remember to make an impression of the card for keeping the record. This is important because a customer’s signature is not enough to protect you from a chargeback.

GIFT CARD

Gift cards are unembossed cards and there is no way to take a manual imprint of it. In case customer wishes to pay by gift card it is advisable to ask the customer for a different payment method.

SIGNATURE 

Regardless of the type of the card used for the payment processing, the signature of the cardholder on the receipt is mandatory. This can be used as a proof that the customer made the purchase himself.

SWIPE ONLY ONCE

You should swipe the card only once to avoid duplicate transactions, which can lead to a major chargeback. If such situation arises, write “VOID” in bold letters on the customer’s receipt and tear it in front of the cardholder.

Record keeping: To avoid duplicate transaction chargeback, make sure that you deposit only one copy of sales receipt. Be cautious about recording sales; do not record the same transaction more than once.

CLEAR COMMUNICATION 

Clearer is the refund and returns policy, better will be the communication and it will protect you from chargeback as well. As far as refund policy is concerned, it is better to print it on the receipt directly. If not possible, stamp it near customer’s signature.

Receipt deposit: To avoid chargeback, deposit receipts as soon as possible. Make it a point that all the receipts are deposited within a day or two.

Cancellation request: It is a good practice to honor all customer requests to cancel recurring billing and provide them with a written statement for the same with a date on it. Delay on it can put you at risk for a chargeback.

Unexpected Delay

If, due to any reason, there is a gap between the time payment was made and the time when the product was delivered, it is advisable to inform the customer about the same in written and if possible, also let the customer know the new expected date.

Out of stock: If in case, the product is out of stock or unavailable due to any reason, it is important to intimate the customer about the same and ask them whether they would like to cancel the order or would like to purchase another item instead. Keep in mind that without customer’s permission do not send any substitute product. This will help in reducing chargeback risk.

SHIPMENT

Never deposit the money you have charged from the customer before product being shipped to the customer. Streamline shipping process in order to get the product out to the customer as quickly as possible. There are chances of a customer getting upset about paying before receiving the product.

Avoid High Risk Credit Card Processing Scams with Merchant Stronghold

‘FRAUD’, the word itself generates a warning sign to both customers as well as the merchant. According to recent studies, every fraud valued 1 dollar, costs merchant $2.40. The amount may seem less but has a huge impact on annual revenue.One of the main reasons for these frauds is the credit card processing scams. Credit card payment processing companies have noticed a significant growth of such scams among small or medium-sized businesses as compared to large industries. And, if these SMBs do not have sufficient resources to handle them, the impact of scams are much more significant. A major retail can bare the impact of the loss of a couple of dollars but it is not the case with small or medium-sized businesses.

Most Common Credit Card Processing Scams

Let us discuss in detail about the most common credit card processing scams and a few tips to avoid them.

Forced Authorization Scam

To complete the transaction when customer’s credit card is declined, the merchant can perform forced authorization. Now, to finalize the sale, where the merchant already remits good, forced authorization is conducted. To do so, merchant calls the issuing bank directly to obtain the authorization code when a card is declined and overrides it. Few things to remember while conducting forced authorization are:

• The customer might provide you with an alphanumeric code, which is not valid to override.
• If the authorization code is not valid or fraudulent, the merchant cannot file a dispute.
• In this case, the merchant will be subjected to chargebacks and a fine.
• Always allow card processing terminal to get an approval code.

Wire Scam

If the order placed by a customer is much larger than what merchant processes, beware, as wire scam might occur. It is a scam where customer overpays for the orders he/she has placed and asks the merchant to wire the exceeding amount to a third party. This third party is responsible for picking up ordered product from the merchant and delivering it to the customer who ordered it. To avoid wired scam, always remember two things:

1) Never accept excess money to be wired to a third party, no matter what reason may customer give.

2) Doing so can cost the merchant a fine and a fee for conducting fraudulent transactions.

Gift Card Scams

This is the most common scam and according to a recent study, 13% of the gift card frauds are by store employees and usually, they steal from already load cards. In totality, retails lose almost $70k annually from gift card scams. This includes:

• Skimming card number to create a fake card
• Returning stolen goods in exchange for gift cards.

TIPS TO AVOID CREDIT CARD PROCESSING SCAMS

1) To protect cards from theft and unauthorized use, implement security measures.

2) For all returns, request receipt and ID.

3) If it happens, refund the transaction immediately and do not give away the product.

4) For assistance on any suspicious activity, contact your payment processor’s risk department.

HOW CAN WE HELP?

Merchant Stronghold provides a payment processor for high risk merchants and has a well-qualified payment processor risk department, which can help you resolve issues with high accuracy and within time. Our experts are available 24*7, 365 days to take any credit card processor query. Just give us a call on +1(888) 622-6875

Offshore High Risk Merchant Accounts for Nutraceutical Products

For any E-commerce site, to accept payment by multiple means you need a proper payment gateway and a merchant account that supports your needs. Without a merchant account, you will not be able to accept payment via credit card or debit card. If you are finally looking forward to spreading your business worldwide, it is important to have the capacity to process such payments.

Nutraceutical products (commonly known as Nutra products) have formed a billion dollar market. Business dealing in such products is categorized as high-risk business and therefore most conventional banks and merchant processors will not provide services to companies like this.

Why considered as high risk

Nutra products include weight reduction remedies, anti-aging, and sexual enhancement products. Although it is a prize-winning industry, it is still considered high-risk because of the following reasons:

• A higher number of chargebacks
• Frequency of bankruptcies
• Customer Enrollment Cancelations
  

Benefits of Merchant Services for Nutra Product Sales

Some merchant account providers specialize in high-risk merchant account but charge the higher fee for certain accounts. There are few providers who offer customized end-to-end payment solutions, which are more beneficial for the merchant as compare to others. Some also offer to process for numerous currencies. For these and other reasons, it’s best to do very systematic research of merchant processors that offer merchant accounts for Nutra deals.

Several benefits of using the merchant account for Nutra product sales are:

Payment acceptance through various means: If you want to grow your business it is important to accept payments by multiple means. Customers feel comfortable if they can pay or choose the payment option as per their choice and convenience, for the products or services they require.

Acceptance of all type of credit cards: If you have a payment processor that works with all credit cards, the merchant can deal with people and companies all over the world and expand their business.

No volume limit: Merchant service provider can provide you with a payment system that does not restrict you from making business deals and financial transactions. Also, a system where you can carry out transactions without any interruption or issues.

Extra benefits provided by some of the merchant account providers:

• 24/7 technical support
• Fast set-up and approval in 24 hours (depending on Acquiring bank)
• No hidden fees in terms of Nutra Merchant Account Solutions
• Instant integration with the website
• Affordable data processing rates
  

How to Shop for Merchant Services

Despite the fact that there are more choices nowadays in the card preparing industry, as a result, finding the correct processor can be challenging. You will require one that addresses your organization’s issues, but that can take some time and legwork. Discover what different administrations they are offering, for example, online installment doors. You can also inquire whether they handle things like various monetary standards. Also, discover a processor that can make different Nutra deals and shipper accounts accessible to your organization.

Instructions to Work with Conventional Merchant Services Providers

Pay organization bills on time and keep financials in order. Give clients great services and make returning items simple and convenient. Nutraceutical related merchants who give genuine items at reasonable costs could hope to remain in business and expect outstanding income. Search for long-term solutions for your Nutra deals here.