Are You Considered a High Risk Merchant Account In USA
When Merchant Business is established and Applies for a Payment Gateway At the Merchant Bank, They get approved or disapproved from the high risk departments considering the business to be high risk or Low risk business.
Some of the risk factors that make a business high risk area follow:
- You have lost your previous merchant account due to high chargeback ratio.
- Questionable sales and marketing tactics
- Potential legal and financial liability
- Your credit is really bad.
- The industry is known for excessive chargebacks or fraud incidents
- Trial continuity business
- Previous credit card processing is not good enough
- You’ve been branded as a terminated merchant (TMF)
It is important to note, that this high risk merchant account categorized is based in your business industry. the high risk category includes businesses who have been dropped by a previous credit card processor, businesses that are on the MATCH or TMF list, companies whose owners have bad personal credit or low credit scores, or businesses who are based outside the US.
About High Risk Credit Card Processing
The first thing that you need to understand is that while one provider might consider you high risk business another may not. It all depends on their risk department guidelines. If the guidelines are strict, then you won’t get approved. If the guidelines are relaxed, then you’ll have yourself a merchant account. It’s that very simple.
Why Are You Considered High Risk
That depends. There are a number of reasons why a provider would consider your business as high risk business. Maybe your industry is known for having a high instance of chargebacks or fraud. Maybe you have bad credit.
Some examples of high risk industries include:
- Document Preparation
- Downloadable Software
- Educational Software
- Electronics Business
- Extended Warranties
- Financial Aid Consulting
- Financial Services
- Fine & Cosmetic Jewelry
- Insurance Providers
- Magazine Subscription
Common High Risk Industries:
High Risk business with bad personal or business credit scores, a high chargeback history, a startup, or high frequency or high average tickets can be considered high risk on an individual basis, the majority of high risk businesses are labeled as such by the industry they operate in.
