High Risk Merchant Accounts

There are several business owners who are involved in high risk businesses such as online gaming, adult websites, and online pharmacy, telemarketing, dating, escort services or travel trip arrangers and many more. They need the facility which can process the payments through credit cards in various international currencies to make it profitable. It is the correct place of the high risk credit card merchant account.

The merchant account basically provides impeccable service to the high risk trade. Since finance is the sole outcome of any business, you as a business owner of the high risk nature must be looking for the service to enable you to get the online credit cards payments processed without any delay. Since the trade involves high risk element in the activities comprising of gambling sites, multi level marketing in international markets and so on, the activities actually create high returns too.

Domestic banks do not find it very easy to accommodate and do not grant a merchant account to the high risk businesses and if at all they do, they charge exceedingly high interest rates and enhanced fees. There are possibilities of charge backs and if it happens, the regular banks terminate the merchant account making it more difficult for you to get another account for the processing of credit card service for your business.

When you opt for a high risk credit card merchant account, you are allowed to broaden your sphere of business. The providers understand the risk involved in charge backs and take necessary protection to avoid the same. This kind of merchant account will definitely cause you additional cost because they run more risk than an ordinary credit card processing service for the good of your high risk business. You should know that the high risk credit card merchant accounts are never squashed even if there are returns and charge backs, because the providers are well aware of the risk involved in this business.

The transactions are performed speedily and the providers prove to be most dependable for your business. They have the inbuilt mechanism to check foul attempts and provide protection from usual frauds in the credit card transactions. The third party checking system of customers is avoided to save your cost as they do it for you. Hence, when your business involves in the dealing of online shopping of high risk nature, trust the high risk credit card merchant accounts to make the business more convenient to your customers. You will definitely make improvement in your online business.

In this age of the internet, taking a credit card account is imperative for an off shore merchant who intends to stay in the market and fight competition. All traders doing online vending must necessarily have an online global merchant account without which they simply cannot survive in this highly competitive world. There are many traders who maintain a high volume of sales and face a lot of threats due to fraud; such companies are grouped into the high risk category.

Making things simpler for the customer to purchase from you quickly, effectively and with security is a vital point. A merchant account assists to make your website more convincing and trustworthy. Without a merchant account the clients will not be in a position to pay the vendors through their credit cards.

It is advisable for all online merchants to open a global merchant account, because the type of business that they is doing does not restrict itself to one particular country alone.

Before setting up global merchant account, the vendor must do as much research as possible, and finally sign up with a provider that would suit their requirements. Get to understand their terms and conditions and demand a hard copy before the sign up. Ensure that all transactions are carried out in real time. Ascertain that the provider has no hidden costs.

Global merchant accounts are generally acquired via banks that are set up specifically for this purpose. When a merchant applies for an account he will be assessed on a number of points like the merchant’s credit history, the kind of product or service that is being traded, whether the merchant is classified as high risk, etc., before the account is accepted. The bank also takes into account the anticipated volume of sales.

Another means of availing a global merchant account is through a credit card broker or and Independent Sales organization also known as ISO. Such providers have links with a number of banks and will match your requirements to a bank that would accept your conditions. They are in turn paid a certain percentage of the sales fee.

The cost of acquiring a global merchant account can vary subject to a lot of factors like the percentage of risk involved, volume of sales and last but not least the assertiveness of the bank.

Global merchant accounts or offshore merchant accounts as they are often called are more difficult to acquire than other accounts. Offshore merchant accounts typically provide their clients with reports of daily deals and are in close connection with all major credit card companies, giving the merchant the chance for international acclaim.

European High Risk merchant accounts cost less, are hassle-free and have no caps limit. The main benefit of acquiring a merchant account in Europe is that the merchant account provider can offer you an account at very low rates. All varieties of services like gaming, adult services, pharmaceuticals, travel, etc. can be safeguarded from fraud.

First and foremost one has to comprehend that a merchant account is a kind of account in a bank that permits business to receive payments through credit and debit cards. It is an understanding between the vendor, the merchant bank who provides the merchant account and the processor of payments to settle credit or debit card dealings.

A good European high risk merchant account can give the merchant a lot of benefits that can help to enhance business, by enabling the merchant to accept all varieties of credit and debit cards.

A computerized recurring billing option is another benefit that the account holder enjoys over many other accounts. Once a vendor acquires European High Risk Merchant Account, he has access to transactions that deal with different currencies and helps him to build good, strong, and international customer support.

Another factor in favor of European merchant account for high risk category vendors is that such accounts are very flexible as far as their terms are concerned. Merchants living in other countries can also apply for European merchant account provided they satisfy certain conditions.

The European high risk merchant account enables the merchant to be available internationally and the merchant tends to obtain a place in the e-commerce market. Subject to the business conducted by the merchant, he can avail of advantages like easy set up options, anti-fraud screening, speedy processing of currencies of varied countries, ACH processing, and so on.

While on the search for a good European high risk merchant account provider, the retailer has to ensure that the bank can provide you with an online, secure virtual terminal that can be accessed from any machine and should not require software to be installed in order to utilize it. The terminal should be such that it can access and process transactions received by mails, phones and faxes. Ascertain that the provider is respectable, reliable and one who has been in the service for some time and offers full time customer service.

What is an international merchant account?

The simple way of answering this is the activity of payment by international credit cards and its receipt online by a merchant. The meaning of international merchant account deals with the feasibility of acceptance of payments by the merchant through their online business. The modern way of making payments of purchases are routed through credit cards instead of cash payment in most of the cases. This compels vendor to make necessary arrangements for processing the payments accordingly. This is more applicable in the context of the online merchants who have their websites to collect international payments through electronic system. To avail this facility a merchant has to obtain an account from the authorized provider, who can be a banker or a credit card processor. Small business can do with a third party arrangement of merchant account provider without opening a merchant account himself.

Online businesses are a little bit risk involving kind of businesses and that is the prime reason that the domestic account providers hesitate to cooperate merchants for international transactions. The offshore or an international provider encourages the merchant to have an account with them for his online business with more flexible characteristics.

Therefore, this kind of merchant account is preferred by the merchant for his worldwide business activities. Over and above, there is definite benefit in tax payments provided by the international providers.

Important Aspects of International Merchant Account

There are host of advantages provided to merchant account holders like the preference of using the virtual terminals and the processing services in several international currencies. There are certain measures to protect the account holders from fraud and scam. Additional facilities include reporting online, the safety and security of transaction irrespective of any limit and joining with several elite credit card and debit card companies for easy transaction.

The processing fees that are charged are very high in this respect, which does not affect the account holders due to the large scale of transaction that they enjoy in this online business.

Benefits of International Merchant Account

The basic and supreme advantage is for the customers of your online business where they are free to make the payments online in their own currency, which is a positive advantage for the growth of your online business internationally.

The vendors are able to enjoy the practical payment processing favors so that they can make expansion of the online business to any corner of the world through a single interface of international provider. An international merchant account permits multiple currency transactions to develop the business.

High risk merchant processors are credit card processors which provide credit card services for high risk merchant accounts. Since these accounts are meant for highly risky commercial enterprises like gambling, pharmacy, adult content and travel-related, there are very few financial institutions which provide services for them and these institutions are referred to as high risk merchant processors.

High risk merchant processors are ideal for businesses which are not likely to receive approval from the standard financial institutions which are located within the country. This may occur due to two main reasons namely either the business is categorized under the heading of the high risk business or that it is located overseas in some other country.

There are a large variety of services which are offered by the high risk merchant processors out of which one of the main services is to offer a number of different processing sources to the merchant like banks located within the country, offshore banks, third-party processors and check processors. These alternatives are available to all merchants irrespective of whether the merchant has a single account or holds multiple accounts.

The high risk merchant processors are also responsible for getting the account of the merchant approved quickly because after the approval has been granted there is no restriction on the merchant in terms of the volume of the transaction or the number of transactions taking place in an account.

Having entailed the services of the high risk merchant processors, the merchant not only enjoys the benefit of a phenomenal increase in sales which is translated into profits but also experiences the advantages of functioning under relaxed regulations especially those concerning volumes and charge-backs. However, all these services would require the deposition of a certain amount of cash reserve or reference to rolling reserves as a form of security due to the nature of the commercial enterprise.

The high risk merchant processors are known for their rapid processing of inquiry as well as information due to which the merchant who is interested in opening a high risk account is contacted within 24 hours of the query being posed by different institutions which offer these services. After that the merchant is at a liberty to choose the specific processor which is most suitable for his individual requirements.

Since most of the high risk merchant processors enjoy an international presence, they offer processing services in multi-currencies as a result of which the merchant can choose to conduct dealings in the currency of his choice.

High risk merchants are those businessmen who are in charge of a highly risky business enterprise or belong to the highly risky industries like adult entertainment, replica goods and pharmacy. Merchants may be categorized as high risk merchants due to their location, their poor credit history or if they indulge in the trade of illegal products and services or if they deal in high risk industries.

Since high risk merchants cannot trade through the normal trading accounts, they have to resort to special accounts which are known as high risk merchant accounts. These accounts are meant for conducting businesses which are prone to bankruptcy, fraudulent transactions, high volume of sales, high rate of refunds as well as high rate of charge backs.

The accounts opened by high risk merchants are classified under the highly risky category and are therefore not provided by most of the banks. Such accounts are opened with the third party who not only charge a higher rate in lieu of the account but also provide protection against a high level of fraud which is likely to occur in such a business.

When a high risk merchant opens a bank account, then he has to so through the third party merchant account providers who are known to charge a higher rate as compared to the general ecommerce merchant but a lower rate when compared to those provided by the banks for such enterprises. Therefore, the total expenditure incurred by high risk merchants would include application fees, transaction fees, monthly fees as well as discount rates.

Before entertaining high risk merchants for opening an account, all financial institutions generally conduct some research on the background information of such merchants. One of the main intentions behind this research is to find out the length of time for which the business has been operating. A business which has been around for a longer duration is likely to be trusted more as compared to a business which has been around for a short period of time.

All high risk merchants have a credit report which reflects on their reputation with regards to payment of credit. This is also investigated since the merchant’s capacity to repay loans as well as his vulnerability to bankruptcy is an essential factor on which the opening of such an account depends.

Although high risk merchants pay exorbitant rates for opening a bank account they enjoy the benefits of perks and payment discounts which are also a part of such an account.

Many consumers buy different products through the Internet. Because of the accessibility and convenience of making online purchases, more and more online businesses are being created.One important aspect of online businesses is their payment options.It becomes much more convenient to the consumer if many payment options are available like the use of different credit or debit cards.

To facilitate the online payments made by consumers, businesses need merchant accounts.These merchant accounts will facilitate processing of online payments that were made through credit cards or debit cards.You can get a merchant account in banks, credit card processors, or merchant account providers. Getting a merchant account is easy for most online businesses except for the ones considered as high risk. What are these high risk businesses?

High risk businesses

Some businesses are considered high risk if they meet any of the following criteria.

1. The online business is not registered.
2. The merchant’s credit standing is not good or is inconsistent.
3. The merchant is already blacklisted by other merchant account providers or credit card companies.
4. Volume of sales is too high which increases the risk of fraud.
5. Volume of sales is too low that the business cannot afford to pay for fees.

Aside from these,your online business is considered high risk if it falls under any of these categories: adult entertainment,dating,travel,Internet service provider, pharmacy, gaming, auctions, tobacco and cigarettes,e-wallet or e-cash,telemarketing,international call centers,replica products,voice-over-IP services, debt service, web hosting, and others.Some merchant account providers, banks, and credit card processors do not want to transact business with these high risk companies because of the risk of fraud.

If your online business is considered as high-risk,getting a standard merchant account is impossible. Therefore,business owners must look for merchant account service providers that offer high risk merchant accounts .Not a lot of merchant service providers offer this service,Or the business owner may have to pay hefty fees for approved high risk merchant accounts .In this situation, the online business owner has to increase his prices in order to cover the fees.

Because of the advantage of having high risk merchant accounts ,business owners must see to it that they get one,A timely and accurate processing of online financial transactions must be ensured to guard against fraudulent transactions made by customers and suppliers.And this will keep the consumers satisfied with the services as well.

Where can the owner of an online high risk business get a high risk merchant account?

Based out of New York City, HR Merchant Services can help high risk business owners in setting up their high risk merchant accounts.Our years in the business have made us experts in this field. We have the capabilities to offer the best services and products in the industry. Another plus is our affordable prices.

Are you an owner of a high risk business? Let our experts here in HR Merchant Services help you in getting a high risk merchant account.