Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
Partnering with the right payment technology company to accept as many payment types as possible is a great way for small- to mid-sized merchants to modernize and grow their businesses. Unfortunately, due to the higher level of risk that comes with certain merchant categories, many small businesses have been left out in the cold — unable to secure merchant accounts or leverage the numerous business management tools that come with them. Luckily, at last, things have begun to get easier for these traditionally hard-to-place merchants.
In the past couple of years, forward-thinking payment companies (and their sponsor banks) have loosened their underwriting restrictions significantly. As a result, merchants in more categories than ever before are securing approvals for the merchant accounts they need to take their businesses to whole new levels. That includes business owners operating in the following specialty industries:
- Adult & online dating
- Affiliate marketing & lead generation
- Alcohol
- Casinos & iGaming
- CBD
- Credit repair
- Drop shipping
- Firearms
- Nutraceuticals
- Pharmaceuticals
- Subscriptions
- Tech support
- Tobacco
- Travel & tourism
Better still, many of these merchants are high-margin, low-maintenance businesses that can help Agents grow their portfolios over sustained periods of time like never before.
Remember, while the reputation of a merchant’s particular industry may be what causes them to be classified as high-risk by sponsor banks, several other factors could lead to such a designation. These include operating in a heavily regulated industry (tobacco or firearms for example), having an elevated risk of chargebacks or fraud, and being a newly established business without verifiable financials. Other possible factors that could result in a business being categorized as high-risk include having high average ticket amounts, performing a large number of card-not-present/ecommerce transactions, and selling goods and/or services internationally.
Specialty merchants who are approved for high-risk merchant accounts can typically expect stricter processing agreement terms including slightly higher fees and longer settlement periods, as well as rolling reserves to cover potential chargebacks. That said, the advantages of being able to accept credit and debit cards, streamline their back offices, and make informed, data-driven decisions for their businesses more than make up for that.
At the end of the day, both merchants and Agents would do well to partner with a payment technology provider that can offer a robust set of tools for mitigating chargebacks and fraud while also offering the latest in PCI-compliant payment security to protect cardholders’ sensitive data and merchants’ reputations. You’ll also want a tech-forward partner who offers the latest tools to increase approvals and simplify settlement like Intelligent Transaction Routing and Multi-Currency Conversion that make life easier for both specialty and international merchants.
If you’re ready to start adding more merchant types to your portfolio than ever before, all while offering them solutions customized to their specific industry, look to North. When other payment technology companies and sponsor banks say, “no,” we say, “yes” to approving merchants in dozens of new and emerging markets.
Call 888.229.5229 or visit partners.north.com for more details.
