Steps to Get Started

If you have landed on this page chances are you already know that your business has been classified as high risk  and you need a bank that is friendly towards your industry. Maybe you are an adult company, an online pharmacy, a tobacco retailer, a travel agency or a collection agency. Or perhaps you are a firearms dealer, or a credit repair company. There are many types of businesses that fall under the "high risk" classification and will have difficulty finding a bank willing to provide merchant processing services for their company. Have no fear however, there are solutions and many banks willing to process your business type. After all banks are in the business to make money, just as you are and so long as your chargebacks are low and your business is legal there are a handful of banks willing to take on any potential liabilities processing your industry. If you have been decline or denied a credit card processing account and are unable to process your customers Visa and MasterCard credit or debit cards, that's where our expertise and solutions can help you get set up and apply for your account.

What Happens when Applying

As with any other type of application, you are dealing with a bank and an underwriting process similar to a applying for a car loan or a mortgage. You will need to get documentation together about your business. If you are an e-commerce website you will need that set up to begin processing, under construction websites are typically unable to get a bank to approve their account. High risk processors will also need your website set up and spell out refund and privacy policies. Unfortunately there are no banks that will approve a website that has no content. However, if your site is being developed and is password-protected that's okay so long as the bank can sign on and see your website. You will need to have a business checking account set up, this is so your credit card process deposits can be electronically direct deposited into your account. So have a voided check handy. You will also need to explain on your application your references, your average ticket amount, and your max amounts that you will process during a month. If the volume is low,,  there will be less scrutiny involved. If the volume is substantial for instance hundreds of thousands of dollars per month, you will have to provide a lot of documentation about your company such as bank statements, tax returns, and any previous processing statements from other providers. Have about 3 to 6 months worth of statements available to be provided to the bank from your previous processor. Make sure to sign everywhere that is listed on your application, otherwise it will be kicked back and you will need to correct and sign properly.
 

Timeframes
Generally speaking, it will take a few days, to a week or so for processing of your application and getting approved and set up for your high-risk account. Unfortunately there is no such thing as an instant approval when applying for a high risk merchant account. In fact, a high risk business will take longer than a low-risk one to get approval. This should be understandable to you as a bank will scrutinize and verify your company more so due to the risk involved to the merchant processing company. When a bank agrees to accept your application, they are assuming risk and liability should your business turn sour or have problems such as chargeback issues. If you commit fraud and leave the country for example the merchant processing provider can be held liable for your losses. So don't expect an instant approval of your account and if you are told this by a company be suspect. Many of you reading this know that as a small business owner, you would not extend instant credit to someone or some company that may have potential liabilities and losses. You would scrutinize this type of situation and so do the banks doing their due diligence.