High risk merchant account is specially designed for companies that pose a certain level of potential financial loss to bank or financial service providers. For example, a credit card processor with a high rate of acceptance of high risk credit cards would require an extremely high credit limit in order to be accepted, making it very risky for the company to accept any type of charge card. If they cannot make such large cash advances as required by their contracts, they will be forced to close shop.
High risk merchant account companies are required by law to provide a minimum level of risk to both merchant and processor, and this is what separates a high risk credit card processor from a low risk processor. Most banks and financial institutions will only lend money to those companies which have shown that they can pay their loan back with interest. This shows that high risk merchants, those that pose a higher risk to banks and financial service providers, are much more attractive to lenders than a low risk processor.
If you are looking to get a high risk merchant account, the first thing you need to do is get an idea of which companies are currently providing these types of accounts to customers. To do this, you should contact your state’s attorney general and see if there are any complaints against the company.
You may also want to contact the Association of Settlement Companies (ASCC) which is the largest professional organization in the world of high risk merchant accounts. The organization offers free informational reports on high risk credit card processors, as well as online resources that will help you to get a better understanding of the high risk merchant account industry and what is required in order to qualify for such accounts. Learn more information about high risk processing.
Once you have a good understanding of what constitutes high risk, you may want to start looking for a company that fits your description. There are a few things that you should look for in order to make sure that you are getting the best business:
The last thing that you need is to spend a lot of time and effort finding a high risk merchant account. Instead, take advantage of the resources available online to you to find a company that will work for you, without the need for any kind of research.