High-risk merchants may feel that their options for payments are limited, but you can provide them with the functionality, services, and support they need.
As an ISO agent or merchant services account provider, you will encounter requests to provide payment services to a high-risk merchant account. The good news is there are ways to work with these businesses that will benefit you both.
What is a high-risk merchant?
A company can get the designation of “high-risk merchant account” for several reasons. First, if the merchant has had a history of a large volume of chargebacks or has frequently been the victim of fraud, they can be labeled high-risk. Next, a business may be deemed high-risk simply because of its industry, such as weapons dealers, pharmaceutical outlets, and adult entertainment sites.
However, a business might be designated as high risk for other reasons, as well. Sellers with high average transaction values are seen as risky. The big-ticket buys at furniture stores and electronics retailers also make payment companies dig deeper into their payments history. Fraudsters might view these businesses as easy targets susceptible to money-back schemes.
Credit plays a role, too. A new business lacking a credit history will be seen as a virtual unknown — and treated as a high-risk merchant account. A business headquartered outside the U.S. but selling to stateside consumers is also likely to be flagged as a high-risk merchant account.
Dealing with the emergency situation.
A merchant that just got the boot from its payments company might have little choice but to beat down your door. The merchant could have been in the dark about how some payment platforms aggregate accounts, which means each merchant doesn’t have its own account and was instead lumped into a pool of other sellers. If the payments platform decides the merchant is too much of a risk, it can sever ties with little, if any, notice.
Without a way to accept credit card payments, the merchant will probably be in panic mode with their business at a virtual standstill and lost revenue adding up. Or maybe a merchant is up in arms because its payment company won’t enable Next Day Funding due to its risk status, keeping critical dollars out of its accounts, and slowing cash flow.
This is where your skills, experience, and connections can save the day.
Be a problem solver.
There’s good news for your high-risk merchant accounts. Not only does the team at North American Bancard offer a variety of fraud-fighting solutions for so-called “high-risk” merchant accounts, NAB’s POS Pros team essentially takes the role of a matchmaker, pairing a merchant with the point of sale solution that best addresses its needs. This team of specialists is trained to hone in on which product solves your merchant’s biggest pain points.
Reach out to your NAB Partner Relations Advisor today to learn more so you’re ready and able to step up for the moment when a high-risk merchant account does come knocking.
