Both merchant account providers and banks assess the level of risk of a particular business prior to accepting the financial responsibility of processing that business’s credit card transactions. Businesses may be classified for high risk merchant services simply because of the industry in which they’re involved. Some industries are more subject to fraud and chargebacks. Several examples of high risk industries which fall within this category are adult entertainment, travel, online gambling, and companies whose customers reside in countries other than the one where the business is based.

Adult business are subject to customers denying that they ever visited the site or even claiming that someone else must have hijacked their computer and initiated the charges. In contrast, the travel industry experiences a high volume of cancellations due to outside factors like weather, illness or the customer simply changing their mind. What the two industries have in common is that they are liable to experience a large number of chargebacks, which is why merchant account providers and banks consider them high risk.

Ideally, credit card processors would like to see businesses who’ve been classified to be in a high risk industry have a chargeback rate which is less than 1% of total sales. Therefore, in order to be considered a better candidate, businesses in these industries should make every effort to reduce their chargebacks and build a positive history in their merchant accounts. Once these two goals have been reached, the business can be reclassified as low risk, gain access to more merchant providers, and possibly reduce that rate per transaction that the bank is demanding.

High Risk Merchant Services For

  • Adult sites
  • Guns
  • Weight loss centers
  • Multilevel marketing
  • Credit repair
  • Dating
  • Debt Collection
  • e-Cigarettes
  • Fantasy Sports
  • Nutraceuticals
  • Pay Day Loans
  • Prepaid Loans
  • Don’t see your business? Look through the complete list.
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Ready To Get Your Business Set Up?

844-832-2729

Industries

Generally Considered To Be High-Risk

Don’t your specific business listed here? Call us at 844-832-2729 to see if we handle it.

We provide our services to those who may be classified as high risk merchant accounts by online payments system providers. Some of the businesses that our clients own are:

  • Airplane charters
  • Airlines
  • Amazon stores
  • eBay stores
  • Calling cards
  • VoIP services
  • Telecommunications
  • Telephone companies
  • Auctions
  • Annual contracts / extended warranty
  • Business opportunities
  • Brokers
  • Collection agencies / debt collection
  • Real estate
  • Debt consolidation
  • Loan modification
  • Investment strategy
  • Investment books
  • Investment firms
  • Bankruptcy attorneys
  • Check cashing services
  • Prepaid debit cards
  • Lotteries
  • Direct selling
  • Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)
  • Membership organizations
  • Time-shares
  • Vacation rentals
  • Travel clubs
  • Travel services
  • Tour operators
  • Vacation planners
  • Mail order
  • Telephone order
  • Rewards-points or coupons
  • Magazine sales
  • Telemarketing agencies
  • Talent agencies
  • Modeling agencies
  • Lingerie sales
  • Escort services
  • Adult matchmaking or paraphernalia
  • Social networking websites
  • Coins / collectible currency
  • Pre-owned automobile sales
  • Casinos / gaming or gambling
  • Fantasy sports websites
  • Betting
  • Pawn shops
  • Coins / collectible currency
  • Antiques
  • Autographed collectibles
  • International shipping
  • Exporters / Importers
  • Electronics
  • Federal Firearms Licenses
  • Self-hypnosis
  • Lawyer referral services
  • Life coaches
  • SEO services
  • Pre-employment screening
  • Get-rich-quick type books / programs
  • Poor credit / credit counseling / credit repair
  • Financial planning / strategy / advisory / brokerage
  • Replica watches / handbags / sunglasses
  • Discounted healthcare / medical programs
  • Online pharmacy/ drugs / vitamins / supplements sales
  • Multi-currency traders / foreign exchange dealers
  • Electronic cigarettes / nicotine cartridges
  • Weapons (including knives, parts of weapons and ammunition)
  • Self-defense products like pepper spray or mace
  • Astrology / horoscopes / psychics / hypnotists
  • Third-party transactions (like payment processing)
  • ‘How-To’ type services (as in ‘How to Look Beautiful in Three Days’)
  • Unauthorized or non-official event tickets sales
  • Terminated Merchant File-listed merchants
  • Non-US based international merchants
  • Offshore corporations / Non-US entities
  • E-books/music/movies/software (copyrighted material) uploads or downloads
  • Indirect financial consulting (like ‘How to lower your gas bill and save money’)

Our previous company was always having issues with their software and processing our payments and good luck getting help when things went bad. We aren’t the biggest business in the world, but TeccPay treats us like our business matters.

Company Name: Paul M. - Owner
Designation: Miami Sports Trading Company

Their rates aren’t low. No one in the high risk merchant services is cheap. But they were less expensive than my other company and the service and quality is 10 times what I was getting.

Company Name: Dr. Rani P. M.D. - Founder
Designation: O.C. Weightloss

It was always so frustrating to me that because some bank decided I was a high risk business I am stuck working with companies with high rates and crappy customer service. TeccPay was really a relief for our business.

Company Name: John K. – Bankruptcy Attorney
Designation: Klopfenstein Law Group

Never had a problem with TeccPay that they didn’t get fixed immediately.

Company Name: Kapil Pershad – CEO
Designation: Tech Dharma