A new word in payments processing

Growing your business with quality payments processing

Creating a smooth and seamless customer journey with state-of-the-art payment optimisation fine-tuned to your business needs.

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Credit card processing

Shield
Fraud &
Chargeback Prevention

Fraud & Chargeback Prevention

Test
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account registration

Company & account registration

Payment
Payment methods

Payment methods

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Enjoy cutting-edge payments technology that allows for alternative payment methods processing to meet the needs of even the most demanding clients.

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Using state-of-the-art technologies to create a seamless payment processing experience

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Regardless of your business size, we offer solutions tailored to exceed your business needs

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High Risk Payments FAQ

What is a high-risk merchant account?
A high-risk merchant account is an agreement between a merchant and a bank. It acts as legal permission to accept credit card payments online. It also allows accepting wires, E-wallet payments, crypto, debit cards, and international (local) payment methods of merchant's choice. To get a high-risk merchant account, one needs to fill out the application. Once a payment system provider approves the application, a merchant receives a payment gateway, the software that allows accepting payments online.
Who needs a high-risk merchant account?
A high-risk merchant account is a must for all the high-risk merchants who are willing to accept payments online. To find out whether your business is high-risk, see the list of high-risk industries below.
What industries are high-risk?
The main reasons why some industries are considered high-risk are a high level of chargebacks and a company's business nature. Take a look at the list of most popular high-risk industries:
  • NUTRA (nutraceuticals)
  • Pharmacy
  • Forex
  • Travel
  • CBD oil
  • Escort
  • Online dating
  • Casino
  • Gambling
  • Gaming
  • Sports betting
  • Adult
  • Crypto exchanges
  • E-cigarettes
What is the transaction fee?
The transaction fee is a percentage of money (sometimes a fixed price) charged by a PSP for every online purchase made on a merchant's website. Let's say you sell items for $100 per each. Your PSP's transaction fee is 1.2%. If someone buys a product on your website, the PSP of yours charges $1.2 while you keep all the rest. The transaction fees for high-risk businesses are always higher than those for low or middle-risk businesses. The possible risks are to blame.
What are chargebacks?
Chargebacks are the disputes made by clients that are dissatisfied with a quality of a purchase or claim it to be fraudulent. If a client decides to apply for a chargeback, he/she fills in the form at a bank. If the bank finds the dispute valid, the funds are automatically charged from a merchant's bank account and transferred to a client's bank account.
How to apply for a high-risk merchant account?
To apply for a high-risk merchant account, you need to choose a payment system provider (PSP). There is a wide range of solutions on the internet. Some of them are processing high-risk merchants, while others are only processing low and middle-risk businesses. Consider your GEO, as well. Some PSPs work in Europe, U.S.A, India, e.g.. However, some offer payment services and solutions internationally. Once you have chosen a payment provider, you have to fill out the application form. It will be sent to you after registration on a provider's website. You will also need to attach some essential documents to your application. See the list of documents below.
What documents I need to open a high-risk merchant account?
Take a look at the list of documents to open a high-risk merchant account:
  • Certificate of Incorporation
  • Certificate of incumbency
  • Local documents as per company jurisdiction which displays company directors and owners
  • Utility bill/Bank statement/Rental agreement under corporate names proving company location
  • Valid ID copies for all company directors and owners
What are website requirements to open a high-risk merchant account?
To get processed, you will also have to adjust your website: Create Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, and Contact Us pages. The latter must contain the legal person and address, email, and contact phone number. Add age verification. Some businesses (adult, gambling, escort) must add age verification to their websites. Some high-risk merchants need to provide additional documents to prove the legitimacy of their enterprise. Once your high-risk merchant account application gets approved, you get a payment gateway and start accepting payments online. Follow the link to register and get an application for a high-risk merchant account.

High-Risk Merchant Account Provider

Whatever a business produces — branded t-shirts or software subscriptions — it needs a merchant account to process online payments. Nowadays, many payment service providers and banks offer high-risk merchant solutions. Without them, high-risk businesses cannot process Visa / MasterCard credit and debit card payments.

High-risk payments: what’s wrong with them?

Though merchant application is easy, getting approved for a merchant account can prove to be a serious problem. Luckily, high-risk processing always comes in handy for all those who get thrown overboard for no apparent reason.

High chargeback rates, large transaction volumes, and casual high-cost sales turn to be a real pain in the neck for high-risk e-commerce businesses. Since most of them work in highly regulated fields, they run into problems when seeking reliable high-risk merchant solutions.

High-risk merchant solutions 101

Many merchants have no clue about specific traits that define high-risk payment processing. Let’s clear it up straight off the bat, determining what puts a ‘high-risk’ label on your business reputation.

Though criteria for evaluating high-risk profile differ from one payment service provider to another, some factors are common for all parties.

  1. High fraud/chargeback rate. If your chargeback rate or level of fraud is a way too high, your business automatically falls under the high-risk category. This qualification depends solely on customer behaviuor patterns.
  2. Offshore business. If your business is registered in Cyprus, but you’re headquartered in Europe and work primarily with Canada, you may be also considered high-risk. The probability of fraud is a strong point here, but lax banking laws also matter, as they may put your business reputation at risk.
  3. High average purchase amount. Processing large B2B payment methods is no good for whatever business type. Just because high-cost credit card transactions are often associated with high-risk businesses.
  4. Services/products of doubtful legality. This factor is the most closely associated with high-risk processing. Businesses having any doubtful area of focus (e.g. selling nutra products or distributing adult services) are considered high-risk.
  5. Practices of questionable character. If your business is involved in any type of doubtful sales/marketing tactics, most financial institutions will consider it high-risk.
  6. Poor credit history. While the above factors all turn around your business, this one is different — it focuses on your personal credit record. If it is poor, you’re all likely to join the high-risk crew.

These are the most general criteria that may be used for evaluating your business reputation. Since the high-risk e-commerce landscape is changing and evolving all the time, it’s essential to keep up with the latest shifts in the law. Opting for a reliable high-risk merchant processing provider, you can leave such challenges behind.

With PaySpace, high-risk processing turns hassle-free

High-risk merchants know how difficult getting the right merchant account may be. Back in 2009, PaySpace carved its own place in high-risk payment processing. Since then, PaySpace has significantly expanded its opportunities, enabling global high-risk payments across various high-risk business industries.

Almost 10 years on from its launch, PaySpace became an experienced high-risk payment provider offering a full suite of payment processing services. Today, we focus primarily on high-risk payment solutions, working with SaaS, online gambling, and dating businesses worldwide. Among our clients for which we provide high-risk payment processing include:

  • online gambling;
  • crypto merchants;
  • online dating;
  • adult businesses;
  • forex merchants;
  • tech support;
  • web hosting;
  • travel booking;
  • nutraceuticals;
  • SaaS.

Whenever your bank turns you away, let the leading high-risk payment provider help you out. PaySpace gives a hundred-percent guarantee that you’re never out of reach from getting the assistance right the moment you need it.

PaySpace payment provider: why us?

PaySpace believes that every online business has a set of specific needs, not depending on its industry, location, or size. That’s why we guide our clients through the entire merchant application journey, providing quality, one-on-one customer support.

Among the additional advantages of our high-risk merchant processing include:

  • Large acquiring network. Since we worked with a sheer number of both local and international acquiring partners, we can recommend the top choice for your particular industry.
  • PCI DSS compliance. Nowadays, the high-risk payments landscape is much different from what it looked like 10 years ago. That’s why we establish agreements with PCI DSS compliant banking partners only.
  • Multi-currency support. PaySpace has ready-made solutions for accepting the world’s most popular currencies while also processing local and commonly used credit card brands (e.g. Visa / MasterCard).
  • Fraud & chargeback management. Since fraud management is a key element of high-risk payment processing, PaySpace offers a full pack of leading-edge solutions to mitigate chargeback & fraud problems.
  • Customization on the go. We don’t provide our merchants with an all-in-one business package. Instead, we define a set of individual business requirements, speaking with each merchant in person and discussing solutions available for optimal rates.

On top of it all, PaySpace offers a fast, smooth, and pain-free application process. No matter your service, product, industry, platform or device, applying for a merchant account is a piece of cake, as it takes a few minutes of your time.

So what’s the hold up for using the quality high-risk processing solutions? At the moment, they are just one click away. Hit the contact button and apply now!

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