Have You Been Told Your Business is High Risk?
by Scott Burke
Published on this site: December 23rd, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
Finding a bank or credit card processing company that will
process credit cards for high risk businesses can be challenging.
As a business owner you may have already been told that your
business is high risk or worse yet you may have had your merchant
account shut down or cancelled. It's common practice for banks
and credit card processors to close accounts that are deemed
"high risk".
Most high risk businesses don't realize they are considered
high risk until they contact a bank or credit card processor.
If you own or are thinking about opening a business you may
run into difficulties qualifying for a merchant account. This
can be a huge problem for a small business owner. Without
accepting credit cards most businesses are doomed.
A merchant account is basically an account that allows you
to accept credit cards from your customers and deposits those
funds directly into your account. One of the biggest problems
a business owner faces is the application requirements. Most
banks and some credit card processors will not even accept
applications from businesses that are deemed high risk. So
how do you know if your business would be considered high risk? Listed below
are businesses that would definitely be considered high risk
merchants:
- Airline and Jet Charter
- Cruise line/ Tour operators/ Travel Clubs
- Infomercials
- Aggregators (3rd party payment processors)
- Timeshares
- Credit Repair
- Collection Companies
- Lotteries/ Gambling/ Sweepstakes
- Sports Forecasting
- Internet Pharmacies
- Internet Tobacco
- Adult businesses/ Escort Services/ Dating Services/ Pornographic
Material
- Drug Paraphernalia
- Vitamin and Supplements
The credit card processing business as a whole is very competitive.
However, high risk merchant accounts are very hard to find
and can be very costly to get. The problem with some offshore
banks or credit card processors are the fees associated with
submitting an application. It's not uncommon to see a credit
card processor charge $2500.00 just to submit an application
with no guaranty that the account will be approved. Others
may want a security deposit equal to your monthly credit card
volume paid in advance.
This is one reason why you should look for a credit card
processor that understands your business, your needs, your
problems, and is willing to devote the time to helping you.
There are very few high risk merchant account companies. Finding
the right credit card processing company to work with is essential
to your long term business success.
There are credit card processing companies that specialize
in placing high risk merchants. So how do you go about finding
those companies?
Today's technology provides us the opportunity to do business
with companies beyond our own neighborhoods. We do business
electronically through the use of e-mail, fax machines, and
of course the internet. What this means for the business owner
is, you no longer are "locked in" to doing business
with just the bank or company in your home town. You can "shop online"
for the best rates, best products, and service. You can now
do business with a credit card processor or bank in Great
Britain, Canada, Philippines, or any place else just as easily
as the "hometown bank". Fact is, nine times out
of ten, you will find the level of service to be much better
with a bank or credit card processor half way around the world.
Why? They want your business, and are willing to go the extra
mile to prove it.
For additional information about obtaining a merchant account,
high risk merchant account, or offshore merchant account for
your business click over to http://www.cmscreditcards.com
Scott Burke; President of iMAX Business Solutions in
charge of sales, strategy, and execution and thus is responsible
for managing all aspects of the company's marketing, communications, new accounts, and support. Email:
[email protected]
Website: http://www.cmscreditcards.com
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