Basics of a High Volume Merchant Account

A high volume merchant usually conducts business on the internet and accepts payments primarily through credit cards. Sometimes, a merchant in a high volume industry will find it difficult to obtain a merchant account, which means he or she often turns to offshore account providers.

While there may be many reasons why a high volume merchant may find it difficult to obtain an account, the most prominent one is that the business practices of these merchants make it easier for them to fall victim to credit card fraud. The lack of protection against fraud makes high volume merchants too risky for most domestic account providers to offer them accounts. Offshore account providers will often offer these high volume businesses excellent customer services and attractive offers, even though their rates may be a bit higher than domestic providers.

Unlike most domestic merchant account providers, offshore entities recognize that high volume businesses are a lucrative investment, even though they do come with some additional risk. With a sound business credit history and sound business practices, high volume merchants should discover little or no hesitation on the part of offshore providers when it comes to accounts. To find the best fit for your high volume business, consider setup time periods and rates, billing systems, options for payment processing and fraud prevention strategies. After choosing the right provider, the merchant should enjoy increased sales and profits, as well as overall savings on business expenses.

Limits to Businesses Accepted for High Risk Merchant Accounts

If you are a relatively new high risk merchant, you may be surprised at how difficult it is to obtain a merchant account if you work within certain industries. Businesses such as adult entertainment, online gaming and casinos, multilevel marketing and high volume sales retailers are considered somewhat risky, and therefore merchants who run these organizations have some difficulty opening up a stable merchant account. However, there are many processors and high risk merchant account providers who actually specialize in accounts for merchants within high risk businesses—these institutions may be located both domestically and offshore.

So, are there any types of business that will find it difficult to obtain a merchant account, even when applying at an institution that specializes in high risk merchants? Yes:

Irregular Extreme High Volume Sales: Due to the fact that sporadic, high volume sales is a red flag for money laundering, businesses that have a sudden dramatic increase in sales volume will generally find it difficult to obtain a merchant account.

Poor Business Credit History: Most high risk merchants have some degree of imperfect credit in their history, which can be overlooked in favor of a current clean record. However, merchants whose track record does not indicate an increasing willingness to improve their credit will run into trouble opening up new accounts.

Insufficient Chargeback Reduction: Chargebacks are an inevitable part of doing business using sight-unseen credit card transactions, but they can be reduced. It takes a commitment to increased security measures, including using the AVS and CVS systems, along with specialized steps such as strict shipping procedures, to sufficiently reduce the number of chargebacks your businesses experiences.

By taking the time and care to address the previous three characteristics, high risk merchants can improve their chances of obtaining a merchant account. For even more information on how merchant accounts can grow your business, contact High Risk Credit Card Processor. Our professionals can connect you with high risk merchants from over 20 different processing sources, including U.S. Banks and domestic Merchant Accounts, International Banks and Offshore Merchant Accounts, 3rd Party Payment and ACH Payment Processors, Check and Debit Card Processors and a range of other types of accounts. Whether you need one merchant account or many, High Risk Credit Card Processor is ready to meet your high risk business’ processing needs.

Moving your Money to an Offshore Merchant Account

Did you know that your business can reduce its tax liability by moving your merchant account offshore? It’s true. An offshore merchant account is basically an account that allows high risk merchant accounts to accept credit card orders, most often as a part of internet transactions. In the past, these accounts could sometimes send up a red flag to the IRS; but now offshore accounts are fairly typical in certain industries, such as adult services and high volume merchants.

The Difference Between an Offshore Merchant Account and a Domestic Account
A domestic bank will often require security deposits for future chargebacks, particularly for small high risk merchant businesses that may not have perfect business credit. Further, many domestic account providers will cease to provide merchants with an account if they begin to do large volumes of transactions, because they may believe that the business is performing less-than-ethical business as a way of laundering money. Ina way, some high risk merchants may be led to believe that domestic banks are doing them a favor by providing them with an account—this attitude is less common for merchants who open accounts offshore.

Offshore merchant account providers will usually offer lower monthly rates, as well as make it much easier for new businesses to open their accounts. Since these offshore accounts are competing with providers from all over the globe, they recognize that they must provide top quality customer service at very affordable prices. Many high risk merchants are pleased to discover that offshore providers are more than simply willing to offer them an account, they are actually grateful for their business!

High Risk Credit Card Processor is willing to connect your high risk business with nearly two dozen different processing sources, including U.S. Bank and Merchant Accounts, Offshore Banks and Merchant Accounts, 3rd Party Transaction and ACH Processors, Check and Debit Card Processors and others. Whether you need one merchant account, or require a many different merchant accounts, High Risk Credit Card Processor will meet your processing needs

How High Risk Merchants Can Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Online merchants have to be willing to take steps to protect themselves from the many different perpetrators of credit card fraud, including: card number generators, mag stripe readers, hacked websites and dishonest employees. All of these criminals are out to use fraudulent card numbers in order to obtain the products and services of hard working high risk merchants. These merchants do not have to simply hope that their high risk transaction processor will protect them from fraud; there are very real steps that they can take themselves.

Deciding how much fraud protection to pursue really depends on how many transactions you process every day. High volume merchants may be willing to spend more to reduce chargebacks than online merchants who only process a few transactions a day. However, high risk merchants should never be more interested in closing the sale than they are in avoiding fraud and reducing chargebacks—if so, they will more than pay in the long run!

The first step towards reducing your cases of credit card fraud is to follow all of the security procedures recommended by your high risk transaction processor and the credit card companies themselves. Merchants should also carefully scrutinize the details of every transaction and look for the following red flags:

• Free email accounts
• Larger than average orders
• Rush orders
• High ticket item orders
• Multiple orders of the same item

Once the transaction has been approved by the transaction processor, it still has to go through the validation process; which means you should have a relationship with your merchant account provider that will give you the most detailed customer service possible. Visit www.highriskcreditcardprocessor.com today for more information.

How to Succeed in Multi-level Marketing

Although people who work with MLM companies are generally designated as high risk merchants, if you can find a good company to work for, and high quality products to distribute, multi-level marketing can actually be a very profitable business move. Before you sign up for any particular program, however, find out the following about the company:

• Does the available literature provide detailed descriptions of products or services? If the products are only mentioned in passing, be very careful that you are not signing up for a scam.
• Does the MLM company offer products or services that people would actually want? You don’t want to be stuck trying to sell a good that nobody will want to purchase, particularly if you have spend considerable time and effort opening up a high risk merchant account for your new business. Also, consider if a very similar product can already be found in stores.
• Can you successfully generate repeat sales? A lot of repeat sales are dependent upon the customer service of you, the high risk merchant; so treat your first-time customers very well!

When you decide that you are going to invest in a multi-level marketing company, remember that your success rides on both your business practices as well as your ability to recruit and maintain other investors. Ask your upline partner if they have suggestions for where to look for your merchant account, as you may be able to be added as a partner for less hassle than you would if you otherwise had to open up an individual high risk merchant account.

For more information about high risk merchant accounts, contact the staff at High Risk Credit Card Processor. We are here to connect you with merchants from nearly two dozen worldwide processing sources, including U.S. Banks and Merchant Accounts, Offshore Banks and Merchant Accounts, 3rd Party Payment or ACH Processors, Check and Debit Card Processors, as well as others. If your company needs one merchant account or many different kinds of merchant accounts, we are ready to meet your payment processing needs.

Basic Information about Multi-level Marketing

Are MLM businesses legal?
In most countries, the answer to this question is yes. There are a few companies that regulate the business operations multi-level marketing companies, mostly to protect new people who decide to enter the program.

Is this type of business operation ethical?
Depending on the motives of the high risk merchant, again the answer is yes. Some merchants may introduce unethical practices like “front end loading” or deceptive practices, but the principles that drive MLM are entirely ethical.

Are MLM and pyramid selling the same thing?
No. In a pyramid scheme, only the first people in the program make a real profit, and new members have to sell to become a part of the program.

What kind of products work well for MLM high risk merchants?
Consumable products are ideal for multi-level marketing businesses, because a customer will use them up and then regularly come back for more. It is also best to offer relatively affordable products, so that you will not have to continually find new customers who are able to afford the expense.

What will I need to get started?
Besides a great product and a sound organization behind you, you will need to get a high risk merchant account to make your new MLM business successful. To find a merchant account that is right for your business and your budget, do some internet research on the many different types that are available. If your goal is to meet a high volume sales, make sure that your transaction processing provider is able to handle this high volume and larger-than-normal number of chargebacks.

High Risk Credit Card Processor is here to connect your business with over 20 different processing sources, including Domestic Banks, U.S. Merchant Accounts, Offshore Banks and International Merchant Accounts, 3rd Party or ACH Processors, Check and Debit Processors and others. Whether your business needs one merchant account, or a full selection of variable merchant accounts, we are confident that our company can meet your high risk business’ transaction processing needs.