What are the High Risk Merchants?

It is difficult to start a business, as well as applying for a merchant account. The merchant accounts get approval or disapprove from the risk departments. While considering the business to be high-risk business or Low-risk. There are few reasons why any business can be in high-risk business.

Risk factors that make a business HIGH RISK

• You have lost your previous merchant account due to high chargeback ratio.
• Questionable sales and marketing tactics.
• Potential legal and financial liability.
• Your credit is really bad.
• Industries with excessive chargebacks or fraud incidents.
• Trial continuity business.
• Previous credit card processing is not good enough.
• You’ve been branded as a terminated merchant (TMF).

The high-risk merchant account categorization depends on your business’ industry. Regardless of your individual businesses’ track record. In addition, the high-risk category includes businesses that are declined by a previous credit card processors. And, businesses that are on the MATCH or TMF list. Also. the companies whose owners have bad personal credit or low credit scores or businesses outside the US.

Common High-Risk Industries

Any business with bad personal or business credit scores, a high chargeback history, a startup, or high frequency or high average tickets can be at high risk. On an individual basis, the majority of high-risk businesses are among such by the industry they operate in.

Some examples of high-risk industries include

• Document Preparation
• Downloadable Software
• Educational Software
• Electronics Business
• Extended Warranties
• Financial Aid Consulting
• Financial Services
• Fine & Cosmetic Jewelry
• Insurance Providers
• Magazine Subscriptions
• Air & Water Filtration
• Antiques & Collectables
• Apparel Sales
• Auto Parts & Accessories
• Auto Transport
• Businesses with Bad Credit
• Beer, Wine & Liquor Sales
• Computer Hardware
• Debt Consolidation
• Discount Buying Service

Get more information for you can contact us @ +1 (888) 622-6875.

Funds Faster for Online High Risk Merchant

In this article, we have covered a few of the strategies with which a merchant can get his funds quickly.

An Omission of Chargebacks: A business should be customer-centric and should always provide good if not the best customer service. Still, it is not necessary to have a chargeback-proof business. Always try to minimize the chargebacks. It would not only help your business in getting funds faster but also reduce the chances of getting under the TMF (Terminated Merchant File).

Documentation of Larger tickets: Just like any unusual high overall volumes will draw the attention of your merchant account provider, so will an unusual large individual transaction. The third-party processors hold the funds until you provide the documentation, or until the closing of the chargeback window. Most merchant accounts have the policy of holding the amount of the transaction exceeds the specified value. However, it’s usually a good idea for a large transaction (over $500) to have a numbered invoice and signature.

Quicker Funding and Less hold times: If you have chosen a processor with fast funding commitment then it will only be able to fulfill what’s promised if your business is healthy. Funding directly relates to your transaction timings. Getting funds faster is healthy for business but only when the business is doing well.

Choose a processor with good Customer Service: In an online business, fast funding also relates to good customer service. Understand and test how the customer service and response time is of the provider you are opting for.

Running a business is an ongoing process. It is difficult to maintain customer service while keeping customers happy and satisfied at all times. So if you are going through a tough time and need to change the processor or want better and quicker funding, give a call to Merchant Stronghold at +1 (888) 622 – 6875.

Easy ways to avoid Match List & TMF

If you find your business on the TMF or MATCH list, and you need to know how you got listed, reach out to your service provider and they can help you understand the exact reason.

You need to contact the previous bank with whom you had merchant services previously. Request them to give you the reason and reason code under which you were added to the MATCH.

You should know from the bank how to get off the MATCH or TMF. MasterCard, in general, puts the merchant for 5 years in the MATCH list. In case of fraud, you are highly unlikely to get off the list. Then, you do not have any option than incorporating a new company.

Why are Merchants added to MATCH or TMF?

Having a huge number of chargebacks on a monthly basis.

The merchant owes money to the bank.

Merchant caught practicing fraudulent activity such as money laundering.

Illegal-product or Advertisement.

Disclosing information of profit to the customer.

All in all, violating the terms of a Merchant Account.

What should a Merchant do to avoid these lists?

Never try any kind of fraud from you as well as your teams end.

Pay the debts on time and try not to owe any money to the bank.

Decrease the number of chargebacks.

Get an expert who can manage these for you.

What to do to get off the Match List?

The only company that can get you off the list is the company that put you on it.

Mostly, the merchant only learns that their business is on the MATCH is when they apply for a merchant account with another merchant service provider.

You should reach out to the previous service provider and ask him about the reason, and you can be referred to the acquiring bank itself; you may have to make diligent calls and be patient in this situation.

If a business was placed on the MATCH for high chargeback ratio, the processor needs to know that they are not going to get stuck with bills from the merchant’s former customers chargebacks.

Getting with the wrong service provider who does not understand your business is way more harmful than getting on the TMF or MATCH itself.

Get more information for directly contact us @ +1 (888) 622-6875.

Let's Understand Rolling Reserve Merchant Account

What is Rolling Reserve Merchant Account? 

When it comes to new merchants and high-risk businesses, the bank takes all the possible caution to avoid any loss in their business. Due to which they have created a robust network of rules that need to be followed at all times so that the economic and financial aspect of the business never sees any downfall. 

This is the reason that the bank introduced the concept of Rolling Reserve Merchant Account.

Rolling Reserve is a fixed percentage (generally 5-10%) of a merchant’s transacted amount reserved by the bank which can be used in case of an excessive chargeback. This happens for only a short time interval (6-12 months) until the business gets some stability.

Upon completion of this time interval, the bank releases the amount to the merchant on the scheduled dates.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ROLLING RESERVE?

As we discussed, rolling reserves are applied for the merchants having a high-risk business. The idea of introducing the rolling reserve is to avoid any loss of revenue in case of an excessive chargeback in the business.

What are the traits that result in a high-risk business?

Excessive Number of Chargebacks – Most of the credit card processing networks have established 1% criteria where chargeback ratio of more than 1% will state as an excessive chargeback. Upon exceeding this limit, again and again, can make the business as a high-risk business.

Merchant With Poor Personal Credit– If you are a merchant with a history of bad credits in previous terms then you can face consequences while getting the merchant account. This means might be denied from a merchant account or get the Rolling Reserve Merchant Account for your business.

There are some businesses that are considered high-risk businesses, for example:

• Computer Software And Hardware Business
• Online Gambling Or Casinos
• Bitcoins Or Forex Trading
• Dating Services
• VoIP Or Telemarketing
• E-Commerce
• Pharmaceuticals Or Drug Stores
• Adult Materials, Products Or Services
• Airline Tickets
• Magazine Subscriptions

If you are a merchant of those businesses or similar businesses then you will be provided with Rolling Reserve Merchant Account.

Merchant Stronghold offers account services for the merchants with high-risk businesses. You can contact our experts by placing a call at the toll-free number +1(888) 622-6875.

Escort Industry facing the difficulties for Merchant Account

Although the enterprise has visible large growth, banks and creditors keep looking at the adult-orientated nature of escort services as a High Risk. just like the Adult industry has regulations and policies, so do the providers of Merchant Accounts. Even if you are a longtime business with transaction history, finding a processor this is willing to work with a high-risk business can show hard. Financial institutions have categorized escort businesses as High Risk for Some reasons which include:

Dispute Rates and High Chargebacks

Rules and strict Laws

Chargebacks and dispute can happen when a client is attempting to conceal data from a spouse/family. And, if they are utilizing a stolen card. Different dangers incorporate merchants who utilize their site as a front for money laundering or even to sell prohibited prostitution. Merchant Stronghold can get your merchant account approved quick and simple, no matter the tendencies institutions may also have toward this industry.

MERCHANT STRONGHOLD WILL HELP YOU TO APPROVE ESCORT MERCHANT ACCOUNTS.

Signing up for an escort service merchant account at Merchant Stronghold is straightforward. you may rest confident that your prices will never boom for the whole lifetime of your partnership at Merchant Stronghold with our Lifetime price Lock assure. Get custom-designed credit card processing solutions especially to meet your enterprise needs. help reduce the risk of chargebacks on your escort organization with secure and safe payment gateways.

Our U.S. based customer support service team is therefore ready to help. Get help with account questions, recommendation on credit card readers and to set up your online credit card processing account. Get more information to contact our Merchant Account Specialist.

Escort Business Service deserve Best Merchant Account

Customers who used escort offering benefits security and protection. The high-quality manners to make sure both are to have an escort service merchant account. Because of the truth that escort services consider intently, protecting customer information is important. So, escort merchant accounts use through Payment gateways which might follow PCI standards. Which means the customer’s information can be very secure and safe.

FAST PAYMENT SOLUTIONS

Escort services want to be like a legitimate enterprise. Because of this, your business desires to raise money for you to pay your vendors and employees.

You can work your approach to record benefits with adaptable payment gateway alternatives via High-Risk Solutions.

NOW START TODAY!

You are here to contact High-Risk business Solutions about being able to start your escort payment processing business with securely and reliably.

You can get started by filling out the application form Merchant services or by calling 1-888-622-6875 to speak with our helpful staff directly. Within minutes, you can be on your way to success in the adult-related industry.

Common Merchant Account Complaints and Deal with them

Every year, a plethora of complaints are registers that badly affect the business of the merchant. In this article, we have listed the Common Merchant Account Complaints and the tricks to avoid such issues in your organization. This article can help you look at both potential risks and rewards of working with a given company.

Poor Customer Service

Now your business and payment processing system cannot be perfect every time. And customer faces an issue with the management. At those times, it is the responsibility of the customer service team to provide the demanded attention to a specific topic. But if the customer support is unable to offer the desired support then the customer has no other option but to avoid the company.

• In such a case, you need to stabilize your customer support service.
• Tracking your product and customer reviews should be evaluated.
• You should take some time to minimize the customer waiting time.
• And nobody wants to listen to the automated answering service.

Cancellation Issues

This is one of the frustrating Common Merchant Account Complaints faced by the customers. Many times we order a product or service by mistake. In that case, you immediately try to cancel the order on the company’s website.

• It is difficult to distinguish between the mistakes and the frauds for a merchant.
• But if your enterprise makes your customer go through a lot of trouble while canceling the order then your business is under risk.
• Moreover, it could lead to unnecessary Chargebacks.
• Solidify the rules around the replacement and return of an order.
• And make sure you provide smooth payment processing to your customers.

Poor Agreement Management

Another complaint that is filed against the merchants is related to the agreement management. That could be related to the poor description, expensive services and many more.

Leasing services are generally non-refundable that further leads to conflicts.

Merchants always pay more when they are renting a terminal than just to outright buying one.

By the time, this all leads to costing thousands of dollars to the merchant.

Misleading Sales Practice

This is one of the worst sales practices. If you wish to lead a long profitable business then never apply such things to your business.

• For a merchant, sales are very important and to increase sales they try every method.
• Some merchants try these petty methods to increase sales.
• But the customer with one bad issue can report the business of this unethical practice.
• Advertise your product as it is.
• And if you offer some discount then make sure you clear out the terms and condition to the customers properly.
• Train your sales agent properly and tell them the customer satisfaction is always the priority.

For more tips and tricks, contact Merchant Stronghold, we always have a team of experts ready to help you with your queries related to the Common Merchant Account Complaints.

How to Avoid TMF or Match Lists?

TMF, MATCH file, and GNF:

One of the most challenging things a merchant faces is going on the blacklist by the credit card companies, such as Visa/ Mastercard. This blacklist is famously known as “TMF or MATCH” list. This makes it very difficult to get a merchant account anywhere around the globe, especially, if it is a high-risk merchant account. Second to that is being put on the GNF list, which is Group Negative File. However, it is not as severe but has its own consequences.

Match file is like a blacklist that banks can cross-check when they take on a new business. The match is a system created and managed by MasterCard. It is a database that contains information about businesses, which have gone through the phase of a fraud or a chargeback and has been terminated for many reasons. Terminated Merchant File (TMF) is another term, which is coined by Visa is just a synonym of MATCH.

GNF, Group Negative File, is First Data’s internal list of businesses that they have had any kind of issue with them before and no longer want to do business with them. This might not be a fraud case; you might be listed on it because of the closing of your first data account.

Why are Merchants added to MATCH or TMF?

Having a huge number of chargebacks on a monthly basis.

The merchant owes money to the bank.

Merchant caught practicing fraudulent activity such as money laundering.

Illegal-product or Advertisement.

Disclosing information of profit to the customer.

All in all, violating the terms of a Merchant Account.

What should a Merchant do to avoid these lists?

Never try any kind of fraud from you as well as your teams end.

Pay the debts on time and try not to owe any money to the bank.

Decrease the number of chargebacks.

Get an expert who can manage these for you.

What to do to get off the Match List?

The only company that can get you off the list is the company that put you on it.

Mostly, the merchant only learns that their business is on the MATCH is when they apply for a merchant account with another merchant service provider.

You should reach out to the previous service provider and ask him about the reason, and you can be referred to the acquiring bank itself; you may have to make diligent calls and be patient in this situation.

If a business was placed on the MATCH for high chargeback ratio, the processor needs to know that they are not going to get stuck with bills from the merchant’s former customers chargebacks.

Getting with the wrong service provider who does not understand your business is way more harmful than getting on the TMF or MATCH itself.

Get Approval Domestic & Offshore Merchant Account

As technology is advancing, the internet has decreased the geographical distance and brought the global market in one place. Through online businesses, merchants can provide their services to customers all around the world. Irrespective of the size of business you own, to run it successfully online, merchants need to have two things:

1. Merchant Account
2. Credit Card Processing Facility

An offshore merchant account is the most common account out of all the options available in the market. The offshore account does not require a huge cost for the initial setup. This type of account is more popular among small businesses that operate online.

Benefits of Offshore Merchant Account

1. Some offshore account providers may charge you but there are a few that do not charge a penny for initial setup, which is a beneficial deal for merchants running small online businesses.

2. Offshore Merchant account provider takes care to protect their clients (small business merchants, having an offshore merchant account) from online frauds.

3. Offshore accounts operate outside of your home country (where your business setup is), the merchant does not have to pay taxes as he will be out of tax regulation laws of the origin country.

4. Acceptance of multi-currency

THINGS TO KNOW

When you own small sized online business or if you are setting up one, you cannot afford to become a victim of fraud. Fraud and scams are the harsh reality of the business world and usually new, small, inexperienced businesses are the target of these scammers. For the purpose of safety of merchants, offshore merchant account provider takes responsibility to protect their clients from online frauds.

The need for an offshore merchant account arises where a merchant deals with multi-national currencies. And, various credit cards used by customers around the world. If you have an offshore merchant account, this will increase the chances of gaining more customers globally and increase annual revenue.

Normally SMBs do not have spare money to invest more in the accounts. This is where offshore can make life easier for merchants having small businesses. If a merchant runs his/her business with proper planning and strategy, he can expand his business. Also, way sooner than expected by gaining more customers nationally and internationally with high profits.

Some Basic Requirements To Become eCommerce Merchant

You need to treat your online store as your offline business store. You need to keep the inventory updated as well as make sure that you have a good payment gateway to accept online payments. Having a multi-currency payment gateway will help you get more traffic than others. To understand the Multi-currency payment processing you can visit us at merchantstronghold.com or contact Merchant Stronghold Support.

First of all, you need to understand the basic requirements to start selling online or to become an E-commerce Merchant.

Select and Define Your Niche:

You need to decide what you want to sell or define your niche. This could be the most crucial part of your business as it requires a lot of research in your area of interest. It is not mandatory to sell the product online, you can affiliate them too.

Your Platform to Sell Online:

In order to sell online, you need a domain name, dedicated E-commerce hosting, and payment gateway, etc. You need to select your website platform or blog based platform with the shopping cart add-on. A website will help you to set up your store online as well as to accept payments online using any payment gateway. 

Maintain the Inventory:

It is necessary to maintain the inventory. If you are using in-house fulfillment means selling your products only then you can easily stock the product and then ship them when required. Also, It is most important to understand what type of fulfillment you want to use as per your requirement.

Manage orders and shipping:

To become an E-commerce Merchant, it is important for you to manage your orders and shipping process. You need an order management tool to manage online orders. Also, you can use any free shipping label printing service options and installed software to fulfill your shipping needs. 

Use Payment Gateway:

Payment gateways play a pivotal role in the E-commerce store. You can use any of the payment gateways which are available in the market. Payment Gateways that are available in the market are Stripe, PayPal, Payline, and Authorize.net, etc. All of these payment gateways allow you to accept online payments from the customers. Choose the payment as per your requirements and become an E-commerce Merchant.

Address - 10300 49th Street N Suite 427 Clearwater, Florida 33762

Email Id - info@merchantstronghold.com

Contact - +1 (888) 622-6875.

High-Risk Offshore Merchant Account for your Small Business

As technology is advancing, the internet has decreased the geographical distance and brought the global market in one place. Through online businesses, merchants can provide its services to customers all around the world. Irrespective of the size of business you own, to run it successfully online, merchants need to have two things:

1. Merchant Account

2. Credit Card Processing Facility

An offshore merchant account is the most common account out of all the options available in the market. The offshore account does not require a huge cost for the initial setup. This type of account is more popular among small businesses that operate online.

Benefits of Offshore Merchant Account

1. Some offshore account providers may charge you but there are a few that do not charge a penny for initial setup, which is a beneficial deal for merchants running small online businesses.

2. Offshore accounts operate outside of your home country (where your business setup is), the merchant does not have to pay taxes as he will be out of tax regulation laws of the origin country.

3. Offshore Merchant account provider takes care to protect their clients (small business merchants, having an offshore merchant account) from online frauds.

4. Acceptance of multi-currency

When you own small sized online business or if you are setting up one, you cannot afford to become a victim of fraud. Fraud and scams are the harsh reality of the business world and usually new, small, inexperienced businesses are the target of these scammers. For the purpose of safety of merchants, offshore merchant account provider takes responsibility to protect their clients from online frauds.

The need for an offshore merchant account arises where a merchant deals with multi-national currencies. And, various credit cards used by customers around the world. If you have an offshore merchant account, this will increase the chances of gaining more customers globally and increase annual revenue.

Merchant Stronghold works 24*7, 367 days and with the vast knowledge of offshore merchant accounts, we will handle any type of query that you might throw at us.

Merchant Account for Nutraceutical Products

Some merchant account providers specialize in high-risk merchant services, but they do in general charge higher transaction fees. All of them are not alike though. Few providers offer customized end-to-end payment solutions and some don’t. Some also offer to process for numerous currencies and others do not. For these and other reasons, it’s best to do very systematic research into merchant processors offering Nutra deals merchant accounts.

In spite of the fact that there are more choices nowadays in the card preparing industry, finding the correct processor can be testing. You will require one that addresses your organization’s issues and that can take some time and legwork. Search for a respectable place that has been working together for some time. Discover what different administrations they may offer.

For example, online installment doors. In the event that this is something that will be critical to you, ask whether they handle things like various monetary standards. Discover a processor that can make different Nutra deals shipper accounts accessible to your organization

A GROWING NUTRACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

The Nutraceutical items industry is a growing, flourishing industry. Numerous Nutra deals organizations help people all over the world to lose weight, and look and feel better. The uses of the item by the majority and many do truly work. Some well-known professionals like Dr. Oz sell them. “As Seen On TV Products”. In addition, natural alternatives are popular because they work and offer good results without harmful side effects.

Good products that offer multiple health fitness benefits without harmful side effects will always be in order and popular with consumers. consequently, there will always be numerous online suppliers of these items with an awesome requirement for solid merchant services.

Though it can be difficult to locate a regular bank to work with, it is still possible to do so. In order to work with a traditional bank or processor, it is necessary to establish your business in the marketplace. This is when a processor that specializes in merchant services for Nutra sales will be there.

Nutra Merchant Accounts Processing Solutions to Grow Your Business & Boost Your Sales

In the event, if you are included in Nutraceutical deals, as you know that it can be hard to acquire merchant services for Nutra product sales. But then, without a high risk merchant account, you will not be able to Accept Credit Card and debit card payments. This has left numerous organizer or business owners wondering what to do. With a specific end goal to exceed expectations in an online business, it’s vital to have the capacity to process domestic and international payments.

The Nutra deals business is a big High-Risk Business but it is seen as considered high risk for a few reasons. One of them is that e-commerce sites that offer nutraceuticals generally get a higher number of chargebacks than different organizations. Chargebacks occur whenever a customer returns an item or they pay with a bad check or over-extended credit card. Though the merchants themselves are at risk, so is the merchant processing center that handles their transactions.

SHOP AND COMPARE MERCHANT SERVICES FOR NUTRA SALES

Some merchant account providers specialize in high-risk merchant services, but they do in general charge higher transaction fees. All of them are not alike though. Few providers offer customized end-to-end payment solutions and some don’t. Some also offer to process for numerous currencies and others do not. For these and other reasons, it’s best to do very systematic research into merchant processors offering Nutra deals merchant accounts.

In spite of the fact that there are more choices nowadays in the card preparing industry, finding the correct processor can be testing. You will require one that addresses your organization’s issues and that can take some time and legwork. Search for a respectable place that has been working together for some time. Discover what different administrations they may offer.

A GROWING NUTRACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

The Nutraceutical items industry is a growing, flourishing industry. Numerous Nutra deals organizations help people all over the world to lose weight, and look and feel better. The uses of the item by the majority and many do truly work. Some well-known professionals like Dr. Oz sell them. “As Seen On TV Products”. In addition, natural alternatives are popular because they work and offer good results without harmful side effects.

Starting A Travel Agency Business in USA with Merchant Account

If you run a travel agency as the tour operator, or hotel operator planning to the same then you must be excited by the opportunities in High Risk. Before start receiving online funds, you must setup payment gateway for your merchant account.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO GET MERCHANT ACCOUNT

• Find consultants who specialize in the helping high-risk merchants finding a merchant account.
• We at merchant stronghold provide you the same.
• If you have a good record of risk, fraud, and charge-backs, you will be required to provide at least 6 months of prior financials to prove it.
• The best side of this is that if you can provide financial statements of 3 years, you will have more leverage to negotiate a better deal.
• Startups with a weak or non-existent record, you must accept a very well relationship.
• A common mistake that everyone does is to find big banks and merchant account, providers.
• If these processors receive any hint that you are high risk, there is a chance that the merchant account will get a termination.
• Develop and put into action a strong fraud prevention plan. Introduce new tools that will help you detect and fight fraud.

Purchase a financial failure insurance plan to boost financial security.

These actions will be enough to get a merchant account for your tour and travel business. Just because of rejection for a merchant account before, doesn’t mean you will not get approval again.

When it comes to your business plan and financials, providing complete transparency is a great way to build trust. Your business model matter, it will work to not only survive in the current market but also thrive.

Why Cannabis Oil Is Big Business | Merchant Account for CBD

Merchant Accounts for CBD

CBD merchant accounts are our most in-demand product, for which we have proven domestic and offshore banking solutions for CBD merchants.

Merchant Stronghold provides the best merchant services for your CBD Businesses.

Legalization brings a lot of opportunities, including many that are unexpected. One of the biggest areas for expansion is cannabis oil. Cannabis oil can mean a lot of different things but most importantly, it’s giving consumers and entrepreneurs a new way to explore and benefit from the marijuana industry. Here’s why cannabis oil is big business, and how any entrepreneur can tap into this nascent market.

The cannabis oil market is huge

There are many different kinds of cannabis oil on the market. All of them are growing in popularity. The CBD market alone is predicted to reach $22 billion in 2022, according to Brightfield Group.

The CBD market is blossoming

CBD, short for cannabidiol, is the main non-psychoactive compound found in marijuana and hemp. It does not interact with the body the same way as THC and cannot get you high. At the same time, CBD has many of the plant’s most significant medical and medicinal benefits. CBD can reduce seizures in epilepsy patients and a growing body of research finds it useful for reducing pain, acne, anxiety, inflammation and more.

Making cannabis oil is a relatively new and expensive process

Despite the rising popularity of cannabis oil, it’s still a relatively undeveloped market because of how it’s produced. Technically, cannabis oil is what you get when you extract a concentrated oil from the marijuana or hemp plant. THC and CBD oil are technically in the same category because they’re produced with the same type of equipment.

Creating cannabis oil takes some expertise and a fair amount of equipment. Generally, there are two ways of doing it:

CO2 (carbon dioxide) extraction 

Solvent extraction

Ref: Green/Entrepreneur

How To Understand Which Type Of Offshore Merchant Account Comes In High-Risk

It is true that some offshore merchant account providers cater specific high-risk industry but it’s not the case with all other offshore merchant account providers. Let us first understand what an offshore merchant account is.

It is like any other account but is with a bank outside the merchant’s home country. This type of account enables a merchant to accept payment online by accepting a credit card. It is not restricted to any industry type, but is available for merchants across all the industrial categorization and can get this account opened to reap its benefits. This type of account is more beneficial for merchant’s expanded their business beyond geographical boundaries i.e. multinational merchants.

Multinational merchants mean that the merchant sells a product to domestic as well as international customer and deliver real-time credit card processing in a local currency of customer. For safe and secure credit card processing these merchants should work with a local bank of other countries. To achieve these objectives, an offshore account is the best alternative.

Are offshore account high risk?

An offshore merchant account does not translate to high risk but depending upon the geographical location of business some merchants may refer to these accounts as offshore in a certain jurisdiction whereas others might consider it onshore. It is advisable to work with reliable international merchant account provider as it delivers security to every credit card processing and this will help merchant as well as provide various opportunities to grow business financially as well as geographically.

Generally, an offshore merchant account is high risk as it caters businesses at risk for fraud and bankruptcy. These businesses are:

• Better refund frequency
• High sales volume
• High chargeback ratio
• Poor credit history
• Company registration address is available in an offshore environment.

Most of the businesses need to take a risk without affecting their financial credibility in order to increase sales or for growth, this kind of flexibility provided to the merchant by High-risk offshore merchant accounts. Domestic financial institutes find it risky to deal with such a situation. Hence, they avoid giving approval for a merchant account to high-risk businesses.

What are the Common Complaints of Merchant Account

In this article, we have listed the Common Merchant Account Complaints and the tricks to avoid such issues in your organization. This article can help you look at both potential risks and rewards of working with a given company.

Poor Customer Service

Now your business and payment processing system cannot be perfect every time. And customer faces an issue with the management. At those times, it is the responsibility of the customer service team to provide the demanded attention to a specific topic.

In such a case, you need to stabilize your customer support service.

Tracking your product and customer reviews should be evaluated.

You should take some time to minimize the customer waiting time.

And nobody wants to listen to the automated answering service.

Cancellation Issues

This is one of the frustrating Common Merchant Account Complaints faced by the customers. Many times we order a product or service by mistake. In that case, you immediately try to cancel the order on the company’s website.

It is difficult to distinguish between the mistakes and the frauds for a merchant.

But if your enterprise makes your customer go through a lot of trouble while canceling the order then your business is under risk.

Moreover, it could lead to unnecessary Chargebacks.

Solidify the rules around the replacement and return of order.

And make sure you provide smooth payment processing to your customers.

Misleading Sales Practice

This is one of the worst sales practices. If you wish to lead a long profitable business then never apply such things to your business.

Some merchants try these petty methods to increase sales.

But the customer with one bad issue can report the business of this unethical practice.

For a merchant, sales are very important and to increase sales they try every method.

Advertise your product as it is.

Train your sales agent properly and tell them the customer satisfaction is always the priority.

And if you offer some discount then make sure you clear out the terms and condition to the customers properly.

Set your Price According to your Market

Every merchant wants to earn the profit and for that, they introduce attractive offers with their products while other products are not easily available. In the latter case, sometimes the merchant asks for a really high price that is not according to the product market value. These issues lead to greater trouble for the merchant in future that makes it to one of the Common Merchant Account Complaints.

Disclose your entire price before the customer purchases the product.

This generally leads to customer backing out for the purchase.

Do not add additional charge at the time of payment.

Many merchants are reported of such practices and immediately eliminated from doing any further business.

We provide customized support to the high-risk merchant accounts and credit card processing. Call now or visit the website at app.merchantstronghold.com

Get Merchant Payment Processing Services in USA

What is Merchant Processing Services?

In the world of business, the merchant processing service is very important, in simple words, the merchant processing is nothing but the ability of the merchant to accept the payment without any error or issue. The payment could be in different forms such as cash, debit card, credit card, internet banking, and other online methods. These aspects of the business can immediately boost your business or take it down in one go.

What are the Factors influencing the Merchant Processing Services

Now that you understand the Merchant Processing Services, let’s get to the point and discuss the methods to get the best merchant processing services. Here are some factors that can influence the Merchant Processing or Card Processing Services.

Types of Payment under Payment Processor

The merchant service provider of the payment processor needs to be according to your demand.

You can explore the market with different payment processors and get the one that suits your demands.

Also, you can Compare Merchant Processing Services and payment processing services.

Do not get confused by the payment processors and their offers. Contact Merchant Stronghold for the information to select the best payment processor for you.

Price of the Merchant Processing

The different processor offers different plans for their services. It is your responsibility as a merchant to select the best for your business type. Here are some different pricing methods discussed.

Fixed Rate Plan – This where the merchant works with a business or only one merchant account. You need to pay a fixed amount for the payment processing service.

Leveled Pricing – When the merchant needs to pay a different amount depending on the risk factor. This method can be beneficial as the risk can vary each month and the merchant is not needed to pay anything extra.

Interchanged Pricing – Where the payment processing fees and processors benefits are clearly mentioned in the bill. This is the most transparent pricing system ideal for medium to large business.

Contract and Support for the Processing

The type of contract you signed is what’s going to lead further payment processing in your enterprise.

This means you need to compare Merchant Processing Services and their contract as well.

The contract includes details related to pricing, security, terms and all the other important details related to the processor.

These are some of the common issues faced by our users related to “Compare Merchant Processing Services”. If you are also having these issues then contact Merchant Stronghold.

Understand Transaction Descriptor Or Merchant Descriptor

It appears on the credit card statement or any other bank statement of the customer that contains details of the company and merchant involved in the particular transaction.

The purpose of the merchant descriptor is to identify who the payment was made to. Whenever a merchant goes for the merchant account, he or she is asked to provide the merchant descriptor as well. 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING TRANSACTION DESCRIPTOR OR MERCHANT DESCRIPTOR?

Having a transaction descriptor can save the merchant from a chargeback. This is the most important benefit of having the transaction descriptor.

A descriptor gives clear information about the merchant and the purchase.

This helps a customer to quickly identify the transaction.

That also results in a low chance of the chargeback from the customer’s end.

According to the various reports from the card networks, most chargebacks are filed simply because the customer did not identify the transaction.

Now you know, as a merchant you should give attention to the merchant descriptor. If this is the case, you need to gather more information about the Transaction Descriptor or Merchant Descriptor.

There are two kinds of Transaction Descriptor:

Static Descriptor – A Static Descriptor remains the same for all the transactions made by the merchant.

Dynamic Descriptor – And in this case, it varies and includes the details of the purchased goods or service.

You must be wondering which one is better and what should you get for your business.

A Static Descriptor is often called Hard Descriptor. If you have a business that sells one kind of goods or service then you can go for this. A static descriptor generally contains the company and location in form of the zip code.

Whereas, the Dynamic Descriptor may change with each transaction as it contains product specific details. If you own a store that sells a variety of products then you should choose the dynamic descriptor.

THE TRANSACTION DESCRIPTOR OR MERCHANT DESCRIPTOR

Contact Information – Say the customer wants to contact the merchant but she is unable to because of the lack of contact information available to her. She may look at the credit card statement, if she finds the contact information there, it would save the merchant from one chargeback. Adding the contact number is considered as a clever move for a merchant.

Company Name/Business Name – This is a must as the customer is most likely to identify the merchant on the basis of the company name. Never forget to add the company name to the merchant descriptor.

Website Information – The merchant can also put the Website address to the transaction descriptor. This also helps the merchant to identify the transaction.

Merchant Address – You are not required to add the complete address. However, the zip code can also work for the merchant.

We also provide other merchant processing services and high-risk merchant account services. Also, you can try our toll-free number +1 (888) 622 – 6875 and try the 24/7 email support.

What is Rolling Reserve & Why is It Important to Merchants?

Rolling Reserve Merchant Account: When it comes to new merchants and high-risk businesses, the bank takes all the possible caution to avoid any loss in their business. Due to which they have created a robust network of rules that need to be followed at all times so that economic and financial aspect of the business never sees any downfall.

This is the reason that bank introduced the concept of Rolling Reserve Merchant Account.

WHAT IS ROLLING RESERVE MERCHANT ACCOUNT?

Rolling Reserve is a fixed percentage (generally 5-10%) of a merchant’s transacted amount reserved by the bank which can be used in case of an excessive chargeback. This happens for only a short time interval (6-12 months) until the business gets some stability.

Upon completion of this time interval, the bank releases the amount to the merchant on the scheduled dates.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF ROLLING RESERVE?

As we discussed, rolling reserves are applied for the merchants having a high-risk business. The idea of introducing the rolling reserve is to avoid any loss of revenue in case of excessive chargeback in the business.

What are the traits that result in high-risk business?

Excessive Number of Chargebacks – Most of the credit card networks have established 1% criteria where chargeback ratio of more than 1% will state as an excessive chargeback. Upon exceeding this limit, again and again, can make the business as a high-risk business.

Merchant With Poor Personal Credit– If you are a merchant with a history of bad credits in previous terms then you can face consequences while getting the merchant account. This means might be denied from a merchant account or get the Rolling Reserve Merchant Account for your business.

There are some businesses that are considered as the high-risk businesses, for example:

• Online Gambling Or Casinos
• Computer Software And Hardware Business
• Bitcoins Or Forex Trading
• Dating Services
• VoIP Or Telemarketing
• Pharmaceuticals Or Drug Stores
• E-Commerce
• Adult Materials, Products Or Services
• Airline Tickets
• Magazine Subscriptions

If you are a merchant of those businesses or similar businesses then you will be provided with Rolling Reserve Merchant Account.

Merchant Stronghold offers account services for the merchants with high-risk businesses. You can contact our experts by placing a call at the toll-free number.

If you have a high-risk business then rolling reserve is inevitable. However, you can work on other strategies to maximize the profit so that it won’t affect as bad as it may seem.

Furthermore, you can work on strategies to minimize the chargeback in the business. And finally, use the best business practice to eliminate any situation that can harm the reputation of business in any way.

Accept American Express Card For Your High-Low Risk Business

You can say American Express as Amex. It is a multinational financial service that also happens to be a popular card network. Along with that, American Express Merchant Services is a division of the Amex that works with merchants to process the various transactions in their business.

Amex operates as both card issuer and acquirer which results in slightly different rules for the merchants if you are comparing with Visa or MasterCard.

Just read the following article which helps you to understand the American Express Merchant Services before getting them.

AMERICAN EXPRESS FEES & RATES

The first question most of the merchant asks before getting merchant services is often related to fees. The prices set for the Amex are transparent and follows a robust plan.

Also, American Express is continuously working to promote small businesses with their new ventures like opting Blue Merchant Services.

In exchange for the payment processing network, American Express charges fees. However, the breakdown of these charges can be too much for users sometimes to understand. To understand these charges, you can simply contact the American Express Customer Services and ask for the details.

AMERICAN EXPRESS CHARGEBACK DISPUTE

When going for the American Express Merchant Services, you should gather as much information related to chargeback as possible. As we discussed the chargeback reason code for the Amex are different than the other card networks.

However, a merchant should know about chargeback and related rules if the Amex card is going to be used in the business.

Study the various reason codes of the American Express and get as much information as possible. Unlike Visa and MasterCard who outsource merchant services, American Express manages most of their services inside.

Therefore, you should expect transparency with their fees structure and their performance as well.

Technical Support Team 

As we said, Amex handles most of their service in order to offer comfort to their users along with the complete trust in the brand. Also, American Express is known to offer great customer service to their users. And the same criteria are applied to the American Express Merchant Services.

In case you are still confused then feel free to contact the Merchant Stronghold and get all the information regarding the Amex and their services. For that, you can place a call at the toll-free number i.e. +1 (888) 622 – 6875 or simply try the 24/7 email support.