Acquiring A Merchant Account for Your High-Volume Business

Business owners who anticipate a high volume of credit card transactions — especially those who are launching new businesses — may find it more challenging to secure credit card processing capability.

Here is a merchant account truism:

All credit card processors hope that each of their customers accepts a high number of credit card transactions per month. Indeed, the more business owners amass in credit card sales, the higher the generated commission. The irony is that merchant account providers exercise great caution when a new business owner indicates that they anticipate a large monthly volume. Here, the underwriting and risk departments look at the worst-case scenario: What if chargebacks soon ensue and the high-volume business owner does not have sufficient funds in the bank to cover the chargebacks? (The credit card processor must then provide restitution to the merchant's customers.)

Without any prior credit card processing history, it is difficult to predict the potential likelihood and frequency of chargebacks. This is especially true of an Internet business where there exists a greater possibility that fraudulent transactions occur. Consequently, an e-commerce high volume merchant account may be deemed "high risk." Fortunately, with a plethora of high-risk merchant account service providers who can handle high volume accounts, any business owner who anticipates a high volume of credit card processing should be able to find a vendor amenable to assume the inherent risks of such a business.

Do you need a local account or an offshore one?

In some cases, you may be able to acquire a high-volume account or an unlimited one from a domestic provider. However, if you are in the high-risk category, you will need to search for offshore account providers. Once you decide what is best, and if going with offshore banking services is best for you, you need to search for a merchant account provider who deals specifically with offshore and high-risk merchant services.

Applying for a high-volume merchant account

Applying to any type of merchant service provider involves similar application procedures as with domestic merchant applications, including fundamental business-related data, such as the current sales and the estimated sales volumes once you receive a high-risk merchant account. Once the application is submitted, the bank evaluates the risk they take by signing you on, by looking at several aspects of your business, of which projected sales volume is just one. Chargebacks, which can be due to customer satisfaction or fulfillment problems, are another critical factor banks and processors consider.

It is a common misconception that high risk merchant accounts are required for illegal services or grey or black marker products. This is a false notion. Banks always perform research on the merchants they serve, and will never accept any risk on such businesses and will not provide them with any kind of merchant services.

Conclusion

Most businesses these days require high risk, high volume merchant accounts to keep up with current customer trends and expand their business. Choosing to work with reputed merchant service providers is a good idea to ensure long-term security and vibrancy of your "high risk" business.

Liberty Enterprises offers a wide array of offshore and US domestic credit card and Ach/E-check merchant solutions.For more visit www.confidentialbanking.com