If your business is a reputable one that happens to fall under a high risk classification with domestic banks, this can cause greater expense and limitations on your account than you would like. Whether this classification is imposed due to the number of chargebacks or fraudulent transactions associated with your industry, or the geographic markets you operate in, alternative banking solutions are often necessary in order for your business to grow.
How are you paid?
The need to have more flexibility with banking is also becoming more acute, because some business models that traditional banks consider to be risky are in fact becoming more and more popular with businesses and consumers.
One such example is recurring subscription models. In the digital age when monthly payments are much more desirable to many than annual bills, recurring and subscription payments are actually considered higher risk by banks than one-off sales. This is because the likelihood of customers initiating chargebacks is higher, and therefore of greater risk to the bank.
How your business sells products and services is also a risk factor for traditional banks, and modern approaches to this often fall into the more risky classification. Channels such as affiliate marketing, direct mails and banners, infomercials and in-app upsells are some examples of this, and these activities, while great for increasing sales volumes, represent higher risk classification for banks.
In short, there are many reputable industries, from subscription software to travel services, that are considered high risk by domestic banks.
What can a high risk merchant account do for my business?
High risk merchant accounts offer flexible and potentially game-changing alternatives for your business. But one of the first questions asked by business with obligations for protecting their customers’ data is how secure an account is.
This question is emphatically answered with the Level 1 PCI/DSS gateway on our high risk accounts. They also boast military-grade encryption which safeguards customers’ personal information and credit card details.
So with the security aspect in good hands, what other features do high risk merchant accounts offer to your business?
Removing risk from recurring billing
As we mentioned before, there is a distinctly conflicting interests between businesses and banks with regards to recurring payment plans. For businesses, these plans represent a regular, predictable source of revenue, and a manageable way for their customers to pay for a service. Yet for banks, this model is all risk.
On high risk merchant accounts, recurring billing is a standard feature. With them, you are able to create a variety of payment plans to suit your business, and encrypt these in the secure vault of the high risk payment gateway.
Don’t fall victim to fraud
Another way in which high risk merchant accounts are lower risk for your own business is their in-built vigilance for fraudsters.
Firstly, each payment is subject to hundreds of validation tests. Your business can implement rules and filters to easily define which transactions to accept and reject. The high risk merchant account also has built in fraud checks, and almost instantly identifies if a customer account has been identified as attempting fraud on other sites. These methods allow for automatic acceptance of legitimate orders, and provide the opportunity for manual review prior to accepting suspect orders.
It’s a win-win
For companies considered high risk by domestic banks, and for any business looking to reduce its own risk, high risk merchant accounts offer a number of benefits and allow firms to focus on sales rather than being held back by banking.
High risk accounts enable you to accept all global card brands and popular payment methods, in addition to providing more flexible billing options to your customers. In short, high risk accounts provide more flexibility and security for your business, while providing reassurance and multi-currency flexibility to your customers.
Find out more
Interested in finding out more about US, international and offshore merchant accounts? Contact info@PaynetSecure.net today. Or call 888-5-Paynet.