How to Open a High Risk Merchant Account

Feb 5, 2019

For many businesses, opening a payment processing account through traditional means is impossible. This is due to the high-risk designation that’s assigned to many industries as a result of the merchandise or services they deal in or the methods by which they conduct their business. In some cases, being considered a high-risk business may be the result of maintaining accounts with high chargeback ratios or a low credit rating. If your business has been declined for credit card processing services, chances are that your best bet is to get approved for a high risk merchant account.

What’s Needed to Get Approved for a High Risk Merchant Account?

When applying for your high risk credit card processing account, you’ll be asked to provide some basic information about yourself and your business, including:

  • Your legal name and address
  • Your personal phone number
  • Your email address
  • Your company name
  • Your business address and phone number
  • Your industry

Once you’ve completed your application, you’ll be asked to provide a digital signature acknowledging that the information provided on your applications is true and that you understand the terms and conditions associated with applying for a high-risk merchant account.

Finally, you’ll need to submit your supporting documentation. These documents are required by supporting banks to complete your account applications and help to verify that your business is operating legally, as well as your identity, your financial background and the background of your business. The documents you’ll need to submit in order to get approved for a high risk merchant account include:

  • Articles of incorporation
  • Articles of organization
  • Business license
  • Void business check OR a letter from your bank that includes your business name, business bank account number, business routing number, a statement from your bank declaring that your business account is in good standing, and the name, phone number, and signature of the banker who issued the letter
  • A color photocopy of your valid driver’s license or passport
  • Three months of recent bank statements from your business banking account OR from your personal bank account if your business is new
  • Three months of recent credit card statements OR ACH processing statements

Once you’ve submitted your signed applications along with all of your supporting documents, underwriters will get to work on your application and quickly determine if you’re able to get approved for a high risk merchant account. Even when merchants are high risk instant approval is a possibility, however, in some cases, additional documentation may be required by supporting banks depending on your history and industry.

Benefits of Opening a PayDiverse High Risk Credit Card Processing Account

When you open a merchant account with PayDiverse, you’re signing up for more than just payment processing services. Our industry-leading payment platform includes a variety of services that are designed to protect you and your business from fraud, chargebacks, and account closures. Some of the features that come with all PayDiverse credit card processing accounts include the following.

Multi-Bank Processing

Merchants who choose PayDiverse for their processing needs are provided accounts with a minimum of four supporting banks which are chosen from our network of over 40 banking solutions. Payments are dispersed across all banks within the merchant’s network evenly to reduce exposure and keep risk low.

Fraud Prevention Tools

Our award-winning fraud prevention software is built into our payment gateway and is designed to protect merchants from transaction fraud based on the specific needs of their businesses.

Pre-Chargeback Alerts

Our system notifies merchants in real-time as soon as a chargeback has been initiated on a transaction, giving merchants the chance to refund the charge and avoid the chargeback.

Dedicated Expert Payment Advisor

Your account will be assigned a dedicated payment advisor who will guide you in setting up your account and continue to monitor your transactions and assist you as needed.

Sign Up for Your High Risk Merchant Account Today

If you’re ready to start processing secure payments and take advantage of the wide range of account features offered by PayDiverse, get approved for a high risk merchant account today.

Diverse Payment Processing is Smart Processing

Fill out our free and quick merchant account application and let us match you with many banks that want your business.