Who this is for
- Merchants previously declined by Stripe, Square, PayPal, or a traditional acquirer
- Businesses processing in MCC codes flagged as high-risk (CBD, gambling, adult, nutra, etc.)
- Merchants with chargeback ratios above 1% or prior MATCH/TMF listings
- Subscription and recurring billing businesses with elevated dispute exposure
- Six-figure-monthly e-commerce stores needing redundancy or international processing
- Startups in restricted verticals that need a clean Day-1 MID, not a frozen one
Why this is classified high risk
Card networks (Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover) assign every merchant a Merchant Category Code (MCC) and route them into either standard or high-brand-risk programs based on industry, chargeback exposure, and product compliance. Acquiring banks layer their own risk appetite on top — and that's where it gets restrictive.
A merchant typically ends up labeled "high risk" for one or more of: regulated product category (CBD, hemp, cannabis-adjacent, nutraceuticals, kratom, firearms, gambling, adult), elevated chargeback ratio (above 0.9% of volume or 100 transactions/month under Visa VAMP rules), continuity/subscription billing exposure, international or cross-border volume above 30%, terminated MID history (MATCH list), poor personal credit, or unusually high average ticket sizes.
Stripe, Square, and PayPal — the largest aggregators — solve this by simply prohibiting most flagged categories outright. That's why a "Stripe shut us down" story is so common in CBD, gambling, crypto, adult, and credit repair: the underlying acquiring bank never wanted those verticals. A true high-risk processor uses acquirers that actively underwrite those categories instead of prohibiting them.
Industries we process for
Features included
Most domestic MIDs fund T+1 once your settlement schedule is established.
Full network coverage including Amex OptBlue at no premium.
Card vault, account updater, retry logic, MIT compliance.
Verifi RDR + Order Insight and Ethoca alerts feeds prevent dispute escalation.
Velocity rules, BIN blocking, AVS/CVV mismatch scoring, 3DS2.
Authorize and settle in USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY and 60+ currencies.
NMI, Authorize.Net, USAePay, or direct API integration.
A real human, on speed dial, who knows your file.
Underwriting documents you'll need
- Completed merchant application (we send it after the soft review)
- Government-issued ID for each signer with 25%+ ownership
- Voided business check or bank letter
- Last 3 months of business bank statements
- Last 3 months of prior processing statements (if applicable)
- Articles of incorporation or LLC formation docs
- EIN letter (IRS Form CP-575)
- Website with refund policy, terms, privacy, contact, and SSL
Pricing factors
High-risk processing pricing is a function of four inputs: industry MCC, monthly volume, chargeback ratio, and processing history. A clean-ledger CBD merchant at $250K/month pays very different rates than a newly-formed crypto exchange.
Typical ranges: 2.95–3.45% + $0.25 for established lower-volatility verticals (subscription, travel, e-commerce with sub-1% chargebacks), 3.45–4.45% for CBD, nutraceuticals, and most adult, and 4.45–6.95% for gambling, crypto, MATCH-list rehabilitation, and offshore-only placements. Reserves are typically 5–10% rolling held 180 days.
We don't quote without underwriting your file — the only honest quote is one priced against the actual acquirer's risk model. See our rates and fees page for full industry-by-industry pricing ranges.
Approval timeline
- 1Application & soft review (0–2 hours)
7-field form. We pre-qualify and confirm which acquiring bank fits your file before any credit pull.
- 2Document collection (1–2 business days)
Bank statements, prior processing, IDs, formation docs. We chase the items; you send what you have.
- 3Underwriting decision (1–5 business days)
The acquirer reviews. We negotiate reserve and rate on your behalf. Offshore placements take 5–14 days.
- 4MID + gateway provisioning (same day after approval)
Gateway credentials, hosted checkout, and tokenization live within hours of signature.