Tight rope walking, bull riding, shark cage diving are already very risky just by the sound of their names. But you know what’s riskier? Entertaining merchants that are highly conducive to uncontrolled fraud and credit card chargebacks. We know what you have in mind, how will you know if your industry is considered as high risk? We have just the thing!

No matter how legitimate the industry operation may be, a business’ high risk status will always boil down to the nature of the merchant’s industry, its consumers and even its payment terms. What a mouthful, right? Don’t worry, we’re here to simplify things for you. Among the many signs listed all over the web, we came up with 3 easy ways to know if you are operating a high risk business:

1.) You have had issues with chargebacks in the past and may not be in good standing with the card associations

This one is a dead giveaway. What made you think that an industry with a history with chargebacks won’t have the same issues the next time? Normally, businesses who encounter fraud and credit card chargeback issues with card associations are the ones who have more or different merchant account requirements than most businesses. This, alone, will help you determine the risk status of your business. Don’t you worry, there are still merchant providers out there that offer services that are made to cater even to the riskiest business industry there is. Just find the right service and let them know your business model in exchange for a merchant account package made to satisfy your business needs.

2.) Your average ticket is over $100.00

The best way to prove this is to compare your average ticket to another business’ average transaction fee. Most businesses won’t go overboard with this. If your average transaction consists of not fewer than three monetary digits, then you’re screwed. Kidding! You’re obviously a high risk merchant. The higher the fees being transacted, the more tedious it is to process these fees. This is actually one of the main reasons why certain merchant providers decline high risk businesses when applying for a merchant account. Aside from the work that it demands, a high risk business requires higher fees that are, more often than not, almost impossible to obtain.

3.) You sell to customers worldwide and need multicurrency processing

Selling to customers worldwide would not only need multicurrency processing, but would require a card-not-present transaction as well. If you’re from Tasmania, how the heck will you pay for some online service or product purchased all the way from Kiribati islands? This is where high risk businesses come in. If your business is intended to cater to clients from all over the world through multicurrency and card-not-present processing, then you’re clearly operating a high risk business. This business feature may greatly benefit the client, making payments as convenient as possible; but also poses a risk to the business, especially when applying for a merchant account, making it hard for them to get approved.

If you identified your business with the 3 aforementioned characteristics of a high risk business, then you shouldn’t be doubting (but if you still need a hundred more reasons to say your business is a high risk one, we’d be more than willing to discuss more for you… or just lurk around our website, they’re all in there!). What you need now is a merchant provider that would help your business get approved and get started. With the right provider and a nifty merchant account package arranged for your business, you are sure to start selling and earning in no time.

Look no further, visit www.merchact.com and find the merchant account that best suits your business needs. If you happen to get lost around our site and not find what you’re looking for, feel free to contact us. Don’t worry, we don’t bite! We’ll be more than happy to help and arrange a merchant account package for you.