Selling many high-priced items to eager consumers each month sounds like a dream to most business owners. Being a high-volume merchant doesn't come without real complications. high-volume means higher risk and higher risk means you pay more. You can reduce the burden of higher fees, however, by finding the right payment processing company, meaning one that offers high-volume merchant accounts for businesses.

These days, every business needs a merchant account, regardless of if you only have a retail store or a website. When choosing an account, you need to consider the type of merchandise you sell, the number of transactions you process each month, whether you conduct international sales and the health of your credit score. You should be able to find a debit card and credit card processing company that works for your needs, but you need to understand the system and research various high-volume merchant account providers before you commit your business to one of them. Companies like Zenti are specifically geared to help you in this process.

What Is a High-Volume Merchant Account?

A high-volume merchant account is a merchant account that is specifically geared towards merchants who have a higher than normal volume. Many of its features are identical to a regular merchant account. A high-volume merchant account will allow you to have access to merchant processing services and online payment gateways. It will process credit cards and deposit that money in your bank. You may also be able to add additional services depending on your needs.

The primary difference with a high-volume merchant account is that you can run a higher than normal volume of credit card transactions. Regular accounts will have limits on the number of transactions, but a high-volume account will either have very high limits or no limits at all. For merchants who do a very high volume of calls, this can be extremely useful.

High-volume merchant accounts are necessary because of chargebacks.

Chargebacks usually happen when a consumer changes their mind about a purchase and wants their money back. They can also happen if a charge is fraudulently put on a credit card.

Once the customer requests a chargeback, their credit/debit card company will issue a chargeback fee to the merchant. For some companies, this practice means that a sales period that initially looked solid may crumble into lost revenue. Merchants are frequently frustrated because they never get a chance to make it right with the customer.

If you are a high-volume business, you're going to have a higher than normal level of chargebacks. This means that your credit card processing company will have to do more work, issue more refunds and lose more money. This will place you into a high-risk account. A high-volume Merchant Account is also known as a High-Risk Merchant Account.

What Is a High-Risk Merchant Account?

A high-risk merchant account is an account that is geared towards certain businesses, such as high-volume ones. They come with certain limitations and extra charges. They also offer a variety of services that are specifically customized towards high-risk and high-volume vendors. These services can ultimately make it more affordable to do business. This is particularly the case for high-volume vendors who may need different services than other high-risk vendors. The right vendor will also be able to customize your services, helping you to identify weaknesses and find additional payment processing solutions that can help your vendor grow and thrive. Furthermore, they will be prepared to manage your high-volume account, as an experienced vendor understands the challenges that a high-volume merchant faces.

At a minimum, a high-risk merchant account will have a payment processor that will let you charge credit or debit cards. This will enable you to charge credit cards and have that money go back to your financial institution. If you are working with a high-volume merchant account, you should be able to get the money promptly.

There are real costs associated with the creation of a high-risk merchant account, and these costs often impact high-volume merchant accounts. You must take the time to find an account that can meet your needs. As a merchant, you know all too well that credit card and debit card processing fees add up. Even low-risk merchant account fees vary widely. You may also end up paying for a long list of services such as PIN debit network fees, payment gateway fees, monthly account fees, and more.

Since account providers consider high-volume merchant accounts to be at higher risk, you will pay more for your credit card processing. How much more depends entirely on the business you choose and the terms of their high-volume merchant accounts. The reality is, though, that you can expect the following:

• Higher account fees
• Higher processing fees
• Lengthier contract requirements, often taking years to begin
• Additional documentation requirements, including providing past processing history, processing statements, credit history and more
• Early termination fees
• Fewer pricing options
• Fewer tier choices than low-risk businesses
• Rolling reserve requirements that may limit your cash flow
• Increased chargeback fees

These additional fees can be a heavy burden for your business. That's why you need to search for payment processors that have a history of working with high-volume businesses and can provide affordable pricing. The company you choose should also work with you to reduce your business risk so that you can gradually reduce the number of fees you pay each month. Your processor can advise you on how to reduce merchant error to avoid chargebacks as well as how to limit chargeback fraud. They may also offer customized solutions, like zero-cost processing.

What Kinds of Business May Need a High-Volume Merchant Account?

Many types of businesses need high-risk merchant services. There are many reasons that this could be the case, including high volume, increased risk of fraud or reputational concerns. There are ways that you can avoid such a classification in certain businesses and you should speak with a merchant professional to limit your risk and reduce processing fees.

You may need to consider high-risk accounts if your business is part of the following industries:

• Gambling
• Adult entertainment
• Online dating
• Travel
• Furniture
• eCommerce
• Subscription services
• Debt Collection
• E-cigarettes
• Nutraceuticals
• CBD products
• Credit repair or financial repair businesses

What Other Factors May Qualify a Business as High-Risk?

A business that has a higher-than-average volume is certainly more likely to be classified as high-risk. There are many other reasons that a business may be classified as being high risk by a credit card processor.

High Transaction Volume

You may need to use a high-volume merchant account because you have many transactions each month or because the average transaction rate is high. Monthly sales volume determines if you need to explore a high-volume merchant account.

International Payments

If you do business with customers in nations with a reputation of fraud, you may be labeled as high risk. Doing business with consumers in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan or Europe, is generally considered low-risk. Other countries often are associated with fraud, as these countries may lack robust controls against fraud and theft that are more commonly found in other places.

New Merchants

New merchants are considered high risk simply because they lack a track record. You are an unknown quantity until you've operated your business for some months and proven yourself and your customers trustworthy.

Bad Credit

Your credit score always counts. In business, as in your personal life, a history of bad credit will label you as a poor risk, at least until you prove that you’ve turned a financial corner and can meet your obligations.

These factors mean you need a company, such as Zenti, to help you set up a high-risk account that protects everyone involved while protecting your profits. In some instances, your business can graduate to a low-risk merchant service after some time.

What Other Services Might a High-Volume Merchant Account Need?

The services that you will need vary wildly and are highly specific to your individual needs. A good vendor will be able to help you determine exactly what your needs are, then work with you to fulfill them.

Many businesses are retail only. This means that they may not need eCommerce options. Instead, they will require services that are exclusive to their in-person location. This means that they need retail-specific solutions. This means that a business will need equipment to ensure that it can process transactions. These point of sale (POS) devices are critical for any business that wants to take a credit card. It is also vital that your POS devices integrate smoothly with your existing accounting and inventory systems. The goal of a good merchant account needs to be to make your life easier, not harder.

Depending on the nature of your high-volume merchant account, you may also need additional payment options. For example, an increasing number of Americans are using cryptocurrency. As such, you may need to find a merchant processor who can process cryptocurrency. Processing cryptocurrency may not be enough: You will also need to make sure that your cryptocurrency provider is in a position where they are constantly adding new cryptos that may be getting more popular.

Your business may also need to invest in ACH payment processing. ACH payment processing allows money to move from one bank directly to another. A merchant account processor is still necessary for this type of processing, but it cuts out a credit card company completely, thus making it much more desirable for certain types of transactions. This is a lower-cost type of payment processing. They can also be batched, thus potentially making them more popular for high-volume merchants. ACH payments are now only low-cost, but they are also meant to be secure and highly monitored.

For the same reason, you will want to make sure that you investigate check and eCheck capabilities. This means that checks can be turned into electronic funds, thus allowing for the relatively instantaneous transfer of funds. Like ACH payments, they also are lower cost. This type of processing can also work well if you have a sector of business where customers consistently pay with checks.

It's also worth considering if you need specialized processing for offshore accounts. Offshore accounts are financial accounts that occur out of the country and there are added fees and security concerns associated with processing these types of accounts. Depending on the currency of the account, you may also have to worry about things like exchange rates. This helps explain the need for expert, professional services to manage these accounts.

The Zenti Advantage

Zenti specializes in managing your high-risk and high-volume merchant accounts that may stem from involvement with high-risk industries or other financial factors. The experts at Zenti know that you may have been turned down by low-risk credit card processors who refuse to see the potential in high-volume businesses. Needing a high-volume merchant account does not mean that your business has financial problems.

Instead, we work with you through the application process to expedite your business owners' approval. Then, once you are a client, we help you with issues such as chargeback prevention, fraudulent consumer transactions and other issues that affect your bank account and business success.

Credit card payments are a fact of life for almost every merchant, both brick and mortar and online. The company you choose to handle your payment processing affects the bank statement balance and your company's reputation.

Contact Us Today

Contact our professional staff today so you can get the type of merchant service account that will serve you best. High-volume merchant accounts for businesses can be a positive thing. Let Zenti minimize your merchant service fees while offering you superior service.