Looking for a credit card processor that will touch the legal highs niche. If anyone has any contacts please PM me.
Legal highs credit card processor?
- Thread starter Fatbat
- Start date
Not a lot of people will. As a partner in a Credit Card processing bank, I speak from experience. Since the processing bank is on the hook for charge banks in scenarios where you don't have enough money to cover it, they will hold your money for 180 days or even 365 days to cover the charge back time. Yes, customers can chargeback up to a year, and get approved. That's the issue.
It's not a problem of legal high, or gray areas in law, it's too risky for them. Auto transportation is also too risky. For example, if you want to ship your car from California to New York, that is one of the most high risk industries, since customers can simply call their credit card company and claim fraud or some nonsense, and since it is usually a rare one time fee, the credit card company usually complies with the request.
Everyone wants low risk, mom and pop stores, hotels, restaurants, plumbers - things that are very low risk in chargebacks, avoid legal problems, and now since in 2013 they will have to report earns to the IRS - compliant.
If you want some high risk credit card processor, your best bet to find someone offshore, one of these companies that do business at night, and aren't customer support oriented in the day time. There are some processors that charge high fees, like 10 to 19%, hold the money for 90 days, etc. Offshore, their risk in in charge back, and you pay for it with high interest rates.
Understand, the only end goal of a credit card processing company is to cover their own ass, and make sure they don't go in the red by taking on a client that is in a high risk industry with chargebacks. Most small business owners don't keep enough money in their bank accounts to cover 2 or 3 months expense, they are surely not going to have on hand 1 years worth of credit card transaction amounts anywhere, so its a balancing act.
It's not a problem of legal high, or gray areas in law, it's too risky for them. Auto transportation is also too risky. For example, if you want to ship your car from California to New York, that is one of the most high risk industries, since customers can simply call their credit card company and claim fraud or some nonsense, and since it is usually a rare one time fee, the credit card company usually complies with the request.
Everyone wants low risk, mom and pop stores, hotels, restaurants, plumbers - things that are very low risk in chargebacks, avoid legal problems, and now since in 2013 they will have to report earns to the IRS - compliant.
If you want some high risk credit card processor, your best bet to find someone offshore, one of these companies that do business at night, and aren't customer support oriented in the day time. There are some processors that charge high fees, like 10 to 19%, hold the money for 90 days, etc. Offshore, their risk in in charge back, and you pay for it with high interest rates.
Understand, the only end goal of a credit card processing company is to cover their own ass, and make sure they don't go in the red by taking on a client that is in a high risk industry with chargebacks. Most small business owners don't keep enough money in their bank accounts to cover 2 or 3 months expense, they are surely not going to have on hand 1 years worth of credit card transaction amounts anywhere, so its a balancing act.
Thanks CCarter. I am used to 6 month rolling reserves and high rates, as we already have a Panamanian corp and bank account with Visa and Mastercard processing for supplements, but even they won't touch legal highs it seems 
So I'm desperately looking for a contact at a company that will handle them!
So I'm desperately looking for a contact at a company that will handle them!
(O_o)
H̨̼̩͐̑͆̀̚&
other legal high sites are processing just fine, so it is possible to get underwritten for this biz
