In 2013, the Department of Justice instituted Operation Choke Point, aimed to crack down on fraud and money laundering by investigating banks and the business they do with companies that have a high risk of fraud and money laundering. However, it had unintended consequences that ended up shutting down many legitimate businesses in the process.
High-risk merchant accounts have unique features that conventional merchant accounts do not have. However, it is important for merchants to choose the right high risk processor for their industry.
A chargeback ratio is the number of chargebacks compared to the number of transactions for a business. A low chargeback ratio means that out of all the transactions the business has, only a small amount request for a refund. Credit card associations and banks / processors will drop businesses with excessive chargeback rates.
One way is for the merchant to go directly to a processor, and the other way is for the merchant to use an experienced high-risk account specialist, who has access to Merchants often apply to as many processors as possible, hoping that at least one will approve them. However, that can do more harm than it can help. Processors are able to see when a business has been applying to several processor
As most merchants know, chargebacks can happen for many reasons. Many times, the chargebacks are not the fault of the merchant, but often they can be avoided with simple steps. If a business finds itself with an excessive number of chargebacks, or if they are in an industry notorious for chargebacks, they might find themselves in need of a high risk merchant account.