Choosing A High Risk Payment Gateway
If your business relies heavily on debit and credit card payments, then having a reliable high risk payment gateway is a must. A payment gateway is a service that authorizes credit card payments for online retailers, online businesses, and even traditional brick and mortar businesses. It facilitates the transaction between a payment portal (e.g. mobile phone, website, etc.) and the acquiring bank.
Some features to consider for your business model.
Real-time Processing Features
One of the best things about payment gateways is that they process transactions in real-time. Real-time processing allows both the buyer and the seller to get confirmation about the status of a transaction as soon as it is submitted for processing. In the online shopping world, there are many benefits of real-time processing, particularly if you sell virtual and in-stock products. The payment gateway securely verifies each transaction and then approves/rejects it almost instantly. This means the customers know immediately about their payment status, and you as a seller, can get confirmation that any goods are paid for before you ship them. Not only does this streamline the entire transaction process, but it also increases the overall transaction security since you are not at a risk of shipping a product or providing a digital service only for the payment to bounce.
Recurring Payment Features
Because of the recurring payments feature, a payment gateway can be highly beneficial for merchants who sell subscriptions, memberships, and access to exclusive content. Recurring payments can help increase your sales and simplify your life. Although not all payment gateways provide this feature, some allow you to set up to automatically charge customers’ credit cards at specified intervals e.g. on weekly, monthly, or yearly basis. This helps you retain customers who might otherwise forget to renew their subscriptions and memberships.
Payment Tracking Features
You can use payment gateway to track credits and debits made through the system. It’s quite easy to do as all you need to do is sign into your gateway account, use filters to specify the report type, and then choose a date range. In this way, you will be able to track and monitor each and every transaction handled through the gateway. Payment tracking is a great way to make sure that your accounting records are accurate and up-to-date.
Recommended High Risk Payment Gateways
If your business is a part of the high-risk industry, then it may be quite difficult for you to find reliable payment gateways. Fortunately, there are some payment gateways that are committed to helping high-risk businesses find options that suit their needs.
Following are our top 3 recommendations:
eProcessing Network Gateway
eProcessing Network Gateway offers wide range of secure and reliable solutions to help merchants run their businesses more efficiently. With the simplicity of this payment gateway, businesses can streamline their processes, accounting management, reporting and billing functions, collection of fees, and more.
Following are the key features of eProcessing Network Gateway:
Direct access for support
Secure
Recurring payments
Real-time processing
Multiple terminals and clerk management
Consolidated and detailed batch reporting
Inventory management options and more
Authorize.Net Gateway
Whether you are a high risk merchant using only traditional processing or you are using a traditional ecommerce website, Authorize.Net is an ideal solution for you. It easily integrates into multiple platforms, offers level 1 processing, and is widely used across the payment industry.
Following are the key features of Authorize.Net Gateway:
Simple checkout
Real-time processing
Invoicing
Account updater
Recurring payments
Secure customer data
Advanced fraud detection and more
NMI Gateway
NMI Gateway is another reliable and versatile payment gateway for high risk merchants. It offers a series of high risk gateway options and allows for level 2 and 3 processing. Furthermore, you can integrate with practically any shopping cart and control transaction flows with ease.
Following are the key features of NMI Gateway:
Flexible integration methods
Gateway emulator
Real-time processing
Product manager
Batch processing
Transaction routing
Third-party integrations
Recurring payments
Reporting capabilities
Virtual terminal
Important Questions To Ask:
When choosing a high risk payment gateway, it is recommended that you ask each of them about their:
Application process and time frames
Downtime
Fraud prevention tools
Compatibility
Plus, any features that are most important to your business model.
Conclusion
Credit card processing for high risk merchants and businesses may be complicated. Fortunately, there are some payment gateways that can help make their lives easier. Most payment gateways provide similar services and only differ when it comes to charges and fees. If you need assistance getting a high risk payment gateway or looking for high risk credit card processing, please give me a call today.
About The Author
Mark Sands, co-founder of High Risk Merchant Account LLC, an authoritative expert in the high risk merchant account space. Mark has decades of experience in the payment industry & enjoys writing on entrepreneurial related topics.