If your company or the industry you are operating in is considered risky, the chances are that you will find it difficult securing a standard account with most acquirers.

Usually, the majority of companies will have to go with a high-risk merchant account, incurring in various restrictions and higher processing fees.

As we already mentioned, many industries that fall into the red zone, such as travel and booking, are considered high risk because they experience an excessive number of chargebacks.

• Online Gambling, Online Gaming, and Casinos.
• Sports booking.
• Travel and advanced booking
• Subscription-based services.
• Telemarketing services.
• Bitcoin mining or forex trading.
• Cannabis Products /Head shops.
• Pharmaceuticals.
• Online Dating and Adult services.
• E-cigarettes and tobacco.

One of the biggest reasons why industries like Travel and Booking are usually flagged is the high number of chargebacks and fraud associated with these services. A common malicious practice involving Friendly Fraud is that the user booked or purchased a trip, consumed it, and claimed that he never actually did it in the first place, with the purpose of getting his money back.

If your company falls into the red zone because you are operating in a high-risk

industry, you can still find a provider to help you accept payments online. Payment

Gateways such as Vapulus are specialized in certain high-risk industries, and can help

you partner with an acquirer to obtain a virtual POS Terminal.

(A) – If your company falls into the grey zone, your business history is going to play a huge role in the type of credit card processing that will be available to you. New businesses without processing history are usually at a disadvantage, especially in the

case of card-not-present payments where fraud risk is higher.

(B) – Generally speaking, business in the grey area with good processing and stable

financial history can usually find a provider to help them enable online payments,

however, it will be more challenging for young companies or companies with poor

history.