Industry Category: High Risk Processors

The 10 Best High Risk Merchant Accounts

Businesses that operate in the sales of alcohol, tobacco and drug products, airlines, adult entertainment, software, insurance, and many others are often turned down by traditional merchant service providers because of the high risk of fraud and bankruptcy in those industries.

If your business is considered high risk, you know how difficult it can be to find a merchant account that is willing to provide you with quality service at a reasonable price. 

While there is no getting around certain fees that are imposed on high risk businesses to mitigate potential loss for processors, you can still find companies that will provide competitive services for your business.

While it can be frustration, it’s important to keep in mind that many high risk merchant processors will not list their pricing openly. This is due to all of the variables involved, including your business’ industry, amount of time in business, and volume of monthly transactions. Even when prices are listed, it’s best to reach out to them for a customized quote.

We have compiled a list of the 10 best high risk processors in the UK to help you find the right one for you.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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eMerchantBroker

eMerchantBroker or EMB is a true leader in high risk merchant accounts. They have been operating since 2011 and specialize in providing services to high risk merchants, gateways, chargeback services and much more. They work with all merchants that may have been turned down by other processors. 

The Pros

Everything is handled in-house. Provides a proprietary dashboard and tools for tracking and account management. Tech support will help you seamlessly integrate with thousands of third-party applications. Chargeback mitigation. Generally favorable reviews from clients and consumers. 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, and email.

The Cons

Little information disclosed about their rates and fees, or contract length or terms. However, this is standard for processing for high risk businesses.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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Instabill

Established in 2003, Instabill provides merchant account solutions to high risk and international clients. They support a wide number of high risk industries, both through online and brick-and-mortar storefronts.

The Pros

Extensive amount of information available on their website regarding their business, the information they require to open an account, and why they don’t disclose pricing or contract terms. Generally positive reviews online from customers.

The Cons

No pricing information or contract terms disclosed on their website. Customer services are only available during select times. Many online complaints seem to center around their funding holding and account cancellation policy. However, it’s worth noting that Instabill’s fraud prevention measures seem on par with other companies in the industry.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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Total Processing supports online, mobile, and face-to-face payments for high risk merchants.

The Pros

Access to a tech team to get you setup. Customer service available through phone and live chat options. Many reviews available online are positive in regards to service and customer relations.

The Cons

Limited information about pricing available. They also don’t have a lot of professional reviews available online. Some negative reviews state that their sales tactics were misleading, but we could not confirm this.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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Allied Wallet

With its headquarters in London, UK, Allied Wallet was founded in 2002 and is an award-winning payment processing company. Offering custom payment solutions to businesses of all sizes, its merchants conduct their business in 196 countries and accept 164 currencies.

The Pros

Some of their features and benefits include acceptance of most credit and debit cards worldwide, settle in 25 currencies, 24/7 merchant support, free integration if required, customisable fraud scrubber, able to access user base of more than 31 million eWallet holders, PCI DSS Level One Compliance, Integration in 12 hours, powerful reporting system, and payment gateway. They have a presence in 118 countries, providing service to 4,000 financial institutions and six million merchants.

The Cons

Allied Wallet does not seem very transparent about its pricing as it is not listed on their website. Potential customers would need to contact the company directly for this information.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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Web Merchant

Established in 1997, Web Merchant’s offices are in Kingston upon Hull, UK. The company was founded in order to provide fast, simple, and affordable payment processing solutions for businesses. The company claims to have processed well over 1.5 billion transactions. Web Merchant is known to have been the very first business in the UK to provide online merchant services.

The Pros

Web Merchant offers the following features and benefits: a merchant account, each merchant receives a dedicated account manager and one with their acquiring bank, a payment gateway. They offer payment solutions through smartphone and app payments, and Chip N’ Pin credit card machines. It also accepts 120 currencies. Their pricing schedule is clearly displayed on their website. They also offer a free terminal, free recurring billing, and no termination fee.

The Cons

There are currently no online reviews about Web Merchant to be found.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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GSPay

Founded in 2004 and based in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, GSPay is a provider of offshore merchant accounts and third-party merchant account resources for businesses worldwide. They specialize in high risk merchants, by offering them a reliable and safe credit card processing service.

The Pros

GSPay offers transparent prices on its website. Other features and benefits include: Visa 3D Secure, MasterCard SecureCode, weekly or daily payouts, secure server (under SSL certificate), products/services/membership management, shipping fees management, tailor-made shipping cart and order page design.

The Cons

There are very little online reviews concerning GSPay. The only reviews that do exist go back a few years. The “latest” review dates back to 2016 and mentioned that the website was displaying erroneous information about payouts. There seems to be a discrepancy between the payouts mentioned online on their website and in their literature. They also mentioned poor customer service.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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CutPay

With its head office in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, CutPay was incorporated on 16th March 2015. It provides a host of credit card payment solutions and aims to provide the best quotes. It promises to give customers £50 cash if their quote is above their current processing fees. It accepts a wide variety of debit and credit cards, including MasterCard, Maestro, Visa, and Visa Electron.

The Pros

CutPay offers the following features and benefits to their customers: Ingenico and Spire terminals, ICRTouch for hospitality, restaurants, takeaway, bars, and retail. They also provide quick account opening, the lowest price guarantee, 24/7 technical support, PCI compliance support, Dynamic Currency Conversion, Card terminals, EPOS terminals, MOTO, recurring payments, free chargebacks, tokenisation, a dedicated account manager, and merchant cash advances.

The Cons

Although CutPay has very little online reviews, the ones that did appear mentioned slow response to complaints.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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PayWorld

As a subsidiary of Frontline IT Consultancy formed in 1991, PayWorld offers merchant account services for businesses of any size, ranging from start-ups to established, large businesses. With offices in Crawley, West Sussex, UK, PayWorld was created to offer sorely-needed, secure online payment systems for low, medium, and high risk businesses. 

The Pros

Some of its features and benefits include: a clear and simple fee schedule, no application fees, no gateway fees, no weekly fees, no wire fees, secure credit card processing, transaction fraud scrubbing, PCI Level 1 Certified gateway services, payment gateways, virtual terminals, and offshore merchant accounts. Additional features include dedicated customer service reps in the UK and the US, high to medium risk merchant accounts, internet gateway integration, real time transaction monitoring, fast approval of application, and shopping cart integration.

The Cons

There were no negative reviews found online about PayWorld or its parent company, Frontline.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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Zombaio

Zombaio began in 2007 and has offices in London, UK; New York and Mountain View, USA, and in Sweden. The company was birthed out of an enthusiasm for technology and a desire to transform the payments industry. Zombaio is a popular payment solution provider for the adult industry. It serves well over 10,000 customers worldwide.

The Pros

Zombaio offers the following features and benefits for merchants: 35 currencies supported, fraud screening and insurance, high risk direct merchant account, fast setup, cross-sell programmes, billing support, affiliate tracking system, sub account management, no registration fee, no annual fee, no refund fee, no authorisation fee, modern integration methods, and cascading billing. It also appears that Zombaio is transparent about its pricing models.

The Cons

Although there are very few complaints online about Zombaio, the only three that were located have all complained about being “scammed”, waiting for months for money owed.

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A good fit for:

High Risk Processors

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ccNetPay

With offices in London, ccNetPay was founded in 2007 and it offers tailored payment solutions for both high and low risk businesses of all sizes. Their aim is to provide excellent customer service and providing merchants with secure and reliable solutions.

The Pros

CCNetPay offers the following features for merchants: they accept all debit and credit cards for both online and MOTO businesses. It also supports over 150 currencies. CCNetPay also clearly displays all of its pricing and fees on its website. Additional features include Server2Server API Integration, Batch processing, CW, AVS, and 3D Secure, real-time reporting and management, recurring billing, a virtual terminal, no up-front fees, no transaction limits. Merchants also receive a dedicated customer service manager.

The Cons

Unfortunately, there are little to no negative reviews available online. The only reviews found were mostly positive and spoke well of the company and its services.

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Why eMerchantBroker

EMB is devoted to your experience and your expectation with them. They have an A+ Rating with the BBB and their business is built to meet specific requirements in the High-Risk Industry.

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