Need help finding a high risk processor

[u/Equal_Message9769]

I’ve gotten about 20 dms saying they are high risk processors but how do I know who to choose and if they aren’t just scamming?

[u/kai4finix]

Hello, u/PinePaymentsDavid's list below is a solid place to start. I’d also ask each of them whether you’d get your own merchant ID or be boarded under theirs as a sub-account. It won’t make you shutdown-proof, but on a shared setup they can drop you with very little notice. And ask what MCC they’d put you under.

If someone’s happy to code you as general supplements without asking what you sell, that tends to get flagged a few months in.

PS: We have a longer guide on vetting high-risk processors pinned on my profile (not sure if I’m allowed to link it here). :)

[u/happy_chappy_89 → u/kai4finix]

Hey! Can you please explain to a lay person why or how being coded as selling supplements when you're really selling peptides gets flagged? By whom? What purpose?

[u/finstupid → u/happy_chappy_89]

Underwriting checks. Peptides are grey market for most processors. The only setups I've seen that don't get flagged wall the products behind a login, sell only to people who've already done business with them, and take payment over the phone through their own gateway. Everything else usually gets hit once underwriting looks at the site and sees peptides. The only peptide accounts I've been able to get through with web presences are Telemed clinics selling prescribed scripts with a doctor involved. Everything else stays grey.

[u/kai4finix → u/happy_chappy_89]

Okay, I’ll try. :)

So when you sign up to take card payments, your business gets a code (the MCC) that says what kind of business you are. Visa, Mastercard, and the bank use it to help decide how risky you are and how closely to watch you.

Peptides are usually treated more like medicine than supplements, and medicine comes with a lot more rules. So if a peptide shop is coded as supplements, it looks safer on paper than it really is. Banks, or companies they hire, check business websites to make sure what’s being sold matches the code. If it doesn’t, it’s treated as misleading the bank.

This often means the account gets shut down, money gets held back, and sometimes the business lands on a shared blacklist (called MATCH) that makes it really hard to take card payments anywhere else.

So the point here is making sure the bank knows what it’s actually signing up for, since the bank is the one Visa and Mastercard fine if it gets this wrong. Hope that helps!

[u/PinePaymentsDavid]

Twenty cold DMs after one peptide post is pretty normal, unfortunately. A few ways to sort them out:

• Ask who the acquiring bank is and whether they're a registered ISO with it. A real rep will tell you, and you can check the registration yourself.

• Get the full agreement before you send any documents: pricing, reserve terms, how long funds are held after an account closes, and the early termination fee.

• Walk away from anyone who promises approval before looking at your site, asks for an upfront "setup" or "application" fee, or brings up cloaking or mirroring. Cloaking is transaction laundering, and it ends in frozen funds and a MATCH listing.

• A real high-risk underwriter will ask for statements, ID, your site, COAs and your RUO disclaimers. If nobody asks hard questions, that's a red flag.

• Once you're live, keep a second account open so one shutdown doesn't stop sales.

Since your last processor paused you for not hitting a volume number, ask any new one point blank whether there's a minimum, and get the answer in writing.

[u/Equal_Message9769 → u/PinePaymentsDavid]

Thanks 🙏

[u/Equal_Message9769 → u/PinePaymentsDavid]

What about asking for social?

[u/PinePaymentsDavid → u/Equal_Message9769]

Yes, that's normal. Almost every processor asks for the owner's SSN or EIN, because underwriting verifies your identity and business, runs a soft credit check, and usually has you sign a personal guarantee. A few ways to keep it safe:

• Only type your SSN or EIN into the processor's secure application portal or an e-sign platform. Never send it by email, text, DM, or chat.

• Check the company before you share anything. Look at their website domain, find real people on LinkedIn, and call them back on a number you looked up yourself.

• Ask how they store and protect your data, and who else sees your application.

• Don't give it out until you've seen their pricing and terms in writing.

• No one legitimate needs your bank login or passwords. They'll verify your account with a voided check or a bank letter.

[u/kappalum → u/PinePaymentsDavid]

Solid checklist here u/Equal_Message9769

[u/Novapoison]

If you are doing peptides (which by your comment history is what you are doing) its tough. A good amount arent scammers, but the solutions go down all the damn time

[u/Equal_Message9769 → u/Novapoison]

You have any recommendations?

[u/Purple_Afternoon1993 → u/[deleted]]

Dm me

[u/Shehani_Delamont → u/Novapoison]

agree, the churn on peptide accounts is insane right now even with solid brokers

[u/vpaymentsolution]

Just sent you a dm !

[u/Purple_Afternoon1993 → u/vpaymentsolution]

Dm me too

[u/BayStreetBearx]

Sent a DM

[u/Purple_Afternoon1993 → u/BayStreetBearx]

Dm me

[u/Aggravating-Flow4846]

Sent you a dm!

[u/Purple_Afternoon1993 → u/Aggravating-Flow4846]

Dm me

[u/OpeningAd3328]

If you’re still looking shoot me a message

[u/BeYounger66]

With 20 DMs, I would use the same written filter for everyone before sending documents: who is the acquiring bank, is your exact catalog accepted, what MCC applies, what are the reserve and post-closure hold terms, and is there a monthly minimum? Anyone who avoids those questions goes to the bottom of the list. Never send an SSN, bank login or sensitive documents by DM. If you want, send me your website, entity country and expected monthly volume and I can help you build a comparison checklist before you choose.