Merchant accounts for high-risk verticals
Payments that hold when your volume climbs.
Most accounts don't fail at signup — they fail at month three, when volume rises past what the original underwriting assumed. We underwrite for the volume you are heading toward, and most decisions land inside 48 hours.
- 12 high-risk verticals
- Most decisions inside 48 hours
- Rates published on this page
Where high-risk accounts usually break.
A decline is almost always a category call rather than a judgment of your business. Underwriting at a generalist bank starts from a list of verticals, and yours either appears on that list or it does not.
That is why a clean, profitable business gets turned down while a weaker one in a safer category sails through. The classification decided the outcome before anyone looked closely at your actual numbers.
The account freezes without warning, usually mid-week and usually without a reason you can act on.
Settlement gets withheld or delayed, so revenue you have already earned sits somewhere you cannot reach.
You reapply, get declined again, and start over with a new processor every few months.
What's included.
On the day you are approved you get all six of these, not a subset to be filled in later. It is a merchant account in your own name, not a referral to someone who might sell you one.
Merchant ID and gateway access
You get your own merchant ID and gateway credentials, not a slot on a shared aggregate account.
Chargeback monitoring and representment
We check your ratio daily against the network thresholds, and we file the representments ourselves where your evidence supports it.
Multi-currency and international acquiring
Take payment in several currencies, and settle through acquirers outside Canada when your customer base sits there.
Recurring billing and subscriptions
Rebills, retry logic, dunning, and mid-cycle plan changes are supported directly rather than bolted on afterwards.
A named account contact
One named person owns your account and answers you directly — no ticket queue, no rotating rep.
Transparent reserve terms
If a reserve applies, you see the percentage and the hold period in writing before you sign anything.
Verticals we place.
- CBD & hemp
- Nutraceuticals
- Subscription boxes
- Online gaming
- Travel & ticketing
- Firearms & accessories
- Adult
- Debt relief
- E-cigarettes & vape
- Dropshipping
- SaaS with high refund rates
- Telemedicine
From application to first settlement.
Submit the form
The form takes about two minutes and asks for seven fields, not your full document set. That is enough for us to route your file to the right acquirer.
We match your file to an acquirer
Within the same business day your file goes to the acquirers that already underwrite your vertical. We do not paper the market with it — it goes where it has a real chance of landing.
Underwriting review
Underwriting typically takes 24 to 48 hours, and documents are requested once rather than in waves. You get a single list up front instead of a trickle of follow-up requests.
Approval, credentials, first settlement
On approval you receive gateway credentials the same day and your reserve terms in writing. First settlement usually lands within the standard funding window for your acquirer.
Pricing.
| Risk profile | Rate from | Per transaction | Reserve |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard risk | TODO: real rate | TODO: real rate | TODO: real reserve |
| Elevated risk | TODO: real rate | TODO: real rate | TODO: real reserve |
| Maximum risk | TODO: real rate | TODO: real rate | TODO: real reserve |
Rates start at the published figure and vary by risk profile, processing volume, chargeback history, and vertical. Final pricing is set at underwriting, and approval is subject to underwriting.
Common questions.
What makes a business "high-risk"?
A business is high-risk when the card networks or the acquiring bank expect elevated chargebacks, refunds, or regulatory attention. The label attaches to the category first and to your own history second. Plenty of profitable, well-run businesses carry it simply because of what they sell.
I've already been declined elsewhere — does that hurt my application?
Not on its own — prior declines are common in these verticals, and we expect to see them. What matters more is your chargeback history, your processing volume, and whether your documentation is complete. We treat a previous decline as information about that acquirer’s appetite, not as a verdict on your business.
How long does approval actually take?
Most decisions land inside 48 hours of a complete file, and some come back the same day. The clock starts when we have every document, not when you submit the form. Incomplete files are the single most common reason a decision slips past a week.
What's a rolling reserve, and will I have one?
A rolling reserve holds back a percentage of each settlement for a fixed period, then releases it on a rolling basis. Whether one applies depends on your vertical, your chargeback history, and the acquirer. If a reserve applies to your account, you see the percentage and the hold period before you sign.
What documents do you need?
Typically incorporation documents, government ID for the owners, three to six months of processing statements, and a bank letter or void cheque. Businesses without processing history submit projections and a business plan instead of statements. We send the full list once, at the start, rather than requesting items in waves.
What happens if my chargeback rate climbs?
You hear about a rising chargeback ratio from us before you hear it from the acquirer. We monitor the ratio daily and flag it as it approaches the network thresholds, while there is still time to act. If it stays above threshold, the acquirer can raise your reserve, increase your rate, or close the account. That is a real outcome, and we would rather you know the mechanism before it happens.
Can I keep my current gateway?
Often yes, provided your gateway supports the acquirer we place you with. We confirm compatibility with your existing setup before you commit to anything. Where it is not supported, we provision a gateway and help move your existing integration across.
What does this cost, all-in?
The discount rate, the per-transaction fee, and any reserve are the whole cost of processing. Gateway and statement fees, where they apply, appear in that same quote rather than surfacing on your first statement. You see the entire structure in writing before you sign, not after.
Credentials and integrations.
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Gateway integration
Pending confirmation of supported gateways.
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Gateway integration
Pending confirmation of supported gateways.
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PCI DSS compliance level
Pending confirmation of level and scope.
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Card-network registration
Pending confirmation of registration.
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Processor relationship
Pending processor name and agent/ISO wording.
Get your quote.
The form asks for seven fields and takes about two minutes to complete. You hear back within one business day with real numbers for your vertical and volume.