Want your customers to feel safe buying from your high-risk business?
High-risk payment processing isn’t just about transaction approvals. Businesses in the high-risk space need to win over customer trust. Why? Because skittish customers are much less likely to complete purchases.
Here’s the challenge…
Customers have every right to be paranoid online. In 2024, the FTC saw $12.5 billion in fraud losses across all industries. That’s a 25% increase from the previous year! When consumers see losses climbing that quickly, they get wary about shopping with new businesses.
The good news? There’s a lot a high-risk business can do to build rock-solid trust.
In This Guide:
- Why trust matters more for high-risk businesses
- Top 5 high-risk merchant account providers
- Proven strategies to build customer confidence
- Security features that make customers feel safe
Why Trust Matters More for High-Risk Businesses
Customers already need convincing to do business with high-risk companies. Subscription box stores, CBD retailers, nutraceutical products, travel, automotive sales… these are all considered higher risk for chargebacks. Customers worry about refunds, hidden fees, product quality, etc.
It starts with mindset…
The customer wants a specific product. But the website they’re visiting is a company they’ve never heard of before. It operates in an industry they’ve read horror stories about. Panic and doubt set in as they consider the risk of sharing their payment data.
High-risk payment processing comes into play here. By working with a trusted processor that specialises in payment processing for any industry, a company can streamline transactions and signal security to customers. Choosing the right high-risk payment processor is step one to customer trust.
Let’s dive into the details of how that works.
Trust is Also Hard-Earned
Customers don’t wake up trusting new companies. The internet is littered with horror stories about data breaches, hidden fees, and awful customer service. When customers see a new company, there’s already skepticism in the back of their mind.
It’s up to the business to address those concerns. Building trust isn’t a one-and-done checkbox. It has to be layered in throughout the payment process and every touchpoint. A customer may start with a company’s payment page. But that impression carries over to customer support, shipping, refunds, etc.
Each interaction builds (or tears down) customer confidence.
Top 5 High-Risk Merchant Account Providers
The journey to trust starts with payment infrastructure. If you work with the right processor, you unlock access to fraud protection tools and other features that make customers feel safe.
Not all merchant account providers specialise in the high-risk space. Narrowing down your options to those that understand the unique requirements of riskier industries is a good start.
So, here are the top 5 processors for businesses with high-risk merchant accounts.
#1 2Accept
2Accept has the best high-risk merchant account services for many reasons. They specialise in working with high-risk businesses that traditional processors reject. From competitive pricing to fraud protection, their platform is built for companies in industries like CBD, travel, tobacco, and more.
The team has a real passion for the challenges facing high-risk merchants. That passion pays off in terms of quicker approvals and better support.
#2 PaymentCloud
PaymentCloud specialises in working with businesses on the MATCH list. They provide onboarding support as well as customised pricing structures. Their platform also integrates with a variety of payment gateways.
#3 Durango Merchant Services
Durango has over 25 years of experience approving hard-to-place businesses. They work with high-risk verticals like adult content, auction companies, home flippers, money remittances, and more.
#4 PayKings
PayKings focuses on transparency and specialises in high-risk verticals that tend to experience higher chargeback rates. They offer chargeback protection tools and claim an 86% approval rate for applications.
#5 Host Merchant Services
Host Merchant Services offer competitive rates and work across a variety of high-risk categories. Businesses can sign up for month-to-month contracts and don’t face any early termination fees.
Proven Strategies to Build Customer Confidence
Proving trustworthy isn’t something a business should treat as an afterthought. The longer customers are exposed to the perception that a business might not have its best interests in mind, the less likely they are to buy from it.
Here are some strategies that high-risk businesses can use to build and maintain customer confidence.
Display Security Badges
Customers look for visual reassurance that a website is legitimate and secure. PCI compliance badges, SSL certificates, and processor logos should all be displayed prominently. Customers subconsciously process these trust signals and are more likely to buy when they see this level of transparency.
Offer Multiple Payment Methods
Customers like to have choices. When businesses offer flexibility in terms of payment methods (credit/debit cards, digital wallets, etc.), they feel more in control. Research even shows that 85% of consumers want to transact with businesses that offer fraud protection as well as various payment methods.
Create Clear Refund Policies
One of the most anxiety-inducing aspects of shopping is not knowing how to return something. Refund and return policies should be clearly displayed, as well as as easy as possible for customers to navigate and understand. Businesses that make the process understandable reduce hesitation and prevent sales from evaporating.
Provide Excellent Customer Support
Customer service is the tiebreaker for so many customers. Responsive live chat, phone support, and email responders let customers know that human beings are on the other end.
If a customer has a question or concern, businesses should do everything they can to resolve it quickly. There’s no better trust builder than helping customers feel like they can reach a real person.
Use Recognisable Payment Gateways
Humans are conditioned to trust brands they recognise. Integrating payment gateways that are well-known to your customers is an easy way to increase confidence. When a customer sees a logo they recognise, subconsciously, they feel more at ease.
Security Features That Make Customers Feel Safe
The world of high-risk payment processing isn’t a primitive one. Over the years, fraud protection tools have come a long way. Layering in security features is another great way to show customers you have their best interests in mind.
Fraud Detection Systems
Machine learning and automation have allowed for better detection of potential fraud before it’s processed. This both proactively protects customers from having fraudulent transactions from their accounts and also reduces chargebacks.
3D Secure Authentication
3D Secure tools are an additional authentication step customers must take during checkout. They are sent back to their banks to verify that they are making the transaction. Customers appreciate the extra layer of protection that 3D Secure authentication offers.
Tokenisation Technology
Tokenisation technology replaces sensitive card data with unique, meaningless identifiers. The information is useless to hackers even if they are somehow able to breach a system. Reputable high-risk payment processors incorporate this technology today.
Chargeback Prevention Tools
Chargebacks not only cost merchants money, they also impact customer confidence. Chargeback prevention and management software can help businesses identify and address issues before they arise. This keeps chargeback ratios in check and is important for maintaining processing privileges.
Chargebacks are a metric that the processing world keeps a close eye on. If a company has too high of a ratio, they can be blacklisted from further processing. A reputable processor is going to help business owners work on preventing this.
PCI DSS Compliance
PCI Data Security Standard compliance is no longer optional for businesses taking payments online. Sticking to those guidelines and clearly displaying them to customers shows that a business is serious about security.
Bringing It All Together
Winning customer trust in a high-risk payment environment is no small task. However, most of the components involved require consistency and building on a strong foundation.
It all starts with infrastructure. Working with a reputable high-risk payment processor like 2Accept is the best way to get on solid footing. That sets the stage for a business to integrate other security features and communicate openly with customers at every stage.
Customers have every reason to be afraid online. Businesses that make security their priority are the ones that earn customer trust.
High-risk payment processing is tough work. But you don’t have to go at it alone.
If you’re looking for more guidance, or just want to find out if your business qualifies for a high-risk merchant account, get in touch with the 2Accept team today.
