Getting approved for a merchant account is normally a simple process. However, some business types have a harder time when a bank decides that their industry is “too high risk” to do business with. These industries are labeled as high risk and will often find it nearly impossible to get approved for a merchant account. Or, even worse, businesses may get approved (due to lazy underwriting), begin processing and get shut down a few months later during an account review and have all their funds placed on hold.
Cannabis Related Merchant Account Approvals
Unfortunately, these labels and restrictions created by banking institutions tend to be fairly broad and affect businesses that are even remotely related to high risk industries. This can apply to business types that are normally regarded as safe and easy to approve industries.
A good example of this is website development, normally a standard level of risk type of account for a bank to approve. However, if the web development company begins marketing their services to a niche, high risk market and putting out content promoting that industry, the bank may decide to sever the relationship.
With the rise of cannabis and cannabis related businesses, so too has the demand for legitimate and reliable credit card processing services. But what if your business does not directly sell cannabis or cannabis related products? What if you offer more mainstream business services that shouldn’t get you flagged as high risk but you are still having issues getting approved?
Common Cannabis Related Businesses
Marketing Services
Web Development
Packaging & Shipping Supplies
Medical Marijuana Cards (Online and Retail)
Lead Generation
Farming Equipment
Cultivation Machinery
Delivery Services
Transportation
CRM Services
Software As A Service (SaaS)
Guides & E-Books
At Leap Payments, we have been getting high risk and high risk related businesses approved with domestic, no-nonsense credit card processing for over 10 years. Not only can we get dispensaries approved, we also have payment processing solutions for businesses targeting their services to the marijuana industry.
With over 15 domestic banking partners, we have a unique cannabis related merchant account solution to fit your needs. We offer all our merchant’s wholesale cost terminals for taking payments in person. Need a virtual terminal or online payment gateway for your website? We have integrations for nearly all content management system (CMS) platforms. API options for custom integrations are also available.
