You already know that, especially if you work in a business that banks consider a high-risk industry, accepting payments isn’t always easy. You may be in the travel industry, subscription services, adult entertainment, CBD sales, or any other high-risk business. Still, you need to have a payment solution that can solve your specific challenges.
The good news is, the right payment gateway will not only handle transactions but also protect your business, make your operations efficient, and provide you with the information you need. Whether you are combining it with an in-store POS ordering system or working entirely online, these are the best features you should look for.
Here is a list of the most important features to consider before choosing one.
Powerful Fraud Control Tools
High-risk businesses are concerned about fraud. Your gateway should be able to go beyond simple checks and detect and prevent fraud at an advanced level. Pay attention to:
- Fraud monitoring using artificial intelligence.
- Address verification service (AVS) is used to check billing.
- Additional security on card payments through 3D Secure authentication.
These tools not only protect you from chargebacks but also earn the trust of your customers. After all, no one wants to receive a message about a fraud alert on their credit card.
Easy Integration With Your Website/app
A great, high-risk payment gateway should integrate well with your site, eCommerce store, or app. The best providers offer these features:
- Plugins for platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento
- Custom API solutions for custom integrations
- Mobile-friendly payment forms to make shopping on the go easier
If your checkout process is complicated or outdated, customers will abandon the cart. Easy integration means you’ll be able to maintain your brand’s style and provide secure, fast payments.
Support Multi-currency/international Payments
Risk businesses offer services worldwide. When you have a payment gateway that only accepts a single currency or a few specific countries, you’re missing out on revenue.
Look for:
- Multi-currency processing allows customers to pay in their local currency.
- Currency conversion to reduce confusion at checkout.
- Build relationships with banks worldwide to increase approvals.
A high-risk payment gateway that’s truly global allows you to grow without being restricted by bank limitations.
Easy Interface With A POS Ordering System
Although you may be selling primarily online, a built-in POS ordering system is a good idea—especially when you have hybrid sales situations, such as events, pop-ups, or at a retail store.
A suitable payment gateway should have these qualities:
- Easily integrate with your POS to sync transactions in real-time.
- Online and offline sales on a single dashboard.
- Enabling you to keep track of both face-to-face and online payments in one place, so bookkeeping is easier.
It gives you a complete 360-degree perspective of your operations, and no sale is missed.
Convenient Payment Terms For Customers
Providing a variety of payment methods is important in high-risk industries. Not all customers will want to use traditional credit cards due to privacy concerns, while some will want to use instant bank transfers or e-wallets.
Your gateway supports these cards:
- Cards (credit and debit cards: Visa, Mastercard, Amex, etc.).
- Other payment systems such as PayPal, Skrill, or crypto
- Buy now, pay later schemes wherever legal and possible.
The better your conversion rate, the more ways customers have to pay.
Chargeback Management Tools
One of the main factors that makes businesses consider them high-risk is chargebacks. Using the wrong tools, they can eat up your profits in an instant.
Find a gateway that offers these features:
- Proactive warnings of incoming disputes
- Simple presentation of evidence to deal with false claims
- Detailed reporting to spot frequent causes of disputes
Some other services also offer chargeback prevention alerts, where you have a small window to resolve an issue before it turns into a dispute.
Sales Data Analytics
The job of a payment gateway is not just to process money, but it also provides you with actionable information. Using sales data analytics, you will be able to:
- Monitor the best-selling goods or services.
- Find peak selling times to maximize marketing programs.
- Patterns of refunds and chargebacks should be monitored to improve policies.
With your POS ordering system, analytics will provide you with a complete view of online and offline performance. This can give you a competitive advantage in high-risk industries where all decisions must be backed by data.
High Approvals
Other gateways are so traditional with risky transactions that they unnecessarily decline transactions. This can anger customers and reduce your sales.
An efficient high-risk payment gateway will:
- Collaborate with acquiring banks that know your industry.
- Use intelligent routing to route transactions to the most likely bank to approve the transaction.
- Minimize false declines using data-driven decision-making without increasing the risk of fraud.
Transparent Pricing
In a high-risk world, payment processing fees can be more expensive – but that doesn’t mean they should be unpredictable. Don’t use providers whose pricing model is unclear, whose costs are unknown, or whose rates increase unexpectedly.
Look for:
- Transparent per-transaction pricing
- No surprise monthly minimum fees, except those agreed upon
- Transparent chargeback and refund fees
Transparent pricing means you can easily estimate your costs and future growth.
Quality Customer Service
Downtime is a costly issue in high-risk industries, and in such a case, your payment gateway should have responsive and knowledgeable support.
Learn about these providers:
- 24/7 customer support via phone, chat, or email
- Dedicated account managers
- Quick resolution of technical issues
Scalability for Growth
Your gateway should rise with you. This means it should be able to increase transaction volumes, launch new product lines, and enter new territories without major technical challenges.
Look for vendors that are experienced in working with high-risk merchants with fast growth rates—you don’t want your gateway to limit you just because your business is about to grow quickly.
Conclusion
Choosing the right high-risk payment gateway involves not only selecting a processor that will accept you, but also selecting a processor that is willing to help you boost your business growth while also ensuring your business is not put at risk.
Whether it’s fraud protection, international payment options, POS ordering system integration, and sales data analysis, the right features can turn your payment gateway into an effective business development tool rather than just a transaction processor.
In risky businesses, it’s important to minimize risks and maximize opportunities, and the right payment gateway plays a big role in this formula.
