Certain business types are considered to be "High Risk" for credit card processing. This means that acquiring banks are at a higher risk of financial loss when they underwrite these business types. In general, these merchants tend to generate high levels of chargebacks, and be more susceptible to fraud, insolvency, and, in some cases, criminal activity.

High risk merchant accounts are usually reserved for high risk credit card processing accounts, for example accounts that handle a large volume of transaction that may or may not offer a 100% authorization rate.

High risk merchant accounts are necessary for certain business types which are unable to obtain a merchant account due to several mitigating factors, such as type of business, ticket size or monthly volume, and their target markets. In general, these factors have been deemed "High Risk" and are undesirable for most credit card processors.

High Risk Merchant Accounts typically require the following documents:

• - CURRENT PROCESSING STATEMENTS
• - 3-6 MONTHS BANK STATEMENTS
• - BUSINESS LICENSE - ARTICLES INCORPORATION
• - VOIDED BUSINESS CHECK
• - CURRENT PROFIT-LOSS STATEMENT

A high risk merchant should be prepared to submit this documentation with their initial application and also be aware that follow-up with underwriters are common and should be expected. Again this process usually takes 3-5 business to complete.