Alcohol Merchant Account

ALCOHOL PAYMENTS BACKGROUND

Businesses that serve alcohol in addition to other items or as the bulk of their sales, including restaurants that serve alcohol, are often identified as high-risk businesses in the world of merchant services.

There are many reasons for this, but the bottom line for business owners is that it creates roadblocks in their efforts to secure merchant services and, sometimes, forces them to face increased scrutiny and higher costs associated with merchant services that allow them to process payments via credit card and more.

An alcohol merchant account is essential for these businesses to compete with their competitors, in the alcohol and spirits industry, that do accept credit card payments. The challenge is to find merchant account providers, like Creditly, that understand the unique payment processing needs of alcohol merchants and delivers exceptional merchant services that meet those needs – including high risk payment processing.

WHY IS IT HIGH RISK?

The alcohol and spirits industry covers a lot of ground. It isn’t limited to brick-and-mortar stores, though they certainly represent a large segment of businesses within this industry. It also extends to winery operations, microbreweries, restaurants, cafes, and similar businesses.

While alcohol sales have traditionally occurred in person (in stores, restaurants, etc.), there has been greater latitude, in recent months, for conducting alcohol sales for carryout, drive-thru, and curbside services. Some businesses are even conducting eCommerce alcohol sales – pending age verification at point of pickup, of course.

Though it’s important to point out that businesses in the alcohol and spirits industry generally must verify identification to permit alcohol sales, they are still considered high risk when it comes to merchant services. Despite this, risks, such as making sales to underaged individuals, is high and many traditional merchant service providers are reluctant to work with businesses that conduct alcohol sales, especially those that do so via the Internet.

DID YOUR PROCESSOR SHUT DOWN YOUR ALCOHOL MERCHANT ACCOUNT?

Whether you’ve only recently expanded your inventory to include alcohol sales or you somehow made it past initial sensors related to alcohol industry sales and services, there is always a risk that a provider like this can shut down your merchant account. This means you can be left completely in the lurch without any means of processing payments for orders conducted for your business.

How common is it for banks and other organizations to shut down alcohol merchant accounts? It is common enough that alcohol businesses are consistently listed among the top five industries listed as high-risk merchant accounts.

Fortunately, you do have options that are not only widely available, but that also offer fast and easy approval so you can be up and running, and able to accept credit card payments, quickly.

WHY?

We have all heard stories about merchant accounts getting shut down by PayPal, Stripe, Square or any old merchant account provider. If you have not, I would suggest googling “merchant account shutdown” and seeing the millions of results that pop up. This is a very common occurrence that, to avoid, you must understand.

The primary reason that merchant accounts get shut down is that 99% of merchant account providers do very little underwriting which means they do not know anything about you or your business. Take PayPal, Stripe and Square for example. They are what we call an aggregator. They get this name because they let millions of people use one giant, shared merchant account. It takes seconds to be one of those millions because they do no underwriting. This means that if they have any sign of risk from you their only option is to hold or freeze your money or shut down your merchant account. They know nothing about you or your business, so how could they know that you are high risk and account for that?

Not all merchant account providers are aggregators but most operate on the same logic. This is why underwriting is crucial for high-risk merchants seeking merchant services.

HOW DO I SET UP AN ALCOHOL MERCHANT ACCOUNT?

If you need a credit card processing solution for your alcohol business, Easy Pay direct has got you covered. We’re here to make things easier! Setting up a stable alcohol merchant account is quick and easy with the Creditly Direct application.

Once you’ve filled out our quick online application, our New Client Specialists will finalize your alcohol merchant account.
OR
Feel free to call us on your time: (877) 307-7711

DOES BEING HIGH-RISK AFFECT YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING AN ALCOHOL MERCHANT ACCOUNT?

All Merchant account providers worry about their liability when it comes to working with any business. They do not want to be responsible for chargebacks, disputes, and fraud. A chargeback/dispute is when a consumer goes to their bank and tells them they want their money back for a purchase. What usually happens is that their bank gives the consumer their money back, but the merchant is responsible for repaying it. However, if the merchant is out of business or does not have the funds to do this, the merchant account provider becomes responsible for paying back the disputed transaction. The industries that are more likely to encounter this are then classified as high risk industries.

Now, take into account the fact that a lot of these industries are in the e-commerce space and need to process card-not-present (CNP) transactions. The likelihood of fraud is much higher for these types of transactions. Slowly, you start to realize why providers need to reduce their liability. Most merchant account providers do this by implementing a hold or reserve to ensure that they have some of the high risk merchant’s money stashed away in case of these events. On the other hand, some providers will just shut down or freeze your account, stopping your ability to process payments or access your money.

THE RESULT

Being high-risk can slightly affect your ability to get an alcohol merchant account because many merchant account providers refuse to work with high-risk businesses. But it really can hurt you if you choose the wrong payment processor, which can lead to problems like holds, freezes, and shutdowns.

To avoid this, you need to look for a high-risk merchant account provider that takes the time to underwrite your business so they understand your business model and want to work with you. That way, nothing is a surprise, and they have no reason to hold, freeze or shut down accounts. Luckily, Easy Pay Direct makes this as easy as possible by applying, on your behalf, to merchant account providers that want to work with high risk businesses.

WHAT YOU CAN DO?

There’s no denying that designation as a high risk merchant can make it more difficult for you to get approval by the typical merchant processing service. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though. In fact, you might discover that by working with a payment processor that specializes in working with high risk businesses (Easy Pay Direct), like your alcohol business, your problems with evaporate. As they make getting accepted for a high risk merchant account, easy. Other things you can do to improve your chances include:

• • Make a concerted effort to reduce the number of chargebacks, disputes, and fraud complaints your business receives (if you have them).
  • Be willing to establish higher cash reserves on behalf of your business (may not be necessary with the right provider).
  • Make a substantial security deposit for your merchant account (may not be necessary with the right provider).
  • Prepare to show a history of stability in your industry and as a business when dealing with payment processing services in the past.

HOW CAN EASY PAY DIRECT HELP WITH ALCOHOL MERCHANT PROCESSING?

We’ve cultivated relationships with many high risk merchant account providers so we can help you find that “just right” fit with one that will work for and with you. Additionally, we offer advice, tips, and strategies to help you avoid chargebacks and fraud complaints so you can reduce your “high risk” status among some merchant account providers.

Finally, we offer our unique “transaction routing” service through our state of the art online payment gateway. This will automatically distribute your sales across all of your merchant accounts. This way, if one of your accounts were to shut down, you automatically have accounts up and running to take its place. Lastly, Easy Pay Direct will assign you your very own Certified Payment Specialist that will monitor your accounts for you and give you one point of contact for all merchant services.