Bad Credit Merchant Account

Bad credit has many sources: late payments, bankruptcy, and even lack of credit all lend themselves to a business’s ability to successfully apply for a merchant account. If you are looking to allow your business to accept credit cards but are worried about being high risk due to bad credit, Creditly has the keys to success.

Securing a bad credit merchant account will allow your business to get off the ground. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always yield the best rates. For most businesses, this is an acceptable tradeoff. Paying a slightly higher rate to accept credit cards will bring in more money than being a cash-only business.

While securing a merchant account with bad credit might not be the shortest path to business success, it puts that goal within your reach.

PAYMENT PROCESSING FOR BAD CREDIT BUSINESSES

It is a common mistake to think options are limited when a business with bad credit applies for a merchant account. Bad credit can bump your merchant account into the high risk category but does nothing to alter what that merchant account provides. When you are looking for a new merchant account remember that providers like Creditly have built their business model around working with high risk merchants.

When bad credit is factored into your merchant account you should be aware of ways a processing company will try to protect themselves.

Things to look for:

• • Are you being offered higher rates?
  • Be careful there aren’t hidden fees tucked in the wording of the contract.
  • How big is your rolling reserve?
  • What is the commitment length of the contract

MERCHANT ACCOUNTS FOR BAD CREDIT

Once you have spoken with us at Creditly and established a plan to secure a merchant account despite a high risk designation, it is also good to make a plan to improve your business credit.

The first step: Understand why your business has bad credit. Just like personal credit, business credit is based on the history of your business.

• • Late payments
  • Loan applications
  • Years in business
  • Credit ratio
  • Liens or collections reports
  • Chargeback numbers

     

If you look at this list and recognize any of the bullets, you know where to get started. This can also give you an understanding of why some banks or merchant account providers might turn down an application. The good news is there are paths to fixing bad credit. The first step in that is a merchant account provider built to work with high risk businesses.

At Creditly, we have come into contact with numerous businesses who didn’t even realize their merchant account providers had labeled them high risk. They didn’t realize that there were better options out on the open market.

Many merchants never bother to check their business credit scores. Creditly is built to help merchants rebuild their credit. We have experience and connections with credit card processors and underwriting banks to help businesses thrive despite their low scores. In addition, our support systems are specifically built to provide business stability and long-term solutions for your credit card processing needs.

HOW TO OPEN A BAD CREDIT MERCHANT ACCOUNT

The steps to opening any merchant account are the same. The outcomes can vary as processing companies evaluate each application and determine if they fit the set standards of the company.

Different websites may give a slightly different order or add in different steps, but these are the basic steps needed to open any merchant account:

1. 1. Register your business license – To do this you will need a tax ID and a name. Once you have these you can apply for the license.
   2. Open a business bank account – This step allows you to link to your merchant account and have a place for deposits to be made.
   3. Determine your business needs – Are you opening a brick-and-mortar retail shop, an online boutique, or perhaps a delivery service? All of these things will determine how you are planning to accept credit cards and can impact what you need in a merchant account.
   4. Shop around – When we say there is some negotiation room when finding a payment processor, we mean you can compare rates and fees from different companies. This will also allow you to determine what the going rate is for your specific business.
   5. Apply – Once you’ve settled on your first choice for a payment processor, submit an application and make sure they will accept your business. If they decline your application you can move down the list of options.
   6. Approval – Once your merchant account has moved through the underwriting phase and been approved, you are good to set up your hardware/software and start accepting credit cards.

This is a basic roadmap or course of action. Some of these steps require more input on your part, but they should be guided by your choice of credit card processor. Different companies may require slightly different information, but at Creditly we are just looking for basic information such as:

• • Your name
  • Name of business
  • Contact info
  • Website
  • Income
    
    

Once we have that information, we can get the application process started and determine what deals we can offer you. Our experience and industry connections allow us to offer you highly competitive rates and packages. Contact us today and see what we can do for you.