Adult Merchant Account
At UniBul, we specialize in working with high-risk merchants, in fact we don’t do anything else. That focus has enabled us to build a solid payment processing solution for adult-oriented websites, both U.S.-based and international ones, which just works. Before we get started, we tell you exactly what we can do for you and on what terms. If there are multiple options available, we break down their pluses and minuses and let you choose. Once we get going, your application is handled quickly and the set-up is as straightforward as we could make it — this is an adult merchant account we are talking about, so it will still take some time, but typically we wrap it up within two weeks. Settlement is available in the major currencies — U.S. dollars, euros and GBP — as well as in other currencies.
Typically, there is a solution for just about every situation, provided your volume is sufficient — $100,000 a month would be a good start. However, set-ups vary based on a wide variety of factors: processing volume and history, geographical location, chargeback ratio, TMF / MATCH list placements, etc. So, to help us select the right set-up for you, we will ask you to tell us about your particular circumstances. Also, just tell us precisely what it is that you want from us and we will work with you to make it happen. For example, if you are looking for an additional adult merchant account, to be used concurrently with the one you currently have, we are fine with it, as long as we get enough of your volume to justify the effort. Once we initiate the application process, we will ask you for the following paperwork:
- Application form. You can download that form here. Just fill it out, sign it and send back to us, along with the other documents listed below.
- Processing statements. We ask for your six latest processing statements with your current or latest payment processor. In there, we will be examining the following:
- Processing volumes. As already noted, usually we require that adult websites generate at least $100,000 (or its equivalent) in monthly sales.
- Growth rate. We will be looking into whether your business is growing, declining or stagnant. As you might guess, if you are growing, we would be happy to work with you, even if your starting point is somewhat lower than we might otherwise want it to be.
- Chargeback rate. You need to have your chargebacks under control. If you have been in the adult business for some years and still have not found a way to contain your chargebacks, that is a problem. We might still be able to work with you, if we decide that the issue could be a manageable one and that we could help you to bring chargebacks down. If, however, the rate is too high, we might determine that the situation is beyond repair.
- Rate of declined transactions. This is a powerful indicator for the overall health of your business and is usually closely linked to your chargeback rate, which is why we will be looking at it.
- Supporting paperwork. We will ask you to provide documents, which you should have available, such as:
- Certificate of Incorporation or a similar document.
- A copy of the business owner’s passport or other national ID card.
- A copy of your business license, if applicable.
- A voided check, if you have one.
- The three latest bank statements for your business.
- A utility bill, which should be no older than 30 days of the application date.
- Additional documentation. It is practically inevitable that during the application process we will need some additional paperwork and we may ask you for an explanation of some issue or other. So be ready and follow up promptly on our requests to help us wrap up the process as swiftly as possible.
Of course, getting approved for an adult merchant account is not as simple as pressing a button on a laptop. After all, this is a high-risk industry for a reason, with all the inconveniences that designation entails. However, we have managed to connect all the dots for you and have made the application process as simple and transparent as we could do it. So, as long as we get your full assistance, you will get your merchant account.
To get started, you can download our application form from the link above, fill it out and email to us, along with the other paperwork listed there. You can also, and for most of you that would be the better way to go about it, complete the very short form that opens when you click on the button below, give us some basic information about your business, and we will get back to you within a few hours with some details on what we can do for you.
Why Is Adult High-Risk?
Now let’s take a look at exactly what makes an adult-oriented website “high-risk”. Merchants are easily confused on the issue of risk categorization, which often leads them to contact the wrong payment processors. Now, I’m sure that you have at least some idea about which industries are labelled as high-risk in the payments industry. Yes, there are some variations, mostly reflecting the fact that Visa and MasterCard rules are sometimes different and may vary from one region to another. Yet, merchants selling things like escort services, weight-loss programs, forex trading, online gambling, pharmaceuticals and betting services, to name but a few, always fall into the high-risk category. And the question is what these businesses, which are so different from one another, have in common and this is where it gets interesting.
There are multiple factors that come into play to establish a merchant’s risk classification. To begin with, we have to consider the applicable regulatory environment. So, an adult website will have to be compliant with the local requirements. The same qualification applies to, say, gambling and nutraceutical websites, which may not in fact be allowed to operate in certain countries, with or without licenses. Moreover, there is the question of merchant fraud to be considered — many websites exist solely to serve as a front to illegal or at least restricted operations. To give an example, a merchant claiming to be selling SEO services may actually be using their merchant account to sell pharmaceuticals (by the way, don’t do that, because MasterCard routinely investigates suspected merchants and, if caught serving as a front, you’ll be TMF-ed in short order; it’s better to just tell us what you really do). This type of fraud is quite widespread among international high-risk operations.
Then we have the ever-present issue of chargebacks and its importance is even higher in the high-risk world, for reasons which perhaps should be obvious. Surely, you can easily understand why a website selling, say, some type of a weight-loss program would generate much higher numbers of disputes and chargebacks than a merchant selling body lotions. Next on the list is the issue of declined transactions and this one is especially prominent among merchants that have been using 3D-types of credit card processing solutions, which tend to produce high ratios of declined-to-approved payments (it is not rare for such websites to have a third of all transactions declined). When a processor is examining your past merchant statements, a high decline rate can easily raise questions.
Why UniBul?
So there are many reasons why a processor might not be willing or able to work with high-risk merchants, even if they are perfectly-well qualified and this is just a fact of life. But there are also processors whose business is precisely to serve high-risk businesses and they are always looking for new merchants to take on board. They will be much more detailed when inspecting your paperwork and will need your help during the application process to a much greater degree than their low-risk counterparts. However, these are the processors which can get the job done and at UniBul we can’t wait to set up your adult merchant account!
What Our Customers Are Saying
UniBul enables American and international businesses to accept payments for the things they sell on their websites.
