Online shopping has taken the world of pharmaceuticals by storm. Today you can order anything from a harmless painkiller to heavy prescription meds online, completely bypassing the old-school, brick-and-mortar POS pharmacies.
While this is great, this industry also has its weaknesses. One of them is that no regular bank will let you open an online pharmacy merchant account with them. The financial institutions consider the sale of medicine, online as well as offline, to be a high-risk industry. And as with any other high-risk industry, this means reduced access to services from regular commercial banks. Know more about a high-risk online pharmacy payment gateway.
The high-risk nature of online pharmacies
Online pharmacies are considered to be high risk because they can sell potentially dangerous, controlled substances. This makes them very exposed to a variety of legal risks as well as a general risk of litigation. It’s an industry where many businesses operate in a gray area, and as such often run the risk of being shut down by the federal government.
In addition to that, online pharmacies experience a higher ratio of chargebacks than the average e-commerce store. These can happen when a customer subscribes to a recurrent order fulfillment that they forget to cancel, or when a customer simply tries to get out of having to pay for their medication. While the business might not be at fault at all, it doesn’t change the fact that they are the ones who end up with the responsibility.
They lose revenue (and product); and if they had a find an online pharmacy merchant account at a traditional bank, they’d also risk getting slapped by a fine from said bank. Banks lose money on chargebacks as well, which is a big part of the reason why any industry with an increased chargeback ratio has a hard time getting a merchant account. On top of that, excessive chargebacks always look suspicious, and banks don’t like exposing themselves to the risk of fraudulent activities among their customers.
Get an online pharmacy merchant account from a high-risk provider
The answer is opening a high-risk online pharmacy merchant account. At 5 Star Processing, we deal almost exclusively with high-risk industries. After having worked with more than 5,261 customers, we have extensive experience in handling merchant accounts and payment gateways for businesses that are exposed to more risk than an average e-commerce store.
We can consult you on the best type of account, and we also offer lower credit card processing fees than our competitors. This way, you can stop worrying about your account and focus on growing your business.
Contact 5 Star Processing today
Our team is ready to take your call and guide you to the best solution for your business. If you get in touch today, you’re guaranteed not only the best prices but also a very fast approval process for your online pharmacy merchant account. Email 5 Star Processing now at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you shortly.
