Looking for a Recurring Billing Merchant Account?
If you provide recurring bnilling services, Double Helix Processing can help you get the merchant account you need.
Are You in Need of a Recurring Billing Merchant Account Solution?
We pride ourselves on being the best option when it comes to setting up a recurring aka continuity billing merchant account for businesses that are structured for selling subscription products, memberships, digital products, and for those that require continuity and recurring billing – whether it be via the phone or through eCommerce payments.
That being said, a continuity billing merchant account is classified as high risk, which can occur for a variety of reasons, but this element does make it difficult to find a reliable payment processing partner. Luckily, Double Helix Processing specializes in working with high risk merchants, and we have multiple acquiring banking partners that offer continuity billing merchant accounts.
Has Payment Processing for Your Continuity Billing Merchant Account Been Shut Down?
When your business is set up to accept payments through a continuity billing merchant account, there’s a high risk of incurring excessive chargebacks. If you’re unaware of what a chargeback is, it’s when the customer disputes a charge on their debit or credit card by calling the number on the back of the card and claiming not to have authorized the purchase or many other dispute types available to them through their financial institution.
They might give any number of excuses as to why they’d like a chargeback; the charge isn’t one they recognize, they never got the item or service they purchased, the product wasn’t as described to be, defective merchandise, etc., but when it comes to businesses that set up continuity billing, the most common excuse is that the customer never authorized your company to bill their credit or debit card.
Regardless of the reason they use to dispute the transaction, it starts this whole process of disputing the transaction more commonly referred to as a chargeback. This occurs when the customer contacts their bank and the bank contacts your credit card processor, who then gets in touch with you about the dispute.
What happens next is that the disputed funds are taken from your bank account and do not become available to you again until the dispute is resolved, and in the case the customer proves that they didn’t authorize the transaction, the funds will not become available to you at all and will be “charged back” so the customer will receives those funds back into their account. Are you, as the continuity billing merchant given a chance to speak up in this scenario? Of course, you are given an opportunity to refute the customer and prove that the charge indeed valid and authorized by the customer. In which case the funds would be released back to you, but the runaround of the entire process is a lengthy and challenging.
How Does Being High Risk Affect Your Chances of Getting a Continuity Billing Merchant Account?
- Step 1. A customer doesn’t even need a legitimate reason to file a chargeback to start the process. They can file a claim at any time, for any reason within regulation E and regulation Z guidelines.
- Step 2. The process of disputing a chargeback isn’t simply a headache to deal with, it’s a very technical and involved process that can literally result in the customer winning the dispute based on a technicality on your part (if all the documents are submitted in a very specific way or you do not respond in a timely manner with your own proof).
- Step 3. If the chargeback is proven to be in the customer’s favor, not only do you lose out on that sale and the money from the sale, but in most cases, you also lose whatever product or service was made in the initial purchase. Additionally, your credit card processor is likely to tack on fees and extra charges for the chargeback to your continuity billing merchant account.
- Step 4. The biggest downfall of incurring an excessive number of chargebacks (whether the claims are legitimate or not) is having your entire merchant account terminated.
Why Does this Matter and How Can Double Helix Processing Help with my Continuity Billing Merchant Account?
Like stated in the section above, excessive chargebacks can lead to your continuity billing merchant account to be completely shut down with an aggregate payment processor like PayPal, Stripe, Square or others. Another common point of conflict that occurs when a merchant uses an aggregate payment processor is that the “approval process” in many cases isn’t actually an approval at all.
In some industries, such as those who need recurring or continuity billing merchant accounts, the first obstacle is to find a sponsor bank who is allowed in their underwriting guidelines to serve the coins and collectables industry, and many of the larger institutions, do not allow this type of underwriting for recurring or continuity billing merchant accounts.
What happens is that the merchant account is approved on a contingent basis, and then much later, the back-end underwriting process begins (many time upon the request of your first chargeback) and your business is accessed as a high risk merchant – this results in your account either being frozen until further notice or your dropped from their platform all together without any notice.
Double Helix Processing, a leader in the industry of payment processing, especially for high risk merchants who need to acquire a recurring or continuity billing merchant account is your way around all the hassle and stress that come with worrying about being dropped. When you start off your payment processing with the right company, your setting your business up for success right from the start.
Be sure to discuss the ins and outs of your business needs in terms of the types of reoccurring subscriptions or continuity billing you offer; do you need something that covers a 15 day membership, a 30 day repeat billing cycle, etc. Make sure that everything you need to run your business smoothly and efficiently is covered during the initial underwriting process when you apply for your continuity billing merchant account to give you the most stable and best chances of success.
Do You Want to Open Your High-Risk Continuity Billing Merchant Account?
Shopping for options to seek out a qualified and reliable payment processing company can be daunting. Partnering with one, like Double Helix Processing, who have first-hand experience with high risk continuity merchant accounts. Be sure to ask all the right questions that apply to you in order to address your concerns, things like: will you write my specific subscription business type? How much experience do you have working with businesses that need a continuity billing merchant account? What are the fees like?
Once you feel satisfied with your answers, take the five minutes needed to fill out our simple, online Merchant Account Application for a free quote — and get not only the payment processing you need, but the peace of mind you truly deserve. Double Helix Processing understands the unique needs of different continuity billing related businesses and has established numerous acquiring banking relationships to become experts in getting payment processing solutions for continuity billing merchants approved.
Why Should You Choose Double Helix Processing?
We understand the unique needs of the different recurring billing related business types and have established numerous acquiring banking relationships to become your best resource in getting recurring billing merchant accounts set up and accepting online payments. Our expertise is your ticket to getting the stable processing you need to further your business.
