Everything you need to know about high-risk payments.

A shared database maintained by Mastercard. If your merchant account is terminated for cause, you're added to this list. Most legitimate processors check it before approving any new merchant. Stays on your record for 5 years.

A percentage of your processing volume held by the processor as a buffer against chargebacks. Typically 7-10% for high-risk merchants, held for 90-180 days then released.

The unique identifier assigned to your merchant account. Each processor gives you one. If your MID is terminated, that account is gone — you need a new one from a different processor.

The percentage of transactions that result in chargebacks. Calculated as chargebacks divided by total transactions in a given month. Visa's threshold is 1% — above that triggers monitoring programs.

A legal designation indicating a product is sold for research purposes only, not for human consumption. Required for peptide and many research chemical vendors to operate legally.

A company like Stripe or PayPal that aggregates merchants under their own master merchant account. Faster to set up but less stable for high-risk merchants who can be terminated without warning.

A company that acts as a reseller of payment processing services on behalf of acquiring banks. ISOs can get merchants approved with banks they wouldn't be able to reach directly.

The bank that actually holds your merchant account and settles transactions into your business bank account. The processor is often just the middleman between you and the acquiring bank.

Visa's monitoring program for merchants with elevated chargeback ratios. Once enrolled, you have 3 months to get below threshold or face fines and potential termination.