Turned down for being high-risk? We have a path.
High-risk is hard, and most processors won’t say so — they just decline you. Through our partner network we get specialty and high-risk businesses placed and processing, with the risk handled. We don’t underwrite these on our own rails; we match you to a partner who does, and we stay the team you call.
Everywhere else, high-risk is a slow no.
A standard processor either declines you outright or buries you in paperwork until you give up. We cut through it a different way: we know which partners underwrite your category, and we take you straight to the one that fits. You get placed and processing — and we stay your single point of contact through underwriting and after you’re live.
What placement gets you.
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Underwriting that says yes
A standard merchant account screens you out by category before anyone reads your file. We match you to a partner who underwrites your category for a living — so the answer comes from someone equipped to give it.
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Chargeback & risk handled
Specialty categories live and die on disputes. Placement puts your account on a partner's risk and chargeback tooling — monitoring, alerts, and dispute handling built for high-risk volume, not bolted on after the fact.
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One team to call
Placed through a partner doesn't mean handed off. We stay your single point of contact — you call us, not a switchboard you've never met. We carry the relationship through underwriting and after you go live.
Specialty and high-risk categories we place.
If a standard merchant account screens you out by category, this is where you start. We place these through partners who underwrite them.
- Travel & leisure
- Health & nutraceuticals
- Education & coaching
- Dating & social
- Subscriptions & e-commerce
- Tobacco & vape
- Lending & financial services
- Firearms & ammunition
- Gaming & gambling
- CBD & alternative
Don’t see yours? Ask — the list moves.
Specialty and high-risk merchant accounts are not eligible for processing under First Financial USA’s sponsorship with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. or Fiserv. Where such processing is available, it is provided by separate, independent third-party partners and is not sponsored, underwritten, or processed by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. or Fiserv.
Tell us what you sell. We’ll tell you straight.
Send us the industry and how you take payments. If we can place you, we’ll tell you who and how. If we can’t, we’ll say so — no runaround.