Stripe vs Merchant Account for High-Risk Businesses: What You Need to Know

If your business is a high-risk business, it is important to be careful in your decision between Stripe vs merchant account. Stripe is very popular and easy to set-up, however, if you are a high-risk business, it will be subject to Stripe's strict risk policies and may terminate any account without notice if it detects high risk activity, which could be very steep for a business in entertainment services, or online gaming.

A high risk or dedicated high risk merchant account is a more appropriate method of accepting payment as they are specifically designed for such businesses. High risk merchant accounts tend to have higher processing fees, but they offer stability, much less sudden terminations, and a tailored customer support experience. High risk processor typically leverage additional techniques to conduct underwriting, so while approval takes longer, it usually leads to a much more consistent and job-tailored payment transaction method suited for high-risk industries.

Merchant accounts of any kind will give you additional chargeback protection, rolling reserves and multiple opportunities for fraud protection. So if you want to be safer and secure, it cannot be accessed through Stripe. In short, if you're a high risk PD business and have large charges as well as chargebacks or being regulated, it would absolutely be a high risk merchant account for your business long term.

In conclusion, Stripe is probably adequate for low-risk start-ups or generic e-commerce, but high risk businesses can have on a safer and more certain basis, as well as specialized support through a dedicated merchant account. Having chosen the best option for your business, you will retain valuable revenue, as well as be able to keep trading business.