High-risk merchant account
If your business has been declined, frozen, or dropped by a processor, you are not alone. Many legitimate businesses are labeled "high-risk" for reasons that have little to do with how well they run. Pine Payments reviews disclosed businesses for card-processing fit, subject to underwriting and the complete offered terms.
Pine Payments helps high-risk businesses prepare a disclosed application for review. Eligibility depends on the actual catalog, business model, history and underwriting; an inquiry is not approval.
Processors and acquiring banks classify a merchant as high-risk when their business model carries higher chargeback, regulatory, or reputational exposure. That label is about the industry, not the quality of your business. High-risk merchants often see stricter underwriting, different pricing, and a need for a processor that understands their category.
Availability depends on underwriting for your specific products, marketing, and compliance.
See our page for peptide merchants: Peptide merchant accounts.
Searching for a "cannabis merchant account" in Florida? Here's what we do and don't do. Pine Payments works withhemp-derived CBD and hemp product businesses, such as CBD shops, online hemp stores and wellness brands, subject to underwriting.We don't set up merchant accounts for marijuana dispensaries, including Florida medical marijuana treatment centers.
Why hemp and CBD accounts get a closer look. Banks and card networks treat CBD and hemp as a higher-risk category because product rules differ by state and keep changing. The federal definition of hemp is changing in late 2026. Some parts take effect November 12, 2026, and the rest December 11, 2026. Products that fall outside the new definition are treated as marijuana under federal law. Florida has its own hemp rules on top of that.
What the review usually looks at:
We help you gather this before the application goes in, so underwriters see a complete file. Every account is subject to underwriting, and approval isn't guaranteed. Rules for hemp products are changing, so talk to a qualified attorney about whether your products comply with current federal and Florida law. This is general information, not legal advice.
See CBD and hemp merchant accounts for product-specific review requirements, or read what to do if Square closed your CBD account.
High-risk merchant account rates are higher than standard retail rates because the acquiring bank takes on more chargeback and regulatory risk. Your cost usually has four parts:
We quote every one of these in writing before you sign. If you're comparing offers, our guide to flat rate vs. tiered vs. interchange-plus pricing shows what to look for, and our statement review can check a quote you already have.
Yes. Pine considers MATCH-listed businesses in the US, Canada and Latin America for merchant-account review. Underwriting still applies. A listing narrows the available options, and consideration does not guarantee approval. What matters is the reason for the listing, the actual business activity, any unresolved obligations and the changes you can document.
If you know you are listed, tell us before applying rather than changing the business description or using a different entity to hide the history.
MATCH (Mastercard Alert to Control High-risk Merchants) is a system Mastercard requires its acquirers to use. It holds acquirer-reported records about certain terminated merchants and their owners. According to Mastercard’s MATCH Pro documentation, an acquirer adds a record within 5 days of deciding to terminate a merchant that meets a MATCH reason code. Acquirers screening a new applicant then search the records added during the past five years. Not every account closure qualifies for reporting.
Each record carries a reason code. Mastercard’s current MATCH Pro specification lists these codes: 01 Account Data Compromise; 03 Transaction Laundering; 04 Excessive Chargebacks; 05 Excessive Fraud; 06 Coercion; 08 Mastercard Questionable Merchant Audit Program; 09 Liquidation/Insolvency; 10 Violation of Standards; 12 PCI Data Security Standard Noncompliance; 13 Illegal Transactions; 14 Identity Theft. The code affects how a future acquirer reviews an application, so share it if you know it. If you don’t know it, say so.
If Stripe closed your account, see options after a Stripe closure.
VAMP is not a list. MATCH is Mastercard’s record of terminated merchants. VAMP (the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program) is a monthly Visa monitoring program. It compares card-not-present fraud reports plus disputes with settled transactions. According to Visa’s VAMP fact sheet, the Excessive Merchant threshold for the US and Canada fell from 220 bps to 150 bps (1.5%) on April 1, 2026. A merchant also needs at least 1,500 fraud reports plus disputes in the month to be identified. Latin America and the Caribbean use 150 bps with the same 1,500 minimum. Visa says separate programs for Brazil and Chile will be announced later. Visa also measures each acquirer across its whole portfolio at lower ratios: Above Standard from 50 bps and Excessive from 70 bps. Because of that, your processor may act before you reach the merchant threshold. Our guide to Visa’s VAMP threshold explains how the ratio is calculated.
Watch for these signals:
These are common risk signals. They don’t predict whether an account will or won’t be closed. For one example of a held-funds notice, see Stripe peptide account holds.
Answer document requests promptly and accurately. Find the cause of new disputes, such as a confusing billing descriptor, slow fulfilment, unclear subscription or refund terms, or fraud. Keep closure notices, reason codes and dispute records. Do not split sales across extra accounts, entities or billing descriptors to stay under monitoring. FTC court orders in 2026 list spreading sales volume across multiple merchant accounts or descriptors as a tactic to avoid fraud and risk monitoring. If funds are already held, see why payment processors freeze funds.
In September 2026, stipulated orders were filed in FTC cases against two payment processors, Humboldt Merchant Services and Nuvei. The orders included bans on processing for merchants listed on MATCH for specified reasons, such as excessive chargebacks, fraud, laundering and illegal transactions. They also required ongoing chargeback monitoring and investigation of high-chargeback clients. Neither company admitted or denied the FTC’s allegations. The orders apply to those companies. They show the kind of review a listed business should be prepared for.
Prepare the closure notice, the reason code if available, relevant processing and dispute records, and a factual summary of what changed. If the listing reason is unknown, say so; do not guess or treat a product-category decline as proof of fraud.
If you already have processing statements, our statement review is a place to start.
Processing review is separate from correcting or removing a listing. Pine does not promise removal, a successful appeal or a replacement account. Questions about an incorrect listing should go through the appropriate listing institution and the applicable network process.
Request a confidential processing-fit conversation. In the initial inquiry, tell us your business type, the known closure or MATCH reason and whether you have supporting records. We will explain the next review step; do not attach sensitive financial or identity documents to a general inquiry.
Request a confidential processing-fit conversationSources: Mastercard MATCH Pro documentation; Visa VAMP fact sheet; FTC court orders (Humboldt, Nuvei); Stripe’s MATCH documentation.
An instant signup is not an underwriting decision for every business. Review the actual catalog, selling websites, history and offered terms before processing begins. Neither consideration nor an upfront review guarantees approval or uninterrupted processing.
We can't promise approval, a rate or a timeline. Nobody honestly can before underwriting. What we can do is help you prepare a complete application, tell you what underwriters are likely to ask, keep you updated at each step and put your terms in writing before you sign. Approval isn't guaranteed. The difference is that the review happens before you process.
Having these ready helps underwriters review your file.
More answers on our FAQ page, or contact us. Related reading: Is it legal to charge a credit card fee?
A high-risk merchant account works with e-commerce stores (WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce and custom builds), recurring billing, phone orders and in-person terminals. We connect your account to a compatible high-risk payment gateway after approval, and help you set up fraud tools and 3-D Secure where they reduce chargebacks.
Yes. Pine considers MATCH-listed merchants, but acceptance depends on the actual business, listing reason, available evidence and underwriting. Consideration is not a guarantee of an account or particular terms.
No. Do not assume a new company name removes the relevant business or principal history. Disclose ownership and prior terminations accurately and use the applicable listing-correction process for genuine errors.
Pine does not offer guaranteed MATCH removal. The listing institution and card-network rules govern corrections and removal. A review for new processing is a separate process.
No. Reporting depends on qualifying criteria. Keep the original notice and establish the known reason instead of assuming a listing from the closure alone.
Mastercard’s MATCH Pro documentation says acquirer inquiries search records added during the past five years, so a record can appear in screening for five years after it is added. Questions about an incorrect record go to the acquirer that listed it.
Each MATCH record carries a code showing why the acquirer added it. Mastercard’s current codes are 01 Account Data Compromise, 03 Transaction Laundering, 04 Excessive Chargebacks, 05 Excessive Fraud, 06 Coercion, 08 Questionable Merchant Audit Program, 09 Liquidation/Insolvency, 10 Violation of Standards, 12 PCI DSS Noncompliance, 13 Illegal Transactions and 14 Identity Theft.
No. MATCH is Mastercard’s record of certain terminated merchants. VAMP is Visa’s monthly program that compares card-not-present fraud reports plus disputes with settled transactions. Since April 1, 2026, Visa’s Excessive Merchant threshold in the US and Canada has been 150 bps (1.5%) with at least 1,500 fraud reports plus disputes in a month.
Common signs include rising fraud reports or disputes, requests for documents or explanations, a new or larger reserve, delayed payouts or held funds, a card-network monitoring notice, card-testing bursts and business changes the processor hasn’t been told about. None of these predicts a closure on its own.
No. Disclose your existing accounts and fix the cause of the disputes. FTC court orders in 2026 list spreading sales volume across multiple merchant accounts or billing descriptors as a tactic to avoid fraud and risk monitoring.
A high-risk merchant account is a merchant account for businesses that processors view as having a higher chance of chargebacks, regulatory scrutiny, or fraud. Accounts for these businesses are typically underwritten more closely and priced differently.
Common reasons include product category, high chargeback rates, sudden volume changes, or missing documentation. Read the stated reason in your notice. Learn why processors freeze funds, and read about Stripe peptide holds.
It depends on your category, your products and how complete your paperwork is, so we can't promise a timeline. We help you prepare a complete file and keep you updated at each step.
Many processors avoid these categories. Pine Payments works with merchants in them, subject to underwriting. See our peptide payment processing page for what underwriters look for.
Often, yes. Pine Payments works with hemp-derived CBD and hemp product businesses in Florida and nationwide, subject to underwriting. Underwriters usually ask for product lists, labels, current lab tests and your website policies. Approval isn't guaranteed, and hemp rules are changing, so talk to an attorney about your products.
No. We don't set up merchant accounts for marijuana dispensaries, including Florida medical marijuana treatment centers. We work with hemp-derived CBD and hemp product businesses, subject to underwriting.
Often, yes. Rates and reserves reflect the added risk. We will explain your terms before you commit.
It's card processing through a merchant account that an acquiring bank has approved for a higher-risk category, such as peptides, supplements, CBD, firearms or telehealth. The bank reviews your products, website and policies up front and prices the account for that risk.
Send us your business type, products, monthly volume and average ticket. We review your fit, help you gather the underwriting documents listed above, and submit your application to a bank that works with your category. Approval isn't guaranteed.
No approval is guaranteed. The actual business, catalog, websites and available history must be reviewed before processing begins. We help prepare a disclosed application.