Continuity marketing is an old and well-established method of selling products. It has proven to be a win-win situation for both the buyer and the seller. The customer places an initial order – commonly for a book, music, or a health and beauty product – and the same item or other items in the series are automatically shipped and billed in recurring payments each month until the customer decides to stop the service. When done well, the customer has to expend no thought or effort to get what he wants. Also, the merchant has a steady customer, and everyone’s life is made easier.
But finding a merchant account that allows for recurring billing can be anything but easy. As it happens, businesses that rely on this type of marketing strategy are classified as “high-risk merchants.” Fortunately, however, continuity merchant accounts and continuity billing are our specialty!
Continuity marketing in and of itself can be a great situation for everyone involved. So why do so many banks refuse to give these businesses merchant accounts?
The problem lies with chargebacks. When continuity marketing first became popular during the first half of the 20th century, cash and check were the primary means of payment. However, with the advent of the credit card age – and most notably the ability for customers to reverse credit card charges – businesses began seeing a sharp increase in the number of customers who found it easier to simply chargeback the card than return the item and request a refund.
In addition to this, some unscrupulous merchants also began shipping things that the customer never ordered and charging them for the merchandise. For example, shipping six month’s worth of beauty products at once and billing the customer for $120 instead of sending one item at $20 per month. Sometimes items shipped with no option to return the product or cancel the subscription. These practices, although banned by the Federal Trade Commission, except under certain very specific circumstances, also caused a sharp increase in credit card chargebacks and unhappy customers, leading to the perception of the industry at large as “high risk.” Unfortunately, this makes finding payment processing more difficult for those looking for recurring billing merchant accounts and use continuity business models.
We believe that each business is unique and should be judged on its own merits. Unfortunately, some are judged by that of the industry at large. Instead of lumping each high risk merchant account into the same category, we take the time to examine each business individually and recommend honest enterprises to financial partners with whom we’ve established a relationship of trust. By taking advantage of our connections, you can jump over the hurdles that stand in the way. We can find you the right bank, processing solutions, and merchant services that meet your unique needs.
Other companies require mountains of information, signatures on long, complex forms, and a great deal of independence when it comes to making decisions and preparing for underwriting. We however, make the process easy and walk with you every step of the way.
The process is straightforward, with a simple pre-qualification form and easy-to-gather document requirements all with the support of our unparalleled customer service. Also, our dedication to helping you understand your options, pick the best one, and integrate it into your payment gateway sets us apart from the rest. All this to make your life easier. We even help you test your system to make sure everything works smoothly and that you can accept payments easily. Your business will receive the help through us to smooth out any issues before they affect your customers.
If you run a continuity based business and need a merchant account, we not only accept your business, we welcome it. Give us a call today at 1-800-570-1347 to see how to get started. We are always available for you to find out more information about how we can help you.