What many traditional credit card processors and large banks seem to not want to understand is that adult dating sites provide a real service for busy professional men and women. Twenty years ago the industry may have received a bad rap because ‘only losers found dates online.’ Then there were horror stories about the dates a new member was supposed to meet. While these were unwanted incidents, they are not what causes adult dating merchant accounts to be considered high risk.
It all boils down to Internet fraud and the number of chargebacks to the adult dating merchant account. Teens may have ‘borrowed’ a parent’s credit card without permission. A friend ‘borrows’ another friend’s card without permission. A genuine member charges a membership stating he or she is single and then the significant other sees the credit card statement. It is a mysterious charge that no one made. And another reason for chargebacks is the unrecognized corporate name. A member signs up for Sunshine Singles and when the charge hits the customer’s statement it is in the corporate name of ABC, Inc. The member never charged anything at ABC, Inc. and reports the charge as fraud.
There are instances when members legitimately charged their memberships to an adult dating merchant account but for one reason or another it has wound up as a chargeback. Your account will always be considered a high risk account but there are measures you can take to protect yourself to keep your chargeback rates down below the 3% threshold.
If you are not taking advantage of the automated address verification system (AVS), do begin. Even pizza delivery companies are requiring this code for verification. If the AVS does not match what the credit card issuer shows, the sale will be declined. There are also other things your credit card processor can recommend that will help eliminate a number of chargebacks. Another one you can do on your own is to use an online phone directory to verify a phone number a new member has given you. Send a confirmation notice to the email address that has been provided.
While an adult dating site is in business to make money if you have found a traditional processor who charges outrageous rates to handle your account you are losing money in several ways. Anytime you have a chargeback fee – like an NSF fee at the bank. If you incur too many of these your account may be frozen and your funds are tied up indefinitely. Not only can this cost you money, but it can also cost you your entire business.
There is a processor that specializes in high risk accounts like adult dating merchant accounts. There is no application fee and no setup fees. Recurring billing is available. Rates are extremely competitive and the merchant is not required to have a Visa or MasterCard license. You have secure payment gateways and everything is CPA compliant. Plus, you can get approved in as little as 48 hours.
To get approved for an adult merchant account in as little as 24 hours