Getting a merchant account with bad credit can be a nightmare. Whether you’re a new start-up struggling on a tight budget, or you’re an established business that has hit a rough patch after the recent economic crisis, few of the traditional paths to establishing a merchant account remain open to you if your credit is shot.
How Bad Credit Can Hold You Back
It’s not impossible to get a merchant account if your credit is bad. But, in most cases, it’s going to mean settling for second-rate service in several key areas of your business. If you’re starting your first business, that adds pressure that you really don’t need. Getting your first business up and running is stressful and difficult even when the wind is blowing in your direction – when the wind starts blowing against you, your dreams of entrepreneurial success can quickly start turning into nightmares.
Some more traditional merchant account providers may still offer to deal with you, but it will be at a heavy cost to your business. Some business owners with bad credit even make the mistaken assumption that they have no choice but to deal with a slightly disreputable provider if they want to have a merchant account at all – and when you slip into that mode of thinking, you risk tying yourself up with other businesses who may not be entirely above board in the way they operate, or simply unprofessional.
How to Get a Merchant Account (Without Selling Your Soul)
When you’re a start-up with bad credit, you run the risk of falling victim to predatory tactics from companies that actually are willing to offer you a merchant account. Here are a few of the typical traps to watch out for.
Set Up Fees
When you’re dealing with a provider who doesn’t specialize in dealing with high-risk businesses, they will usually try to ‘protect’ themselves by tacking on high set-up fees as well as ongoing monthly costs that may be out of proportion to the number of sales you’re processing.
Rate Gauging
Merchant account providers often use a trick similar to credit card companies or mortgage brokers when it comes to people with bad credit: the worse your credit is, the higher the rates will be. Of course, this is extremely dangerous from your perspective, because if you have bad credit, to begin with, being penalized on rates is only going to increase the level of risk to you and your business are exposed.
eMerchantBroker.com Can Help!
At eMerchantBroker, we specialize in dealing with high-risk businesses – so we can help you get set up with a merchant account that suits you, even if your credit is in a bad state, without any of the risks and penalties most other providers will saddle you with. Starting an online business? No problem – we’ll get you up and running without any set-up fees and give you a lower transaction fee rate than Paypal.