The technical revolution has never stopped and entrepreneurs and business owners are trying to vie for a piece of a very lucrative pie. Online dating is not new, but lonely singles are being bombarded every evening by television advertising promising dates, relationships, and marriages to those who join their sites. There are national clubs as well as local match-makers and specialized sites for those over 50 as well as singles with religious affiliations.
According to Yahoo! Finance, over 40 million people in the United States alone have tried online dating and one in five relationships now begin online worldwide, according to the Huffington Post. The online-dating industry produced $2 billion in revenue in 2012 and is forecasted to see continued growth over the next five years, according to PR Web.
Yet those who want to set up a merchant account for dating sites with recurring billing usually find themselves in the category of a high-risk merchant like the adult merchant accounts.
Finweek says that ‘the word ‘sex’ is the number one search term typed into search engines worldwide. Over 28 000 Internet users view online porn every second’.
Tom Rhinelander, a Forrester Research director, says that his company’s researchers have given up trying to put a value on the sex industry. One figure estimated US annual revenue in 2011 to lie somewhere between $5 billion and $15 billion. In 2012, CNBC claimed that US porn generated approximately $14 billion in revenue per year. If a business can get a traditional credit card processor to even consider its account, the processing fees will be astronomical.
With such an astonishing amount of money being spent on online dating and online adult sites, why does the establishment consider adult merchant accounts high risk? One reason is that what they sell goes against mainstream morals. Yet the sheer volume of the industry indicates that more individuals are viewing these sites, joining the clubs, and purchasing merchandise than the moral majority believes. The purchase of toys, lingerie, and fetish costumes online are popular because they are anonymous and unless a neighbor opens your package, no one knows your business.
Some credit card processors shy away from adult merchant accounts because they fear credit card chargebacks. However, there is an adult merchant account processor who has no problems with opening an adult merchant account as long as chargebacks remain under three percent.
Anyone in this industry needed to set up a new account or wishes to change processors due to excessive fees should look into a credit card processor that specialized in high-risk merchant accounts. There are secure payment gateways and every service is PCI compliant. Fees are reasonable and much lower than the competition.
If you are in the market for an adult merchant account, call us today to discuss your benefits.