Despite the explosive growth of the CBD (Cannabidiol) market, CBD merchants have historically faced rejection by merchant account providers, payment processors, and payment gateways alike.
Shopify, one of the leading and most popular eCommerce platforms, does not currently accept payment for CBD products. Specifically, Shopify Payments cannot be used to process payments for any and all CBD products.
Shopify has addressed the needs of its CBD merchants and has partnered up with a few integrated third-party payment gateways that do support the sale of hemp and/or hemp-derived CBD products.
One of them is the EMB Gateway. EMB specializes in high-risk merchant accounts such as CBD businesses. The exact CBD businesses that EMB prides itself in serving include: supplements and vitamins, beauty products, oil and tinctures, pet products, and so much more. EMB strives to create payment processing solutions that will benefit both the merchant and their customers.
The many benefits of integrating EMB into your Shopify include: adding and managing additional payment processors and payment methods in one place and you can route transactions to different payment processors or payment methods. Best of all, its advanced features like multi-currency conversion and 3D Secure fraud protection offer peace of mind.
So How Does It Work?
To begin accepting payments using the EMB Gateway, you will need to connect your Square account with the EMB Gateway. Here are the steps:
- Sign in to your EMB Gateway.
- Under Square Connect, click on “Connect Square App”.
- Click “Authorize This Application”.
- You will be directed to a page that reads “Permission”, which displays a list of features you’re giving permission to, simply click “Allow”.
- The next page will read, “Application Successfully Authorized”, simply click on the button that says, “Continue to complete the process”.
- Under “Square Settings” add your information under “Location” and then click “Save”.
And that’s it! You’ve connected your Square account with the EMB Gateway.
To select EMB as your payment gateway on Shopify, follow these steps:
- Log in to your Shopify account and click on the “Settings” gear on the bottom left-hand corner of your dashboard.
- Under Settings, choose the “Payment Providers” option.
- Scroll down towards the bottom, right-hand side, under “Third-party providers”, click on “Choose third-party provider”.
- In the search bar at the top, type in “EMB”, the eMerchantBroker.com (EMB) will auto-fill. Choose it.
- Under account information, fill in your gateway credentials and password. Scroll down and click “Reactivate eMerchantBroker (EMB)”.
- At the top of the same page, click on “Payment Providers”, you can then scroll down and see that “EMB” is now one of your payment gateway providers.
It’s as easy as that! Now you can start taking payments.
What Do I Need To Get An EMB Gateway?
First you must have a merchant account or another alternative payment solution that EMB has integration with. If you don’t have a merchant account, you can open one up with EMB by filling out a simple online application. You would need to submit some necessary documents (i.e., ID or passport, proof of domain ownership, business utility bill, etc.). Many merchants are approved between 24 and 48 hours.
Gone are the days where CBD merchants had little to no options when it came to selling their CBD products online. Now, with new partnerships and integrations, such as the EMB Square integration with Shopify, new opportunities are opening up for this once, shunned market.