The Best Solution To Gain A Merchant Account For Pharmacy Industry

The pharmaceutical business is extremely profitable because of fast profits and high payouts. But keeping in tune with the times even though you own a brick and mortar store you must consider opening an online pharmacy because it was found that more and more Americans are purchasing their medicines online because:

• The medicines are delivered to their doorstep

• The pricing is often lesser than in physical stores and at times discounts are thrown in

• You can conveniently order from anywhere either via phone, a dedicated app or through their website

• Most importantly, you can maintain your privacy.

The need for a merchant account

With greater reliance on plastic cards, the need of the hour for every business that hopes to reach a wider customer base is to be able to accept credit card payments. For this to be possible the business must set up a merchant account.

What is a merchant account?

It is a bank account between the retailer, the bank and a payment processor which allows you to accept credit card and debit card payment. You need specialized equipment for credit card processing. This can be bought or leased from your merchant account provider. With these dedicated terminals in place, you will be able to accept credit and debit cards and also handle MOTO transactions.

Who are Online merchants?

When you step into the portals of the world wide web to market your goods or services you are termed an online merchant. The responsibility of the merchant does not end with selling a product but include managing all aspects of a business. To be able to do that it is not enough to have an e-commerce website in place. Unlike the POS systems prevalent in physical stores where customers present the card and authenticate it with a signature, for online transactions you need a virtual terminal. Of course, you must realize that all online transactions are a card not present transactions where the customer has to just key in the card number and there is no need for a physical card.

High-risk merchant account

Pharmacies are businesses that dispense over-the-counter medicines as well as prescribed drugs for health purposes. It is common knowledge that prescription drugs require a doctor’s prescription with details of the person for whom it is intended. While in a physical store one can dispense medicine only after verifying the prescription and in some cases the age of the customer that is not possible online. As a result, the risk of misusing medicines is high and this makes it a high-risk account.

Not only that, the popularity of the online business has given rise to fraudulent online pharmacies which are affecting genuine businesses putting them in the high-risk category. And not just MOTO pharmacies even compounding pharmacies are considered high risk, the later more so because it involves selling products specially put together or compounded for specific medical conditions.

Challenges to be overcome to open a merchant account

The first thing to understand when you become an online merchant is that you must be able to accept all credit cards for payment; if not all at least the more famous ones like Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and Amex. But due to the high-risk nature of the business getting a merchant account is not easy. You will face the following problems:

• You will be denied or refused a merchant account and in case you do get a merchant account the fees and rates will be much higher than other businesses.

• Chargebacks are common necessitating rolling reserves which can lead to a cash crunch in your business especially in the initial stages.

• The business will have no underwriters and even if there is one the chances of being shut-off are high especially by PayPal, First Data, Square and Stripe with the first sign of trouble.

• And once terminated your risk becomes higher and opening a merchant account all the more difficult.

But I am a new enterprise

Not just those who are terminated once even startups and new businesses are considered high risk because you might not be successful, you do not have a previous payment record and your bank balance might not be pleasing. Merchant account providers always weigh high risk vs low risk before opening their offers and services to newbies to the industry. Even the rates vary by startup and history making it really difficult to get accounts with reasonable rates that will give you some respite in the beginning days.

Will domestic and Offshore options work

The first choice for any business is a domestic account because it has lower rates and provides more security. But since high-risk businesses are often rejected by everyone opening an offshore merchant account is easier.

How can we help setup your merchant account?

We understand the pain of rejection that pharmacies and startups encounter but we have a solution that will help expand their business and bring in the profits.

Here are the benefits you can enjoy when you team up with us to pursue your dreams:

• Our application process is simple and straightforward

• We charge no setup fees and no application fees

• We have multiple underwriting banks to ensure that you are always covered even if someone backs out

• We understand the need for cash in the initial days of starting an enterprise and hence we assure you that with us there are no rolling reserve requirements

• We have a wide network of trustworthy banking partners who make it possible to offer you recurring billing services through a reliable payment gateway to protect your customer's credit card information. We can even help the gateway setup.

• Even high-risk accounts are offered ACH processing by us because we understand the need for security is greater in these businesses than anywhere else

• Our mobile App compatible with both iPhone and Android makes interacting with us a breeze – anytime anywhere.