Maintaining and improving the merchant accounts for high-risk business clients is usually the greatest challenge for any payment processing developer. Such merchant accounts are where most of the risks of fraud lie and where you face the greatest risk of disputes and other problems.
So, how does one go about integrating payment solutions for merchant accounts, especially when it comes to credit card payments? While the technical aspects of this change almost daily at this point, there are certain principles that are always at play.
1. Always improve your transaction monitoring systems
Every possible problem in high-risk merchant account credit card transactions happens (or can be traced back to) the transaction itself. Therefore, the first key thing to do is to make sure that you are always monitoring transactions as well as possible. This is trickier than it sounds, as scam and fraud methods always evolve, too.
So, it’s essential always to improve your transaction monitoring systems. Employing learning algorithms, establishing and reevaluating transaction thresholds based on historical data, and better flagging anomalies are just a few examples of how to try and make sure you’re always on top of every single transaction that goes through.
2. Advance your fraud prevention tools
Just monitoring transactions is not enough, as the main goal here is to prevent fraud in the first place. The best payment processors out there, such as PayCompass and others, have already started employing AI and machine learning to scan and flag transactions and integrate verification processes in various steps and layers. These can include two-step authentication, 3D Secure, card verification value checks (CVV), address verification services (AVS), and more.
3. Have a chargeback prevention strategy
Chargebacks are one of the “smaller” types of fraud regarding loss at the point of individual transactions. However, they are one of the most significant types of fraud when looked at more broadly in terms of total loss for high-risk merchant account clients. Chargebacks have a tendency to pile up very quickly if they are not addressed properly.
That’s why it is essential that your payment solution, especially for high-risk merchant accounts, has a comprehensive and up-to-date chargeback detection and prevention strategy. There should always be a protocol in place for dealing with chargeback disputes and addressing them as swiftly and effectively as possible.
4. Keep up with regulation compliance
If you want your payment processor to be used as broadly and as much as possible, you need to make sure that it’s usable in as many countries and geographical areas as possible. This isn’t just a matter of technical logistics; it’s also a matter of making sure your processor complies with legal regulations wherever your clients wish to operate.
Regulations change frequently, especially in places like the EU and the US, and your high-risk merchant accounts will want to use a payment processor that addresses such regulations properly. Otherwise, the clients themselves may be at risk for not complying with regulations, at which point they won’t be interested in using your payment solution anymore.
5. Maintain transaction records
Helping your clients maintain a good database of transaction records is a key service many high-risk businesses look for. Such records are often key for dealing with transaction disputes, fraud claims, and chargebacks. Ensuring you have a good automated transaction record system is a huge step toward satisfying your high-risk clients.
6. Stay in touch with your merchant account customers
Just like your high-risk clients need to always stay in touch with their customers, you, too, want to maintain good communication with your merchant account clients. Using automated tools to send updates and notifications is helpful for transparency’s sake, but there should also always be fast and effective in-person communication channels available to help better address any issue that may arise.
7. Develop customized risk solutions
A key step many payment processors skip is working with your high-risk clients to develop customized risk solutions for them based on their needs and concerns. Most high-risk clients can be divided into a limited number of models and types; however, even within those models, there are often specifics you might fail to address if you just use the same 2-3 service packages for all your clients. So, especially for larger long-term clients, it’s often worth spending extra time and effort developing custom solutions for their needs.
Kyle Lewis is a seasoned technology journalist with over a decade of experience covering the latest innovations and trends in the tech industry. With a deep passion for all things digital, he has built a reputation for delivering insightful analysis and thought-provoking commentary on everything from cutting-edge consumer electronics to groundbreaking enterprise solutions.
