Gaming Merchant Accounts: Key Business Terms

As you can see, one big factor in determining whether a business is considered high risk or low risk is whether it is based locally or offshore. Another is the amount of money involved. Any gaming merchant applying for a high risk merchant account is likely to encounter issues with the provider, depending on the status of his business. If a gambling business is proven to have no record of fraud or a huge percentage of chargebacks, then it has a good chance of getting approved. Moreover, if it is a mere startup that eventually sees high volume credit card processing in the future transactions, then it will also find good benefit in hiring the services of a high risk merchant account provider.

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Gaming Versus Gambling

Many people have always asked what gambling is and how it differs from gaming. Does it matter? Heck, yeah. When applying for a high risk merchant account, you would soon find out that if your business involves only gaming you have a better chance of being approved for the account. For example, in one UK merchant account provider, applicants would have to fill up a form for assessment and underwriting to figure out if an application has a high likelihood of getting accepted. But only businesses dealing with gambling need fill out that form. Gaming businesses, on the other hand, are quickly offered discount rates and other information on fees and setup. Unintentional as it may seem, gambling always elicits more suspicion than other high risk businesses.

Well, for obvious reasons -- but let me get a little technical to make it clear.

Think of gambling as gaming that involves criminally high stakes. I don't mean that gamblers can get arrested for going to Harrah's. Unlike gaming, gambling blurs the line between the legal and the illegal. The US lawmakers have been pursuing countrywide regulations on internet (especially poker) gambling but we have yet to see what they come up with. As far as we are concerned, games such as bingo, lottery, and horse betting are considered legal up to this point. The qualifying basis of the legality of a game is where the money is transacted and where the operators are located. Since online gambling businesses are not allowed to operate in the US, most of them are based offshore -- in countries where they can legally operate and have taxation privileges.

Gaming, on the other hand, is a legal form of playing and betting and does not run the risk of being penalized by law. In other words, compared to gambling, it is a business of much lower risk.

P2P Betting Versus Betting Exchange

Sportsbooks

More gaming articles to read:

10 Questions to Ask Your Gaming Merchant Account Provider

Get Lucky! Scoring a Lottery Merchant Account Offshore Part 1

Get Lucky! Scoring a Lottery Merchant Account Offshore Part 2

Online Casino Merchant Accounts for Legit Poker Rooms

Scam Problems? Better Business Bureau Can Help!

How can people know if they are dealing with a reputable credit card repair service company? Consult with the Better Business Bureau or do some background research on the company. These companies may be using some form of reliable and secure backup protection system such as high risk merchant account services.

Scam Problems? Better Business Bureau Can Help!

by Gerri Bryce

Chicken or Egg?

I don't know exactly where or how it all began. I had to talk to a few Better Business Bureau(http://www.bbb.org/) personnel to find out some statistics about fraudulent companies, if any, that they might have inadvertently put in their list. While I was at it, I was hearing stories about scholarship scams. Then people who complain of identity theft on their credit card accounts. Then people with credit score problems. When I went home, I was just riddled with questions about the whole credit card processing dilemma. Chicken or egg? Merchant account owner or credit card holder? Who's the real victim?

Scholarship Scams

The Better Business Bureau had issued a warning on everyone from parents to students who wish to go to college to be careful with scholarship offers. Who wants to be scammed? If you visit their website, you will see a good list of signs for you to figure out if you are on the verge of being tricked by a financial aid fraudster. My opinion is that with a little bit of common sense and savvy against white collar crimes like these, students and parents won't be scammed. Most of these "modi operandi" may be relayed through telemarketing or direct mail. A graduating high school student, for example, will be told she won a scholarship grant with a check attached in the mail. She will then be advised to cash it out from the bank, then pay additional X dollars for transaction fees. Are several thousand dollars for a tuition fee not tempting enough? The check will look so authentic that even banks will find it hard to distinguish that it is fake until several weeks later.

Then, how will anyone find out that the scholarship grant is real or not? Check out the Better Business Bureau list. It will save you a limb.

Identity Theft

People complain of bad credit score, ask for a credit report from Experian, then find out someone else has stolen their name, Social Security number, and credit card details. How did it happen? Most of them would be at loss until they realize they must have thrown some important documents on the trash can and some shrewd thief picked up the "gift". Or worse, some establishments like pawn shops who have taken their personal information have carelessly discarded those documents somewhere -- a blessing for credit card criminals. Identity theft happens both online and offline. Without a secure anti-hacking system in a website's server or database, anyone can be a victim of unscrupulous credit card identity theft.

How can anyone find out if their credit card and other financial details are not stolen? Ask for a credit report from the major credit card bureaus such as TransUnion, Experian and Equifax annually. Dispute suspicious looking items as needed.

Credit Repair

The real misery people face is when they soon find out they cannot make new loans, pay for mortgage, buy a new car, acquire a new credit line, or get a new job due to bad or poor credit score. This is when they resort to credit counseling -- either free or with fee. If they can dispute their credit score personally, then they won't need the services of a credit repair or debt consolidation company. This is only an option. However, these companies can provide services if people with bad credit have a number of negative items in their credit report that are difficult to dispute.

How can people know if they are dealing with a reputable credit card repair service company? Consult with the Better Business Bureau or do some background research on the company. These companies may be using some form of reliable and secure backup protection system such as high risk merchant account services.

Pawn Shop Merchant Account: Why Should You Get One?

One encouraging thing about building an online pawn shop is that you get more exposure and thus more chances of earning good income. The Internet is fraught with advertising possibilities and cutting edge technology to assist you in your business. For example, whether you are a start up online pawn shop or already have an established store processing high volume of credit card transactions monthly, acquiring a high risk merchant account can be a big help in your business.

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Perhaps one of oldest institutions in the financial world is the pawn shop. During medieval times, people would have no place to borrow money fast and easy except from pawn shops. Pawn shops allow them to make an emergency loan without going through hefty paper work. Ironically, the only thing that has changed is that people no longer need to go to a land-based pawn shop to pawn or buy goodies that have been pawned. They can easily do it online. Although comparably slow, many pawn shops today have made a leap from being merely brick and mortar to having a website of their own. The advantages far outnumber the pitfalls.

Why would anyone want to put up an online pawn shop anyways? Don't so many people already distrust pawn shops with the notion that most of the merchandise on display are stolen? It's unfortunate that people still believe in this myth. In reality, pawn shops are licensed and are being regulated by government agencies. Pawn shops selling various pawned goods online also have land-based stores to complement their websites. The only difference is that with the online shop, people pay using their credit cards.

The best reason to establish your own online pawn shop is the fact that with the perfectly targeted customer base, you have so much to offer and can earn good money. A quick visit to any pawn shop will tell you that people from all walks of life pawn their merchandise which people from elsewhere in the world may want to buy. At a much lower price, these items may still be in good condition and be a part of a hobbyist's collection.

The bottom line is that a pawn shop can be reputable as any type of business. Like a virtual flea market, it boasts of a huge variety of items which may hardly be found anywhere. And with the right online merchant account services to back you up, handling an online pawn shop becomes actually more fun than fatiguing.

The variety of items you can sell can range from car parts, appliances, electronic gadgets (computers, gaming systems, cellphones), CDs/DVDs, toys, rare jewelry (gold chains, brooches, scrap gold, watches, etc.), musical instruments, and hard to find items of good value. Even vintage items like LPs and unusual collections like rare beach shells are also sold or auctioned online.

One encouraging thing about building an online pawn shop is that you get more exposure and thus more chances of earning good income. The Internet is fraught with advertising possibilities and cutting edge technology to assist you in your business. For example, whether you are a start up online pawn shop or already have an established store processing high volume of credit card transactions monthly, acquiring a high risk merchant account can be a big help in your business.

More:

Pawn Shop Merchant Account: Why Should You Get One?

Adult Merchant Accounts Fast Guide to Selling Adult Products Online

This new and exciting avenue for sex product buyers and sellers obviously comes with some form of demand from the buyers' part. If you have applied for a high risk merchant account provider, chances are you have also been offered of their special services such as website design, shopping cart hosting, secure credit card processing system, database encryption, multiple currency acceptance, virtual terminals, and even online advertising services. It is wise to pick the services that would most likely benefit your customers -- i.e., earn their trust. ( See "7 Best Tools for Providing First-Rate Customer Service" to learn more about this topic.) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have you ever asked yourself how big a relief it is for stores selling adult products to go online? Well, decades ago, you would have to visit a brick and mortar porn store to buy a XXX DVD title or ultra sexy black thong for your girlfriend. Yes, "visit" as in step your foot inside a sex shop, leaving your grandma in the car waiting after telling her you need to pick up a pair of socks from the nearby department store. Whew. You go into the sex store with cheeks flushed, hoping your next-door neighbor parish personnel won't see you hiding behind the strap-on stands and love dolls.

Now, with adult stores going brick and click, it's way easier for people to buy sex toys, adult books, adult DVDs, and other adult-related products. With a little extra on the shipping payment, the product can easily be delivered on their doorsteps without anyone knowing what's inside the box or where it came from. All they need to do is call up or order from an adult website store's shopping cart, pay online with their credit cards, and get their product within 2 days or less.

For high risk merchants who sell adult products online, the relief is just as tremendous. Many people are embarrassed of going to adult stores and want things to be discreet when it comes to buying sex products. The ability to showcase their products online and provide an efficient shopping cart for buyers along with a payment gateway to process credit cards help boost their sales. As a a high risk merchant, did you figure out the advantages of being able to sell your adult products online? It does give your customers the ability to:

1. Easily browse the products online with a well designed catalog

2. Input their credit card details on the shopping cart buying form.

3. Check the delivery status of their products

This new and exciting avenue for sex product buyers and sellers obviously comes with some form of demand from the buyers' part. If you have applied for a high risk merchant account provider...

See the rest of the article:

Adult Merchant Accounts: Quick Guide to Selling Adult Products Online