Fast, Secure Card Processing for Online Dating Merchant Accounts
The dating industry has grown enormously in the last few years, thanks to the rise of Tinder and other dating apps. But while the industry is booming, many banks still refuse to offer merchant accounts to these businesses. That’s because dating companies are typically classified as “high-risk”.
However, at TailoredPay we don’t believe that your business should be punished simply because of the industry you chose. Whether you run a niche dating website or a repeat-billing subscription service, we are here to help set you up with a high risk merchant account that you need to grow and thrive.
Why Do Banks View Online Dating Businesses as High Risk?
From collection agencies to MLMs to dropshipping, there are a wide range of businesses that payment processors consider high-risk. What makes them add online dating to the list? For the most part, online dating companies are considered high risk because they incur a higher than average number of chargebacks. Even high-risk credit card processing institutions are wary of chargeback rates over 2%, and that number is surpassed more often than normal in the online dating industry.
Often, when subscribers are unhappy with the potential dates they’ve been able to find, they will go a step further than just cancelling their subscription. Instead, the customer will file a chargeback for their first payment.
The responsibility then falls on the business to dispute the chargeback. This is difficult to do and take time, effort, and money from both the dating business and the credit card processor.
When this type of financial burden becomes frequent across an industry, processors grow reluctant to work with companies that they suspect will face a large number of chargebacks.
The Risk of Dishonest Customers
Sometimes, a customer demands a refund due to their own misbehavior rather than the company’s. This happens to online dating merchant accounts when cheaters are caught by their partners. The person who was cheating may lie, claiming they never opened the dating account, and file a chargeback to get themselves out of trouble. Alternatively, an angry partner may refuse to pay for the service that inadvertently facilitated an infidelity.
Reputation is another reason why it’s difficult to obtain an online dating merchant account. While there are numerous dating services that follow laws and regulations, the industry is also a popular choice for fronts. A company that tells its credit card processor that they are a dating service might secretly be involved in money laundering, illegal MLM schemes, or sex work.
In addition to avoiding association, payment processors know they can incur fines and other penalties if linked to illegal business transactions. Thus, a small number of unscrupulous companies make it harder for the majority of perfectly legitimate dating businesses to open low-fee merchant accounts.
Avoiding Common Problems
Your small business merchant account is more likely to be approved if you can show that your business is reliable and law-abiding. Make sure that your website states clear terms and services to every customer. Follow up subscriptions and payments with emails that keep the customers in the loop.
It’s also a good idea to include clear contact information in all billing correspondence. It’s okay to be subtle, but totally obscuring your company’s identity leaves the customer with no option but to reach out to your credit card processor if they have questions. That’s a sure recipe for chargebacks and financial losses.
How Long Will It Take to Approve My Merchant Account?
TailoredPay acts as a solution to the challenges that online dating businesses face. We don’t discriminate against this popular industry and we provide secure payment options, responsive customer service, and competitive rates.
Signing up for your online dating merchant account can be a pretty quick process. We aim to process all applications within two working days. This allows our underwriters sufficient time to assess your application, and ensure that you are set up with the right payment processing option to suit the needs of your business.
Occasionally, we may need to take a little longer with your application. This is usually due to missing documentation which we need to verify your business. To prevent this from happening, please ensure that you include all of the required documentation along with your application.