Specialty & High Risk Programs
The accounts everyone else misprices or declines
Some businesses don't fit the template a call-center agent was trained on. Fuel, high risk and firearms all get grouped into the too-hard pile — or approved at a rate that quietly punishes you for the industry you're in.
Specialty doesn't mean expensive. It means the account needs someone who knows which underwriting bank says yes, which interchange category applies, and how to configure the transaction so it qualifies. That's the whole job — and it's the part most providers skip.
Fuel & petroleum
The interchange category most fuel operators are never told about
Visa and Mastercard publish discounted interchange categories specifically for fuel and petroleum merchants. Qualifying for them depends on how the transaction is submitted — pump configuration, AVS handling, settlement timing and how your site reports itself. Get one detail wrong and every gallon downgrades.
We set the account up to qualify from day one, then keep watching it. Gas stations, c-stores, truck stops, fuel delivery and fleet fueling all sit in this program.
- Discounted fuel interchange qualification
- Pump, POS and c-store combined under one rate structure
- Fleet and purchasing card acceptance handled correctly
- Monthly downgrade review so it stays qualified
High risk
Underwriting relationships for the accounts other ISOs walk away from
High risk usually means one of two things: your industry scares the bank, or your chargeback profile does. Both are solvable with the right sponsor bank and honest paperwork — what kills applications is an agent who submits a file hoping nobody looks closely.
We place CBD and hemp, cannabis and dispensary, nutraceuticals, supplements, subscription and recurring billing, high-ticket and travel-adjacent accounts. You get realistic reserve terms quoted up front, not discovered after your first deposit is held.
- Multiple underwriting banks, not one shot at approval
- Reserve and rolling terms disclosed before you sign
- Chargeback alerts and representment included
- Compliant descriptor and billing setup to reduce disputes at the source
Firearms — FFL & non-FFL
We work this industry heavily, and we don't treat it as high risk
Plenty of processors quietly price firearms businesses as high risk or drop them after approval. We don't. This is an industry we work in every day, on both sides of the license.
Licensed FFL holders — dealers, gunsmiths, manufacturers and indoor ranges — get processing built around transfers, layaway, background-check delays and range membership billing. Non-FFL businesses selling ammunition, optics, accessories, safes, apparel and training get the same treatment: normal pricing, stable accounts, and a provider that doesn't panic at the MCC.
- FFL dealers, gunsmiths, manufacturers and ranges
- Non-FFL ammo, accessory, apparel and training retailers
- Layaway, transfer fees and range membership billing supported
- Accounts that don't get quietly terminated six months in