Here’s how to get a merchant account for your online dating site.

In today’s busy, technology-oriented world, looking for love and companionship on the internet via an adult dating site is becoming very popular, and entrepreneurs like you are jumping in to provide what clients want.

Because an essential part of your operation will involve receiving money from your customers in exchange for your services, you will need to accept online payments. Before you sign up with the first merchant provider that comes up in your Google search, take a few minutes to learn the details about how to get the best service provider and optimal customer service as well.

A word about “high-risk” or specialty categories.

Conduct even a cursory internet search for merchant account providers, and you will quickly realize that the market is overflowing with various companies competing to sign you up as a customer. However, it is essential that you understand a hard fact about the online dating sector before you sign on any dotted lines.

This industry is automatically placed in the “high-risk” category by payment providers. Even if you are initially accepted as a customer by conventional or low-risk financial institutions, your account will be summarily closed down as soon as the nature of your business becomes known to the lender.

Exactly what is it about internet dating sites that makes banks nervous? Keep in mind that, like you, they want to make money. The following factors about this sector make the majority of conventional lenders reluctant to accept you as a customer.

• Higher likelihood of chargebacks. These occur when a customer asks their credit card company to provide a refund for your services. For example, this might happen if a relationship did not work out or if the client had second thoughts or remorse about spending their hard-earned dollars on the fickle world of human relationships. Whatever the cause, these forced refunds cost the seller time and money and furnish the merchant account provider with additional headaches.
• Business plan obstacles. These days, online dating sites are a dime a dozen, making it quite a challenge to set yours apart from the rest. The result is that many of these operations don’t survive, a fact that lenders know all too well.
• Reputation concerns. Even if everything you are doing is 100% legal and above board, the online adult dating world still carries with it the suggestion of shady enterprises such as escort services, etc. Like it or not, many conventional lenders simply do not want their name associated with a potentially unseemly reputation.

The good news is that you can still thrive in spite of your high-risk status. That is because there are numerous companies with expertise in the dating industry who are prepared to accept the added burden that your type of business brings.

What to expect from a high-risk merchant account provider.

These companies perform the same services as their conventional counterparts, enabling you to securely accept electronic payments of various types (credit and debit cards, checked, digital wallets, etc.) from your clients. At this point, it is important to have a discussion about the payment processor vs. payment gateway.

Simply put, your payment processor is the entity that works behind the scenes to ensure that all payment data is sent securely to every player in the payment process, facilitating all aspects of the payment from beginning to end. The payment gateway is the intermediary tool that screens the customer and communicates whether the payment has been approved or declined to the interested parties.

As a high-risk business, you can expect the same seamless, safe transactions that standard companies receive. The difference is that you will pay higher per-transaction fees and may be required to undergo additional scrutiny during the application process.

Furthermore, some providers will demand that you open a reserve account that they will only access if you are unable to pay your bill for any reason.

How to find the best merchant provider for your dating business.

As you might imagine, not all merchant account providers are created equal. Therefore, it is crucial that you do your homework before hitching your dating website’s star to a particular vendor. To that end, look for the following important qualities.

• Expertise in the online dating industry. A company comfortable with your industry will already have relationships with numerous banks and payment providers, making accepting money from your diverse customer pool go more smoothly.
• Reasonable, transparent fees. Although it is true that you can expect to pay elevated per-transaction charges because of your high-risk status, that does not mean your merchant account should be prohibitively expensive. Review several before making your decision to ensure that you are not being hit with excessive costs or required to be locked into a protracted contract.
• Allows for multiple payment options. Although most of your customers will probably use credit or debit cards to fund their accounts, it is important that you partner with a provider that lets you offer additional methods of payment as well. 
• Scalability. Your dating business might be small now, but you are probably hoping that it will grow over time. Perhaps you might even choose to go global at some point in the future. To that end, you want to work with a provider who can evolve with your changing fortunes.
• Excellent customer service. In the ecommerce ecosystem, it is vital that your site be up and running at all hours. Downtime means lost profits. Therefore, you need to work with a merchant account provider with human agents who are available to troubleshoot, answer your questions and work with you to get up and running as quickly as possible. To determine the quality of a company’s customer care, look at reviews from other businesses who have partnered with them in the past. Also, try contacting them yourself at various times of the day. Finally, review their other support options, including virtual assistants, user forums, and email to ensure that they provide a complete suite of services.

The online adult dating sector has the potential to provide you with a profitable, lucrative business. Once you lay a strong foundation of quality offerings, secure payments, and reliable customer support, you can develop a loyal customer base in this highly competitive ecommerce space.