on line sales, card processor says we are high risk

We are a brick and mortar store with a web presence that generates a decent amount of sales. Few of the sales are processed on-line. Instead, customers typically either come to the store or we get the credit card information over the phone. We do not ship wine as it’s illegal to do so in Maryland. However, we can legally deliver in our county as long as the person doing the delivery is an employee of the store and gets identification. Right now we are makeng some improvements to our website. While improving the website, I had to enter our credit card processing credentials to accept on line payments. When I tried to so this, the website told me to call the processor. I called the processor (Merchantware/Cayan) and asked them what the problem was. They told me they won’t handle my online payments because we are high risk thanks to the age restriction placed on alcohol sales. Cayan referred me to another processor. I get the application from the other processor and the application is absurd. Among other things it includes a $99 annual fee, $10 monthly fee for Visa/MC/Discover, $7.95 monthly fee for Amex and an unbelievably strong personal guarantee. I told the on-line payment processor to forget it, I would look elsewhere. I went to their website and they promote themselves as a processor which specializes in handling

  • Adult
    Firearms And Ammunition
    Business Opportunity
    Payment Facilitators
    Tobacco
    Bail Bonds
    Nutraceuticals
    Dating
    Direct Marketing
    Buying Clubs
    Vaping

I called my current processor and said this is ridiculous. We are incredibly low risk, everything we do is face to face, we have a few charge backs a year, usually due to POS software foul ups, and we have never been a problem. They said too bad, we are not taking this on. My research suggests that this is now industry-wide best practices. We used to have online processing but apparently nobody cared until recently. Has anyone else run into this? If so, what did you do? On line payments are a minor concern for us so I will probably just abandon it. I considered Paypal but that just screams “amateur!” as if I am selling used bicycles from my mom’s basement (apologies in advance to anyone who uses Paypal and/or sells stuff from their mom’s basement). I can just have people fill their cart and pay when they pick up. For delivery my processor has a portable unit like Square’s.

Try UMS

http://www.unitedmerchant.com/

We get 5 or more calls per month from various merchant service providers telling us we are low risk and qualify for lower rates offered to the majors.

Belated, but try reaching out to World Class Payments.

https://worldclasspayments.com

Have worked with them in the past. They work with a lot of wine and spirits merchants, so they definitely know the lay of the land.

Stripe.com should present you with no issues.