Merchant Accounts For Nutraceuticals
An Overview
Nutra Merchant Services
Nutraceuticals collectively make up a massive $230+ billion industry, with tens of thousands of companies selling products that offer various benefits for consumers. Nutra business commerce takes place all over the world, whether it’s online, in person, via mail, or over the phone.
Unfortunately, many banks and credit card processors consider these nutra businesses to be “high risk”, and are unwilling to provide them with merchant services.
Soar Payments, by contrast, has consistently offered merchant services to nutra businesses since our company founding. We value the services provided by all types of companies within the industry, including companies selling supplements, vitamins, and many other products under the nutraceutical industry banner.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are common questions specific to nutraceuticals credit card processing:
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What types of nutraceuticals businesses do you accept?
We offer merchant accounts for a wide array of sub-industries related to nutraceuticals, these include: dietary supplements, food additives, vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, herbal products, extracts, concentrates, cosmeceuticals, beauty and cosmetic products, and other products supporting the structure or function of the body.
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Is Soar Payments compatible with my existing Nutra CRM or marketing automation software?
Nutra businesses — including companies which sell herbal supplements, cosmeceuticals, and other nutraceuticals — typically have a preferred CRM or marketing automation software platform they use. Because Soar Payments works with most major payment gateways (including Authorize.net, USAePay and NMI), our merchant accounts integrate with most popular software suites used by businesses in the nutra industry including:Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and similar ecommerce platforms, as well as marketing automation platforms like ClickFunnels, InfusionSoft, and OntraPort.
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What criteria does my nutraceutical business need to meet, to be approved for a merchant account by Soar Payments?
To be approved, nutraceutical businesses must meet the the following criteria:
- Must not offer “free plus shipping fee” deals, or free trials with nutra products;
- Subscription length must be 12 months or less (no subscriptions over 12 months);
- Must not sell products which contain ingredients on the banned list;
- Must not make exaggerated health claims on product advertising.
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Why are nutraceutical businesses considered “high risk” by banks and processors?
Nutra businesses are considered high risk for two main reasons:
- The industry is regulated. Nutraceuticals businesses are regulated by the US government, and cannot make certain promises about their products without having supporting clinical trials. Reviewing a nutra merchant account application for compliance with these regulations requires extra underwriting due diligence by the credit card processor.
- Nutraceuticals businesses are vulnerable to high chargeback ratios. While most nutra businesses maintain happy long-term customers, they are vulnerable to high rates of chargebacks, particularly when using subscription based models. This poses significant financial risks to the credit card processor.
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Types Of Nutraceuticals Merchant Accounts
Soar Payments offers a full spectrum of merchant accounts to nutra, vitamin, and other health supplement related businesses. These include:
Retail Payments
A retail nutra merchant account allows your business to accept face-to-face credit and debit card payments via a credit card machine or point of sale system. Ideal for businesses with a wired internet connection and a traditional storefront, these sales typically have the lowest fraud and chargeback risk and are therefore afforded the lowest pricing.
Mobile Payments
A mobile merchant account enables your company to accept in-person payments via a credit card swiping attachment that plugs in to your mobile or iPad. Ideal for nutra businesses that operate outside of a traditional storefront, such as at conventions, conferences or farmers markets, these accounts also have lower rates of fraud and chargebacks and are therefore priced similarly to retail accounts.
Virtual Terminal Payments
A virtual terminal account enables your company to accept payment over the phone, via mail, or via your laptop (without separate equipment). Ideal for businesses that accept a significant percentage of sales over the phone, these payments are vulnerable to increased fraud and chargebacks. Consequently, we offer merchants using a virtual terminal integrated chargeback fraud prevention tools.
eCommerce Payments
An eCommerce nutra merchant account enables your business to sell products online via your website.Our eCommerce merchant accounts integrate with most major payment gateways and website shopping carts, making setup simple. Online nutra merchant accounts are vulnerable to chargebacks and fraud, therefore we offer integrated tools to mitigate these risks.
Subscription-Based Businesses and Payments with Nick Fredrick
Many nutraceutical business owners offer subscription-based plans for their customers. Not only is it a powerful business model, it helps customers utilize products and services in the most convenient way.
On this episode, we explore subscription-based businesses with the help of our guest Nick Fredrick, who is the president of Rebar Technology. Rebar was created to help companies needing support with subscription technology and operations.
Nick’s expertise brings his clients improved revenue and reduced expenses, while implementing systems that scale faster and with greater stability.
Our podcast explores the fast-changing world of payments and fintech through interviews with thought leaders around the world. From credit card processing to bitcoin, and digital banks to finance software… we cover it all!