Merchant Accounts For Vape & eCig Businesses
An Overview
eCig, Vape, and eJuice Merchant Accounts
The global e-cigarette and vape market is massive, valued at over $12.5 billion… and growing. There are thousands of fantastic businesses selling various products in this industry both online and in person.
Unfortunately, many banks and credit card processors consider e-cig and vape businesses to be “high risk”, and are unwilling to provide them with merchant services.
Fortunately, Soar Payments has consistently offered merchant services to e-cig and vape businesses since our company founding. We value the services provided by all types of companies within the industry, and can offer merchant accounts without the terminations or payout freezes that have affected eCig merchants with companies like PayPal, Stripe or Intuit Quickbooks.
NOTE: At this time, Soar Payments can only approve eCig and vape companies that meet certain criteria:
For companies selling flavored vape juice products: The FDA has declared that companies must cease manufacture, distribution and sale of all flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes except tobacco and menthol. Selling unauthorized flavors (such as fruit or mint e-cig cartridges) risks FDA enforcement actions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are common questions specific to vape and eCig merchant accounts:
-
What types of eCig industry businesses do you accept?
Soar Payments accepts a wide range of US-based retail, eCommerce and mobile-based businesses related to eCigarettes and vaping. These include eJuice, e-Cig, glass, head shop, smoke shop, vaporizers, vapor, vape pods, cigalikes, accessories, smoking lounges, and related goods and services. Currently we cannot accept business that sell unauthorized ejuice flavors such as fruit and mint, however. Only tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigs are approved by the FDA.
-
Is Soar Payments compatible with my existing Vape & eCig POS or ecommerce software platform?
Established vape/e-cigarette businesses typically have a preferred eCommerce, shopping cart or CRM software platform they use, and we’re happy to support them.
Soar Payments vaping & e-cig merchant accounts, either directly or via a payment gateway, are compatible and integrate with the following ecommerce, POS and marketing automation platforms:
Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Volusion, ClickFunnels, InfusionSoft, and OntraPort. We’re Also Compatible With Many Other CRM & Software Suites. Soar Payment’s vaping & e-cig merchant accounts can be integrated with most other software or CRM platforms which are compatible with the Authorize.net, NMI, or USAePay payment gateways.
-
What criteria does my vape or e-cig business need to meet, to be approved for a merchant account by Soar Payments?
To be approved, your businesses must meet the the following criteria:
- Must follow the latest FDA rules and regulations regarding e-Cig product sales
- Must only sell vaporizers that work with e-juices;
- Must not sell vapes that can be used with herbs or flowered plants;
- Must not display any Marijuana/Cannabis imagery of any kind on products or web site.
If you plan on accepting eCommerce payments, underwriting will also require the following before approval:
- A secure website with an SSL certificate (*minimum of 128 bit encryption, 1024 bit exchange and https://). Optional Vendors: Comodo, GoDaddy.
- Visible Visa, MasterCard, Discover & AmEx logos on your checkout page. Optional Source: Logos.
- Full descriptions of products or service plans sold.
- A functional shopping cart or checkout page.
-
Why is my e-cig or vape business considered “high risk” by banks and credit card processors?
Most credit card processors do not accept electronic cigarette and vape merchants for two reasons:
- E-cig related products are age restricted and regulated by the federal government. That means that they require extra underwriting knowledge and procedures by the credit card processor, which many processors are not prepared to offer.
- E-cig and vape products have become a “political” issue, and many sponsor banks and their credit card processors have decided that the political costs to their business outweigh the benefits, and therefore refuse to offer merchant services to legitimate and well run eCig and vape related businesses.
Want more information? Click here to read our extended list of our FAQ.
Our friendly Customer Support Team is standing by to approve your application
Questions? (888) 225-9405
Types Of eCig & Vape Merchant Accounts
Soar Payments offers a full-spectrum of merchant accounts to eCig, eJuice shops, and other businesses in the vape industry. These include:
Retail Payments
A retail vape merchant account allows your company to accept face-to-face credit and debit transactions via a traditional credit card machine or point of sale system.
Best suited for a traditional storefront retail setting with a reliable wired internet connection, examples include retail vape shops, head shops, glass retailers, and smoking lounges. Retail credit card processing has the lowest cost, because of its lower risk of fraud or chargebacks.
Mobile Payments
A mobile vape or eCig merchant account enables your business to accept face-to-face payments via an attachment that plus into your mobile phone or iPad.
Ideal for eCig or vape merchants who sell outside a traditional storefront, such as eCig and Juice retailers that sell at conventions or outdoor events, it does not require a wired internet connection. Mobile eCig merchant accounts are typically priced similarly to retail as the rates of fraud and chargebacks are relatively low.
Virtual Terminal Payments
Commonly called a payment gateway merchant account, a virtual terminal allows you to accept payments over the phone, via mail order, or typed into a special website via your computer (without any outside equipment).
eCig payment gateway accounts are best suited for businesses who primarily want to accept orders over the phone. Due to increased risk of fraud and chargebacks, Soar Pay offers fraud protection technology to protect the business with these accounts.
eCommerce Payments
Want to sell eJuice, eCigs, or other vape related products online? You’ll need an eCommerce merchant account with an integrated payment gateway.
Our Vape and eCig eCommerce merchant account integrate with most major shopping cart and payment gateway platforms, making setup on your website simple. Due to the increased risk of fraud and chargebacks on eCommerce vape sales, Soar Payments offers integrated fraud protection technology.
eCommerce And Shopify Payments Insights With Chase Clymer
Many merchants in the eCig, vape, eJuice, or smoking accessories industries have realized the power of online sales. Setting up a website, perhaps even a Shopify store, often proves to be a great way to start or grow a business in the space.
Still, there are several elements to keep in mind in order to have success in eCommerce, or the Shopify platform (such as knowing that Shopify Payments can often be unavailable for businesses considered to be "high risk").
Chase Clymer, Co-Founder of Electric Eye, a growth agency focusing on eCommerce brands using Shopify specifically joins the podcast to offer his insights.
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!