I'm outside US and just recently applied for a merchant account with World Pay.

The expected monthly turnover was over $10,000.
After their risk assesment they said that they can only accept my application if I deposit the expected monthly turnover amount into their account for security for 6 months after which they will asses if the money should be returned or not. This is silly I can't afford to do this.

Has this happened to anyone else?

I was declined at a few processors because it looks like a turnover of over 10,000 a month is too high risk for them... ANY IDEAS ?

If I put lower amount once they see the amount of transactions I'm afraid they'll suspect something, put account on hold or again ask for security deposit.

I've seen this happen on some accounts that are particularly high risk. Some accounts present so much risk that a processor wants to get one month's worth in reserve - either upfront or by accruing it over time.

I'm not familiar with any of the details on your account or the reasonining behind WorldPay's decision, perhaps with more information we could all advise you further.

not familiar with world pay .....
giv authorize.net a trial. they seems good

Hi guys

Thanks for your posts and help:)

I am really not sure what made them think this is high risk. I was under the impression that all hosts might be getting the same feedback especially if the amounts are higher than xyz$ (maybe 5-10000 in my estimate). There was nothing really that seems high risk (I even mentioned that 85% of clients are monthly subscriptions). Really no clue why.

In your experience what would be some factors to point to some high-risk merchants.

P.S. I can't open Authorize.net account cause the company is based outside US and they only deal inside the States.

We're a "bit" stuck for a solution if the "high risk" excuse really is common/truthfull.

Thanx to all that participate:)

For hosting - you might have to put up $500 & then have a higher discount rate - but I am not too certain about the deposit. Some companies require it & some do not. Keep checking around.

There is definitely a higher degree of risk in Web hosting than exists in many other business categories.

But asking for a full month's reserves upfront is a bit on the extreme side but that might be a typical policy for WorldPay on some accounts. I don't know enough about their underwriting criteria to tell you for sure.