What does high risk actually mean?
It means the sponsor bank sees a higher chance of chargebacks, fraud, or financial exposure from your account, and prices or structures the account accordingly. It does not mean you cannot get approved. Many perfectly legitimate, well-run businesses fall into high-risk categories simply because of the industry they operate in.
What pushes a business into the high-risk category?
- Industry — travel, subscriptions, supplements, firearms, adult, CBD, and others are commonly categorised high risk regardless of how the business is run.
- Chargeback ratio — a history of disputes above the card network thresholds.
- High average tickets — large individual transactions carry more exposure.
- Recurring billing — subscription models see more disputes than one-off sales.
- New or thin history — little processing track record to underwrite against.
Does high risk mean higher fees?
Usually, yes — the pricing reflects the added exposure the bank is taking on. It can also mean a rolling reserve, where a percentage of your volume is held temporarily, or volume caps until you build history. These are risk controls, not penalties, and they often ease as your account establishes a clean record.
How do you improve your chances of approval?
Present clean, complete documentation, a clear description of what you sell, and a realistic processing forecast. A well-prepared application with accurate volumes and a solid chargeback-management plan reads very differently from a vague one. Working with a provider who understands your industry — and matches you to the right sponsor bank — is often the difference between an approval and a decline.
How VOXEPAY approaches it
VOXEPAY works with your business type rather than against it, preparing the application and routing it to underwriting that fits your risk profile. If your industry needs a specific processor or a particular structure, we set it up that way from the start — rather than submitting blind and hoping.