High Risk Merchant Services for Debt Relief

Student loans have made higher education an achievable dream for many. It is most appropriate as it allows students to pay back once they complete their education and start earning. Despite this flexibility, some students request to modify the terms of the loan at payback time. This happens because they do get a job, but it doesn’t pay well enough to pay up installments and meet the monthly expenses. On the contrary, a few look to get rid of the financial burden as soon as possible.

Loan modification merchants help students modify the amount of the monthly payments, higher or lower, depending on their financial capacity. They also help revise time frames. In order to provide students a streamlined and hassle-free experience during the loan modification process, it helps to have a good merchant account.

Now that’s one of the challenging tasks; student loan modification businesses are counted among “high-risk” ventures. Hence, opting for standard nationalized banks and payment processing systems could end in lengthy approval processes, rejected applications, frozen accounts and funds and high processing rates. As a merchant specializing in student loan documentation and loan modification services, you can get a merchant account from third party companies. They specialise in high risk businesses. And with several banking relationships they agree to underwrite your business at affordable costs.

Choosing a Debt Relief Loan Modification Merchant

10 Questions to Ask

Customers pay you for the loan modification services you offer. A merchant account enables you to accept these payments and manage cash flows. Here’s what you need to ask before you seal the deal with your merchant account provider.

1. What are the payment options? Nowadays, most funds are remitted electronically; cash transactions have been reduced to the minimum. Card payments, eCheck and ACH processing are the favoured options. Speaking of card payments, the merchant account should accept credit and debit cards. It should be equipped for card not present transactions such as Mail Order, Telephone Order, MO/TO and CNP. Look up the credit card acceptance – Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Discover are the commonly accepted types of credit cards.

2. How much will you be spending? Student loan modification is a high risk industry. Therefore, a higher rate than a general merchant account is a given. Compare the price for the risk profile and the services offered. Consider what the charges included. There should be no application fees. The price you pay also depends on whether you are a well-established business or a startup.

3. Does it offer varied types of merchant account? Businesses operate from different locations – brick-and-mortar, online or both. The type of business dictates the type of merchant account required. Where credit card machines and point of sale systems are a must-have at a retail outlet, virtual terminals and mobile payment processors are indispensable to an online business. The merchant account should allow mobile payments using iPhone and Android apps.

4. Is it scalable? A good student loan modification merchant account should not only have a robust payment processing system in place, but should also be scalable. It should be able to accommodate larger sales volumes as a business grows and expands.

5. Does it have a chargeback and fraud prevention system? Chargebacks and frauds are the most damaging to any business. In fact, these are the two main reasons a student loan modification business is called “high risk”. An extremely high chargeback rate can result in account termination making it impossible for you to accept payments. The payment processor you choose should be able to minimize the risk of chargebacks. It must have the ability to dispute illegitimate chargebacks. It should also integrate an effective fraud detection system.

6. Does it offer underwriting by multiple banks? By capitalizing on its network of banking relationships, a reputable and experienced merchant account service provider provides access to multiple accounts. Thus, if any one of the accounts are closed, for instance due to high chargebacks, the business can continue to receive payments using the other accounts.

7. Customer support? As a start up business in student loan modification, it might take a while before you learn the ropes. A patient and friendly customer support team can make the setup a smooth sail for you. Test customer support to check how they handle queries.

8. Is it secure? Customers share confidential information when they make payments online. Thus, the merchant account should have a mechanism for secure data transmission. Secured virtual terminals and software with SSL encryption ensures that customer identity and information remains safe.

9. Is there an option for recurring billing? A recurring bill option is beneficial to businesses that involve paying subscriptions or installments. It automates billing and payments. Customer data is stored in the system, dispensing with the need to input the data every time a payment needs to be made. It keeps track of all payments reducing the labour and time.

10. Do they offer offshore accounts? Many student loan modification businesses are not restricted to a particular geographical area; they operate globally. Such businesses require a payments gateway that is prompt at currency conversions. Setting up an offshore account is more expensive than a domestic account. You can choose according to your needs. So, do your due diligence and choose the best merchant account for your student loan modification business.