As a business owner you may have already been told that your business is high risk or worse yet you may have had your merchant account shut down or cancelled. It's common practice for banks and credit card processors to close accounts that are deemed “high risk”.

Most high risk businesses don't realize they are considered high risk until they contact a bank or credit card processor. If you own or are thinking about opening a business you may run into difficulties qualifying for a merchant account. This can be a huge problem for a small business owner. Without accepting credit cards most businesses are doomed.

A merchant account is basically an account that allows you to accept credit cards from your customers and deposits those funds directly into your account. One of the biggest problems a business owner faces is the application requirements. Most banks and some credit card processors will not even accept applications from businesses that are deemed high risk. So how do you know if your business would be considered high risk? Listed below are businesses that would definitely be considered high risk merchants:

* Airline and Jet Charter

* Cruise line/ Tour operators/ Travel Clubs

* Infomercials

* Aggregators (3rd party payment processors)

* Timeshares

* Credit Repair

* Collection Companies

* Lotteries/ Gambling/ Sweepstakes

* Sports Forecasting

* Internet Pharmacies

* Internet Tobacco

* Adult businesses/ Escort Services/ Dating Services/ ornographic Material

* Drug Paraphernalia

* Vitamin and Supplements

The credit card processing business as a whole is very competitive. However, high risk merchant accounts are very hard to find and can be very costly to get. The problem with some offshore banks or credit card processors are the fees associated with submitting an application. It's not uncommon to see a credit card processor charge $2500.00 just to submit an application with no guaranty that the account will be approved. Others may want a security deposit equal to your monthly credit card volume paid in advance.

This is one reason why you should look for a credit card processor that understands your business, your needs, your problems, and is willing to devote the time to helping you. There are very few high risk merchant account companies. Finding the right credit card processing company to work with is essential to your long term business success.

There are credit card processing companies that specialize in placing high risk merchants. So how do you go about finding those companies?

Today's technology provides us the opportunity to do business with companies beyond our own neighborhoods. We do business electronically through the use of e-mail, fax machines, and of course the internet. What this means for the business owner is, you no longer are “locked in” to doing business with just the bank or company in your home town. You can “shop online” for the best rates, best products, and service. You can now do business with a credit card processor or bank in Great Britain, Canada, Philippines, or any place else just as easily as the “hometown bank”. Fact is, nine times out of ten, you will find the level of service to be much better with a bank or credit card processor half way around the world. Why? They want your business, and are willing to go the extra mile to prove it.

For additional information about obtaining a merchant account, high risk merchant account, or offshore merchant account for your business click over to http://www.cmscreditcards.com