Despite its surging popularity as an alternative treatment for chronic pain, opioid withdrawal, and mood disorders, Kratom is facing increased regulation in the wake of a highly questionable FDA review. This development has made digital transactions incredibly difficult for kratom sellers and kratom consumers.
Kratom merchants are unlikely to find domestic banks that are willing to take on kratom merchant account services, which means that they usually have to open offshore merchant accounts. To make matters more difficult, its vendors who are lucky enough to find eCommerce payment processors are usually unwilling to share their solution because they will lose their competitive advantage.
Though it is a legal substance in the U.S., there are no known domestic banks that offer merchant services for it. However, there are several offshore banking solutions for Kratom merchants that we will be discussing in this article.
So, if you’re curious as to how you can get your Kratom merchant account, we’ve got it all for you.
What is Kratom?
Native to Southeast Asia, Kratom is a tropical tree with leaves that contain compounds which have mind-altering effects. Although it is currently not considered as an illegal substance and it can easily be ordered in the internet, it is sometimes sold as a green powder in packets labeled with “not for human consumption”. You can even get it as an extract or as a gum.
Kratom goes by the following names in the market:
- Biak
- Kakuam
- Ketum
- Ithang
- Thom
Most people take kratom as a pill, capsule, or extract. Some people chew kratom leaves or brew the dried or powdered leaves as a tea. Sometimes the leaves are smoked or eaten in food. It can cause effects similar to both opioids and stimulants because two if its many compounds such as mitragynine and 7-α-hydroxymitragynine interacts with opioid receptors in the brain producing decreased pain, pleasure, and sedation especially when consumed in large amounts.
Opening a Kratom merchant account
To open up kratom merchant services for everyone and help you find a payment option for your Kratom business, we’ve created a list of the best Kratom merchant account providers. Those who belong in this list have proven track records in the high-risk industry, specifically in the nutraceutical and eCommerce sectors.
In general, most sellers of Kratom should be prepared for higher-than-average transaction rates due to the elevated risk associated with their industry, and they may also encounter rolling reserves or occasional fund holds. Please keep in mind that Kratom processing is an ever-changing landscape at this time, and that banks may change their acceptance policies without any warning.
But as long as your business is in a state that is legal to sell Kratom, high-risk merchant account providers should be able to approve processing your payments.
Best Kratom merchant accounts
- Allied Payments
The Florida-based merchant account provider, Allied Payments is capable of serving most domestic high-risk business types. Specializing in eCommerce businesses, Allied Payments can provide a host of different payment options. They offer point-of-sale solutions, online marketing tools, an online payment gateway, and virtual terminal services.
Allied Payments has received only positive feedback on public forums, with most reviewers singling out the company’s customer service for praise. Allied offers interchange-plus pricing with no early termination fees to all its merchants. Users can enjoy the transparent pricing model and can cancel service without penalty.
- Payment Cloud
Considered as the top merchant account provider when it comes to Kratom merchant services, Payment Cloud is a familiar payment service for Kratom businesses. They specialize in providing offshore solutions for kratom merchant accounts, Hemp merchant accounts, and even CBD merchant accounts.
This Woodland Hills, California-based merchant account provider specializes in serving high risk business types. Their products include point-of-sale solutions, mobile phone swipers, an online payment gateway, and virtual terminal, EMV-compatible terminals, and merchant cash advances.
In addition, they provide a dedicated representative to all new merchants for the life of the account. The company has not received any negative complaints on consumer forums, and it customizes its pricing according to each merchant’s business type and processing history.
- Instabill
Based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Instabill is a high-risk merchant account provider that is able to place both domestic and international kratom suppliers. The company provides a payment gateway, a virtual terminal, an online shopping cart, AVS, and support to over 160 currencies.
If you check their website, they advertise providing offshore Kratom merchant accounts for businesses that have been processing Kratom payments for 3 to 6 months. They have a very low complaint rate relative to its size, time in business, and merchant portfolio. The company offers customized pricing packages depending on each merchant’s business type and size.
- eMerchantBroker
A Los Angeles, California-based company, eMerchantBroker offers high-risk eCommerce processing solutions including some kratom payment processing. Their products include ACH processing, an online payment gateway, merchant cash advance, and a chargeback management system to help merchants dispute and resolve chargeback claims.
They are known to providing offshore merchant accounts for kratom sellers as well as to online medical suppliers that do not sell illegal services, does not use continuity-based billing, are not based in India, maintains high processing volumes, and are properly licensed.
The best thing is, they offer custom pricing for each merchant and maintains a low complaint rate relative to its size and merchant portfolio.
Why is a Kratom merchant account considered high-risk?
It should be easier to obtain a merchant account to process Kratom, however, because of the legality of the products, it makes it a unique high-risk type of business.
This is due to its chemical contents mitragynine and 7-hydroxmitragynine, which are psychoactive substances, classifying Kratom merchant accounts under the high-risk industry list. This reason alone causes banks to have reservations about offering payment processing solutions.
Conversely, Kratom is also seen as an effective pain reliever for ailments such as arthritis, restless leg syndrome and fibromyalgia as well as effective treatment for diarrhea and opiate addiction.
TAKEAWAY
In most cases, startups or companies that have low monthly processing volume will not be approved by high risk credit card processing company. Any startup that sells kratom is regarded as a high-risk business and only the largest of merchants might be considered for sponsoring a kratom credit card processing account.
As a Kratom merchant account owner, if you’ve been approved and set up to accept card payments, you must keep in mind exercising caution because such accounts can be closed at any time.
One of the most common ways card processors are able to set up accounts is by miscoding the merchants. This practice carries considerable risk for the Kratom merchants and processors alike if discovered by the payment card networks.
