Herbal Supplement Merchant Account

Performance Card Service (PCS) provides herbal supplement merchant account services and other payment options to keep your business as healthy as the products you sell. As specialists in high risk payment processing, we have the industry relationships necessary to help you obtain or improve processing options to maintain and attract customers.

In this era of increased interest in well-being, both mentally and physically, people are exploring alternative natural remedies to improve, maintain and/or treat health problems. Due to this, the herbal supplement market has quickly blossomed into a billion-dollar industry. An herbal supplement contains one or more herbs from a plant(s) that is used to help maintain health or treat a variety of medical problems. Many herbs have a long history of claimed health benefits; some even deem them safer than prescription medication. They are sold in a variety of configurations such as capsules, tablets, gel caps, powders, liquids or tea.

In the United States, herbal supplements are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as foods not drugs. Due to this, they are not required to meet the same standards as prescription and over-the-counter medications for proof of protection, potency, effectiveness and what the FDA calls “Good Manufacturing Practices.” This means that the manufacturing or content of these substances enjoys minimal regulation. According to the FDA, “Dietary supplements are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or alleviate the effects of diseases.” The manufacturers of the supplements are the ones responsible for ensuring that the claims they make about their products aren’t misleading or untrue and that they are supported by satisfactory evidence.

Because many herbal supplements are not closely regulated by the FDA, vendors of these products may find obtaining legit payment processing sources challenging, even though these herbal supplements are legal in most or all 50 states. Some herbal supplements such as Kratom, Kava, Kanna, Blue Lotus and CBD are heavily scrutinized by banks and processors due to their perceived “gray area” status.

Another reason that these businesses may find securing approval for payment services difficult is the potential for a high rate of chargebacks. This is often due to customers not receiving the expected advertised results from the product. For merchants, chargebacks can be damaging and ultimately cause the merchant’s processing accounts to be closed. A high number of chargebacks can also prevent merchants from securing new processing solutions.

Another hurdle surfaces when customers are enrolled in a monthly subscription program and after a time either forget or are unaware that they must pay continuing monthly payments. Monthly recurring billing is popular with the nutraceutical and herbal supplement industries, but not popular with payment processors. For these reasons, many payment processors view the herbal supplement industry as high risk.