Affordable Alcohol Merchant Account
An alcohol merchant account is a specialized credit card processing solution designed to meet the unique needs of businesses involved in selling alcoholic beverages. These accounts are generally used by business establishments such as liquor stores, wineries, pubs, breweries, bars, and restaurants that also sell alcoholic products.
Alcohol credit card processing is not favored by traditional credit card processors. Businesses in the alcohol sales industry should work with specialized high-risk merchant processors that have experience in supporting similar businesses. There are many reasons that make alcohol stores or similar businesses high-risk in terms of merchant acquisition; let’s look at a few of these.
Alcohol sales are age-restricted, and merchants must ensure they have the required age verification system in place to restrict minors and underage individuals from purchasing alcohol. If a merchant does not implement proper age verification and restriction systems, they can face severe legal consequences, which merchant processors dislike.
This industry is subject to extensive regulations by both state and federal governments. These regulations generally cover various aspects related to licensing, taxation, advertising, and responsible alcohol sales and service. Non-compliance with these government regulations can result in problems for the merchant and the merchant processor. It is important for merchants and acquirers to ensure they comply with these regulations and guidelines.
This industry faces the problem of high chargebacks and disputes. Sometimes these can arise due to the quality of the product; however, in many cases, chargebacks are generated because of unauthorized transactions or issues related to delayed delivery. Another reason that elevates the chargeback potential of the industry is the fragile nature of the packaging and the bottles themselves. If the merchant does not use the correct shipping process or packaging, the customer may not receive the package in the right condition.
Because of the intoxicating nature of the product, the industry attracts fraudulent activity both in online stores and retail stores. Fraudsters tend to make purchases of alcohol using fake identification and stolen credit cards. This not only increases the credit risk but also elevates the reputational risk of all parties involved.
The alcohol industry is extremely large on a global scale, and in almost every country, a percentage of people consume alcohol. However, it is still considered taboo in many societies, which is why many payment processors try to avoid associating their names with any business entity that sells or promotes alcohol. It’s a shame, but it’s true.
All these factors, including age verification requirements, the risk of high chargebacks, and fraudulent activity, make the industry high-risk. However, you do not have to worry as there are many high-risk merchant account providers that are fully comfortable working with merchants from the alcohol industry. Ask us today to get a free application code for an Alcohol merchant account.
Online Alcohol Merchant Processing
Online alcohol merchant processing refers to a payment gateway solution that supports credit and debit card processing for e-commerce websites that sell alcohol online. To accept credit card payments online on an alcohol store website, it must have a shopping cart. The payment gateway solution integrates well with popular shopping carts and adds proper card processing functionality to the website.
Customers can use their favorite cards to make transactions on these websites. Along with credit and debit card payments, alcohol merchants can also accept various other online transaction methods including electronic wallets, bank transfers, and alternative payment methods.
Our online merchant processing solutions come with great features like customization abilities, built-in fraud prevention measures, and CRM integrations. Overall, when a merchant starts using an online credit card processing solution for their alcohol website, customers gain convenience in terms of payment processing, and the merchant also reduces various manual responsibilities.
Retail Alcohol Merchant Services/Alcohol POS/Alcohol Card Terminals
Retail alcohol merchant services cater to the payment processing requirements of businesses that sell alcohol beverages from a physical retail location, such as liquor stores, wine shops, duty-free alcohol stores, breweries, and bars. We offer brand-new credit card terminals for alcohol stores that can be easily integrated into various alcohol point-of-sale systems. These terminals can accept magnetic credit cards, EMV chip cards, NFC cards, QR code payments, as well as e-wallet payments. Our terminals are also compatible with tap-and-pay transactions. We provide these terminals in association with popular acquiring institutions in the US, UK, and Europe.
Alcohol Payment Processing Application Process
The alcohol payment processing application process with QuadraPay is simple. The first step is the initial communication, which you can start by filling out the short form on our website. We will only need your name, phone number, email, and message to begin. Once we receive this information, an alcohol payment processing expert will contact you to identify your unique requirements. Our objective will be to evaluate your current payment processing solution and compare it with ours to see if we can help you save more. Once this evaluation is complete, our team will inform you about the KYC documents required for underwriting.
All these documents will be forwarded to our partner processor for underwriting. Once your underwriting is complete and the account is approved, you will receive details for integration and installation. Rest assured, our team will stay connected with you and keep you informed about all developments regarding your application at each stage, whenever required. Ask us today for a free, zero-obligation code for an alcohol merchant account.
FAQs Related to Alcohol Merchant Accounts
What should I look for in an alcohol payment processing provider?
When choosing an alcohol payment processing provider, you should first consider the company’s experience in processing transactions for similar merchants. As you are well aware, allowing merchants to accept credit and debit card transactions in this industry requires special skills and expertise. Along with that, the processor must also implement the necessary security parameters to ensure data security. If you are going to accept retail payments, then check if the terminals are compatible with your existing point-of-sale systems used at your alcohol store.
What payment methods can I accept with alcohol merchant processing?
With alcohol merchant processing solutions, you can accept payments through various methods, including credit cards, debit cards, mobile payments, e-wallets, and alternative payment methods.
How long does it take to set up an alcohol merchant account?
The setup timeframe for an alcohol merchant account depends on various factors such as the acquirer’s turnaround time, unique requirements of merchants, onboarding complexities, rate negotiation, and completeness of your application. On average, merchants can start processing in 4 to 7 working days.
What are the fees associated with alcohol credit card processing?
In an alcohol credit card processing account, the merchant is subject to paying fees for accepting digital payments. This fee is a combination of various charges. It includes a merchant discount rate, which is a fixed percentage that the business pays on each transaction. For using the gateway, the merchant may also be required to pay a fixed dollar amount, generally around 20 cents or even less. The solution may also require the merchant to agree to monthly gateway fees. Fortunately, with QuadraPay, we have multiple alcohol credit card processing solution providers, and you will be able to negotiate directly with them to get the best rates.
What are the Merchant classification codes for Alcohol merchants?
- MCC 5813. Merchants with this MCC sell alcoholic drinks. The business entities may be any of these. Drinking Establishments, Nightclubs, Beer Parlors, Cocktail Lounges, Breweries, Bars, Comedy Clubs, Lounges, Discotheques, Microbreweries, Pubs, Saloons, Tap Rooms, Taverns and Wine Bars.
- MCC 5921. Merchants with this MCC sell packaged Wine, Beer and Liquor. A perfect example of a relevant merchant for this MCC will be a liquor store.
