Nutraceuticals or bioceuticals are regarded as natural, nutritious drug alternatives or dietary supplements, typically made with plant-based ingredients and known for being rich in nutritious elements like vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs, and so on. They can take many different forms and offer a myriad of benefits, which is part of the reason why they’ve become so popular.
As the nutraceuticals industry continues to grow and evolve over time, businesses in this industry are starting to see impressive growth levels of their own, coupled with reliable revenues and profit streams. So, for any budding entrepreneur eager to break into a burgeoning industry, the idea of setting up a nutraceutical business can seem very appealing.
It’s clearly true that there is money to be made in nutraceuticals and bioceuticals. However, setting up a business in this industry can be seen as a risky move, due to the current lack of regulations regarding nutraceuticals, as well as the difficulty of obtaining a nutraceuticals merchant account. This guide will cover all you need to know about nutraceutical merchant accounts and how to get them.
Throughout history, people have always cared a great deal about the things they consume. This is perfectly logical, as the foods we eat, drinks we drink, and supplements we take can all have real, tangible impacts on our mental and physical state, and choosing the right products can help to make us fitter, healthier, happier, and provide many other benefits, too.
This is where the nutraceuticals industry comes into play. This industry, which is still relatively young but has a lot of room to grow, is focused on providing people with dietary supplements and similar products, containing various key ingredients, many of which are sourced directly from nature, in order to provide people with unique effects and benefits, like stronger bones, better overall health, improved immune system responses, boosted libido, and so on.
There are many different nutraceuticals out there, with many incredible claims made by the brands that make them. This has led to a lot of people buying and using nutraceutical products on a daily basis. However, because the industry is still so young, there’s a real lack of regulation regarding nutraceuticals, and this can cause some complications, especially when it comes to getting nutraceutical merchant accounts.
So what exactly is a nutraceutical merchant account? Why is a nutraceutical merchant account so important for a nutraceutical business? Well, let’s look at a simple definition of a merchant account to start to see why these accounts matter so much; in simple terms, a merchant account is a business account that makes it possible for a business to accept and receive electronic payments.
In other words, a nutraceutical merchant account is necessary for any business that wants to be able to receive money from customers remotely, over the phone, or on the internet. When a customer makes a payment in this way, otherwise known as a card-not-present transaction, the money is processed into the merchant account before passing to the main business account.
You literally cannot receive electronic online card payments without a merchant account, and this is hugely important for the nutraceutical industry. Why? Well, the vast majority of nutraceutical sales happen online, and most nutraceutical businesses don’t have their own physical stores; instead, they sell their products on the internet via e-shops, and they need merchant accounts to make that happen.
We can clearly see that it’s of the utmost importance to apply for a nutraceutical merchant account and set up your account before you start trying to run an online nutraceuticals business. However, if you visit your local bank or financial institution and request a nutraceutical merchant account, you may find that you get rejected right away.
Why does this happen? It’s because nutraceuticals are seen as a high risk industry, connected with high risk credit card processing and simply too dangerous for many banks or merchant services to agree to work with. There are many similar high risk industries out there, and it can be hard to obtain high risk merchant accounts when you run this kind of business.
One of the main reasons why nutraceutical merchant accounts are so hard to obtain and the industry is seen as so risky is due to its lack of regulation. Most nutraceutical products aren’t tested or regulated in any way by official government bodies. This means that the manufacturers are free to make claims on the packaging and suggest that their products can change lives in lots of ways.
In some cases, buyers don’t experience the changes they were expecting when using nutraceuticals, so they get buyer’s remorse and try to get their money back via their credit card company or bank. This is what is known as a chargeback, and nutraceutical companies are linked with high levels of chargebacks in general. Banks don’t like dealing with chargebacks, so prefer to avoid high risk industries like bioceuticals.
Given that so many banks and payment processors don’t want to deal with the high risk payment processing of nutraceutical companies, it can feel challenging to set up a business in the nutraceutical world and get your own nutraceutical merchant account in the first place. However, Shark Processing is here to help with that.
At Shark Processing, we understand the risks and problems that high risk businesses have to deal with, and we exist to make the whole process easier. We have extensive experience and expertise on the subject of high risk merchant accounts, working with businesses across a wide range of high risk industries, including nutraceuticals, to help them get the accounts they need.
We can help you get a nutraceutical merchant account without any unnecessary hassle or delay, offering competitive rates, fair fees, and the best levels of service for every account holder, guaranteed. Get in touch with the Shark Processing team today to find out more about our nutraceutical merchant account services.
