People will always need pharmaceutical products, from basic painkillers for easing headaches to allergy medications, weight loss aids, cold medicine, contraception, dental care products, acid reflux tablets, and so on. These products help people to deal with painful and uncomfortable health conditions that affect their lives on a regular basis.
Thanks to the internet, many pharmacy businesses have moved online in recent years, broadening their appeal and reaching a much wider audience than ever before. And setting up an online pharmacy business is a great way to extend the reach of your business. However, it also requires a lot of work and careful planning.
There are a lot of rules and regulations to follow when it comes to selling pharmaceutical products and prescriptions, and you need to make sure you’re aware of the laws and compliant with all the necessary rules. You also need to set up your own pharmacy merchant account in order to be able to receive payments online. This guide will cover all you need to know about pharmacy merchant accounts.
The High Risk Pharmacy IndustryThe pharmacy industry is one of the most significant industries in the world, responsible for creating and supplying healthcare institutions and the general public with medicines, pills, and other forms of medication to treat an enormous array of illnesses and health conditions.
Pharmacies are the first place people go when in need of medications of all kinds, and online pharmacies have made this process easier than ever before. Now, someone in need of some medication or a prescription treatment can simply log on to their favorite online pharmacy and order the medicines they need to be delivered to their home or picked up from a physical location later on.
Online pharmacies fulfill a vital role in society, and many people rely on their services each and every day. However, as mentioned in the introduction, running this kind of business can be a challenge, and you not only need to keep up with compliance regarding all the various rules and regulations, but you also have to make sure the financial side of the business is in order, with the help of a pharmacy merchant account.
So what is a pharmacy merchant account and why is it so important for online businesses to have pharmacy merchant accounts in the first place? Well, before we look at the ins and outs of obtaining pharmacy merchant accounts, let’s first focus on the basic definition of a merchant account to see how it works.
In simple terms, a merchant account is a special type of business account that basically makes it possible for businesses to receive electronic payments by credit or debit card. In other words, if you want to be able to receive money from customers or clients online or over the phone, you have to have a merchant account to do so.
The way that merchant accounts work is actually quite simple. They function as a “middleman” for every electronic transaction, in order to facilitate the process and ensure that every payment is secure. When a customer makes an electronic card payment via your online pharmacy site, the money first goes into the merchant account, before being processed through into your main business account.
When you’re running an online pharmacy, most of your customers will want to pay for pills and medications electronically with their cards, from the comfort of their own homes. So you have to have a pharmacy merchant account in place to allow them to do this. Otherwise, you may find that it’s impossible to carry out any online pharmacy business at all.
So, we can clearly see that pharmacy merchant accounts really matter, and you have to have one if you want to run this kind of business. Unfortunately, if you head to your local bank and try to open up an online pharmacy merchant account, you may find that they say no. In fact, most financial institutions will refuse to offer any kind of merchant accounts for online pharmacies.
Why is this? Well, it’s because online pharmacies are regarded as “high risk industries”. In other words, banks and financial institutions believe that online pharmacies are relatively risky to work with, and in many cases, they don’t want to deal with all of that high risk credit card processing, so they prefer to avoid these kinds of businesses entirely.
And why is the online pharmacy world seen as so risky? Well, there are a few reasons. The first issue is fraud. There are a lot of illegal, fraudulent online pharmacy sites out there. It’s easy for people to make these sites and sell medications without the correct licenses, and this can cause all kinds of issues if the fraudsters are found out.
So, even if you’re running a perfectly legitimate online pharmacy, your business can be tainted due to the presence of these scammers and the dangers they create. What’s more, there is quite a high rate of chargebacks in the pharmacy industry as people can dispute payments for medications if they aren’t satisfied with the results. All of this causes extra hassle for banks.
So, if you’re looking for a pharmacy merchant account of your own and all the banks you turn to are saying no, what can you actually do? Well, there’s no need to despair, as help can be found in the form of Shark Processing. We’re here to assist you in getting your pharmacy merchant account more easily than you may have imagined.
Shark Processing is an industry leader in the world of high risk merchant accounts. We know what’s involved with running a high risk business. We understand the challenges that you can face when trying to get your own high risk merchant account. And we’re here to make the whole process easier, letting you obtain a high risk merchant account with the best rates and fairest fees.
Our experienced team of high risk business experts are ready and waiting to help your online pharmacy business start to grow. We can offer fast approval times, competitive account terms, and unparalleled customer support. Get in touch with the Shark Processing team today to find out how we can help you get your own pharmacy merchant account.
