Leaving money on the table with every transaction?
Credit cards are easy. It’s what everyone’s been doing for years. But if you run a high-risk business sticking to just credit cards is costing you.
Let’s see why:
Credit cards cost anywhere from 2.5% – 3.5% per transaction. That’s $25 to $35 for every $1,000 in sales. High-risk businesses pay even higher fees.
Luckily there are better ways to accept payments. Wire transfers like high-risk merchant ACH payments are pushing innovation and providing lower-cost alternatives for businesses that need it.
Read on to learn more.
Table of Contents
- Why Credit Cards Are Expensive
- The Rise of ACH & eCheck Payments
- How High-Risk Merchants Can Benefit From ACH
- 4 Payment Technologies That Don’t Come From Credit Cards
Why Credit Cards Are Expensive
Accepting credit cards is easy. Everyone knows how to swipe, insert, or tap to pay.
But those swipes come at a cost. Credit card processing fees, chargebacks, and fraudsters are eating your margins.
High-risk merchants are affected most of all.
Take ecommerce stores for example.
They process payments online which tends to attract more fraudulent activity. At the same time ecommerce stores may sell expensive products that could cause higher chargebacks.
It’s a double whammy.
The solution? Look to alternative payment methods.
The Rise of ACH & eCheck Payments
ACH payments have been growing rapidly in popularity. Ready to see some stats?
In 2025 the ACH Network processed 35.2 billion payments, worth $93 trillion in total value. That’s up 5% from the previous year.
Impressive, but here’s the crazy part…
Same Day ACH grew over 45% last year! Nacha reports that Same Day ACH volume increased 45.3% from 2023 to 2024, reaching 1.2 billion payments for the first time.
So what does this all mean?
Bank to bank payments are taking over. Businesses and consumers don’t want to rely on credit cards and legacy payment processors like they used to.
High-risk businesses have an even stronger incentive to use ACH. If you can’t get approved for a credit card processing solution or pay unreasonable fees, ACH eCheck high-risk transactions are a fantastic alternative.
Payments made via ACH are directly transferred between bank accounts. Because of this ACH transaction fees are typically a flat rate per transaction, as opposed to the 2.5–3.5% you’ll pay with credit cards.
It all adds up to big savings on every transaction.
How High-Risk Merchants Can Benefit From ACH
High-risk merchant ACH payments are the solution to many problems that plague credit card processing. Here’s why every high-risk business should consider adding ACH to their payment stack.
Low Cost Payments
Most ACH transactions cost between $0.20 and $1.50 to process. Compare that to credit card rates of 2.5–3.5%.
Let’s do the math:
Say you need to process a payment for $5,000. With a credit card processor you could be charged anywhere from $125 to $175.
With ACH? Maybe $1.50.
For merchants that process larger or recurring payments, ACH can drastically reduce your costs.
Minimize Chargebacks
Chargebacks can be a huge issue for risky industries. Credit card disputes are much easier for consumers to initiate than bank transfers.
Switching to ACH helps give you back control. The ACH dispute process is more straightforward and doesn’t incur the same fees or penalties.
Higher Approval Odds
It’s well known that many high-risk businesses are denied service by traditional payment processors.
Because ACH transactions present a much lower risk of fraud or chargebacks, ACH processing companies are more likely to approve your business.
Recurring Payment Friendly
If you run a subscription service or collect membership fees, recurring payments are the lifeblood of your business.
When customers switch jobs, bank accounts stay the same. That means you’re far less likely to encounter declined payments or formatting issues with ACH.
Every high-risk business with a subscription model should consider ACH.
4 Payment Technologies That Don’t Come From Credit Cards
High-risk merchant ACH transactions are just the beginning. More and more financial platforms are leveraging technology to give their businesses an edge.
Here are four other payment types you should know about.
Digital Wallets
Need to checkout fast? Digital wallets are processed instantly and are super secure.
Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other mobile wallets are quickly becoming more commonplace. Digital wallets store card information securely on your device using tokenization.
Digital wallets can decrease shopping cart abandonment and give your customers an alternative to credit cards. They work great in conjunction with ACH payments and traditional payment methods.
Real-Time Payments (RTP)
Think of RTP as same-day ACH. Funds are transferred immediately through the network.
Settlement times can be as fast as a few seconds.
The catch?
Real-time payments aren’t widely available for high-risk merchants just yet. Once the technology gains more adoption, RTP options will likely become available.
Cryptocurrency Payments
Crypto. Everyone’s talking about it these days.
Accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is a viable option for some high-risk businesses. Crypto payments don’t rely on traditional banking networks which can be a huge plus if you’re getting charged outrageous fees.
That said, there’s always a risk with cryptocurrency. Stay tuned for regulators and crypto prices to stabilize before putting all your eggs in that basket.
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL)
Buy Now, Pay Later options are huge in ecommerce. BNPL solutions like Affirm and Afterpay allow customers to split their purchases into fixed payments over time.
Think of it as built-in financing for your customers.
And for merchants?
Higher average order values and fewer chargebacks. Since the BNPL service assumes the risk of payment, your business doesn’t have to.
High-risk businesses selling larger items could benefit greatly from BNPL offerings.
Wrapping It Up
Credit cards are legacy technology. They’re expensive to process and provide a lot of risk to your business.
The payment industry is changing, and forward-thinking companies are taking advantage. While high-risk merchant ACH payments are great, there are plenty of other options for your financial platform.
If you want to lower your fees, you need ACH.
High-risk approvals? ACH.
Recurring payments? Yep, ACH.
But that’s just one piece of the puzzle. Here’s everything you should remember:
- Digital wallets decrease cart abandonment.
- RTP payments are instant.
- Crypto payments are excellent… if you can trust them.
- BNPL services give your customers spending options.
Learn about these payment types and apply them to your business where they make sense. You’ll save money, reduce your risk, and leave competitors in the dust.
Peyman Khosravani is a global blockchain and digital transformation expert with a passion for marketing, futuristic ideas, analytics insights, startup businesses, and effective communications. He has extensive experience in blockchain and DeFi projects and is committed to using technology to bring justice and fairness to society and promote freedom. Peyman has worked with international organizations to improve digital transformation strategies and data-gathering strategies that help identify customer touchpoints and sources of data that tell the story of what is happening. With his expertise in blockchain, digital transformation, marketing, analytics insights, startup businesses, and effective communications, Peyman is dedicated to helping businesses succeed in the digital age. He believes that technology can be used as a tool for positive change in the world.
