High Risk Merchant Program from Visa and Mastercard

Overview:

In April 2024, Visa made changes to their Visa Integrity Risk Program pricing - this includes increasing the annual registration fee to be $950.00 from the previous $500.00 and adding a new Annual High Integrity Risk fee for industries that are deemed as high-risk who are utilizing card not present payments. 

What is the High Risk Merchant program?

Visa and Mastercard guidelines have classified certain industry codes (MCC Codes) as High Risk Merchants. 

• This primarily has to do with industry measurements that would deem specific industries as more likely to receive chargebacks among other risk factors
• As a result, if you as a business owner are in an industry code that is considered to be high risk, there are certain requirements to register a business in order for Helcim to process your payments

What Qualifies as a High Risk Merchant?

High Risk Merchants as determined by Visa and Mastercard pertain to specific industry codes and percentages of sales done as ‘keyed-in’. AKA what percentage of your sales are processed via the Virtual Terminal, or Mobile App as examples. 

The high-risk industries outlined above are:

• 5967 (Direct Marketing/Inbound)
• 7273 (Dating Services)
• 7995 (Gambling)
• 5122/5912 (Pharmacies/Drug Stores)
• 6051/6012 (Quasi-Cash/Crypto)
• 4816 (Computer/Network Services)
• 5816 (Digital Games)
• 6211 (Securities Dealer)
• 5966 (Direct Marketing/Outbound)
• 5968 (Direct Marketing/Subscriptions)
• 5993 (Tobacco Sales)

The percentages that would qualify your business, if you are in the above mentioned industries are: 

• For Visa: more than 25% of transactions are keyed-in
• For Mastercard: more than 50% of transactions are keyed-in

This applies to all keyed-in transactions regardless of what products or services the merchant is selling.

Registration and Fees

In order for Helcim to process your payments, we are required to ensure that all High Risk merchants have registered correctly with Visa and Mastercard if they meet the above criteria. 

Visa and Mastercard also require an upfront fee for these merchants. The new Annual High Integrity Risk fee is a fee of $25 for USD merchants and $100 for CAD merchants. 

In addition to the above, merchants must register for Visa and Mastercard.

Canadian Merchants Requirements

Visa

• The Visa annual registration fee is $950.00 

 (This does not apply to Merchants assigned MCC 5122 or 5912 if the Merchant is accredited by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) or other regulatory body recognized by Visa.)

If your business is in the MCC’s listed above, there is a High Risk Integrity Risk Fee of $100 

MasterCard

• The Mastercard annual registration fee is $500.00. 

There are no waivers for this fee

You will also be asked to provide:

• Updated copies of business license e.g. pharmacy license

US Merchants Requirements

Visa

• The Visa annual registration fee is $950.00 

 (This does not apply to Merchants assigned MCC 5122 or 5912 if the Merchant is accredited by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) or other regulatory body recognized by Visa.)

If your business is in the MCC’s listed above, there is a High Risk Integrity Risk Fee of $25

Mastercard

• The Mastercard annual registration fee is $500.00. There are no waivers for this fee

You will also be asked to provide:

• Updated copies of business license e.g. pharmacy license

Please Note:

• Merchants who are non-processing may still be billed for the VIRP fee as active processing is not a requirement to be eligible.
• As this is a card brand fee we are updating the interchange tables on the website and not the fee disclosure page. 
• There is no refund or prorated return for accounts closed part way through the year.  

FAQ:

Q. What happens if I don’t register?

A. Your business would fall outside of card brand compliance and would not be able to onboard with Helcim. 

Q. What if my account is open but I’m not processing payments?

A. If you are not processing, you would need to pay for the Annual High Integrity Risk fee which is a fee of $25 for USD merchants and $100 for CAD merchants. You would not be subject to the annual registration fee of $500-$950  if you do not meet the keyed-in percentage requirements. 

Q. As a merchant, I am already registered with this program with my current provider but I would like to switch to Helcim. Do I need to register again?

A. Yes, the Card Networks state that registrations can not be switched between acquirers. There are different requirements from the Card Networks for each Processor/Acquirer. This means that every merchant who fits the mentioned criteria will have to pay the registration fee for each provider they sign up with.

Q. How can I get this fee waived?

A. This fee does not come from Helcim, and would be on the part of Visa to dictate. Visa will waive the fee if one of the below items can be provided: 

• NABP Healthcare Merchant Accreditation (HMA)
• NABP Drug Distributor Accreditation (DDA)
• LegitScript Healthcare Merchant Certification (HMC)

Mastercard fees are not waivable.