CBD Merchant Accounts

Get the best CBD merchant account for your business and the fastest safe way to process payments…

• CBD Merchant accounts for businesses in the USA and Canada

• Stop worrying about account shutdowns and holds

• Payment Processing designed for your industry

• Specialists in the CBD space since the beginning!

Merchant Account Perks

RAVING FANS

CBD Credit Card Processing

  • Approvals typically take 2-4 business days
  • Funds deposited in 24-48 hours
  • Both ingestible and topical CBD products are accepted
  • You can sell CBD and other products on the same website
  • The business name will be displayed in the descriptor of the consumers statement
  • The merchant account, bank account, and business will all be in the United States (or Canada, respectively)
  • Reserves held on an as needed basis - but not always required

If your merchant account was shut down today and you could no longer accept credit cards,

how long could you keep the doors open?

If your merchant account was shut down today and you could. no longer accept credit cards, how long could you keep the doors open?

Everyday basic payment facilitators and companies like Stripe, PayPal, Square, Shopify, etc. Shut down thousands of accounts.

It’s not a matter of IF you’ll get shut down, but WHEN…

If your provider held your money for 90 days would you survive?

If they placed a 10% hold on your account, could you make payroll?

It’s time to upgrade to Easy Pay Direct.

EPD understands the challenges of businesses like ours, it’s 100% worth working with them. They will tell you how to save and make more money plus prevent shutdowns so everything runs smoothly.

Hal Elrod

Hal Elrod

Before Easy Pay Direct we had a $750k launch and $156k of that money was held. EPD has been super helpful in a bunch of different areas that none of our other processors provided. Highly recommend them.

Roland Frasier

Roland Frasier

I am a very happy client of Easy Pay Direct, working with them was very professional. Everybody was in touch with my team every step of the way and I am very happy to recommend them to everyone.

Frank Kern

Frank Kern

What Other Features Does Easy Pay Direct Offer?

  • PTransaction Routing

    Automatically route transactions across multiple merchant accounts. If one ever goes down, your others are still processing.

  • PWhite Glove Service

    You’ll have 1 point of contact that is available when you need them. No more chat-bots, no more phone trees. 

  • PDecline Recovery

    Most businesses don’t realize how much their decline % lowers revenue. We will help you keep approval rates high.

  • PChargeback Mitigation

    Stop chargebacks before they begin with our anti-chargeback tech.

  • PHosted Checkout

    Add payment buttons and invoicing to any of your website pages.

  • PRecurring Billing

    Built in recurring billing for subscriptions and multiple payment options.

  • PMobile Payments

    Accept and send payments with our easy to use mobile dashboard.

  • P250+ Integrations

    Integrate to almost any shopping cart in the world, we can set this up for you!

  • PBanking For Every Vertical

    We have personal relationships with banks across the USA & Canada to get your accounts approved.

  • PUnlimited High Ticket

    Process high ticket transactions regularly without issue

A Quick Overview On Credit Card Processing

What is a merchant account?

A merchant account is a specific type of bank account that allows merchants to accept payments. Typically, a merchant account is used for credit card processing and eCheck processing but can be used for a variety of payment processing needs. To get a merchant account, one must submit an application with a merchant account provider.

These merchant account providers work with acquiring banks, such as Chase and Wells Fargo, to provide merchant accounts to businesses looking to process credit card payments.

There are multiple types of merchant accounts depending on how the bank categorizes the industry of the merchant. If the merchant account is used for card not present (CNP) or ecommerce transactions then it must be integrated with an online payment gateway. Otherwise, a physical terminal is required to capture payment information.

Who does Easy Pay Direct Work With?

Easy Pay Direct works with all kinds of merchants, including, what the banks call, “high risk” merchants. These merchants happen to be in an industry that the banks label as high risk which means that they have a higher likelihood of chargebacksdisputes and fraud.

The most common reason for this is card not present transactions which presents a higher risk of fraud. These merchants can have a particularly hard time finding a high risk merchant account because a lot of payment processors refuse to participate in high risk processing. Even if these merchants find a “high risk payment processor” they can still frequently deal with holds or freezes on their money and shut down merchant accounts.

This is where Easy Pay Direct saves the day by finding them a high risk merchant account provider that wants to work with their business and providing them with all the resources to meet their high risk credit card processing needs.

What does Easy Pay Direct provide?

Easy Pay Direct provides merchant accounts specifically tailored to a merchant’s industry. We do this by leveraging our banking relationships to apply for merchant accounts on your behalf.

However, we do not just apply for any merchant account, we use providers who want to work with your business model and underwrite their merchants. This is important because it lays out all the cards on the table and ensures that a provider gets to know who you are and your business model before working with you. That way they know what to expect moving forward.

This strategy guarantees that we find a merchant account provider that wants to work with you, making the likelihood of holds, freezes, and shut downs, much less and providing stable credit card processing.

Another benefit to this are you get to avoid the nightmare that applying for merchant accounts can be. Not only do most merchant account providers do very little underwriting, but it can take many applications before you find a merchant account that is good for you.

Each application that you send out hurts your chances of getting approved for the next because multiple applications make you look desperate to a provider which they perceive as high risk.

After your merchant account is set up…

After we get you set up with your first merchant account, we recommend getting you an additional merchant account if you have over $250,000 in sales volume a year. This is to ensure stable payment processing.

Even though Easy Pay Direct takes all the precautions to prevent you from experiencing a hold, freeze, or shutdown, we can never know how banks might act in the future. If they hire someone new or implement a new algorithm, your account could have action taken against it. In the event of this, if you have a second merchant account that is already up, and running and processing payments, you can pivot your revenue stream to this account and avoid holds, freezes, and shutdowns altogether.

Now all of this may seem complicated and a lot of work, and it would be if you were doing this on your own. However, if you are working with Easy Pay Direct, we manage all of this for you making your role in all of this very easy. We even assign you your very own Certified Payment Specialist (CPS), who will monitor your merchant accounts for you, giving you one point of contact for all of your merchant processing needs.

How to get a merchant account:

The first step on your path to a new merchant account is starting the Easy Pay Direct application or if you would rather chat with someone to find out more, call us at (800) 805-4949*. We can get you set up in as little as 2 DAYS!

*Hint: This is easier cause we can fill out your application for you!

Choose the right Merchant Account for your business:

The Easy Pay Direct client experience:

At Easy Pay Direct your journey will begin with your application which we use to collect information about you and your business to match you with the right merchant account provider. From there you will be connected with your very own New Client Specialist (NCS) who will help you complete this application and will be your contact to answer all of your questions.

Once we have the necessary information and have assessed your business model, you will be classified as a Gold, Platinum, or Diamond merchant based on your unique payment processing needs.

After this, you will be introduced to your Certified Payment Specialist (CPS) who will be your one point of contact for all of your payment processing needs. This ensures that when you call, you are talking to someone that you know and who knows you and your business. They will apply for merchant accounts on your behalf and help you set up your new merchant accounts and your online payment gateway.

After that, you will be ready to start accepting payments. Your CPS will monitor your accounts and keep in contact whenever you want to chat or if they need to alert you of something that requires your attention on top of annual merchant account reviews.

CBD Merchant Account Information

2023 UPDATE: Easy Pay Direct supports CBD merchant accounts in the USA and Canada.

  • NO MONTHLY MINIMUM VOLUME REQUIREMENT!

While we are accepting startup CBD companies – we are only doing so with companies that have sound financial backing or have had success with running another company.

Merchant accounts are for hemp based CBD only. Lab tests results are required to validate the products as CBD derived from Hemp.

We can also setup a CBD Bank Account for you as needed.

EASY PAY DIRECT, FOCUSED ON CANNABIS SINCE 2010

With the rise of medical legalization, recreational legalization and also CBD adoption, the banking and credit card processing climate around cannabis has been volatile to say the least.

Over the last 4 years alone, the ability to process credit card payments for marijuana and CBD has been allowed and disallowed several times. Generally, when a solution has cropped up (pun intended), it has been a workaround that pushes the limits of legality.

Those options have been expensive, unreliable and ultimately resulted in a huge expenditure of time and money for CBD entrepreneurs who used those options.  FINALLY, we have the first 100% above board, legal CBD merchant accounts in the US & Canada. You can process credit cards for your CBD business without issue.

ARE YOU A CBD BUSINESS LOOKING FOR A PAYMENT PROCESSOR?

This can be difficult for many CBD companies due to their designation as “high risk,” but it doesn’t have to be.

‘High Risk’ carries negative connotations that can seem like a mountain-sized obstacle. The best way to overcome any challenge is to find the right tools. Finding the right payment processor is like grabbing the perfect tool for the job ahead of you. Trusting that the processor has the experience to guide you along the path can be stressful. Remember, choosing the right processor can take a lot of that stress out of your decisions.

CBD is no different than any other ‘high risk’ business, there are just specifics that need to be navigated by an experienced payment processor. There are easy ways that you can simplify and strengthen your business’ payment processes today, so let’s discuss.

BRIEF OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND OF CBD & MARIJUANA

CBD is shorthand for Cannabidiol, a chemical compound found in marijuana and hemp products that binds to neurotransmitters in the brain. It can beneficially affect the way the body processes pain, memory, sleep, and mood, and has been known to be a beneficial and therapeutic molecule for about 80 years.

Before the Farm Bill of 2018, it was not widely studied. Before then, both hemp and marijuana were classified as controlled substances. Research is still being conducted into these compounds, and how they affect humans.

The Farm Bill excluded hemp, a primary source of CBD, from the definition of marijuana, which at the time of this writing is still classified as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. However, only in South Carolina, Kansas, Wyoming, and Idaho is marijuana completely illegal.

The Farm Bill legalized farming and production of hemp products. As defined by the Bill, hemp contains less than 0.3% THC, which is the psychoactive agent that “gets you high.” If hemp contains more than 0.3% THC, then it is federally considered to be marijuana, which is, as of this writing, still an illegal drug.

So both marijuana and hemp contain CBD, but only hemp is legal, on a federal basis. In other words, the source matters: If your CBD comes from hemp, you’re fine. If it comes from marijuana, it’s illegal.

Hemp-based CBD is legal nationwide. However, some states still have laws on the books that make cannabis products illegal. That said, most states in the US allow for some type of cannabis use. Check the laws of your state before you start!

Understanding the different aspects of holding a CBD merchant account will help you make educated decisions about your business.

SOLUTIONS FOR CBD MERCHANT PROCESSING

When you want to start processing money from your CBD sales, you’ll need someone to process those payments. Of course, if you want to remain a cash-only business you won’t need a payment processor. But if you do take only cash, you’re unnecessarily limiting yourself. Credit card sales constitute around 81% of all transactions in 2022 and it is estimated that over 66% of CBD transitions take place online.

Regardless of whether you have an online presence or not, you’ll want to accept credit cards. In the 21st Century, it’s just bad business to remain a cash-only business.

If you want to take payments online, then you’ll need to take credit cards in a card-not-present environment. Accepting card-not-present (CNP) transactions is inherently riskier than accepting the actual card. And when you work in the CBD space, which is still heavily regulated, then you’ll need a high risk payment processor.

We’re proud at Easy Pay Direct to say we’ve been working with the CBD industry since 2010. Legislative changes have forced the entire industry to remain adaptive. Many credit card processors have tried to establish themselves in the CBD space, but gave up after only a year or two.

Twelve years has provided a lot of experience, which has translated into success for the majority of the CBD businesses we work with. Despite the fact that CBD is considered a ‘high risk’ industry, experience and reliability can guide a business through the legal obstacles in the way.

Why Easy Pay Direct?

We pride ourselves on making your life easier and facilitating the growth of business across the globe. We have been doing this successfully for years and have helped countless businesses achieve their full potential, just check out some of our testimonials. More importantly, Easy Pay Direct would love to play it’s part in helping you achieve your goals and service your consumers smoothly. if you’re interested in working with us, you can start your EMAP  application below or call us at: (800) 805-4949 | Get Set-up with a Merchant Account »

CBD MERCHANT ACCOUNT FAQS

As you learn about the payment card industry, especially as it relates to CBD products, and as you search for the perfect payment card processor, you’ll have many questions. Here are answers to some frequently asked questions we see.

CBD Merchant Account Approval
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Finding a merchant account is not the only goal when you are looking to establish your business. Instead, you need to look at what’s being offered.

There are countless credit card processors out there, but they aren’t all the same. Make sure you look at the experience and know-how a merchant account provider brings to the table. Do they have years of experience or did they just slap up a CBD sticker on their website to bring in business?

What most accounts need is:

  • Business bank account
  • 3 months of Bank Statements (if established)
  • 3 months of processing statements (if established)
  • Articles of Incorporation
  • Legal ID
  • A signed application

As a CBD business, there are a few more ‘high risk’ hoops to jump through and you’ll also need COAs (Certificates of Analysis) for each product being sold, and possibly supplier/manufacturer agreements. Because of the nature of the business and the government regulations, you will have to deal with higher rates and fees, a larger reserve, and potentially multiple accounts to make sure the business continues if there is a problem with one account.

Getting and evaluating this information is a process called underwriting. This process allows merchant account providers to offer much better rates than the aggregators. This information is crucial for the merchant account provider to understand you and the business model you’re using. They also use it to understand the risks of doing business with you — credit card companies want to hold on to the money that’s theirs, just like you do.

On top of this, make sure you have a merchant account provider with the experience to guide you in the right direction with your new account.

Why Should My Cbd Business Accept Credit Cards?
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Use of credit cards has the ability to expand your business by almost 80%. The Global CBD market has topped $6 million this year.

Is CBD Legal?
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While the Farm Bill legalized CBD on a federal level, the actual legality is in the hands of each state. Each state has its own varying degrees of legality.

Why Are CBD And Hemp Oil Considered “High Risk?"
M
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It is considered high risk because of the legal restrictions and shifting laws. This is due to the high chargeback and potential for businesses to have to adapt rapidly and affect their revenue.

What Is CBD?
M
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Cannabidiol is a chemical compound found in marijuana and is usually sold as CBD oil. It can improve pain, memory, sleep, and mood in the body, but does not get people high.

What Is A CBD Merchant Account?
M
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Simply put, a merchant account is a special type of bank account that allows you to accept credit card payments for CBD. The account is set up with special safeguards to protect both the company and the business from chargebacks and closed accounts.

What Should You Look For In A CBD Payment Processor?
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When looking for a CBD payment processor, the list of things to look for isn’t that different from a ‘regular’ payment processor. Look for great customer support, reasonable contracts, low fees, availability of point-of-sale equipment, easy integrations, and of course the ability to process high risk transactions.

How Do I Process CBD Payments?
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The first step is finding the right credit card processor and then establishing a merchant account with them. You do have multiple options, but ultimately, you need a processor who can handle the ‘high risk’ business while offering you a competitive contract.

Can I Get An Online CBD Merchant Account?
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If you do not have a brick-and-mortar storefront, your merchant account will take that into consideration and allow you to have the appropriate type of account.

What’s Required To Get A CBD Merchant Account?
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To secure a merchant account, you will need to check with the provider to find out exactly what they require. You can check the list above, but know that each processor may require slightly different material.

Does Square Accept CBD Payments?
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Square has started to work with CBD merchants. However, their fees for processing CBD-related transactions are somewhat high.

Does Paypal Allow CBD Payments?
M
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PayPal recently started allowing CBD payments on their platform. At the same time, they have been known to close accounts trading in CBD products — without warning.

Can I Sell CBD With Woocommerce?
M
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WooCommerce is an open-source platform that does allow the sale of CBD. However, if you want to sell CBD internationally, there may be law restrictions in place which limit what a merchant can accept from an overseas buyer.

Can I Sell CBD Products On Shopify?
M
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Yes, Shopify will let you sell CBD products in states where it is legally permitted. You will need to use a third-party credit card processing company like Easy Pay Direct, though.

Why Easy Pay Direct?
M
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We pride ourselves on making your life easier and facilitating the growth of businesses across the globe. We have been doing this successfully for years and have helped countless businesses achieve their full potential — check out some of our testimonials. More importantly, Easy Pay Direct would love to play its part in helping you achieve your goals and service your consumers smoothly. if you’re interested in working with us, you can start your EMAP application or call us at: (800) 805-4949 | Get Set-up with a Merchant Account »

EASY PAY DIRECT STATS

30000+

BUSINESS

$12B+

PROCESSSED

20+

YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Merchant Accounts FAQ

If you want to know more about payments, pricing, or solutions to problems you are experiencing, we are always ready to help you.

What industries does Easy Pay Direct work with?
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Easy Pay Direct specializes in high risk payment processing but we also work with mid risk and low risk companies.

Here is a short list of some business verticals we service:

  • Antiques & Collectibles
  • Apparel & Clothing
  • Bad Credit
  • Bus Lines
  • Cannabis Support Businesses
  • Caterers
  • CBD Oil & CBD Products
  • Continuity Products and Subscription Boxes
  • Credit Repair
  • Credit Monitoring
  • Debt Collection
  • Digital Streaming
  • Document Preparation
  • Fantasy Sports
  • Firearms & Ammunition
  • Furniture & Home Furnishings
  • Health & Beauty
  • Hotels & Lodging
  • Insurance / Warranty
  • Legal Services
  • Magazine Subscriptions
  • Medical Billing & Coding
  • Medical Supplies
  • Membership & Recurring Billing
  • MLM Companies
  • Transportation & Moving
  • Non-Profit
  • Nutraceuticals
  • Pawnbrokers & Pawn Shops
  • Pet Products
  • Precious Metals
  • Property Management
  • SaaS Companies
  • Seminars & Coaching
  • SEO / SEM / Ad Agency
  • Smoking Accessories
  • Sports Betting
  • Survivalist & Tactical Gear
  • Telemedicine
  • Tobacco & Cigar
  • Travel & Timeshare
  • Vape / e-Cig / eJuice
  • Veterinarians
  • Web Design & Development

Why is my business considered high risk?
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“High Risk” is a banking industry term. It’s important to note that there are many business models that are seemingly low risk, but fall into the high risk category.

There is nothing wrong with being considered high risk and there are many factors that contribute to risk.

When a consumer buys an item with a credit card, they are given 6 months from the date of receiving the item to dispute the charge.

If your business is no longer operating, who do you think has to refund that money? The processor. This is where risk is created.

Certain businesses, marketing models, and industries have a higher rate of chargebacks, where they get labeled as high risk.

Even if your business is perfect, has never had a chargeback, and operates 100% “by the books”, you could be labeled high risk if you’re business or industry falls into a high risk category.

There are 3 main reasons a business can be considered high risk.

  1. The business has a greater chance of chargebacks occurring
  2. The business model may be new or legally regulated
  3. The business accepts a high number of card not present transactions (over the phone, email, eCommerce)

Do you provide merchant account services outside of the USA?
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At this time Easy Pay Direct offers merchant account services for the USA and Canada. We are always working to expand our areas of processing and hope to serve a greater area in the near future.

Can my startup or new business be approved?
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We have worked with many new brands and start-ups to get them approved and running. However, banks like to see a long history of transactions and an established history with a merchant before approving them.

But, that does not mean we can’t get you approved. Reach out to us today and we will walk you through your options.

How long does it take to get approved for a merchant account?
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Once all of the necessary documents have been received, it typically takes 1-4 days to get approved.

Occasionally accounts can be approved in less than 24 hours, our team will work as quickly as possible to get your account up and running.

I WANT TO ACCEPT PAYMENTS NOW