Gaming Merchant Accounts Key Business Terms

As you can see, one big factor in determining whether a business is considered high risk or low risk is whether it is based locally or offshore. Another is the amount of money involved. Any gaming merchant applying for a high risk merchant account is likely to encounter issues with the provider, depending on the status of his business. If a gambling business is proven to have no record of fraud or a huge percentage of chargebacks, then it has a good chance of getting approved. Moreover, if it is a mere startup that eventually sees high volume credit card processing in the future transactions, then it will also find good benefit in hiring the services of a high risk merchant account provider.

Gaming Merchant Accounts Key Business Terms

Gaming Versus Gambling

Many people have always asked what gambling is and how it differs from gaming. Does it matter? Heck, yeah. When applying for a high risk merchant account, you would soon find out that if your business involves only gaming you have a better chance of being approved for the account. For example, in one UK merchant account provider, applicants would have to fill up a form for assessment and underwriting to figure out if an application has a high likelihood of getting accepted. But only businesses dealing with gambling need fill out that form. Gaming businesses, on the other hand, are quickly offered discount rates and other information on fees and setup. Unintentional as it may seem, gambling always elicits more suspicion than other high risk businesses.

Well, for obvious reasons -- but let me get a little technical to make it clear.

Think of gambling as gaming that involves criminally high stakes. I don't mean that gamblers can get arrested for going to Harrah's. Unlike gaming, gambling blurs the line between the legal and the illegal. The US lawmakers have been pursuing countrywide regulations on internet (especially poker) gambling but we have yet to see what they come up with. As far as we are concerned, games such as bingo, lottery, and horse betting are considered legal up to this point. The qualifying basis of the legality of a game is where the money is transacted and where the operators are located. Since online gambling businesses are not allowed to operate in the US, most of them are based offshore -- in countries where they can legally operate and have taxation privileges.

Gaming, on the other hand, is a legal form of playing and betting and does not run the risk of being penalized by law. In other words, compared to gambling, it is a business of much lower risk.

P2P Betting Versus Betting Exchange

Many people are just as confused as to what P2P is and how it differs from betting exchange. P2P is person to person betting where one player can bet against the other player's bets without a middleman or a bookie. The internet has made this progress possible, to the relief of players who have more opportunities to bet now than before. In reality, P2P betting can be called different terms, but it also means exactly the same as betting exchange. Instead of giving the bookie the commission, the losing players add up a portion of their bets on the winning players' cashout.

Sportsbooks

Possibly the most exciting aspect of game-oriented betting is putting your stakes on your favorite sports games. Sports games require bookies and have evolved into many different aspects including fantasy sports betting. The US law, however, does not consider offshore sportsbook betting as legal and thus is likely to prosecute gamblers who wager on offshore-based sportsbooks. Most sportsbooks are licensed and based in Nevada.

As you can see, one big factor in determining whether a business is considered high risk or low risk is whether it is based locally or offshore. Another is the amount of money involved. Any gaming merchant applying for a high risk merchant account is likely to encounter issues with the provider, depending on the status of his business. If a gambling business is proven to have no record of fraud or a huge percentage of chargebacks, then it has a good chance of getting approved. Moreover, if it is a mere startup that eventually sees high volume credit card processing in the future transactions, then it will also find good benefit in hiring the services of a high risk merchant account provider.