High-risk accounts
Coaching & course merchant accounts
Stratamize places merchant accounts for coaches and online courses, with your enrollment, refund and delivery terms ready for underwriting.
About two minutes. Our team follows up.
What we set up
- Merchant accounts for coaching, courses and training programs
- Program, delivery and refund terms organized for underwriting
- Enrollment checkout and installment billing set up after approval
Coaching & online courses
Who we work with
High-ticket coaching and online programs are reviewed for what is promised and when it is delivered. As a registered ISO, we place merchant accounts for coaches, course creators and training programs, and set up checkout and installment billing after approval.
We work with coaches, course creators, live cohort programs, memberships and training businesses. An on-demand course, a live cohort and a package of private sessions are reviewed differently, mainly on how much is paid up front and how long until it is delivered.
Underwriting looks closely at high-ticket programs sold on income or results claims, and at long gaps between payment and delivery. A program that is clearly described and delivered on schedule is the easiest case to approve.
Underwriting
What underwriting asks for
- Your sales pages, program descriptions, enrollment agreements and promotional material.
- What each purchase includes: recorded modules, live calls, private sessions, community access.
- Program prices, start dates and duration, and any installment or membership offers.
- Refund, cancellation and rescheduling terms, and how clients reach support.
- Expected transaction values and volume, recent processing statements, refunds and disputes.
- Any notice from a provider that closed or restricted your account.
Separate each program's price and delivery in the application, so the account describes the whole business, not just the best-selling offer.
Setup
How setup works
After approval we set up the gateway, NMI or Authorize.net, with a hosted payment form, so card numbers go straight to the processor and never through your website or our team. On the setup call you get your login and keys, and we run a test transaction with you.
For installments, the client's card is saved in the gateway's secure vault (for example Authorize.net Customer Profiles) and charged on the schedule they agreed to at checkout. A split payment for one program is set up separately from an ongoing membership, so a client can see which is which.
Reserves
Reserves and chargebacks
Underwriting may set a reserve: a share of each settlement held back as a cushion against chargebacks and released on a schedule your agreement states. Whether one applies, and its terms, depend on the review. What keeps an account in good standing afterward is ordinary practice done consistently: a business name customers recognize on their statement, a refund policy they can find, and a support line that answers before a customer calls their bank.
For programs, the most common disputes come from a client who expected something different. Sales pages that match what is delivered, and a refund policy that is easy to find, prevent most of them.
Selling online? The gateway is set up with the account: see the high-risk payment gateway. From our blog: Subscription payments: cancellation rules and billing controls for 2026.
Is every coaching business high risk?
No. It depends on the offer, the price, the claims and the delivery model. Tell us what you sell and we tell you which kind of account fits.
Can clients pay in installments?
Yes. Installments run from the gateway on the schedule agreed at checkout. The total, the number of payments and the dates should be stated before the client pays.
Will payments connect to our course platform?
Usually. Most course and membership platforms connect to NMI or Authorize.net. Tell us which platform you use and we confirm before you apply.
High-risk accounts
Get your application ready for underwriting.
We tell you what underwriting will ask for and prepare the file with you before it goes in.
Approvals usually come back within hours, three days at most.
Book a call