High-risk accounts
Debt collection merchant accounts
Stratamize places debt collection merchant accounts with a hosted payer page, after preparing your licenses and practices for underwriting.
About two minutes. Our team follows up.
What we set up
- Merchant accounts for agencies, debt buyers and first-party collections
- Collection role and licensing organized for underwriting
- Hosted payer page and payment plans set up after approval
Debt collection
Who we work with
Collection agencies, debt buyers and businesses collecting their own receivables need an account underwriting understands. As a registered ISO, we place merchant accounts for collection businesses and set up hosted payment pages and payment plans after approval.
We work with third-party collection agencies, debt buyers and businesses collecting their own receivables. They are different operations, and underwriting needs to know which one you are: who owns the accounts, who receives the funds, and on whose behalf you collect.
Underwriting
What underwriting asks for
- Your collection role, the types of accounts you handle and the states you collect in.
- Collection licenses or registrations where they apply, and your operating procedures.
- How clients or creditors engage you, and who receives and accounts for collected funds.
- Examples of payer communications and how payment authorization is recorded.
- Expected payment values and volume, recent processing statements, returns and disputes.
- Any notice from a provider that closed or restricted your account.
The CFPB's explanation of debt validation information covers what a collector must tell a consumer about a debt, including the creditor and itemized amounts. Payers who recognize the account and the amount are far less likely to dispute a payment.
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.
Payers use a hosted payment page to pay a balance or set up a payment plan, and each payment carries the account reference your ledger uses, so your team can apply it to the right account. A payment that is returned or refunded later stays linked to the original reference.
Your legal and compliance advisers set the rules for notices, fees and payment arrangements. We set up the payment side to follow them.
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.
Selling online? The gateway is set up with the account: see the high-risk payment gateway. From our blog: Before you apply for a high-risk merchant account.
Will payments work with our collection software?
Usually. Tell us which software you use and how payments are posted today, and we confirm how payment references and reports fit with it.
Can payers choose how to pay?
Card payments run through the gateway; ACH bank payments depend on your account approval. Tell us which methods your payers use and we confirm what is available.
Can payments reconcile to individual accounts?
Yes. Each payment carries the account reference, and the gateway's reports show approved, returned and refunded payments, so your ledger can match them.
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