High-risk accounts
Tech support merchant accounts
Stratamize places merchant accounts for legitimate tech support and remote IT services, set up around clear terms and a clean sales process.
About two minutes. Our team follows up.
What we set up
- Merchant accounts for legitimate tech support and IT services
- Sales process and customer authorization shown to underwriting
- Invoices and recurring support plans set up after approval
Tech support & remote services
Who we work with
Tech support is one of the most closely reviewed categories in card processing, because scammers use the same words. As a registered ISO, we place merchant accounts for legitimate support and IT service businesses and help you show underwriting exactly how customers find you and approve each charge.
We work with legitimate tech support and IT service businesses: remote and on-site support, managed IT for small businesses, device repair and ongoing support plans. Underwriting starts from the assumption that the category carries fraud risk, so a legitimate business wins approval by showing clearly how it operates.
Underwriting
What underwriting asks for
- How customers find you: your website, your advertising, and whether calls are inbound or outbound.
- The names customers see when they contact you, and how you describe any relationship with software or hardware brands.
- How you quote work and how the customer approves a charge before it is made.
- Your service menu, prices and recurring plans, with how a customer cancels.
- Examples of a quote, an approval, a completed job summary and a receipt, with personal details removed.
- Recent processing statements, refund and dispute history, and any notice from a provider that closed your account.
The FTC's guidance on tech support scams lists impersonation, fake warnings and pressure for remote access as warning signs. Underwriting reads your sales process against that list, so your marketing and your scripts should look nothing like it.
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.
Each charge can carry your ticket or invoice number, so your team can match a payment to the job it paid for when a customer asks.
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.
In this category, keeping the customer's approval separate from remote access matters: permission to look at a device is not permission to charge for a repair. A clear approval step before every charge is what keeps disputes rare.
Selling online? The gateway is set up with the account: see the high-risk payment gateway. From our blog: Tech support payments: consent, call records and the current TSR.
Can you place a remote-only support business?
Yes, if it is legitimate and documented. Show us how customers request help, approve access and approve paid work.
Can monthly support plans be billed automatically?
Yes. Recurring billing runs from the gateway, with each renewal recorded against the customer. Your plan terms and cancellation method need to be clear on your website.
Will payments link to my service desk?
Payment references can carry your ticket or invoice number. Tell us which help-desk software you use and we confirm how it connects.
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