Payment Processing Guides
Short, practical explanations of the terms and decisions that come up when you apply for card processing, written for merchants rather than payment specialists.
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Chargeback alerts
Chargeback alerts tell you that a customer has contacted their bank about a payment before the bank files a chargeback. If you refund in time, the bank should not file a chargeback, so in most cases you avoid the chargeback fee and the case does not count as a dispute towards Visa's and Mastercard's limits. Alerts do not stop everything, though. A fraud report the bank has already filed still counts, and you still lose the sale.
Chargeback ratio
Your chargeback ratio is the number of disputes in a month divided by a month of transactions, shown as a percentage. Mastercard flags merchants from 1.5% of chargebacks and Visa from 1.5% of fraud plus disputes in most regions, both with minimum counts, and most acquirers act before that. It is the number that decides whether you keep your account, so know exactly how your provider calculates it.
Gambling payments in Costa Rica and Panama
Costa Rica and Panama are long-standing bases for online sportsbooks and casinos serving players in the Americas, but they are very different on paper. Costa Rica has no online gambling licence at all, so an acquirer has nothing to rely on but your own controls and markets. Panama has a regulator for online gaming and tightened its rules in 2026. In both cases, the question that decides your application is where your players are and whether you may serve them.
High-risk payment processing
High-risk payment processing is card acceptance for businesses that acquirers and card schemes consider more likely to cause chargebacks, fraud, legal or reputational problems. It is a classification, not a verdict on your business: it means fewer providers will take you on, underwriting asks for more, and terms include safeguards such as reserves. With the right provider, high-risk businesses process cards every day.
High-risk payment processing fees
There is no single price for high-risk payment processing. What you pay is made up of processing fees, chargeback and scheme fees, currency and payout costs, and the cash held back in a reserve. High-risk businesses pay more than ordinary online shops because the acquirer carries more risk, but two offers for the same business can still differ a lot. The way to compare them is the effective rate on your own volume, plus the cash a reserve ties up.
How to choose a payment processor
Start with acceptance, not price. Confirm that the processor will take on your industry, markets and volume; then compare approval rates, the pricing model, settlement and reserve terms, integration and PCI scope, and how easily you can leave. The cheapest headline rate is rarely the cheapest processor once declines and cash flow are counted.
iGaming payment processing in Malta
An MGA licence makes you eligible for card acquiring, but it does not get you an account on its own. Acquirers that board gambling merchants have to meet extra card-scheme obligations for MCC 7995, so they underwrite your licence, ownership, AML controls, target markets and processing history before they accept you. Once you are live, MGA and FIAU rules decide which payment providers you can use, how fast you pay players and when you must verify them.
Mastercard GMAP
From 1 April 2027, Mastercard brings its chargeback and fraud monitoring programs together under a Global Merchant Audit Program. The existing excessive chargeback and excessive fraud tiers continue, but the chargeback threshold falls step by step from 1.5% to 0.9% by 2031, and new dispute tiers count fraud reports even when no chargeback follows. Mastercard has not published the program openly, so the figures below come from industry and acquirer reports of its bulletin and should be checked with your acquirer.
MCC 7995
MCC 7995 is the merchant category code Visa and Mastercard use for betting and gambling: casino games, sports betting, lottery tickets, casino chips, wagers at race tracks and other games of chance with prizes of monetary value. Under Visa's rules, a merchant that takes online gambling payments has to put all its transactions under 7995, even if gambling is a small part of its business. Both schemes treat the code as high risk, which means scheme registration, more declined payments and fewer providers that accept it.
MCC codes
A merchant category code (MCC) is a four-digit code that tells the card schemes and card issuers what kind of business you are. Your acquirer assigns it when you are onboarded. It affects what interchange you pay, whether issuers approve your payments, whether you need scheme registration and which rules apply to you.
Merchant website requirements
Before an acquirer or payment provider accepts an online business, someone checks its website. Card scheme rules require the site to show who you are and where you are based, what you sell, your refund, delivery and privacy policies, how to reach you and which currency you charge in, and EU consumer law adds more for sales to European customers. Common causes of delay are a missing policy, a business name that does not match the application, or a site that is not yet live.
Offshore gambling payment processing
An acquirer looks at two locations when an offshore gambling operator applies: where your players are, and where your business is really run from. Your licence and company get you considered, but your player markets decide whether you are accepted, which acquirer can take you and on what terms. An operator in Curaçao, Costa Rica or the Caribbean with clean, lawful markets is often easier to board than one with a stronger licence and players in the wrong countries.
PSP vs acquirer
The PSP provides the technology and the commercial relationship; the acquirer holds the scheme licence, underwrites your business and settles your money. Many merchants need both, sometimes bundled by one provider, sometimes contracted separately.
Rolling reserve
A rolling reserve is a percentage of each payout that your acquirer holds back for a fixed period, typically three to six months, before releasing it. It covers refunds and chargebacks that can arrive long after you have been paid. The money is still yours, but while it is held it is not working capital, so the terms matter as much as your processing rate.
Visa AFT rules for forex and CFD brokers
From 18 October 2026, Visa requires card deposits to CFD, rolling spot forex, spread betting, binary options, crypto options and ICO platforms to be processed as account funding transactions instead of purchases. The merchant must be registered in Visa's Integrity Risk Program first, and deposits must carry the sender, recipient and, where required, purpose data your acquirer specifies for each region. Brokers whose deposits still go through as ordinary purchases risk more declines and fines passed on by their acquirer. Mastercard has its own deadlines, with Europe following on 31 March 2027.
What is a merchant account?
A merchant account is an account held with an acquiring bank that allows you to accept card payments and receive settlement. It is not a business bank account: funds pass through it, are netted against refunds, fees and any reserve, and are then paid out to your ordinary bank account.
What is a PSP?
A payment service provider (PSP) is the company that lets your business accept payments: it connects your checkout to card schemes and local payment methods, sends each payment for authorisation and reports the result. Some PSPs also hold the acquiring licence and settle the money to you; others route your payments to a separate acquiring bank that does.
What is an acquirer?
An acquiring bank is licensed by the card schemes to accept card transactions on your behalf, holds your merchant account, and settles the funds to your bank. It also carries the financial risk if you cannot refund your customers, which is why the acquirer, not the gateway, decides whether you are accepted.
What is the MATCH list?
MATCH is Mastercard's database of merchants whose card processing was terminated for serious reasons, such as excessive chargebacks, fraud or breaking card scheme rules. Every acquirer must check it before opening a merchant account, and must add merchants it terminates for one of those reasons. A listing names the business and its owners, stays for five years and can only be removed early in narrow cases. It makes new processing much harder, but it does not make it impossible.
Ready to compare providers?
When the terminology is clear, move on to the commercial pages: payment processors, payment service providers, acquiring banks and high-risk payment processing, or browse payment processing by industry.
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Add your business essentials once and see which providers your profile matches before you apply anywhere.
Check my payment optionsNothing is shared with a provider until you submit your onboarding pack. Approval is always the provider's decision.