CBD Merchant Account | CBD Credit Card Processing | Shift Processing

Compliant CBD Credit Card Processing

In store and online without the risk of shutdown.

Does this sound familiar?

A customer walks into your store, chooses the product they want to purchase and brings it up to the counter to buy it. You tell them the price, but then they hand you a credit card. 

You regret to inform them that your business does not accept credit cards. The customer, without any cash on them, then has to put the product back and walks out of the store, not likely to return. They’ll find somewhere else, like a gas station, that accepts credit cards to fulfill their CBD needs. They prefer to pay with card, rather than going to an ATM to get a cash advance.

Young businessman giving credit card from wallet

Or, maybe this is more relatable to your business: Sales are going great, and you accept payment from both credit cards and cash. The business is growing and more customers are coming in each day. 

One day, you get an alert that your merchant account provider has dropped your business, no longer letting you accept credit card payments. For what reason? You’re considered high risk to your payment processor for selling CBD products, even though the products are completely legal and offer promising health claims, all while you require age verification for purchases. It wasn't even your fault that you lost your account, but it's the few bad apples that ruin it for everyone. You scramble around to find a new processor, one that will accept high risk business types. 

Every processor you’re finding, though, has high fees that will take advantage of you for years. They know you’re desperate and think they can make a ton of money off of that desperation.

Your business needs a merchant account that won’t charge crazy high fees or cancel your account out of nowhere because you’re considered “high risk”. You need a processor that has experience with similar businesses and knows the struggles that you have already been through for trying to simply accept credit card payments.

Many CBD business owners think that it’s too hard to get a merchant account, or that if they find one, the fees will be far too high. For the most part, they’re right. But with Shift, your interests are put first. We want to be the merchant account provider that changes your mind.  

What should you look for in a processor?

Honesty

Many merchants will give their clients a price up front, but hide fees or stipulations in the contract that allow them to raise the price after about a year. As a merchant processor for CBD and other high risk businesses, here at Shift Processing, we are very transparent about our fees and offer no termination fees should you choose to end your contract with us.

Easy

When you accept credit cards at the point of site, it should be the last time you think about that transaction. You shouldn’t have any payment processing responsibilities beyond providing your customer with a credit card terminal and having them swipe the card.

Accept Major Brands

If a certain card brand can’t be accepted by your processor, then you’re more or less right back to where you started. You could easily run into the same issues that you had before if a certain type can’t be accepted. Keep that in mind and get a payment system and processor capable of accepting credit cards.

Low Fees

Most processors will charge ridiculous rates to high risk merchants because they know that you are probably desperate for a processor. Get a merchant account that is cheaper than the rest, without hiding fees that will grow over time.

Can I get an online CBD Merchant Account?

If you've ever tried to sell CBD products online, you understand the depth of the struggle in trying to secure an online account. Shift Processing specializes in both brick and mortar and online cbd accounts with a 99% approval rate for our cbd merchants. 

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We understand that every business is different, and listen to each business owner to fully understand the best solution for your needs. This isn't a cookie cutter business, and getting the right merchant account services for CBD can set you up for success for years to come.

If you're looking for an online CBD merchant account, you've come to the right place. Our staff is trained to get to the bottom of what will work best for you while keeping the fees low so you can grow your business.

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Does PayPal Accept CBD sales?

PayPal will technically approve CBD sales. But does PayPal allow CBD sales? A quick Google search will show that PayPal is notorious for shutting down the accounts of CBD businesses without warning and even holding their funds. PayPal stops accepting purchases of CBD businesses very frequently. Because of this, PayPal is widely regarded as poor to work with for CBD businesses.

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An actual payment processor that has experience in high risk and CBD merchant processing and CBD payment processing in particular will be more beneficial to a CBD business looking to accept credit card payments.

Processing CBD sales through PayPal is a huge risk. If they decide that you are too high risk for them, they have the right to, without warning, shut down your merchant account. The lack of warning provided to you means that you won’t have time to find another processor before they decide to shut you down. You’ll have to rely only on cash purchases until you’re able to find a processor that is willing to partner with high risk businesses.

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why not just accept cash?

You could just accept cash, like plenty of other CBD businesses, but that would severely limit your customer base. You could stick out amongst other CBD stores, or do exactly what they are doing.

Think about the necessity of accepting credit cards this way: Each customer that you have to turn away because of your inability to accept credit card payments is a purchase lost. But, how many sales are you actually turning down in the long run? 

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CBD Merchants who accept credit cards typically see a 20% higher ticket than their cash-only counterparts.

Each customer that you turn down will probably not come back again, because they’ll always assume that you can’t accept credit cards, even if you begin to accept them after they came in. Each customer that was initially turned down, then, could turn into tens of hundreds of dollars lost in future purchases by their assumption that you don’t accept credit cards.

So, being able to accept credit cards really will turn into countless purchases down the road as customers know they are able to use a credit card and come back to your business because of that convenience.

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Why Shift is Good for CBD Businesses

Experience with High Risk Businesses

Shift has plenty of experience with “high risk” businesses just like yours. You'll have a team of dedicated professionals to help you through the application and approval process. With a quick  terminal set up, you can be accepting credit card payments in no time.

Experience with CBD Businesses

We’ve worked with both online and brick and mortar CBD businesses, and continue to do so because they trust us to process their payments at low rates and not cancel the merchant account. 

Earning the trust of your business and satisfying your need for a credit card payment processor, just like the other CBD businesses, is our number one priority.

Low Monthly Minimums

It’s common for processors to require that you, as a business, continue to process a certain amount a month in order to stay a client, or else you’ll face an additional fee to cover for the amount of the minimum that was not hit. With Shift, the monthly minimum for our CBD Merchants is only $25.

Low Monthly fees

Unlike other high risk processors, Shift does not charge massive monthly fees in addition to the per transaction fees. Minimal monthly fees means more money in your pocket.

No rate increases

How does a rate decrease sound? The longer you process with Shift and demonstrate that your CBD business is not such a high risk, you may actually find that your rate will decrease over time from where it began.

Accept Credit cards

Our credit card terminals and POS systems can accept credit cards. This will keep your business from falling back into the original problem of only being able to accept cash.

What other processors offer

  • Stripe
  • PayKings
  • Square

Does Stripe accept CBD payments? Does Stripe allow CDB sales?

Stripe restricts CBD based businesses from accepting payments on their services. In fact, Stripe restricts any highrisk business in any industry, from the hemp oil and CBD oil industry to the gambling industry, from using their services. So while the product might be completely legal in your region, Stripe prefers to not take on that risk and will deny any CBD based businesses from using their services. 

Since we a lot of questions regarding Stripe CBD sales and Stripe CBD payments, we’ll explain their policy. For trying to obtain a CBD merchant account, Stripe really isn’t an option for your business.  

They have a policy against acquiring high risk clients. Since selling CBD is considered a high risk business, the Stripe for CBD policy is that your CBD business will not be allowed to process payments with them. Stripe CBD sales is a “no” for CBD payment processing.

Does Stripe accept CBD sales? No. But Shift does

Shift has plenty of experience with high risk businesses and knows what business owners need out of a processor. We put you, the customer, first and want to do whatever it takes to help your business succeed.

what is a CBD merchant account

A CBD retail merchant account is an account that allows you to accept credit card payments made for CBD products. Merchant service providers that are willing to take on CBD accounts can be hard to find. 

Many merchant accounts for CBD, in fact, will drop a CBD account after having it as an account for months on end. They might take you on at first. If they suddenly view your business as too high risk, they might drop it without warning.

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Shift Processing has plenty of experience with highrisk merchants, including high risk merchant accounts for CBD sellers, so you can find safety in knowing that Shift will not drop your CBD dedicated account.

If you intend on selling CBD products online as well as in store and need a CBD payment gateway, consider a payment processor for CBD that can provide an online payment gateway or virtual terminal.

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WHY IS IT HARD TO FIND A CBD PAYMENT PROCESSOR?

It can be hard to find a CBD payment processor because it is seen as a “high risk” industry due to its affiliation with marijuana. Though hemp based CBD and hemp products overall are legal nationwide, few credit card processors are willing to take on the risk that it presents through its affiliation.

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CBD credit card processors or merchant services for CBD and hemp credit card processing are very difficult to find. Even if you find a processor willing to take on a CBD business, odds are that their fees are very expensive. This is because of a couple different factors. First, they know that it is risky to process your payments. Because of this, they want to make more off of you for being willing to process CBD payments.

Second, they know that if you are a business seeking payment solutions for your CBD business, you are probably fairly desperate and are willing to pay a good amount in order to accept credit cards. Many credit card processors for CBD take advantage of that desperation and try to tell you that they have very competitive rates, when they actually have very high rates.

That’s why many businesses choose Shift for their CBD oil merchant processing.

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Is CBD legal in all 50 states?

The legality of CBD is complicated, but as a general rule, hemp based CBD is legal in all 50 states as long as the level of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, in the cannabis product is low to virtually nonexistent. There are no specific federal laws against hemp based CBD. However, marijuana based CBD is only legal in a few different states.

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Marijuana based CBD, as you can probably guess, is only legal in states that have approved the use of medical marijuana or recreational marijuana. If marijuana is legal in your state, then marijuana based CBD is most likely legal as well. However, the legality is very complicated overall, as THC above a certain amount might turn the CBD illegal. Find out what the laws are in your local state to be absolutely sure that your products are totally and completely legal.

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CBD comes in many different forms. CBD oils, CBD vape and other variations all have different uses to consumers. If are a CBD business owner and seeking a merchant account solution to allow you to accept credit cards on these products, give Shift a chance. We have plenty of experience with all different types of high risk industries, including CBD processing.

If your business specializes in CBD oil, for instance, we can work with you to become your CBD oil merchant account provider. We can provide a CBD oil merchant account that will allow you to process purchases made by credit cards. Let Shift become your CBD oil payment processor. Contact us today for information on CBD oil credit card processing.

From mobile processing  to brick and mortar processing, Shift has a wide variety of options to meet your needs for merchant processing for CBD. Shift’s CBD oil merchant services can provide one of the best CBD merchant accounts. We can also work with you to create a virtual terminal so you can have a payment gateway for CBD online payment processing.

Shift offers competitive rates with unbeatable customer service. No other merchant account provider will give you the same experience that Shift promises to deliver as a credit card processor for CBD products. There are no offshore merchant accounts with us.

Contact us and tell us how we can help you start payment processing for CBD products with credit cards and get a merchant account approved in less than a week.

Terminals Offered by Shift

Ingenico ICT220 B&W

Ingenico ICT 220

  • 2.7’’ (128x64) Black and white display
  • 192 MB of memory
  • High speed modem or Ethernet connectivity
  • PCI PTS 2.x and 3.x certified
  • Contains thermal printer
Ingenico ICT 250 Color

Ingenico ICT 250

  • 2.7’’ (320x240) TFT Color display
  • 150 MB of memory
  • High speed modem or Ethernet connectivity
  • PCI PTS 3.x certified
  • Contains thermal printer
verifone vx520 terminal

Verifone VX 520

  • 2.6" (128 × 64) monochrome LCD display
  • 160 MB of memory
  • Dial-up or ethernet connectivity
  • PCI PTS 3.x approved
  • Contains thermal printer