The Best High-Risk Payment Processor For Convenience Stores

Payment processors let retailers offer convenient credit card and contactless payment options to their customers — but for industries considered “high risk”, it gets a bit complicated.  

High-risk payment processing is required for certain types of businesses, including tobacco, liquor, and most convenience stores, and can have a tangible impact on your business operations and bottom line. 

To manage it well, you need a reliable high-risk payment processor.

In this article, we’ll give you a full overview of convenience store payment processing, including:

• The basics of high-risk payment processing
• Whether your store needs a high-risk processor
• High-risk vs. standard merchant accounts
• Top C-store high-risk payment processors

While payment processing might seem out of your control, it isn’t. Using the right payment processor can improve the customer experience and your profit margins. 

What Is High-Risk Payment Processing and Does Your Store Need It?

All credit card and digital payments are processed using a payment processor. Payment processors protect customer data and move funds between a customer’s bank and your business’ bank account. 

However, payment processing works a little differently if a business is considered high-risk. 

Examples of high-risk businesses are ones that:

• Have a high risk of fraud or credit card chargebacks
• Sell age-restricted or adult-only products
• Offer products that exist in a legal gray area like THC, CBD, or vapes
• Are highly regulated (like gun shops) 
• Have a bad credit history
• Have consistently high average transaction amounts

Do you need to use a high-risk payment processor at your convenience store? The answer is likely yes.

Most convenience stores require a high-risk payment processor because many of them sell age-restricted items like alcohol or cigarettes and have higher rates of crime than other retail industries. 

What’s the Difference Between a Regular and High-Risk Payment Processor?

There are important differences between standard and high-risk payment processors.

• Better security: High-risk processors usually have higher fraud protection and data security standards.
• Enhanced chargeback protection: Standard payment processors won’t work with businesses after a certain number of chargebacks or will increase their fees. A high-risk processor is more tolerant of credit card disputes and has established processes to deal with them.

• Modern payment support: Most high-risk payment processors allow you to offer a wide variety of payment options such as credit and debit cards along with popular contactless payments like digital wallets, and payment apps.

• Higher costs: Some high-risk merchant accounts charge higher credit card processing fees than a standard account.
• Rolling reserve: A merchant account will keep a certain percentage of all transactions for a certain period before releasing it to your account. This rolling reserve is required by high-risk payment processors to handle disputes. 

C-Store High-Risk Payment Processor: 3 Top Providers

The important question may not be if you need a high-risk payment processor at all but rather which high-risk payment processor is best for your business.

Here are our three top recommendations for high-risk payment processors in 2024.

1. C-Store POS

Our comprehensive point of sale (POS) solution comes with built-in high-risk payment processing together with a suite of powerful convenience store management features.

Benefits

• In-house payments and competitive rates: We process payments in-house, making the payment process frictionless for customers while offering highly competitive fees.
• All-in-one system: In addition to payment processing, C-Store POS also provides features such as inventory management, customer loyalty, store performance analytics, employee management, and more. 
• Flexible payment options: C-Store POS supports all standard payment methods, including EMV, debit, EBT Food, EBT Cash, gift cards, and checks.

Pricing: We offer flexible pricing plans starting as low as $49/month.

2. PaymentCloud

PaymentCloud was started in 2015 with the goal of offering merchant services to any type of business. 

Benefits

• Integrations with POS systems: PaymentCloud can integrate with many POS systems, eliminating the need to manually reconcile transaction data.

• Flexible payments and QR codes: In addition to credit card and contactless payments, Payment Cloud also allows customers to pay by scanning a QR code at checkout.
• Flexible hardware options: PaymentCloud offers a variety of hardware options, letting you pick and choose only what you need for your business.

Pricing: PaymentCloud doesn’t currently list pricing on its website, so contact their sales team for a quote.

3. Soar Payments

Soar Payments specializes in high-risk payment processing, making them an ideal fit for convenience stores that offer a wide range of high-risk items.

Benefits

• Wide range of hardware and software: Soar offers various options to accept in-person, mobile, and e-commerce payments.
• Flexible integrations: Soar Payments offers a wide range of integrations with accounting, e-commerce, marketing, and other software platforms. 
• After-hours tech support: Soar Payments boasts after-hour tech support for all of its customers.

Pricing: Soar Payments does not list pricing on their website, but you can fill out a form to receive an instant quote depending on your needs.

Simplify Payments With In-House Payment Processing

Working with a high-risk payment processor is a necessity when running a modern convenience store — but which one is right for you?

If your business is high-risk, make sure to work with a payment processor that fits your needs without complicating your day-to-day. We always recommend working with a payment processor that integrates directly with your POS system. This will keep your transaction information all in one place for use in demand forecasting, analyzing daily sales reports, and more.

C-Store POS combines a comprehensive convenience store management platform with solutions specifically built for high-risk businesses. With C-Store POS you can streamline your processes, improve customer satisfaction, and seamlessly process customer payments without complicated or expensive add-ons. 

Contact our team today to see how C-Store POS can simplify your high-risk payment processing needs.