The 7 Best E-Cigarette & Vape Merchant Accounts

PaymentCloud is a great option for eCommerce-based e-cig and vape businesses that are looking for features that make it easier to create a seamless online shopping experience for customers. Complete check processing, fraud and chargeback prevention, and business funding are all must-haves for high-risk businesses that want to stay afloat for the long term, and PaymentCloud delivers on all of these fronts. Plus, PaymentCloud offers robust hands-on advocacy and guidance to merchants both during and after the onboarding process — they’ll even assign a dedicated account manager to you throughout the lifetime of your contract.

For retail merchants, the company now provides a “free” EMV-compliant credit card terminal with each account — it’s free so long as you return it if you close your account or switch providers. PaymentCloud enjoys a great online reputation, with our readers and merchants on other sites giving the company a positive endorsement. Low-risk providers such as Dharma Merchant Services and Stripe Payments routinely refer high-risk applicants to PaymentCloud.

• No account setup fee
• No monthly minimum (low-risk accounts)
• Interchange + 0.05%-0.30% + $0.08-$0.10 per transaction (low-risk accounts)
• Processing rates vary by the acquiring bank/back-end processor (high-risk accounts)
• $15/month account fee (low-risk accounts)
• Account fees vary by the acquiring bank/back-end processor (high-risk accounts)

PaymentCloud provides features with eCommerce-based businesses operating in high-risk industries in mind. Most notably, these include:

• Fraud & Chargeback Prevention: PaymentCloud understands that high chargeback rates are a major concern in high-risk industries, which is why they provide advice on choosing a chargeback management service. They’ll also help you set up fraud mitigation services and walk you through customer support techniques to keep your customers happy.
• eCheck & ACH Processing: PaymentCloud will set you up to process ACH and eCheck payment options so that you can accept and initiate direct deposits.
• Business Funding Options: PaymentCloud offers business funding options for high-risk businesses, such as high-risk business loans that vary by term length, amount, interest, and repayment structure.
• Shopping Cart Integration: PaymentCloud integrates with many online shopping carts for eCommerce merchants such as Shopify, BigCommerce, and 3DCart to create a more seamless online purchasing experience for customers.

We chose Corepay as one of the relatively few high-risk specialists that not only accepts e-cigarette/vape merchants, but also provides extensive information about the unique factors that go into getting a merchant account in this industry. Corepay can usually place most e-cigarette/vape merchants, provided they only sell legal products and haven’t had a previous account terminated by another provider.

Corepay offers a full range of products and services for e-cigarette/vape merchants, with a particular emphasis on online and mail order/telephone order (MOTO) sales. Credit card and ACH processing are available, with rates for credit card transactions starting at 2.95%. Note that Corepay fully discloses that most high-risk merchants will pay processing rates that are significantly higher than what a comparable low-risk business would pay. The company is also mum about its contracts, so you can expect to have a long-term contract with an early termination fee, as well as a rolling reserve when the account is first established.

• No application or account setup fees
• No annual fees
• Variable monthly fees
• Variable processing rates (starting at 2.95% for high-risk merchants)

Corepay offers a variety of products and services for retail and online e-cigarette/vape merchants, including the following:

• High-Risk Merchant Accounts: Corepay offers merchant accounts to both high and low-risk merchants, using a variety of backend processors. One unique feature is the availability of Mail Order/Telephone Order (MOTO)-only accounts for merchants who need them.
• Processing Hardware: Corepay offers a variety of card readers, terminals, and point-of-sale (POS) systems. However, the company’s website currently does not feature information on specific devices.
• Payment Gateway: Corepay’s proprietary NetValve gateway supports tokenization and smart BIN routing, and includes a number of antifraud features. Authorize.Net and NMI gateways are also available.
• ACH Processing: Accepting ACH transfers is a good strategy for any high-risk business, as processing rates are much lower than they are for credit cards. Corepay offers ACH processing as an optional feature for online businesses.
• Chargeback Protection: Corepay uses Ethoca and Verifi to protect your account from fraud and chargebacks. It also utilizes Visa’s Rapid Dispute Resolution (RDR), a new Verifi feature that allows merchants an additional opportunity to offer a refund before a chargeback is filed.

Although Host Merchant Services isn’t primarily a high-risk specialist, it does accommodate high-risk businesses and is an excellent choice to consider given its full range of products and services for both eCommerce and brick-and-mortar businesses. Merchants have the freedom to choose from multiple terminals for sale since HMS is philosophically against leasing equipment. If you process more than $20,000 each month in transactions, you may qualify for at least one free EMV card terminal. The company offers a variety of POS systems and its proprietary Transaction Express gateway, both of which are especially handy for e-cig and vaping merchants that may maintain online as well as physical shops.

All low-risk Host Merchant Services accounts come with month-to-month billing, but high-risk merchants may have to agree to a long-term contract, in some cases. One unique feature offered by HMS is that free web hosting is included with your merchant account, making it that much easier to get up and running for online sales.

• No application or setup fees
• Variable account fees per customized quote
• Variable processing rates per customized quote
• $5-$10/month gateway fee
• $15 chargeback fee
• No PCI compliance fee

Host Merchant Services offers a full range of features and services that work for just about any type of business, including high-risk industries like e-cigarette/vape shops. These most notably include:

• eCommerce Payment Solutions: Host Merchant Services will guide merchants through the complete process of implementing an eCommerce payment solution. They offer payment gateway integration as well as assistance with payment security and PCI compliance. Their payment solutions also support major shopping carts such as Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce, as well as all major payment gateways.
• Combined Virtual Terminal & Integrated In-House Gateway: Host Merchant Services offers a combined virtual terminal and integrated in-house gateway called Transaction Express. HMS Transaction Express encrypts customer data and uses tokenization to keep customer payment information secure during online transactions. Transaction Express also supports ACH services as well as wireless processing and recurring billing, which many eCommerce businesses, including those in the e-cig and vaping industry, rely on. If you’d like to use an alternative gateway to Transaction Express, Host Merchant Services supports most other third-party gateways as well.
• Up-To-Date Credit Card Terminals: For e-cig and vaping businesses that maintain brick-and-mortar operations, Host Merchant Services can hook you up with up-to-date credit card terminals. You may even qualify for at least one free EMV card terminal when you sign up with HMS, assuming you process more than $20,000 each month in credit/debit card transactions.
• Mobile Processing: Host Merchant Services promotes Vital and SwipeSimple for mobile POS processing, and can attach both solutions to your mobile device. Vital and SwipeSimple also have associated apps that can be run on your mobile device anytime, anywhere.

Soar Payments is a relatively new merchant account provider that specializes in finding card processing homes for hard-to-place businesses. Overall, Soar Payments offers competitive terms for high-risk merchants and provides POS, mobile payment, terminal, and eCommerce solutions for high-risk merchants. Additionally, Soar partners with Chargeback.com to give high-risk merchants a leg up when it comes to handling disputed payments. Soar’s automated custom pricing quote, as well as its fast underwriting process, also provide for a relatively stress-free merchant account application process for high-risk merchants who’ve struggled in the past to find a processor that will work with them.

Soar Payments uses a quote-based pricing system and doesn’t disclose its fees or rates online, so expect a rolling reserve and a monthly minimum when you sign on for a high-risk merchant account. Soar’s standard contracts include an initial two-year term that automatically renews for one-year periods afterward. Soar also imposes a $495 early termination fee, but only during the first two years of a contract’s lifetime.

• Variable processing rates for high-risk accounts (tiered pricing usually used)
• Variable account fees for high-risk merchants
• Usually includes a monthly minimum
• A long-term contract and an early termination fee may apply

If you need a feature-rich, high-risk merchant account provider, Soar Payments may be perfect for you. Notable features include the following:

• Multiple Payment Gateways: Soar Payments mainly focuses on eCommerce-based businesses and offers multiple options for payment gateways. These include the Authorize.Net and USAePay gateways, as well as the NMI gateway which integrates with most major online shopping carts. To sweeten the deal, NMI also integrates with Chargeback Armor, which is an automated chargeback prevention and response program that is a big plus for merchants in high-risk industries.
• Wide Range Of Essential Hardware: Soar Payments offers POS systems, mobile payment processors, and credit card terminals in addition to eCommerce solutions for high-risk merchants who are in search of an account provider.
• Large Network Of Partner Banks & Processors: Soar Payments maintains a network of about a dozen banks and payment processors in order to place high-risk merchants. Soar also uses this large network to offer high-risk merchants offshore accounts in case they process payments from customers overseas.

Easy Pay Direct offers its proprietary EPD Gateway as its primary product and provides full-service merchant accounts for both low-risk and high-risk merchants. Easy Pay Direct also offers load-balancing, which is particularly helpful for high-risk merchants that often exceed the underwriting processor’s monthly processing volume limits. The load-balancing option and the robust features of Easy Pay Direct’s EPD Gateway make it an excellent option for high-volume businesses with an online sales channel.

Easy Pay Direct doesn’t disclose its contract terms online, but most contracts appear to last for three years. Contract length likely depends on which back-end processor you’re set up with, and your contract will likely include an automatic renewal clause for additional one-year periods. Easy Pay Direct doesn’t charge an early termination fee for most merchants, although closing your account without being penalized can still be challenging — follow the instructions for closing your account to the letter before doing this. The company primarily charges processing rates under a tiered pricing plan and imposes a relatively expensive $99 account setup fee.

• $99 account setup fee
• $24.95 monthly account maintenance fee
• Variable processing rates (tiered and interchange-plus pricing used)
• Variable additional monthly and annual fees
• A long-term contract may apply
• No early termination fee (except for offshore accounts)

Easy Pay Direct includes a popular load-balancing feature that is useful for both low-risk and high-risk merchants that tend to exceed their processor’s monthly processing volume limits. Here are Easy Pay’s primary features:

• EPD Gateway: Easy Pay Direct’s in-house gateway lets merchants process credit/debit card transactions, ACH payments, and online payments. The gateway uses a customer vault for the secure storage of sensitive customer payment data, and it meets Level I security standards for PCI compliance. The EPD Gateway also includes a free virtual terminal that allows merchants to easily process mail order and telephone order transactions.
• Clover Mini & Clover Station POS Systems: Easy Pay Direct offers the Clover Mini and Clover Station POS systems thanks to its partnership with Fiserv. Clover Mini and Clover Station both include built-in EMV and NFC capabilities and allow merchants to access the Clover App Market, which lets merchants add analytics and gift card apps to their Clover systems.
• Shopping Cart Integration: Easy Pay Direct offers its proprietary Quick-Click shopping cart, which is built directly into its EPD Gateway. Although the Quick-Click shopping cart is pretty basic, the EPD gateway is compatible with 134 shopping carts (including Shopify) and includes an emulator mode for Authorize.Net for merchants who want to use it with a shopping cart that isn’t certified as compatible.
• Business Loans & Merchant Cash Advances: Easy Pay Direct works with a network of 20 third-party lenders to offer merchant cash advances and business loans. Merchants can borrow up to $500,000 in loans with repayment terms that range from 6-18 months for merchant cash advances and 6-36 months for standard business loans.
• Load-Balancing: A unique feature that Easy Pay Direct offers is its load-balancing, which allows a single merchant to access multiple merchant accounts. Merchants can indicate the percentage of their sales that they’d like to go to each account. This redundancy means that payments can be automatically redirected to a different account if one of your merchant accounts has a hold placed on it.

PayKings provides multiple payment solutions, including multiple eCommerce gateways, ACH and credit/debit card processing, and mobile payment solutions that make a lot of sense for e-cig and vape companies that largely do business online. The company also offers recurring billing, international processing, and POS systems and terminals for businesses that may predicate some of their operations on in-person, overseas, or subscription-based payments.

High-risk merchant account providers usually require a long-term contract, and depending on the bank PayKings pairs you with for your merchant account, that contract could last for two to three years. PayKings also imposes an early termination fee for breaking your contract, which varies by your bank. PayKings does not set this number itself, but early termination fees usually fall between $300 and $500.

• No application or account setup fees
• Variable monthly account fees (depends on backend processor)
• Variable processing rates (depends on backend processor)
• Long-term contracts may include an early termination fee

PayKings is relatively unique in that it provides international processing and multicurrency options in addition to robust payment processing solutions. PayKings’ most notable features include:

• High-Risk Payment Gateway: PayKings lets merchants choose between Authorize.Net and NMI for their payment gateway services. Payment gateways are a must-have if you process eCommerce transactions, and they offer a variety of security and customer management-related perks. Authorize.Net, in particular, is a solid payment gateway option considering it comes packaged as a bundled deal with your merchant services.
• ACH Processing: ACH payments, while slow, are cheaper than credit card transactions, and they’re a common way for merchants to set up recurring payments if they offer subscriptions or memberships.
• International Processing & Multicurrency: PayKings can set you up with an offshore merchant account, which is relatively common when it comes to high-risk payment processing. Additionally, gateways like Authorize.Net, which is compatible with PayKings, offer multicurrency support via currency conversion to let merchants accept payments from across the globe.

Durango’s full array of features is perfect for both U.S.-based and international merchants who want to provide multiple payment processing solutions to their customers. Innovative products and services like the Durango Pay™ Gateway and support for currency conversion and multicurrency accounts make it viable for merchants to securely process multiple types of customer payments, no matter where they’re located. Additionally, Durango makes a name for itself as a high-risk specialist by offering fair pricing when it could easily charge inflated prices instead.

Durango doesn’t disclose its pricing or contract terms, mainly because it works with more than a dozen banks and processors to place merchant accounts. Subsequently, your contract terms will vary widely among them, and the same factors that influence the processing rates and account fees you’ll pay also impact the terms of your contract. Durango offers nearly all of its merchants a month-to-month contract with no early termination fee, although most high-risk merchants will have to agree to an industry-standard contract instead. This contract will usually have a three-year initial term with an automatic renewal clause for one-year periods after that, and it will most likely include an ETF of up to $500 if you close your account early.

• Highly variable processing rates
• Highly variable account fees
• A long-term contract and an early termination fee may apply

Durango offers a full range of products and services for e-cigarette and vape merchants, including the following:

• Durango Pay™ Gateway: Durango’s proprietary payment gateway includes a robust set of features that includes support for recurring billing, a customer information vault to house sensitive payment information, and a gateway emulator that allows merchants to easily switch over to alternative, third-party gateways. Durango Pay™ Gateway also comes with a virtual terminal that lets merchants process card transactions on any computer that is connected to the internet with an optional card reader. Unique to this proprietary gateway is the fact that it’s hosted on the Google Cloud Platform, so merchants shouldn’t often need to worry about system downtime.
• International Merchant Accounts: If you’re an international merchant conducting business in the U.S., then Durango has you covered. Durango is a registered ISO in Europe and offers international merchant accounts that include support for currency conversion and multicurrency accounts. These international accounts are available to merchants in Canada, Panama, the United Kingdom, and most countries in the EU.
• Mobile Payments: Durango uses the iProcess app and an encrypted EMV-compliant mobile card reader to provide merchants with a mobile payment processing solution. The mobile card reader can connect via Bluetooth and is compatible with newer devices that don’t include headphone jacks.
• Fraud Protection Services: As you know by now, fraud protection should be high on the list of priorities for high-risk merchants. All Durango merchant accounts come with anti-fraud services, including EMV 3d Secure 2.0 and iSPY.