The 8 Best Offshore Merchant Account Providers

Corepay is a domestic and offshore merchant account provider for both high-risk and low-risk businesses, advertising its services to the adult industry, CBD and hemp vendors, eCommerce merchants, online dating services, and other business categories considered high-risk. Based in France, Corepay has recently expanded its reach to the US.

Available features include:

• Choice of Corepay’s proprietary gateway (NetValve), Authorize.Net, NMI, Inovio, and others
• CB-ALERT anti-fraud software
• Tokenization
• ACH processing & recurring ACH billing
• MOTO-only accounts available (mail-order & telephone-order)
• Alipay and Wechat (popular payment methods in Europe and Asia) accepted
• POS equipment offered

Corepay doesn’t publish any pricing information, but considering the nature of high-risk processing, you may well encounter multi-year contracts and tiered pricing. Corepay does state that it does not charge any one-time setup or application fees, however.

According to Corepay, its “core” specialty is adult merchant accounts, and the company has a keen understanding of the different degrees of risk presented by different types of adult businesses. Corepay also details the measures it takes to fight the fraud and chargebacks that are widespread in the adult entertainment industry. According to Corepay, the company has direct integrations with all of its acquiring partners, which is helpful when combating fraud.

While Host Merchant Services primarily caters to traditional, low-risk businesses, they serve several categories of high-risk businesses and also offer offshore accounts. Features include:

• Choice of Authorize.Net or Transaction Express (proprietary) payment gateway
• A virtual terminal
• Web hosting service included
• Full line of countertop and mobile credit card terminals
• Free terminal available to merchants processing over $20K/month
• Vital and SwipeSimple mobile processing solutions
• Choice of Vital or Bonsai (proprietary) POS system
• Cash discounting program available

HMS uses interchange-plus pricing exclusively for its low-risk merchants, but you might have to pay tiered rates if you have an offshore account. While they don’t disclose their rates on their website, they’re based primarily on monthly processing volume and are very competitive. High-risk and offshore merchants should expect to pay higher fees than low-risk merchants, and possibly additional fees. Be prepared to deal with a rolling reserve as well.

A former web hosting company, Host Merchant Services is ideally suited for eCommerce merchants. Retail merchants will also be well-served, however, as the company offers credit card terminals, mobile processing, and POS systems. If your business is in one of the high-risk categories HMS caters to, the company is a top-tier offshore merchant account provider. HMS offers 24/7 customer service and has an excellent reputation both in this area and overall.

Easy Pay Direct provides full merchant accounts for international, high-risk, and traditional non-high-risk merchants. Like most offshore high risk merchant account specialists, Easy Pay Direct works with a variety of banks and processors, both domestic and international, to find one that fits your needs. Features include:

• Load balancing
• Proprietary Easy Pay Direct (EPD) gateway
• Virtual terminal available with the EPD gateway
• Countertop credit card terminals
• POS systems
• Mobile payments
• Proprietary QuickClick eCommerce software
• Integrates with 250+ eCommerce software services
• APIs and SDKs available for site customization

As with any processor that serves high-risk businesses, processing rates for Easy Pay Direct’s offshore merchant accounts will likely be under a tiered pricing plan. One plus is that Easy Pay Direct’s contracts don’t have an early termination fee, even for high-risk businesses. While this isn’t true month-to-month billing, it makes it much easier to close your account without penalty.

We love that Easy Pay direct offers load balancing, which lets businesses divide their incoming funds among multiple merchant accounts. This is particularly helpful for high-risk businesses that often exceed the monthly processing volume limits imposed by the processor underwriting their account. Just be aware that you’ll usually have to pay separate monthly fees for each account, so it might not be cost-effective for some merchants (and you may not need this feature at all).

Overseas merchant account specialist PayKings isn’t shy about its target audience, naming CBD vendors, adult businesses, vape stores, and pawnshops as high-risk business types serviced by the company on its homepage. In fact, the PayKings site has a page devoted to detailing its offshore merchant account services.

PayKings’s available features include:

• Authorize.Net and NMI payment gateways
• Shopify integration
• High-risk ACH processing
• Currency conversion & international payment acceptance
• Developer support
• Countertop terminals
• Card readers
• Recurring billing
• Surcharging & cash discounting

PayKings doesn’t have any pricing information publicly available, so don’t be surprised if three-year contracts, monthly minimums, and rolling reserves are the order of the day. PayKings does charge a monthly fee (the amount is undisclosed), but on the plus side, the company doesn’t charge any application or setup fees.

For businesses in the highest risk categories, PayKings represents perhaps the best chance you’ll get (amongst reputable providers) at landing a merchant account.

PayKings gets a largely (though not entirely) favorable reception from merchants. Combine this with a large selection of terminals and card readers, eCommerce support, ACH processing, recurring billing, and surcharging/cash discount programs, and you have a high-risk offshore processor with a lot to offer the right kind of merchant.

PaynetSecure specializes in providing domestic and overseas merchant accounts for high-risk businesses. Along with its offshore payment processing, PaynetSecure provides more than 80 different alternative payment methods used around the world. The company highlights its ability to accept UnionPay cards. With UnionPay now the largest card brand in the world (it is very popular in the Asia-Pacific region), PaynetSecure can position you well for international sales even if you’re not a high-risk merchant.

Additional features include:

• A virtual terminal
• Recurring billing
• Chargeback management/prevention
• QuickBooks integration
• Developer tools

Unlike the vast majority of merchant account providers in this space, PaynetSecure actually publishes the following sample pricing rates on its website:

• Discount rate: 3.5–6.95% for high-risk offshore accounts, 2.95–4.95% for lower-risk international eCommerce
• Per-transaction fee: Up to 0.65% for high-risk offshore accounts, up to 0.45% for lower-risk international eCommerce
• Reserve requirement: 5–10% for high-risk offshore accounts, 0–5% for lower-risk international eCommerce
• Monthly fee: $50–150 for high-risk offshore accounts, $0–50 for lower-risk international eCommerce

While the rates you ultimately face will depend on the usual factors, it’s unusual to see this level of transparency from a high-risk/offshore merchant account specialist.

PaynetSecure’s support for a huge number of international payment methods, combined with the company’s unusually transparent high-risk/offshore account pricing disclosures, make PaynetSecure a solid choice for merchants looking to get an offshore merchant account. Unfortunately, very little feedback from merchants is available online.

Instabill isn’t one of the better-known providers on our list, but its services jibe nicely with the needs of high-risk businesses. Instabill advertises its ability to accept and process credit card payments in 160+ currencies with its international merchant account offerings. The company partners with a wide variety of overseas acquiring banks, making it easier to match your businesses with the bank that makes the most sense for you.

Features include:

• Proprietary Instabill Payment Gateway
• Credit card terminals
• Mobile POS
• ACH processing
• Specialized CBD & cannabis processing

While many high-risk/offshore merchant processing providers are publicly silent on the issue of cost, Instabill has a page explaining why your rates will depend on the size & nature of your business. Instabill also details the fees that eCommerce merchants can expect to face:

• Merchant Account Fee
• Transaction Fee
• Discount Rate
• Merchant Account Registration Fee
• Monthly Statement Fee
• Chargeback Fee
• Refund Fee

Instabill states that with high-risk/offshore merchant accounts, a rolling reserve of between 5-10% of your weekly sales volume will be withheld by the acquiring bank.

Unlike many high-risk merchant account providers, Instabill offers its services to cannabis merchants (not just CBD but actual cannabis) with both a debit card-like system and a crypto payment system, so if you operate a marijuana dispensary in a legal-weed state, Instabill may enable you to accept more than just cash.

Instabill’s specialized services for marijuana dispensaries and CBD vendors make it an excellent offshore processing choice for businesses in these industries. Furthermore, the company’s expansive international currency acceptance is great for eCommerce merchants, and its unusual honesty regarding pricing and rolling reserve requirements speak well of the company’s integrity.

eMerchantBroker is a high-risk and offshore merchant account specialist with one particular compelling draw: it accepts nearly everybody who applies for an account. The company claims to have an astonishing 99% acceptance rate, so unless you’re involved in some super dubious/illegal stuff, you shouldn’t have a problem getting approved for an account!

Available features include:

• Proprietary & third-party gateways
• ACH/eCheck processing
• Chargeback protection
• Integrates with numerous eCommerce shopping carts
• Cryptocurrency payment support

eMerchantBroker’s broad merchant acceptance won’t come cheap. If you’re a particularly risky merchant, expect a tiered pricing scheme and rates that exceed even those of other high-risk processors. Some merchants may be able to get an interchange-plus deal, however.

eMerchantBroker’s claim to accept 99% of applicants makes it a compelling option for the highest-risk businesses who might struggle to be accepted elsewhere. Plus, eMerchantBroker is one of the few entities marketing itself as a provider of cannabis banking services, so marijuana businesses struggling with being cash-only should definitely see what the company has to offer. What’s more, the company is accredited by the BBB with an A+ rating and a host of positive customer reviews, so this isn’t some shady fly-by-night operation.

SMB Global specializes in providing merchant accounts to high-risk and offshore businesses. Using a variety of backend processors, they’re able to approve a merchant account for almost any high-risk business, including adult entertainment and CBD products.

SMB Global’s features include the following:

• Choice of payment gateways
• 175+ eCommerce shopping cart integrations
• Multi-currency processing
• Dynamic currency conversion
• APIs for developers
• Credit card terminals
• Mobile processing
• ACH processing
• Chargeback prevention suite
• Business funding products

Because they work with so many banks and processors to get you approved for an account, the company doesn’t offer any pricing information. Processing rates, account fees, and contract terms will all vary widely depending on which backend processor is handling your account. While you should request an interchange-plus pricing plan, be prepared to have to accept a tiered plan instead, particularly if you haven’t been in business for very long. Likewise, expect to deal with a standard three-year contract with an automatic renewal clause, an early termination fee, and a rolling reserve.

SMB Global has an excellent reputation for fair prices and top-notch customer service. Plus, the fact that the company offers multi-currency processing and dynamic currency conversion makes SMB Global a great fit for our list of preferred offshore merchant account providers. And while SMB Global requires a minimum processing volume of $50,000 per month for an offshore merchant account, they may waive this requirement if your business has a very strong financial history.