Bail Bond Payment Processing Services
Secure Payment Processing for Bail Bond Businesses
Numerous bail bondsmen have transitioned from cash-only transactions and now operate mainly through credit card payments. We understand the risks of the bail bond industry and implement a transaction solution that allows you to achieve your business goals.
Bail bond merchants are considered high-risk by most financial institutions, banks, and payment providers. This can translate to irregular income and transactions that don't always pay off. For instance, someone might agree to pay a bail bond service provider with a credit card, get bailed out of jail, fail to appear back in court, and then skip out on the money they owe. The bail bond agent is left with an unpaid debt and little chance of ever seeing a profit. Though retailers in this class often have insurance coverage to prevent facing complete fiscal liability, their insurance rates increase as these situations arise.
In the last five years, bail bond retailers have moved to accepting credit cards online. The trend has helped reduce housing costs for jailers as more individuals are bailed out sooner, but it also increases past due bond debts. That's why we've designed a payment processing system with specific safeguards and business-boosting resources to support vendors in this profile classification:
- Online payment gateway with advanced fraud filters and thresholds
- Address Verification Service (AVS)
- PCI compliance support
- Chargeback Team focused on assisting your business prevent customer disputes and handle the inevitable cases
- Ability to accept credit, debit, echeck, mobile payments, and pre-paid cards
- Instant Account Verification (IAV) services to ensure the validity of checks and echecks before acceptance
- Automatic recurring invoicing that matches funding strategies
- Online terminals for accepting payments over the phone
- Integration with third-party programs, such as ecommerce websites, accounting apps like QuickBooks and FreshBooks, and more
- EMV chip terminals for the most secure card-presentpresent transaction processing
- Advanced online reporting to identify sales trends and guide wise decision-making
Mitigating Risks
Contracts, invoices, and other customer-approved documents should include conditions in plain language about business and return policies to protect the bail bond vendor from fraud and excessive chargebacks. Having multiple customer signatures will heighten the possibility of successfully refuting chargeback claims. Confirming buyer details with AVS and Card Verification Value (CVV) is also a crucial step sellers can take to help curb fraud. Our recommended payment gateway includes a built-in Advanced Fraud Detection Suite (AFDS) through which sellers can customize payment gateway filters, alerts, and thresholds to identify suspect payment attempts and ensure customer authenticity.
Website Payment Pro's merchant account application is easy and quick to complete. Our underwriters are experienced in the screening process to ensure bail bond businesses are abiding by industry regulations and have a good history of paying outstanding fees. While a bail bond vendor following industry best practices would be eligible for increased transaction volume caps, reduced transaction fees, and other account benefits, we still partner with those who have had trouble in the past and often can remove the reserve imposed by other processors. Our high-risk specialists can set you up with a specialized merchant account, even if you don't have the best track record.
Explore our credit card processing for bail bondsmen, online bail bond payment processing, and high-risk merchant account solutions tailored for the bail bond industry. Contact us to learn more about our secure payment processing services for your bail bond business.
