It can be easily anticipated just by reading the question that the main difference is the level of risk between both. But the criteria are essential to understand so that one can obtain the payment solution they need: A high risk payment gateway or a Low-risk payment gateway.

High-Risk Businesses

• Industries with higher fraud and chargeback potential are categorised as high-risk, such as online gaming, gambling, casinos, poker, fantasy games, forex, adult entertainment, IPTV, CBD, MLM, etc.
• Businesses whose average monthly sales volume is more than $20,000 are labelled as high-risk.
• Businesses whose average credit card transaction is more than $500 are classified as high-risk.
• High-risk businesses usually accept multiple international currencies as they operate globally.
• Usually, high-risk businesses accept payment in alternative payment methods.
• High-risk businesses offer recurring or subscription-based payments.

Low-Risk Businesses

• Industries with lower fraud and chargeback are categorised as low-risk, such as clothing, books, home goods, consulting firms, service-based firms, etc.
• Businesses whose average monthly sales volume is less than $20,000 are labelled as low-risk.
• Businesses whose average credit card transaction is less than $500 are classified as low-risk.
• Low-risk businesses usually accept the single currency as they operate domestically.
• They usually accept payments in locally used payment methods.
• Low-risk businesses usually do not offer recurring or subscription-based payments.

Low-risk businesses can obtain payment services from banks and traditional financial institutions, while high-risk businesses need special merchant service providers (MSPs). These MSPs offer high-risk merchant accounts, payment gateway for high risk industries, risk management systems, etc., to streamline payment processing. One such MSP is WebPays, which has extensive experience serving high-risk industries.