Home » High-Risk Payment Gateway and Processing for Your WooCommerce Store

With over 6 million live websites, WooCommerce is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms, giving merchants an easy way to set up an online store using WordPress. It’s free, flexible, and works with a wide range of payment processors.

WooCommerce even has a built-in system called WooPayments, which is powered by Stripe. 

While this works for some businesses, it’s not an option for high-risk merchants. They need a third-party, high-risk payment gateway for WooCommerce to accept credit card payments securely.

In the following paragraphs, we will explain which businesses fall into this category and how they can find the right processor and gateway for their WooCommerce store. We will also share a story of how we developed a custom WooCommerce integration for one of our high-volume merchants in desperate need of a more reliable payment processing provider. 

Which businesses need a WooCommerce high-risk payment gateway?

Not all businesses can use standard payment processing offered by the likes of WooCommerce Payments, Stripe, or PayPal. If your business is classified as high-risk, you’ll need to work with a payment processor and gateway that specializes in handling high-risk transactions.

A business can be considered high-risk by banks and payment processors if it:

• Sells age-restricted or regulated products
• Operates in an industry with a higher chance of chargebacks and fraud
• Has a history of excessive chargebacks or a low credit score
• Accepts payments from international customers in risky regions
• Processes very large transaction volumes 
• Has a business model that relies on recurring payment processing.

These are just some of the things that factor in. The high-risk categorization is very broad, and the lines are not always clear. 

The image below can also help you guestimate in which category your business would fall. The only way to know for sure is to talk directly with banks and payment processors. Don’t hesitate to reach out to SecureGlobalPay for a free assessment.

Many high-risk and high-volume merchants use WooCommerce to sell their products and services. Common examples include various supplements, subscription services, high-ticket items like electronics or collectibles, firearms, adult products, gaming, tobacco, and similar.

If you operate in any of these industries, you’ll need a high-risk merchant account coupled with a modern payment gateway that can integrate with WooCommerce and handle your transactions securely.

How to choose the right high-risk payment gateway for your WooCommerce store?

There are many payment gateway providers that can integrate with WooCommerce. However, they don’t provide you with a merchant account — the payment processing account where your funds are authorized and captured before being transferred to your business account.

Working with a full-service payment processor — like SecureGlobalPay —- that offers both a compatible payment gateway and a high-risk merchant account can:

• Increase approval chances: We already have relationships with banks that accept high-risk businesses.
• Reduce processing headaches: Everything (payment gateway, merchant account, and chargeback management) is handled under one provider.
• Offer better stability: Your account is less likely to get shut down unexpectedly.

What to look for when choosing a high-risk payment processing solution for WooCommerce:

• Industry experience: Choose a processor that specializes in high-risk merchants, ideally within your specific industry.
• WooCommerce integration: Make sure the payment gateway has a seamless WooCommerce plugin or API integration for hassle-free setup.
• Payment method support: Ensure the processor supports all credit cards, ACH payments, digital wallets, or other payment methods your customers use.
• Transparent pricing: Look for competitive rates with no hidden fees (such as early termination or excessive chargeback fees).
• Fraud & chargeback protection: A good payment gateway should include advanced fraud filters, chargeback alerts, and risk management tools to keep your business safe.
• Reliable customer support: High-risk merchants face more scrutiny, so having responsive support can save you from account freezes or processing delays.

SecureGlobalPay custom payment gateway integration for WooCommerce: A case study

Initially, our payment gateway integrated with WooCommerce using one of the many available plug-ins you can find online. 

That changed after we realized that some of our higher-volume merchants were unsatisfied with their existing account setups and needed customized solutions:

We’re looking for a more reliable merchant account provider with an account manager who we can stay in touch with to be our primary contact. We grew really fast this year, and Stripe and WePay would pause our account out of nowhere, and we wouldn’t even know until we saw orders that weren’t being processed. We could only contact them by email, and they were extremely slow in responding. 

I’d send them all the documents they’d need, but their response time was inefficient, and we would lose thousands of dollars every time this happened. As we grow our brand, we need something more reliable.

Right now, we integrate with Authorize.net, but anything that integrates with WooCommerce will work for us.

Once we completed the application process, we worked on getting the account approved with our multiple bank sponsors and acquirers. We also set them up with multiple merchant account payment processing and transaction routing.

After the approval, we set them up with a SandBox account and directed them to one of the available WOO plug-ins. When they initially downloaded the off-the-shelf plug-in, it did not work as they wanted, so we built our own custom WooCommerce integration.

Everything was dialed in just before the peak season, so after some testing, the client started successfully processing with multiple merchant accounts. Additionally, our team realized that if we did not raise the volume and re-access the account, we could run into issues due to their rapid growth. 

While addressing the additional volume request—even though he had no history with us—we secured the increase due to their previous processing history and solid track record. We enrolled them with RDR during this process as our partners felt more comfortable approving the additional volume requirements needed to scale.

Both merchant accounts were flexed to the limit, but things worked like a charm as our team monitored their transactions daily. No money was held, and their chargebacks were minimal.

This case study helped reassure us of the vital role of custom integrations. We are continuously upgrading and fine-tuning our integrations and plug-ins to help meet the needs of both our existing and new merchants.

If you can recognize yourself in the merchant’s quote we shared above, reach out to our team — as we might have the perfect solution for your processing needs. 

The plug-in integration process is quite simple

Integrating a payment gateway with a WooCoomerce store is simpler than it sounds. Regardless of the gateway you are using, the process is basically the same. 

Here is how it looks, step-by-step, using our payment gateway as an example.

Step 1: Apply for a high-risk merchant account

Before you can process payments, you’ll need a proper merchant account. You can apply using our online form. Our team will guide you through the approval process and ensure you get the best rates and terms for your industry and volume requirements.

Step 2: Receive your payment gateway credentials

Once your merchant account is approved, you’ll receive API keys and credentials to connect your payment gateway to your WooCommerce store.

Step 3: Install the SecureGlobalPay plugin

SGP provides a custom WooCommerce plugin for quick and easy integration. 

1. Log in to your WordPress dashboard
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New
3. Upload the custom plugin file we provide
4. Click Install and then Activate the plugin

Here are detailed instructions with screenshots if you want to visualize the process.

Are you processing high volumes and have specific requirements? Our API allows for advanced customization and our dev team can build you a custom integration.

Step 4: Configure payment gateway settings

Once installed, go to WooCommerce > Settings > Payments and select SecureGlobalPay as your payment method. Enter your API credentials and configure settings such as:

• Accepted payment methods (credit cards, eCheck, ACH, etc.)
• Fraud protection settings
• Currency and region preferences
• Surcharge Settings

Step 5: Test transactions & go live

Before launching, run a few test transactions to ensure everything works correctly. Once verified, you can go live and start processing payments immediately.

If you run into any issues during setup, SecureGlobalPay’s support team is available to assist. Whatever you need, we’ve got you covered.

Simplify WooCommerce payment processing with SecureGlobalPay

SecureGlobalPay offers the ultimate payment processing solutions for retail and high-risk merchants. We offer everything you need to start accepting payments on your WooCommerce site: 

• Merchant account
• Secure payment gateway with custom WooCommerce integration
• Zero-fee processing program you can use to reduce costs
• Help with the account approval and setup process

Get a stable, secure, and high-risk-friendly payment gateway designed for WooCommerce merchants like you. Contact us to learn more or jumpstart the process by filling out our online application form: