What does high-risk processing cost?
Typically 3.5% to 6.5% plus around $0.20 to $0.35 per transaction, with setup somewhere between $250 and $1,500. Your category, volume and processing history move that range far more than negotiation does.
Ranges rather than a number, because a single quoted rate for “high risk” would be fiction. These are indicative and not an offer.
- Discount rate: 3.5% to 6.5%. Mild categories with clean history sit at the bottom. Registered categories, poor history or a MATCH listing sit at the top.
- Transaction fee: $0.20 to $0.35. Matters more than it looks at low average tickets.
- Setup: $250 to $1,500. Sometimes waived at volume, sometimes genuinely reflecting registration costs the acquirer has to pay.
- Monthly and gateway fees, typically $25 to $100 combined.
- Chargeback fee: $25 to $50 per dispute, win or lose.
The costs that surprise people are not the rate. They are the rolling reserve, which is cash you have earned and cannot spend, and the scheme registration fees in categories that require them.
Compare on the total cost of a month’s processing, not the headline rate. A 4.2% rate with a 10% rolling reserve is materially more expensive to run than a 5% rate with no reserve, and the second one is far easier to survive.