A telemedicine merchant account is ideal for any online business that is selling pharmaceuticals or doctor prescribed medication online. Payment processing for this type of industry undergoes a stringent vetting process by aggregate merchant account providers. That’s why it’s best to utilize a high risk merchant account if you’re operating an online pharmacy.

Telemedicine Payment Processing

Telehealth payment processing has some interesting nuances from a transaction standpoint. For one, telemedicine is now highly regulated in the USA. After an influx of illegitimate and untrustworthy websites selling prescription products in the the 2010’s, Google decided to enforce a more rigorous vetting process of online medicine websites.

As a result, there is now an online telemedicine certification that allows companies to validate their website, products, and overall reputability to sell medication to citizens. Beyond having a good standing with customers, if you obtain certification, you’ll also be able to share online advertisements which can be essential for growing your business.

LegitScript Certification

A Legitscript certification gives you the ability to prove that your company and products are safe for the public to purchase. Not only do they review your website, they also take a step-by-step approach to audit your merchant account to make sure all transactions arrive at a real business location.

Legitscript should be considered hand-in-hand with your high risk merchant account so you can process payments and advertise on major platforms. Companies like hims.com, ro.com and rexmd.com all have this certification. So if you want to compete with the big players, be sure to apply.

Pharmaceutical Merchant Account

Most telemedicine companies aren’t the direct source for their prescription services or medications. As a result, you may find it more beneficial to team up with a company that sells the prescriptions themselves. That way you can focus on bringing in new customers and leads to your telehealth website.

If you’re operating through a fulfillment company, then there’s a chance you will use their merchant account. Their account is likely combined with other companies so they can hedge the risk of any one customer. This is a type of aggregate merchant account provider. However, this means that your business practices directly affect their merchant account reputation. So it’s important to have some key components in place before accepting payments.

Chargebacks In Telehealth

Some companies in telehealth and telemedicine have issues with chargebacks because of the consultation process. Before online visits, patients had to see their doctor to potentially get the prescription they want. Now this consultation has moved online. However, there is still the chance that your online doctor will not prescribe you certain medications if they’re bad for your health.

As a result of the rejections after consultations, some telemedicine businesses only supply prescriptions after you upload a third-party prescription. This saves them the trouble of rejecting you, and leaving you without the medicine you thought you were paying for. It’s cases like that that result in high chargebacks.

Activate Your Telemedicine Account

Once you have your high risk telemedicine merchant account through a company like Zen Payments, be sure to monitor it for fraud, or any possibly malicious practices. Keeping a clean merchant account will keep your account running smoothly, and keep the door open for credit card processing.