Peptide Payment Processing: Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions we hear most from RUO peptide brands evaluating U.S. bank processing.
Getting approved
Can I get a merchant account for a peptide company?
Yes, through specialist high-risk processors with high-risk acquiring banks. Mainstream processors (Stripe, Square, PayPal, Shopify Payments) prohibit peptides categorically. Holistic Payments approves RUO peptide merchants in 1–2 weeks through a premium U.S. bank partner.
What's the minimum volume to qualify?
Established merchants need $30,000/mo in current processing. Pre-revenue startups must demonstrate $100,000+ in liquidity or a signed line of credit. See Pre-revenue startups.
How fast is approval?
1–2 weeks from completed application. Faster same-day approval is possible for very large, clean merchants (typically $500K+/mo with 6+ months of clean statements).
What if I was previously MATCH-listed?
Not an automatic disqualifier. Applications are evaluated on context, why you were listed, what's changed, current posture. Always disclose upfront. See MATCH recovery.
Is LegitScript required?
Not with Holistic Payments. Required by some peptide processors, not by ours. Compliant RUO positioning is sufficient.
Can international merchants apply?
U.S.-registered entities preferred. International entities (UK, EU, CA, AU) considered case-by-case with additional documentation.
What documents do I need?
Government ID, EIN letter, articles of incorporation, 3 months of bank statements (or bank letter for pre-revenue), voided check, and a live website. Full checklist in the intake form.
Rates & fees
What are peptide processing rates?
9.5% at $30K–$80K/mo, 8.5% at $80K–$150K, 7.5% at $150K–$250K, 7% at $250K–$500K, 6.5% at $500K–$1M, negotiable above $1M/mo. See full fee schedule.
Are there setup or monthly fees?
No setup, no monthly, no statement fees. You pay only the per-transaction rate plus $0.25 authorization fee.
Can I negotiate my rate?
Yes above $1M/mo. Below that, you land within your volume tier based on underwriting posture. As you scale past a threshold, the rate graduates automatically.
Is there a termination fee?
None. Leave any time on 30 days' written notice.
Payouts, reserves & settlement
How do payouts work?
Daily payouts, 48-hour settlement, USD. No volume caps.
What's the reserve requirement?
Option A: 15% for 60 days. Option B: 10% for 90 days. After 90 days of good performance, reserve is removed and set to 0% permanently, with a bank letter confirming it. See reserves page.
Can reserves go up after release?
Only on a material risk event (chargeback ratio threshold, compliance violation, fraud flag). Otherwise 0% stays 0%.
Compliance
What counts as RUO compliance?
Research-use-only labeling on every product page, no medical claims, no testimonials about health effects, no dosing instructions for humans, no before/after photos, ToS restricting buyers to research/lab use. See RUO checklist.
Do you accept GLP-1s (semaglutide, tirzepatide, retatrutide)?
Yes, as RUO compounds. Same rules apply, no human-use marketing, no medical claims.
What's explicitly prohibited?
Fiat-to-crypto on-ramps, gift card processors, MCC masking/miscoding, NFT-for-peptide schemes, human-use marketing, medical claims, testimonials.
Integrations
Do you support Shopify?
Yes via third-party gateway integration (Shopify Payments itself prohibits peptides). See Shopify peptide processing.
Do you support WooCommerce?
Yes, native plugin. See WooCommerce peptide processing.
What payment methods are supported?
Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, ACH bank debit. Apple Pay / Google Pay with domain verification.
Subscriptions?
ACH recurring today, card-on-file subscription billing on the roadmap.
Didn't see your question?
Submit the intake form or email intake@holisticpayments.io.