European Merchant Services is the oldest high risk merchant account services provider and is known for its honesty. European Merchant Services has a focus on eCommerce services and offers mobile card readers for retail use. And while European Merchant Services specializes in getting hard to place businesses approved, it also offers competitive pricing, dedicated support for key functions, and advanced fraud/filtering setup for your payment gateway.

It's also important to note that while the card processor may send transaction information to your merchant account, you're actually sending funds to your personal bank account. If you're not willing to deal with that process, you should look elsewhere.

Another thing to consider is the roll-up reserve. This is a percentage of your transaction volume that is kept on reserve. You'll need to set this reserve up if you're a high risk merchant.