CBD merchant accounts that survive underwriting
Hemp-derived CBD has been federally lawful since the 2018 Farm Bill, and it is still one of the hardest categories in the country to bank. The law changed; the risk committees did not. We place CBD brands with acquirers who underwrite the category deliberately rather than screening it out by keyword.
- Approval rate
- 90%+
- Underwriting decisions
- Same day
- Countries supported
- 170+
Approval rate
Underwriting decisions
Countries supported
How this goes
- 1ApplyOne form. No credit pull, no fee, nothing owed if we cannot place you.
- 2Underwriting reads the fileA same-day decision from people who already know this category.
- 3Integrate and go liveYour existing checkout and cart. Settlement starts on schedule.
Missing a document? Apply anyway. We will tell you what is outstanding rather than decline the file over it.
What you get
- 90%+ approval for hard-to-place businesses
- Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Apple Pay and Google Pay
- USD payouts to your U.S. bank
- Same-day integration
- No contract, one flat rate
- Same-day underwriting decisions
Based outside the United States? Canadian and international merchants settle in their own banking system. Tell us where your entity is and we will match the acquirer to it.
CBD is not declined because it is illegal. It is declined because most acquirers never built a process to tell a compliant CBD brand from a non-compliant one.
Why CBD accounts get closed
- An aggregator boarded you without reading the category, then closed the account on review and held settlement for the dispute window.
- Your COAs are current but not linked from the product page, so the reviewer cannot verify potency without emailing you.
- Marketing copy makes a therapeutic claim. Under the FD&C Act that reclassifies the product as an unapproved drug, and it is the single fastest way to fail a review.
- Your delta-9 THC content is compliant by dry weight but the certificate does not state the test method, so the reviewer cannot confirm it.
- The account was coded to a general retail MCC, so the first chargeback surfaced the category to a risk team that had never approved it.
What to have ready
- Certificates of analysis from an accredited third-party lab, current and reachable from the product page
- Product labelling that makes no therapeutic or disease claim
- Confirmation that delta-9 THC is at or below 0.3% by dry weight
- Three months of processing statements, or bank statements if you are new
- Formation documents, EIN letter and photo ID for each owner over 25%
Missing something? Apply anyway. Underwriting will tell you exactly what is outstanding rather than declining you for an incomplete file.
Estimate your approval odds
Three quick answers. No credit pull, no commitment.
CBD Merchant Account questions, answered
Is a CBD merchant account legal?
Yes. The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp and hemp-derived cannabinoids containing no more than 0.3% delta-9 THC by dry weight from the Controlled Substances Act. That makes the product federally lawful to sell and lawful to process. Banking difficulty is a risk-appetite question, not a legality question. ⚠️ Note that a federal change to the hemp definition has been enacted that replaces the delta-9 test with a total-THC test; it is dated but not yet in force, and it is described on our THCA page.
THCA payment processingWhy did Stripe or PayPal close my CBD account?
Aggregators board merchants first and underwrite later. CBD sits outside their acceptable-use policy, so the account works until a review or a dispute surfaces the category, and then it closes with funds held. A dedicated merchant account inverts that: underwriting happens before you go live, so the answer does not change after you have built a business on it.
Do I need a separate account for CBD and non-CBD products?
Usually not, but the acquirer assigns your merchant category code based on your primary line of business, and it carries the exposure for persistent miscoding. If CBD is a small share of a larger catalogue, say so during underwriting rather than after — a code that no longer matches what you sell is a standing problem, not a one-time form entry.
How MCCs are assignedWhat does it cost?
One flat rate with no contract and no long-term lock-in. Pricing depends on your processing history, average ticket and dispute record, so the rate is quoted after underwriting reads your file rather than promised up front. Any provider quoting a headline rate before seeing a statement is quoting a number they can revise later.
Will I need a reserve?
Sometimes. A rolling reserve holds a percentage of settled volume for a set window, then releases it on a rolling basis. It is set by the acquirer against your dispute exposure, not by us, and it is negotiable at renewal once you have clean months on the book. Ask for the percentage AND the hold window — a reserve reaches a predictable steady state you can calculate before you sign.
What a rolling reserve isI have been declined elsewhere. Does that disqualify me?
No. Most merchants who come to us have already been declined by an aggregator or dropped without explanation. A prior decline is a data point, not a verdict, and aggregators decline whole categories on principle rather than on the merits of your file.
What if I am on MATCH?
Tell us before you apply. MATCH is a card-network list of merchants terminated by a previous acquirer, and it is visible to every underwriter who pulls your file. Disclosing it costs you nothing; concealing it ends the application when it surfaces, which it will. Some MATCH reason codes are workable and some are not, and we will tell you honestly which one you are.
What the MATCH list isKeep reading
Find out if you are approved
No application fee, no contract, and a same-day underwriting decision.