High Risk Merchant Handbook

What a Crypto Merchant Account Requires

Visa and Mastercard each publish rules for crypto sales. Here is what they say about definitions, MCCs, registration and underwriting.

A crypto merchant account is a card account for a business that sells digital assets. It works like any other card account at the checkout. What sets it apart is the extra rules the card networks publish for this trade. Visa and Mastercard both say who counts as a crypto seller. They say which codes the sale must carry. And they say what the acquirer must do before the first charge. Knowing those rules tells you what paperwork to have ready.

What a crypto merchant account is

The scope is what changes, not the account itself. A crypto sale still runs from your checkout to an acquirer and onto the card networks. But the networks treat these sales as a special case. They want set codes on each sale. They want you registered before the first sale. And they want more checks on your business. Your acquirer is the bank-side party that signs you. It has to meet each demand before it can run your sales.

How Mastercard defines a cryptocurrency transaction

Mastercard's manual says a cryptocurrency transaction happens when a consumer uses an account to directly purchase a digital asset secured by cryptography. That is the test. If your customer pays with a card and gets crypto straight out of the sale, the rule applies.

The manual also draws a line. Money from a government or a central bank is not crypto under this rule. That holds even when a government makes a digital coin.

How Visa defines a Ramp Provider

Visa uses a different term. Visa's manual says an entity is a Ramp Provider if it converts transactions between a fiat currency and a non-fiat currency such as cryptocurrency. A business that swaps dollars for crypto, or the reverse, may be a Ramp Provider under Visa's rules.

Visa's manual says a Ramp Provider must use the MCC that best describes the Affiliate's primary business. So the code fits the Affiliate's main business.

MCCs and transaction indicators

Each network has its own coding rules, and each rule belongs to the network that wrote it.

Mastercard's manual says every crypto sale must carry three marks. They are MCC 6051, TCC U, and a Transaction Type Identifier value of P70. The acquirer must put all three on.

Visa's rules list MCC 6051 for non-financial institutions dealing in foreign currency, cryptocurrency assets, money orders, travelers cheques, and debt repayment. Visa's manual says purchases of cryptocurrency must use MCC 6012 or 6051 and must contain special condition indicator 7 and the quasi-cash transaction indicator. Visa's manual says acquisitions of non-fiat currency such as cryptocurrency must use MCC 4829, 6012, 6051, or 6540 as applicable.

NFT sales get their own mark. Visa's manual says purchases of NFTs require the use of the cryptocurrency special indicator (4). So an NFT sale does not follow the exact same path as a coin sale, but it stays inside the same rulebook.

Visa's manual also covers banks that sell crypto. They must send all the data the rules ask for with each sale. Nothing gets left off the message the network sees.

Registration and licensing

Mastercard requires cryptocurrency merchants with MCC 6051 to register. Its manual says the acquirer must register the merchant with Mastercard first. Only then can it process the merchant's sales.

Mastercard's rules say an acquirer must get a copy of any license issued by a governmental authority for the merchant's Cryptocurrency activity. If your business holds a license, plan on handing over a copy.

Visa has its own registration path. Visa's standards say Marketplaces and Ramp Providers are registered as TPAs but otherwise behave as a Merchant or Sponsored Merchant. Visa's rules also cover risk labels. Visa's rules say a Ramp Provider supporting a Conversion Affiliate that Visa classifies as High-Integrity Risk must register as a High-Integrity Risk Ramp Provider. So the way Visa sorts the business you serve sets the path you take.

Underwriting and what the acquirer collects

Visa's standards say acquirers must collect and provide to Visa the required information for each Merchant, Marketplace, Sponsored Merchant, or Ramp Provider.

Ramp Providers get a closer look. Visa's standards say acquirers must conduct additional underwriting for Ramp Providers before onboarding them. Expect more questions than a standard retail account would get.

Location rules follow. Visa's standards say acquirers must assign a Ramp Provider's location as the country of its Principal Place of Business. Visa's standards say acquirers must assign additional locations for a Ramp Provider when several conditions are met in each country. Visa's standards say one condition is that the Ramp Provider has a permanent location where employees or agents conduct business for Conversion Affiliates. Visa's standards say one condition is that cardholder correspondence and judicial processes are sent to or delivered by the Ramp Provider. Visa's standards say one condition is that the Ramp Provider pays applicable taxes on revenue from Cardholders and card acceptance services for Conversion Affiliates.

Website and payment page requirements

Visa's rules say the payment page must confirm the destination wallet address for delivery of the non-fiat currency or NFT. Your customer should see, on the page where they pay, the wallet where their purchase will land.

Visa's rules include a table of website requirements for online gambling merchants, marketplaces or merchants that undertake transactions for the acquisition of non-fiat currency. Your site must meet what that table asks for.

There is one more rule on how you ring up a sale. Visa's rules say a crypto sale must not be mixed with other purchases. A customer buying crypto and a t-shirt pays in two sales, not one.

Rules that shape how you run the account

Some Visa rules govern your ongoing conduct, not just your setup. Visa's rules say a Ramp Provider must not deposit Transactions on behalf of another Ramp Provider, Payment Facilitator or Staged Digital Wallet. So a Ramp Provider cannot send sales for those three kinds of firms.

Visa's rules say an Acquirer that contracts with a Ramp Provider must be in good standing in all Visa risk management programs. That is a condition on your acquirer, but it decides which acquirers can sign you at all.

For deeper reading, Visa's standards say to refer to the Digital Currency Transactions Guide for more information on Ramp Providers.

Crypto also shows up in Visa's risk standards. Visa's risk standards say to look for payment red flags such as unusual payment methods like gift cards or cryptocurrency. To learn more, read why banks watch payment processors.

What to have ready before you apply

Here is your checklist.

  • A copy of any license a government gave you for your crypto work. Mastercard's rules say the acquirer must get one.
  • Your business details. Visa's standards say acquirers must collect and provide to Visa the required information for each Merchant, Marketplace, Sponsored Merchant, or Ramp Provider.
  • If you are a Ramp Provider, the main business of each Affiliate. Visa's manual says the code must fit it.
  • A payment page that shows the wallet address where the crypto or NFT will go.
  • A checkout that keeps crypto sales apart from other items, since Visa's rules forbid mixing them.

Have these ready when you apply.

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