{"schema_version":"2026-05-27","source":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/acquirer-matrix/","license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","disclaimer":"Typical onboarding bands, not quoted offers. MerchantHQ is a broker; acceptance is case-by-case and underwritten by the acquirer.","count":33,"verticals":[{"slug":"adult","vertical":"Adult industry","category":"Adult retail, content, services (legal categories only)","legal_status":"Legal in UK within specific frameworks. Age-verification requirements (Online Safety Act) apply.","typical_rate":"4.0% to 7.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 15% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/adult/"},{"slug":"antique-firearms","vertical":"Antique firearms","category":"Pre-1939 antique firearms held as curiosities or ornaments, deactivated firearms, militaria","legal_status":"Legal in UK under the Section 58(2) exemption of the Firearms Act 1968, as amended by the Antique Firearms Regulations 2021. Specific cartridge / chambering rules determine antique status; sale of obsolete-calibre antique firearms to private individuals is permitted as curiosities.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/antique-firearms/"},{"slug":"cbd","vertical":"CBD","category":"CBD products (oils, capsules, topicals)","legal_status":"Legal in UK as a Novel Food. Requires authorised product on the FSA list.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5% blended; some interchange-plus options","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/cbd/"},{"slug":"crypto-onramp-fiat","vertical":"Crypto on-ramp (fiat to crypto)","category":"Fiat-to-crypto on-ramp services, crypto exchanges, custodial wallet top-up","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to FCA registration as a cryptoasset business under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (as amended). Note this is registration rather than full FCA authorisation. Financial-promotions rules tightened in 2023-2024.","typical_rate":"3.5% to 6.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/crypto-onramp-fiat/"},{"slug":"crypto","vertical":"Crypto-adjacent","category":"Crypto exchanges, on-ramp services, NFT marketplaces, crypto-adjacent retail","legal_status":"Legal in UK with FCA registration for crypto-asset firms (Money Laundering Regulations). Promotional rules tightened in 2023-2024.","typical_rate":"3.0% to 6.0%","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/crypto/"},{"slug":"dating","vertical":"Dating site","category":"Dating sites, matchmaking services, social-discovery apps","legal_status":"Legal in UK. Online Safety Act compliance applies for content moderation; AML rules for higher-tier matchmaking.","typical_rate":"3.0% to 5.0%","rolling_reserve":"10% to 15%","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/dating/"},{"slug":"dating-sites","vertical":"Dating site and app","category":"Mainstream dating sites, niche dating apps, social-discovery platforms","legal_status":"Legal in UK. Online Safety Act 2023 content-moderation duties apply; AML and identity rules apply to higher-tier introduction services.","typical_rate":"3.0% to 5.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 15% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/dating-sites/"},{"slug":"debt-collection-agency","vertical":"Debt collection agency","category":"Consumer and commercial debt collection, debt purchase, tracing services","legal_status":"Regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. FCA authorisation required for consumer-debt collection activity; commercial debt collection is unregulated.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/debt-collection-agency/"},{"slug":"escort-agency","vertical":"Escort agency","category":"Escort agency booking and introduction services (legal categories only)","legal_status":"Escort agency and introduction services are legal in UK; soliciting, brothel-keeping and related offences are separate criminal matters under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. Agencies operate within the legal service-brokering perimeter.","typical_rate":"4.5% to 7.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/escort-agency/"},{"slug":"firearms","vertical":"Firearms and ammunition","category":"Firearms, ammunition, archery, gun smithing (legal categories only)","legal_status":"Tightly regulated under UK Firearms Act. Section 1, Section 5 and Registered Firearms Dealer requirements.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5%","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10%","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/firearms/"},{"slug":"fireworks-retail","vertical":"Fireworks retail","category":"Category F1 to F4 fireworks, sparklers, novelties, professional pyrotechnics","legal_status":"Legal in UK under the Pyrotechnic Articles (Safety) Regulations 2015 and the Fireworks Regulations 2004. Retail of Category F2 and F3 restricted to specific dates without a licence; Category F4 requires professional licensing.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/fireworks-retail/"},{"slug":"forex","vertical":"Forex and CFD","category":"Forex brokers, CFD platforms, spread-betting providers","legal_status":"FCA-regulated activity. Offering CFDs or forex to UK retail clients requires FCA authorisation; spread betting is FCA-regulated and taxed as gambling. Unauthorised solicitation is a criminal offence.","typical_rate":"3.5% to 6.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/forex/"},{"slug":"gambling","vertical":"Gambling","category":"Online and retail gambling, lotteries, prize draws","legal_status":"Legal in UK with Gambling Commission licence. Prize draws under specific exemptions.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 5.0% (varies by sub-category)","rolling_reserve":"Variable; can be substantial","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/gambling/"},{"slug":"glp-1-weight-loss","vertical":"GLP-1 and weight-loss clinic","category":"Regulated online weight-loss clinics and pharmacies prescribing GLP-1 medicines (semaglutide, tirzepatide)","legal_status":"GLP-1 medicines (semaglutide, tirzepatide) are prescription-only and may only be supplied by a GPhC-registered pharmacy against a valid prescription, with prescribers on the appropriate professional register. Selling them outside that framework, or marketing prescription-only medicines to the public, is unlawful and an MHRA and GPhC enforcement matter.","typical_rate":"2.8% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 15% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/glp-1-weight-loss/"},{"slug":"supplements","vertical":"Health supplements","category":"Vitamins, supplements, sports nutrition, weight-loss products","legal_status":"Legal with Novel Food and food-supplement regulations. Specific claims rules apply.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.0%","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10%","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/supplements/"},{"slug":"kratom-retail","vertical":"Kratom retail","category":"Kratom leaf, powder and extract retail","legal_status":"Legal in UK; kratom is not a controlled substance under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and falls outside the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 in its raw plant form. Specific product claims may engage the Human Medicines Regulations 2012.","typical_rate":"3.5% to 6.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 15% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/kratom-retail/"},{"slug":"mlm-network-marketing","vertical":"MLM and network marketing","category":"Multi-level marketing, network marketing, direct-sales distributor schemes","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Trading Schemes Act 1996 and the Trading Schemes Regulations 1997. Pyramid-selling structures without genuine product retail are prohibited under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.","typical_rate":"3.0% to 5.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 15% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/mlm-network-marketing/"},{"slug":"nootropics","vertical":"Nootropic","category":"Cognitive and focus supplements (licensed supplement formulations and research compounds)","legal_status":"Licensed nootropic supplements are legal under UK food-supplement and Novel Food rules. Research-only nootropic compounds (such as racetams) are a separate research-chemical category and must be labelled not for human consumption. Cognitive and health claims are tightly restricted under the GB Nutrition and Health Claims Register.","typical_rate":"2.8% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 12% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/nootropics/"},{"slug":"telemarketing-outbound","vertical":"Outbound telemarketing","category":"Outbound telesales, telephone-presented card payments, cold-call lead generation","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR), TPS / CTPS suppression rules and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/telemarketing-outbound/"},{"slug":"pawnbroker","vertical":"Pawnbroker","category":"Pawnbrokers, second-hand goods retailers, gold buyers","legal_status":"Regulated under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. FCA authorisation required for the lending side; second-hand-goods retail is unregulated.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.0%","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10%","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/pawnbroker/"},{"slug":"peptides","vertical":"Peptide","category":"Research peptides (BPC-157, TB-500, GHK-Cu, ipamorelin and similar)","legal_status":"Sold lawfully in the UK only as research chemicals or laboratory reagents, labelled not for human consumption. Marketing peptides for human use, dosing or injection makes them unlicensed medicines and brings them under MHRA enforcement. The legal position turns entirely on how the product is presented.","typical_rate":"3.5% to 6.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/peptides/"},{"slug":"psychic-services-tarot","vertical":"Psychic services and tarot reading","category":"Tarot reading, psychic reading, astrology, spiritual coaching (entertainment basis)","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Services must be presented on an entertainment basis; specific outcome guarantees risk engaging unfair-commercial-practice rules.","typical_rate":"4.0% to 6.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/psychic-services-tarot/"},{"slug":"research-chemicals","vertical":"Research chemical","category":"Research reagents and laboratory chemicals sold not for human consumption","legal_status":"Lawful to sell as research reagents with correct labelling and, where relevant, compliance with the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 and controlled-substance schedules. Presenting any product for human consumption removes the research-chemical defence and can constitute supply of an unlicensed medicine or a controlled or psychoactive substance.","typical_rate":"4.0% to 6.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 25% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/research-chemicals/"},{"slug":"sarms","vertical":"SARMs","category":"Selective androgen receptor modulators (ostarine, RAD-140, ligandrol and similar)","legal_status":"Sold lawfully in the UK only as research chemicals labelled not for human consumption. SARMs are not approved for human use and marketing them for bodybuilding, dosing or consumption makes them unlicensed medicines under MHRA enforcement.","typical_rate":"3.5% to 6.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/sarms/"},{"slug":"subscription","vertical":"Subscription-billing","category":"Subscription boxes, continuity billing, recurring-charge SaaS-adjacent retail","legal_status":"Legal in UK. Consumer Rights Act applies; cancellation flows must be honoured.","typical_rate":"2.0% to 3.5%","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/subscription/"},{"slug":"telehealth","vertical":"Telehealth and online clinic","category":"Online doctor, prescribing and private clinic services taking card payments","legal_status":"Legal where the service holds the relevant registrations: CQC for clinical services in England, GPhC for any dispensing pharmacy, and prescribers on the appropriate professional register. Remote prescribing must follow GMC and CQC guidance.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.2% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 12% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/telehealth/"},{"slug":"ticket-resale","vertical":"Ticket resale","category":"Secondary ticketing, event ticket resale, marketplace and dealer models","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (Chapter 5) secondary-ticketing disclosure requirements and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Resale of football tickets restricted under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 15% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/ticket-resale/"},{"slug":"timeshare-resale","vertical":"Timeshare resale","category":"Timeshare resale brokerage, exit services, points-scheme resale","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Timeshare, Holiday Products, Resale and Exchange Contracts Regulations 2010. Upfront-fee restrictions apply to resale and exit services; 14-day cooling-off period mandatory.","typical_rate":"3.0% to 5.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 20% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/timeshare-resale/"},{"slug":"tobacco-pipe-retail","vertical":"Tobacco pipe and accessory retail","category":"Pipes, pipe tobacco, cigars, smoking accessories, humidors","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 (as amended) and the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015. Plain-packaging rules apply to consumer tobacco; age-verification (18+) required.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/tobacco-pipe-retail/"},{"slug":"travel","vertical":"Travel agency","category":"Travel agencies, tour operators, ATOL-protected operators","legal_status":"Legal with ATOL / ABTA membership where applicable. Strong consumer-protection regulation.","typical_rate":"2.0% to 3.5%","rolling_reserve":"Variable; can be substantial; sometimes settled into a trust account rather than direct","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/travel/"},{"slug":"vape","vertical":"Vape and e-liquid","category":"Vapes, e-liquids, nicotine pouches, accessories","legal_status":"Legal in UK with TPD compliance. Disposable vape regulations changed materially in 2025-2026; check current legal position.","typical_rate":"2.5% to 4.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 8% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"named-uk-panel","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/vape/"},{"slug":"vehicle-history-reports","vertical":"Vehicle history report","category":"HPI-style vehicle history checks, MOT history lookups, vehicle provenance reports","legal_status":"Legal in UK. Data sources (DVLA, MIAFTR, insurance industry) subject to data-licensing agreements; consumer-facing services subject to the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and UK GDPR.","typical_rate":"2.0% to 3.5% blended","rolling_reserve":"5% to 10% rolling reserve common","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/vehicle-history-reports/"},{"slug":"weight-loss-supplements-subscription","vertical":"Weight-loss supplement subscription","category":"Weight-loss supplements on continuity billing, meal-replacement subscriptions, fat-burner subscriptions","legal_status":"Legal in UK subject to the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003 (and equivalents in the devolved nations), the Nutrition and Health Claims (England) Regulations 2007 and UK Novel Food rules where applicable.","typical_rate":"3.0% to 5.0% blended","rolling_reserve":"10% to 15% rolling reserve standard","uk_acquirer_route":"specialist-per-application","url":"https://merchanthq.co.uk/high-risk/weight-loss-supplements-subscription/"}]}