Credit Card Processing: A Primer

This also is the primary reason processors often require merchants to maintain reserve funds, which provide security in case the merchant fails to: issue refunds, pay for chargebacks, or honor consumers’ claims for goods not shipped or services not rendered.

How large the reserve fund should be, and whether it’s required at all, is determined by the processor. Some types of businesses are riskier than others and generally will incur larger reserves. But without concrete rules for this, the reserve fund turns out to be a good way to compare service bureaus to decide which one to select as your processor.