The times are exciting for merchants selling digital content. The right product, targeted at the right audience supported by effective marketing and promotion translate into astonishing sales growth. Payment processing volumes escalate along with the rapid growth, both in the total amounts and in the numbers of transactions.

It would seem that any acquiring bank would be happy to establish merchant accounts for digital content merchants, right? Unfortunately for digital content businesses, obtaining and keeping merchant account services is a challenge.

Fast growing sales means the merchant accounts must be flexible enough to allow sales growth. Many acquiring banks fear rather than embrace quickly growing businesses. Fast growth means increased risk.

Digital downloads as a product carry an inherently higher risk of chargebacks. A digital download product is delivered to the buyer immediately. It's easy for a consumer to say the product was not received and insist on a return or, worse, initiate a charge back with the cardholder issuing bank. How can the merchant prove the product was delivered?

In addition, digital content merchants are frequently targeted by cyber criminals using stolen credit card information to buy the product. Instant delivery gives criminals a fast way to determine whether or not a stolen card is still useable by making a quick hit and run purchase.