Payments · Online Pharmacy6 min readUpdated November 3, 2026

Merchant Accounts for New Online Pharmacies

How a new online pharmacy gets a merchant account without processing history: what replaces it, which acquirers can board you, and what to ask.

Nick Bonnassies, CMO at Tagada · checked against 12 sources

Article summary

TL;DR

Yes, a new online pharmacy can get a merchant account without processing history, but only from an acquirer approved to board pharmacies. Licenses in every state you ship to, NABP or LegitScript accreditation and a prescription-gated checkout replace the missing history. Expect closer monitoring at first. Brands that aren't pharmacies can use a merchant-of-record platform instead.

Visa requires the acquirer itself to be approved for high integrity risk categories; pharmacies are Tier 1 (Visa guide, April 6, 2023).
From day 31, the acquirer compares a Tier 1 merchant's daily volume, ticket and disputes with its normal activity (Core Rules, October 24, 2026).
Stripe answers "Maybe" for pharmacies, only in the US, Canada, the EU, Australia, the UK and Japan.
Published broker requirements vary: Corepay asks for "Six months of processing history"; Instabill accepts 3 months of personal bank statements when there are no business ones.
LegitScript certification costs $975 to apply and $2,150 a year per root domain.

Want to go further? Ask

On this page

This guide is part of our hub on online pharmacy payment processing. The general guide, for any business: merchant accounts for startups. Prescription brands can also apply to Tagada Rx, which runs storefront, doctors, pharmacy and payments in one stack.

Why few acquirers take a new pharmacy

Card networks put the work on the acquirer, so only some acquirers sign pharmacies at all.

Visa
The acquirer must apply and "be approved by Visa" for high integrity risk acquiring, with a separate approval for each Tier 1 category, then register each pharmacy unless it is NABP-accredited or accredited by another body Visa recognizes1 2.
Mastercard
The acquirer registers the pharmacy and verifies it's legal, through a legal opinion or "accreditation by a recognized third party", at least every 12 months3.
Mainstream platforms
Stripe restricts "Online pharmacies, including SaaS platforms"5; Shopify Payments doesn't support prescription drugs10.

A new pharmacy has no track record, so the acquirer leans on the documents it can verify. The rules in detail: do you need Visa pharmacy certification?.

What replaces processing history

Without history, underwriters look at	What to prepare
Licenses	Home-state pharmacy license, nonresident licenses for each state you ship to, DEA if relevant
Accreditation	NABP or LegitScript, or proof the application is filed
People	Owners, pharmacist-in-charge, past businesses
Checkout	A valid prescription required before dispensing, shown step by step
Bank statements	3 months, business or personal for new companies, as published by Instabill6
Site and policies	Refund, shipping, privacy, contact, licenses displayed
Projections	Monthly volume, average order, share of recurring orders

Fig. 1A first pharmacy application, without processing history

Application · New online pharmacyUnderwritten merchant account

Licenses: Home state, nonresident, DEA if relevant
Accreditation: NABP or LegitScript, application filed
People: Owners, pharmacist-in-charge, past businesses
Checkout: Valid prescription required before dispensing
Bank statements: 3 months
Processing history: None yet

Illustrative record.

Each line stands in for the history you don't have yet.

Illustrative example.

Licenses first: who can own an online pharmacy, and which licenses you need. The checkout an underwriter wants to see: how to require a prescription before checkout.

What processors publish

Requirements differ a lot, and brokers rarely say whether they mean a US-licensed pharmacy or an offshore one.

Provider	History required	Other published requirements
Corepay	"Six months of processing history"	"Chargebacks under 2%"; permits and licenses; compliant website7
PaymentCloud	3 months of processing statements in its document list	ID, 3 months of bank statements; NABP or LegitScript may be needed8
Instabill	None listed for its startup offer	3 months of bank statements, personal if no business account; its startup pharmacy offer is labeled "offshore"6
Stripe	Not a criterion it publishes	Proof of licenses and business model; approval specific and revocable4 5

Watch out

An offshore account for a US pharmacy is a red flag for networks and regulators alike. If a provider's offer doesn't ask for your licenses, it isn't underwriting a legal pharmacy.

A realistic path

Get licensed in your home state and every state you'll ship to.
Apply for accreditation (NABP or LegitScript): it's the proof acquirers and ad platforms ask for. Compare them: NABP .pharmacy or LegitScript.
Build a prescription-gated checkout and publish your policies before applying.
Apply to an acquirer that boards pharmacies, and ask whether it is approved for Visa's pharmacy category.
Start with what you can document: one-time and refill orders, clear terms, fast support.
Keep disputes low from day one: the acquirer watches daily from day 311. Prevention: chargebacks for online pharmacies.

Each step gives the acquirer something it can verify.

The full approval process: how to get an online pharmacy merchant account approved.

Questions to ask before you sign

[ ] Are you approved by Visa for the pharmacy category, and do you register merchants with Mastercard?
[ ] Do you accept my accreditation in place of Visa registration?
[ ] Is there a reserve? Percentage, duration, review date
[ ] Monthly volume cap at the start, and how it's raised
[ ] Payout delay, and what triggers a hold: payout timing for online pharmacies
[ ] Your own dispute threshold, below the networks'

Reserve and fee terms: online pharmacy processing fees and reserves.

Own account or merchant of record?

A brand that doesn't run a pharmacy doesn't have to carry the merchant account itself.

	Your own merchant account	A merchant-of-record platform
Who holds the regulated relationship	You	The platform11
Licenses and accreditation	Yours to obtain	The platform's and its partners'
Underwriting	Full review of your pharmacy	The platform's own selection
Control	Full	Within the platform's rules

Fig. 2Who carries what, in each model

Your own merchant account

Regulated relationshipYou
needsLicenses and accreditationYours to obtain
thenUnderwritingFull review of your pharmacy

Full control

A merchant-of-record platform

Regulated relationshipThe platform
relies onLicenses and accreditationThe platform's and its partners'
thenUnderwritingThe platform's own selection

Control within the platform's rules

A merchant of record takes the regulated relationship, and sets the rules.

Tagada Docs, Tagada Rx operating modes.

The operational launch, team and tools: how to start and scale an online pharmacy.

How Tagada helps

A merchant of record for prescription brands

Tagada Rx is a telehealth stack with storefront, doctors, pharmacy and payments, in one stack: "You bring the brand and the ads"12.

Merchant of record: in this mode, "Tagada carries the regulated relationship"11.
Payments and LegitScript included12.
Pharmacy routing to a licensed US pharmacy; US-licensed clinicians12.
Hold, capture on approval, rebill on ship12.
By application: Tagada Rx is open to a selected group of brands, and every application gets a reply12.

Details on the Tagada Rx page.

Tagada follows Visa and Mastercard rules and the laws that apply to payments.

Apply to Tagada Rx

A merchant of record for prescription brands

Updated on November 3, 2026

Nick Bonnassies

CMO at Tagada

CMO at Tagada. Before Tagada, Nick built direct-to-consumer brands that generated over $115M in sales, raised over $25M in crowdfunding and sold two of them. He also works as a fractional CMO on marketing operations and AI systems.

Frequently asked questions

Can a new online pharmacy get a merchant account with no processing history?

Yes, from an acquirer that boards pharmacies. It will look at your licenses, accreditation, owners, checkout and bank statements instead. Some providers still ask for history: Corepay publishes "Six months of processing history". Ask before you apply.

Does Stripe accept new online pharmacies?

Stripe says "Maybe": it must follow card network policies for pharmaceutical merchants, and approves pharmacies only in the US, Canada, the EU, Australia, the UK and Japan. Online pharmacies are a restricted business, reviewed before approval, and approval can be revoked.

Do I need LegitScript before applying for a merchant account?

Not by Visa or Mastercard rule, but it helps. Visa exempts accredited pharmacies from registration, and Mastercard accepts third-party accreditation as proof of legality. PaymentCloud says online pharmacies may need NABP or LegitScript.

What documents do I need for a pharmacy merchant account?

Typically ID, a voided check or bank letter, 3 months of bank statements, your licenses and permits, and a compliant website. For a pharmacy, add your accreditation, pharmacist-in-charge details and a description of how prescriptions are verified.

Why are online pharmacies high risk?

Visa ranks card-absent pharmacy sales in Tier 1 of its Integrity Risk Program, where illegal activity could cause significant harm to people's health. That means extra registration, approval and daily monitoring for the acquirer.

Sources

Checked November 3, 2026

Tagada Rx

No processing history? Show the documents instead

Tagada Rx runs the stack behind your brand. Open by selection: every application is reviewed, and we reply to each one.

Apply to Tagada Rx

01Tell us about your brand
02We review every application
03Go live under your brand after review