What a CBD merchant account actually demands
Mainstream processors are closed to you
Stripe, PayPal, Square, and Shopify Payments prohibit CBD regardless of legality or your compliance record. Your only card option is a specialist high-risk acquirer, and there are few of them.
The documentation gauntlet
Underwriters want third-party COAs for every product, hemp licensing, corporate documents, owner IDs, bank statements, and a site scrubbed of health claims. Expect 2 to 6 weeks before a decision.
Approval terms are punishing
Typical CBD merchant accounts run 4 to 6% plus a 10% rolling reserve held up to 180 days, with monthly minimums. On $30,000 a month, that's up to $18,000 of your capital idle at any time.
The account stays conditional forever
One product page that oversteps an FDA claim line, one affiliate ad you didn't write, or one acquirer policy shift can terminate the account and freeze the balance for 90 to 180 days.
What Flint removes from the process
No underwriting packet
There is no acquiring bank, so there is no COA review, no processing-history requirement, and no 6-week wait. Create products and share a checkout link the same day.
No reserve, ever
Reserves exist to cover future chargebacks. Crypto payments have none, so 100% of each sale settles to you within minutes of confirmation.
No chargeback ratio to manage
CBD's dispute rate is what makes banks flee. On-chain payments can't be disputed, so the ratio, the fines, and the MATCH-listing risk all disappear.
A rail that survives policy shifts
No sponsor bank upstream means no category committee that can reclassify CBD out of your business next quarter.
Runs beside your card account
Keep the card MID if you have one. Routing even 20% of volume to crypto lowers your dispute exposure and gives you revenue that keeps flowing if the MID dies.
Pick your plan
Monthly fee plus a rate per sale. Upgrade when volume picks up.
Starter
Free to start validating ideas.
Fees
5.00% + 50¢ per transaction
Features
- All features to sell
- Standard support
Pro
For builders & early teams.
Fees
3.80% + 40¢ per transaction
Features
- All features on Starter
- Preview access to new features
- Prioritized support
Growth
For scaling startups.
Fees
3.60% + 35¢ per transaction
Features
- All features on Pro
- Preview access to new features
- Prioritized support
Scale
For fast growing businesses.
Fees
3.20% + 25¢ per transaction
Features
- All features on Growth
- Dedicated account manager
- Custom SLAs
CBD merchant payment questions, answered
What documents does a CBD merchant account require?
For a card account: certificate of incorporation, owner IDs, 3 to 6 months of bank statements, prior processing statements, hemp supplier licensing, and a current third-party COA for every product showing under 0.3% THC. Flint requires none of that to start, though your legal obligation to sell compliant products is unchanged.
Why do banks restrict CBD if it's federally legal?
The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp-derived CBD federally, but acquirers still face patchwork state rules, FDA enforcement on health claims, and dispute rates well above retail average. Rather than underwrite that per merchant, most ban the category.
How much cheaper is the crypto rail in practice?
A $30,000-a-month brand on a 5% high-risk MID with a 10% reserve pays about $1,500 in fees with $3,000 a month locked up, plus dispute losses. The same volume on Flint's Growth plan at 3.60% + 35¢ costs about $1,180 with nothing held back.
Does paying in crypto change what I'm allowed to sell?
No. Products must still be hemp-derived, under 0.3% THC, correctly labeled, and free of disease claims, under both federal and state law where you ship. The payment rail changes who can shut you down, not what's legal.
What happens when a customer wants their money back?
You refund from your balance under your published policy. There is no bank-forced reversal and no $25 to $100 dispute fee attached.
Can using Flint get me MATCH-listed?
No. MATCH is a card-network blacklist operated through acquiring banks. Flint doesn't touch those rails, so nothing you do here appears on it.