What does MCC 7995 mean for my processing?+
It is the card-scheme merchant category code for gambling. Acquirers that support it run licensed betting merchants openly. Mainstream processors mostly refuse the code or route you out during underwriting. Running it openly for licensed operators is what qualified all six companies for this list in the first place.
Who is actually licensed for US gaming payments?+
Nuvei's SEC filing names gaming licenses, registrations, or exemptions in 20 states plus DC and Puerto Rico. Worldpay and PXP both appear in Pennsylvania's gaming service provider register, which we pulled directly. Trustly, in the open banking segment, holds its own money transmitter licenses in about 36 states.
Why does nobody publish gambling processing rates?+
High-risk pricing is underwritten per merchant: your license, markets, chargeback history, and volume set the rate, so published cards would mislead. The only pricing on the record in this segment is emerchantpay's interchange-plus offer, without numbers. Treat any specific percentage you read elsewhere as unverified.
Who is the acquirer of record when I sign with one of these PSPs?+
Not always the company on the contract. Nuvei is a principal scheme member in Europe while its own SEC-filed risk factors say North American acquiring mostly rides sponsor banks. emerchantpay acquires in-house in Europe but works US volume as a registered ISO of Elavon and Westamerica Bank. PXP was BetMGM's gateway across seven states with acquiring on US partners. The distinction decides who underwrites you and whose risk appetite can cut you off, so pin it down per market before signing.
What rolling reserve should I expect on a gambling merchant account?+
Nobody in this segment publishes reserve terms, and that absence is the answer: reserves are set per merchant during underwriting, driven by your license, markets, and chargeback history. The one datapoint on the public record shows why acquirers insist on them, a $13.2M provision Paysafe booked in late 2025 for a single high-risk merchant's expected chargebacks. Negotiate the percentage, the hold period, and the release schedule in the same breath as the rate.
Does it matter that my acquirer is owned by private equity?+
It shows up in disclosure and priorities. Nuvei has published no financials since Q3 2024 after Advent's $6.3B take-private, and its last public year carried a $696M impairment-driven loss. Worldpay changed hands twice in two years, majority control to GTCR in early 2024 and then the Global Payments takeover in January 2026. Publicly listed Paysafe discloses everything, including $2.4B of net debt near 5.6x EBITDA. None of this blocks a deal. It belongs in your counterparty review next to the license map.
How long does onboarding to a gambling merchant account take?+
The only stated timelines in this set come from Trust Payments: up and running in as little as 3 days for standard merchants, with underwriting decisions within 48 hours in some cases, both vendor claims without a gambling-specific promise. Everyone else runs a full enterprise cycle they do not put dates on, and high-risk shops elsewhere in the market typically quote days to two weeks. The long pole is rarely the paperwork: it is your license map, processing history, and chargeback record clearing underwriting.
What happens if my processor terminates my account?+
Three things decide how bad it is: where your reserve sits and on what release schedule, whether the acquirer files you to MATCH (the card-scheme database other acquirers check before onboarding, which can lock you out of card processing for years), and how much notice the contract requires. None of the six here publishes termination terms, so negotiate the reserve release timeline and MATCH-filing conditions before signing, and keep a second acquiring relationship warm. That redundancy is half the case for the orchestration segment.
