Why the usual gateways say no
Stripe, PayPal, Square and WooCommerce Payments all prohibit CBD in their acceptable use policies. Some CBD sellers process for months before an automated review closes the account, freezes the balance and leaves the store without a checkout on a Friday afternoon. The problem is not your paperwork. It is that aggregators cannot underwrite the category at all, so the answer is always eventually no.
What a compliant CBD setup looks like
You need three things, in this order:
- A merchant account underwritten for CBD, from an acquirer that knowingly accepts the category. Expect to supply lab reports, your product THC content, your supplier chain and your marketing claims.
- A gateway that connects your store to it. NMI is one of the platforms those acquirers commonly issue accounts on, which is where this plugin comes in.
- A store that matches what you told underwriting. The fastest way to lose a hard won account is to add a product or a health claim the acquirer never approved.
What to expect on rates and terms
| Item | Typical for CBD |
|---|---|
| Rate | Higher than general retail. The category carries real risk and it is priced in |
| Reserve | Common, often rolling. Model it as a receivable, not a loss |
| Settlement | Sometimes slower than the standard one to three days |
| Chargeback threshold | Watched closely. Stay well under one percent |
None of that is the plugin. It is the account, and it is worth reading how reserves work before you sign.
What the plugin does for a CBD store
- ✓ Connects WooCommerce straight to the NMI gateway your CBD acquirer issued
- ✓ Hosted card fields, so the card number never reaches your server
- ✓ Saved cards for repeat buyers, which this category lives on
- ✓ Subscription renewals for monthly supply plans
- ✓ AVS, CVV and velocity rules to keep the chargeback ratio down
- ✓ ACH for larger wholesale orders, at a flat fee
Keeping the account you worked for
Ship on time, answer support before customers call their bank, keep the descriptor recognisable, and never let a subscription renew silently after someone tried to cancel. Read the fraud patterns and how disputes are decided, because in this category your ratio is the account.
Not sure whose gateway you have?
Many high-risk acquirers resell NMI under their own brand, so your login may say something else entirely. Check whether your gateway runs on NMI — if it does, this plugin works with it as it stands.