High-risk processing · Vape shops
E-liquids, devices and disposables are among the most closely watched products in payments. Here is how to get approved and stay approved.
✓ Matched to processors that approve your category. Rates are quoted to your business.
Short answer: Use a processor that approves vape retailers. Underwriting typically asks for your tobacco or vapor-product licence, business registration, statements and your age-verification process, and online sales add PACT Act registration, reporting and delivery rules. Merchant Fund Express works with processors that approve vape shops.
Key facts
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Vape shops sit in one of the most regulated retail categories in the country. Federal age limits, FDA product authorization, state flavor bans, excise taxes and, for online sales, the PACT Act all apply at once. Many processors decline the category outright, and some general-purpose apps prohibit e-cigarette sales in their terms.
Merchant Fund Express works with processors that approve vape shops, including shops that also sell online. We match your equipment and gateway to the processor that approves you and walk you through the documents before the application goes in, so it is reviewed once instead of bounced back.
E-cigarettes need FDA marketing authorization to be legally sold. Many disposables on the market do not have it, and FDA and Customs have stepped up enforcement against unauthorized products.
Since 2021 the PACT Act covers electronic nicotine delivery systems. Online sellers must register, verify age, collect state taxes and cannot ship through the Postal Service.
States and cities restrict flavors and add excise taxes on e-liquid. What is legal in one county can be illegal in the next.
Card-not-present orders produce more "I did not authorize this" disputes, especially on subscription-style reorders.
If you sell vapes to customers who are not standing in your store, you are making a "delivery sale". Under the PACT Act as amended in 2021, that means registering with ATF and with the tax authority of every state you ship into, filing monthly reports with those states, verifying the buyer's age and identity against a commercial database before the sale, using packaging labeled as required, and having an adult sign for delivery.
The Postal Service may not be used to mail these products to consumers. Private carriers have their own rules, and several limit or refuse vape shipments, so your shipping plan is part of your processing approval.
ATF keeps a list of non-compliant sellers that is shared with state officials and carriers. Processors check against it. Getting this right before you apply is the single biggest difference between an approved online vape store and a declined one.
| In store | Online | |
|---|---|---|
| Age check | Photo ID at the counter | Database verification at checkout, adult signature at delivery |
| Card type | Card present (chip, tap) | Card not present |
| Extra registrations | State and local retail license | PACT Act registration with ATF and each destination state |
| Typical underwriting | Simpler | Detailed review of site, carrier and compliance process |
Call (305) 384-8391. Tell us what you sell, how you sell it (counter, online, delivery) and roughly how much card volume you run. If you already process, have a recent statement nearby for a free review.
We work with processors that knowingly accept this business type instead of ones that close accounts once they notice what you sell. Your equipment is matched to the processor that approves you.
We tell you exactly which licenses, IDs and statements the application needs, so underwriting is not a slow back-and-forth.
Once approved, your terminal or gateway is set up and tested, and you keep one number to call when something needs attention.
Merchant Fund Express also arranges business funding, and we would rather be straight with you about it on this page than on the phone. Funding eligibility is set by industry code (NAICS), and e-cigarette and smoking-supply retailers are on the restricted list for the bank-style tier. The revenue-based tier reviews some restricted categories under its own rules, case by case.
The eligible industries page explains how codes are read, and funding requirements lists the revenue, time-in-business and bank-activity thresholds. If funding is not a fit, processing still is: the two are separate products, and we will tell you which one we can help with on the first call.
Rules summarized as of October 2026. Laws, card-network rules and processor policies change; this page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current requirements for your state and city before you rely on them.
Only through compliant private carriers, not the Postal Service, and only after registering under the PACT Act, verifying age and collecting the destination state's taxes.
In-store-only vape shops are generally easier to approve than online sellers because sales are card-present and ID is checked in person.
Increasingly, yes. Underwriters may ask whether the products you carry are authorized, because unauthorized products can be seized and sales stopped.
If they are the same business at the same location, often yes. Separate websites or entities are usually reviewed separately.
It depends on the processor and how complete your file is. Having licenses, registrations and statements ready is what speeds it up.
Call Merchant Fund Express. We match you to a processor that approves your category, prepare the application with you and stay reachable after you go live.
