Instabill accepts many industries traditionally in the high-risk category and even offers some innovative payment solutions.
WRITTEN & RESEARCHED BY
Lead Staff Writer
Last updated onUpdated
REVIEWED BY
Expert Contributor
| Total Rating | 3.8 |
|---|---|
| Fees & Rates3.8 | |
| Products & Services4.6 | |
| Contract2.2 | |
| Sales & Advertising Transparency4.2 | |
| Customer Service4.0 | |
| User Reviews4.0 | |
Table of Contents
Instabill is a company specializing in providing high-risk merchant account services and processing offshore payments for international merchants doing business in the United States. Instabill primarily focuses on eCommerce enterprises but also Instabill accepts some high-risk retail businesses and even provides innovative payment solutions to the cannabis industry.
Although it doesn’t accept every type of high-risk business, Instabill’s broad network of domestic and international banking partners translates to a higher chance that your business will be accepted, even if other providers have turned you down.
| Products & Services4.6 |
|---|
| Software & Services 5.0 |
| Hardware & Equipment 4.2 |
The majority of Instabill’s users are eCommerce-only merchants, so the company’s lineup of products and services skews toward the online sector. However, processing hardware and support for retail enterprises are also available. Overall, we rated Instabill’s products and services highly, though they lost a couple of points for having only basic processing equipment options. Here are the key features that Instabill offers:
| Fees & Rates3.8 |
|---|
| Pricing 3.6 |
| Affordability 4.0 |
Unlike other processors that post misleading teaser rates on their websites or simply don’t disclose any rate or fee information, Instabill is different. It provides a Merchant Account Fees page dedicated to explaining why it can’t give you a firm quote on either rates or fees without more information about the nature and size of your business as well as other factors.
High-risk accounts are always more expensive than low-risk accounts and a lack of fee transparency is the norm. For these reasons, we still rate Instabill decently well for Fees & Rates despite their lack of pricing transparency.
Instabill partners with a vast number of different banks, both international and in the US. Our complete guide to credit card processing fees and rates explains that what you pay will depend on which bank Instabill sets you up with. Fees and rates will also vary widely depending on your business type, risk level, and overall processing volume. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; it just means that you will have to carefully assess your rate and fee quotes to make sure you are getting a fair deal.
With Instabill—and most high-risk processors in general—you should also expect to see rolling reserves (where a certain percentage of funds are withheld month-to-month), account setup fees, and higher rates. As you develop a processing history and relationship with Instabill, you can expect to see reductions in the reserve and rates if your account remains in good standing.
| Sales & Advertising Transparency4.2 |
|---|
| Sales Practices 4.4 |
| Web Presence 3.0 |
Instabill’s advertising is better than most high-risk and international/overseas payment processors we’ve seen. The company’s website includes extensive educational material to help prospective clients better understand the complexities of high-risk processing. The information presented is accurate and offers a fair, reasonable presentation of what it takes to get approved for a high-risk account. Accordingly, Instabill earns a solid score from us for Sales & Advertising Transparency.
While you won’t find the kind of specific pricing disclosures that are becoming more common among low-risk providers, Instabill goes to great lengths to explain why this approach is simply untenable with so many possible banking partners that can underwrite your account.
Instabill uses an in-house sales staff to sell and set up its merchant accounts. This is a far better practice than relying on independent sales agents, who have a well-deserved bad reputation in the industry for frequently using misleading and unethical sales tactics to sell accounts. The company does, however, have a reseller program that allows anyone — whether a sales agent or not — to refer a prospective merchant to Instabill and earn residuals. Resellers do not, however, get involved with actually establishing the contract terms or setting up the account.
| Contract2.2 |
|---|
| Commitment 1.4 |
| ETF & Other Fees 3.0 |
Like your account’s processing rates and fee schedule, contract terms and possible early termination fees will vary depending on your business. Most high-risk merchant accounts require a long-term contract and an early termination fee, regardless of which provider you sign up with. Instabill is no exception. These accounts are more expensive for Instabill to get up and running, so it makes sense that you would be charged more. Still, there are some high-risk processors that offer month-to-month contracts, so we had to dock several points in this department.
Though lengthy contracts are the norm for high-risk industries, low-risk businesses should probably look elsewhere unless Instabill can offer you a month-to-month contract with no early cancellation penalties.
| Customer Service4.0 |
|---|
| Personal Support 3.8 |
| Self-Service 4.6 |
Instabill handles customer service and support in-house, which means you’ll be dealing with more knowledgeable and experienced support staff. With such a small staff, the downside is that customer support is limited to email and phone support that’s only available during business hours (currently 8 AM-6 PM EST, Monday-Friday). Still, Instabill earns relatively high marks from us in this area due to its multiple support options and use of in-house agents.
| Instabill Customer Service | Availability |
|---|---|
| Phone Support | |
| Email Support | |
| Support Tickets | |
| Live Chat | |
| Dedicated Support Representative | |
| Knowledge Base or Help Center | |
| Videos & Tutorials | Unknown |
| Company Blog | |
| Social Media |
We haven’t received much feedback on the quality of Instabill’s support, but there don’t appear to be any major red flags. We’ll need to hear from more merchants directly before passing judgment. Resources on the Instabill website, such as its Knowledge Center, are certainly helpful for prospective merchants and current customers alike in terms of understanding the service and the industry at large. But since high-risk merchants vary so widely regarding needs, and since Instabill uses a bunch of different acquirers depending on the customer, some support info is just not so easily standardized.
If you have experience with Instabill’s customer service or tech support and can offer first-hand insight, please leave a comment at the end of this review.
| User Reviews4.0 |
|---|
| Customer Feedback 4.0 |
| Review Site Aggregate 4.0 |
Instabill earns a good User Reviews score from us thanks to the lack of complaints or negative reviews posted about the company online.
Instabill is not accredited by the BBB but has an A+ rating. The company currently has zero complaints filed with the BBB in the last three years and zero complaints within the past twelve months. Although it’s a small company, this is a strong indicator of a reputable business keeping its merchants happy. We found very little recent feedback on the company on other consumer protection sites, and none of it was enough to raise concerns about the quality of Instabill’s service.
With high-risk merchant accounts, complaints regarding funding holds, rolling reserves, and higher-than-average fees are common and to be expected. Funding holds, in particular, generate a lot of complaints despite being a fairly uncommon occurrence in the processing industry. If you come across a complaint from a merchant regarding held funds, remember that in almost all cases, it’s the acquiring bank or back-end processor that is holding the funds, not the merchant services provider. Companies such as Instabill do not profit when funds from a merchant’s transaction are held.
Instabill’s website currently includes five testimonials from users. Unfortunately, they don’t have full names or complete business contact information and are very brief. We’d really like to see some more detailed case studies highlighting specific features of Instabill’s services in the future.
If you’ve had any experience with Instabill, please leave us a comment with your business name and other identifying information so that we can verify the authenticity of your review!
If you run a high-risk business or have had a hard time getting approved for a merchant account, Instabill might be your saving grace. No, you’re not going to get the transparent pricing and flexible contract terms that you’d find with some of our other favorite providers. Yes, you might have to deal with rolling reserves, application fees, and occasionally withheld funds. But, with all of that said, you will get a solid merchant account from a reputable company. That might not sound like a glowing endorsement, but it’s well above average when it comes to high-risk specialists.
With an above-average score, Instabill is a good choice for merchants who’ve been turned down repeatedly by other providers. The company stands out for its willingness to accept merchants in particularly high-risk industries, including adult entertainment, CBD, and cannabis products.
If you don’t fall into the high-risk category, however, there are better options. Check out our compilation of the best credit card processors for small businesses.
We research, evaluate, and test each high-risk payment processor that we review at Merchant Maverick, placing special emphasis on key characteristics to generate granular ratings for high-risk merchant account providers.
High-risk merchant accounts, by definition, require the provider to take on more risk and liability; they tend to be more expensive overall than traditional merchant accounts, with more fees and limitations. For this reason, our high-risk rating methodology differs from our standard credit card processor rating methodology, so we don’t mislead our readers by comparing apples and oranges. Many businesses in high-risk industries cannot qualify for a normal payment processing account. That said, there are good and bad options available in the high-risk space, and we judge these high-risk providers against each other to provide the most balanced assessment.
High-risk services can be complex, so we use a 24-point rubric to evaluate each provider. First, we look at pricing structure – interchange plus, subscription-based, tiered, or hybrid – giving the most points to providers that provide fair, transparent pricing and docking those that rely on tiered models. Then we examine rates, the presence and transparency of early termination fees, and any additional fees.
We also look at contract length and fairness and test out sales staff and customer service channels ourselves to ensure that the company uses reputable, above-the-board sales techniques. Finally, we take the company’s online reputation into account, reading customer reviews and comments.
Read more about how we rate high-risk merchant account providers.
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The vendors that appear on this list were chosen by subject matter experts on the basis of product quality, wide usage and availability, and positive reputation.
Merchant Maverick’s ratings are editorial in nature, and are not aggregated from user reviews. Each staff reviewer at Merchant Maverick is a subject matter expert with experience researching, testing, and evaluating small business software and services. The rating of this company or service is based on the author’s expert opinion and analysis of the product, and assessed and seconded by another subject matter expert on staff before publication. Merchant Maverick’s ratings are not influenced by affiliate partnerships.
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