A merchant account is a type of bank account that allows businesses to accept payments in multiple ways, typically debit or credit cards. A merchant account is established under an agreement between an acceptor and a merchant acquiring bank for the settlement of payment card transactions. In some cases a payment processor, independent sales organization (ISO), or member service provider (MSP) is also a party to the merchant agreement. Whether a merchant enters into a merchant agreement directly with an acquiring bank or through an aggregator, the agreement contractually binds the merchant to obey the operating regulations established by the card associations. A high-risk merchant account is a business account or merchant account that allows the business to accept online payments though they are considered to be of high-risk nature by the banks and credit card processors. The industries that possess this account are adult industry, travel, Forex trading business, multilevel marketing business. "High-Risk" is the term that is used by the acquiring banks to signify industries or merchants that are involved with the higher financial risk. Methods of processing credit cards Today a majority of all credit card transactions are sent electronically to merchant processing banks for authorization, capture and deposit. Various methods exist for presenting a credit card sale to "the system." In all circumstances either the entire magnetic strip is read by a swipe through a credit card terminal/reader, a computer chip is read (an "EMV"), or the credit card information is manually entered into a credit card terminal, a computer or website. The earliest methods, submitting credit card slips to a merchant processing bank by mail, or by accessing an Automated Response Unit (ARU) by telephone, are still in use today but have long been overshadowed by electronic devices. These early methods used two-part forms and a manual device for mechanically imprinting the embossed card number information onto the forms. Credit card terminal A credit card terminal is a stand-alone piece of electronic equipment that allows a merchant to swipe or key-enter a credit card's information as well as additional information required to process a credit card transaction. They may be connected to Point of Sale systems and typically have a keypad and network connection and may have a built-in printer. Automated response unit (ARU) An ARU (also known as a voice authorization, capture and deposit) allows the manual keyed entry and subsequent authorization of a