A peptides retailer came to us after Stripe shut them down. They'd been live for two months, processing card payments with no issues — until Stripe's risk team flagged the vertical and terminated the account. Peptides falls into a grey area for mainstream processors. Stripe, Square, PayPal — they all say yes at signup and pull the plug once underwriting catches up.
With no card processing, the company fell back to crypto as their only payment method. Revenue dropped immediately. Most of their customers are everyday buyers who want to pay with a Visa or Mastercard. Asking them to set up a crypto wallet, buy USDT, and send it to a contract address isn't a checkout flow — it's a barrier.
The setup we walked into
The business was running but bleeding. They had traffic, they had demand, and they had a product people wanted. What they didn't have was a way for most customers to actually pay. The crypto checkout was filtering out the majority of their buyer base.
- Stripe account terminated after 2 months for operating in a restricted category
- Crypto was the only remaining payment method
- Significant customer drop-off at checkout — most buyers unfamiliar with crypto payments
- No relationship with any high-risk payment processor
- Revenue well below what the traffic should have generated
This is a common pattern in the peptides space. The company launches, grabs whatever processor will approve them fast, gets traction, and then loses the account. They end up scrambling for alternatives and land on crypto because it doesn't require approval from anyone. But crypto doesn't solve the problem — it just keeps the lights on while the real revenue walks away.
What we did
We onboarded them to PSPs that actually underwrite peptides as a vertical. Not processors that will approve anyone and shut them down in 60 days. PSPs with dedicated high-risk acquiring that know what peptides is, have seen the chargebacks, and price for it upfront.
We handled the full onboarding — application packaging, compliance documentation, website review to make sure the site met acquirer requirements, and MID configuration. The goal was simple: get card payments live so customers can check out the way they expect to.
- Identified PSPs with proven peptides/nutraceutical underwriting
- Packaged the application with compliant product descriptions and required disclaimers
- Managed the full onboarding process through to MID activation
- Configured card processing and verified live transactions
Where they are now
The company is processing card payments consistently. Customers pay with Visa and Mastercard like any other online store. Crypto is still available as an option for buyers who prefer it, but it's no longer the only path to purchase. The checkout friction that was killing their conversion is gone.
"We had the traffic and the product. We just couldn't get people to pay. Now checkout works the way it should."