What is a merchant surcharge program?

A merchant surcharge program allows businesses to pass credit card processing fees (up to 3%) directly to customers who pay with credit cards. This is fully legal in 47+ states and can save merchants $20,000–$60,000 per year in processing fees.

What is a cash discount program?

A cash discount program offers customers a discount for paying with cash or debit, while customers who pay with credit cards pay the posted price which includes a service fee. This effectively eliminates credit card processing costs for the merchant.

How does Centurion compare to Square, Stripe, and Clover?

Centurion Payment Services consistently beats Square (2.6%+10¢), Stripe (2.9%+30¢), Clover (2.3-2.6%), and Heartland on effective rates. With our interchange-plus or surcharge programs, most merchants save 20-40% over their current processor.

Do you work with high-risk merchants?

Yes. Centurion specializes in high-risk merchant accounts including CBD, firearms, nutraceuticals, vape, adult content, travel, gaming, and more. We have dedicated high-risk banking relationships and fast approval times.

How quickly can I get set up with Centurion?

Most merchants go live within 48 hours of approval. We handle the entire setup process including equipment programming, gateway integration, and staff training.

What credit card processing rates does Centurion offer?

Centurion offers interchange-plus pricing, flat-rate pricing, and zero-fee/surcharge programs. Rates are customized based on your industry, volume, and processing history. We guarantee to beat your current rate or we'll pay you $500.

Is the merchant surcharge program legal?

Yes. Credit card surcharging is legal in 47+ US states. It is currently prohibited only in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Puerto Rico. Centurion ensures full compliance with state laws and Visa/Mastercard regulations.

What types of businesses do you work with?

Centurion works with all business types: restaurants, retail stores, medical practices, law firms, auto dealers, salons, hotels, e-commerce, contractors, healthcare, dental offices, veterinarians, gyms, nightclubs, dispensaries, and more.

What is Centurion Payment Services?

Centurion Payment Services helps you organize, track, and share your work in 1 unified workspace. Built for teams and solo users who want clarity and speed.

What's the best payment processor for a creator agency?

Under ~$20k/month: an IPSP (CCBill, Segpay, Epoch, or Verotel) for speed and simplicity. Above it: a dedicated high-risk merchant account at 3.5%–6% typically saves tens of thousands annually. Many mature operators run both.

How much cheaper is a merchant account than CCBill-style IPSPs?

IPSP adult pricing generally runs 10%–15% all-in versus 3.5%–6% plus modest fixed costs for a dedicated account. At $50k/month the difference is typically $35,000–$45,000 per year.

Is switching from an IPSP to a merchant account disruptive?

The main friction is subscriber migration — stored cards usually can't transfer, so plan a re-entry/dunning campaign (60–80% retention is achievable). Many merchants run the IPSP in parallel until the new MID carries the base.

Which option is fastest to go live?

IPSPs — often within days, since you're boarding onto their existing registrations. Dedicated MIDs take 3–10 business days of underwriting with a complete file, including card network registration.

Can Centurion work with my existing IPSP account?

Yes — a common engagement is adding a dedicated MID alongside an existing IPSP: the MID takes primary traffic at lower cost while the IPSP remains as redundancy. We'll model the split for your volume.

Creator Agencies - Processor Comparison

CCBill vs Segpay vs Epoch vs Verotel vs a dedicated high-risk merchant account — an honest comparison of every serious processing option for creator management agencies, with real pricing math.

The Field: Who Actually Serves This Vertical

Strip away the affiliate-blog noise and a creator agency has five real options in 2026: CCBill (the largest adult IPSP, operating since 1998), Segpay (US/EU IPSP with strong compliance tooling), Epoch (veteran IPSP focused on subscription adult sites), Verotel (Netherlands-based IPSP with deep European acquiring), and a dedicated high-risk merchant account placed with an adult-capable acquiring bank — the path Centurion specializes in, typically paired with a gateway like NETbilling or RocketGate.

Everything else marketed to this industry is a reseller of one of those five models. The comparison that matters isn't brand-versus-brand — it's the IPSP model versus the dedicated-MID model, then the best operator within the winning model for your situation.

The IPSP Model: CCBill, Segpay, Epoch, Verotel

IPSPs act as the merchant of record: they hold the card network registrations, run content compliance, process under their MIDs, and pay you out — which is why onboarding takes days and why their published adult pricing runs roughly 10%–15% all-in. Within the model: CCBill is the default for breadth (consumer familiarity, affiliate tooling, huge platform integrations); Segpay differentiates on compliance support and US/EU dual acquiring; Epoch on subscription management maturity; Verotel on European traffic and its FlexPay system.

The model's real costs are structural, not just the rate: payouts on the IPSP's schedule (typically weekly), the customer relationship partially intermediated, per-model caps and content policies you inherit, and your revenue living on someone else's registrations. For businesses managing and monetizing creator accounts, charging management fees and revenue shares, that trade is often correct early — and increasingly expensive as volume grows.

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The Dedicated-MID Model

A dedicated high-risk merchant account inverts the trade: you carry registration (VIRP at $950/year, Mastercard specialty registration) and compliance obligations — structuring matters enormously here — collecting fan payments on behalf of creators without registration is unlicensed money transmission in most US states — in exchange for rates typically between 3.5% and 6%, daily settlement in your own bank account, full ownership of the customer relationship and card vault, and terms that improve as your history compounds.

Underwriting takes 3–10 business days with a prepared file, and for your vertical the bank will specifically verify: service agreements proving you charge for management services (not aggregate third-party payments), client contracts. The model rewards operators willing to run compliance as a discipline; it punishes those who wanted someone else to own the problem.

The Math at Three Volume Levels

At $10,000/month with tickets around $500–$5,000 monthly management retainers and percentage invoices: IPSP at ~12% costs $1,200; a dedicated account at 5% + fees costs ~$550 plus $150–$250/month in fixed costs (gateway, registration amortized, monitoring) — a modest win that may not justify the compliance lift yet. At $50,000/month: IPSP $6,000 vs. dedicated ~$2,750 all-in — a $39,000/year gap that funds a compliance program several times over. At $200,000/month: the gap exceeds $150,000/year, which is why every large operator in this industry runs its own MIDs, usually several.

The honest rule: under ~$15k–$20k/month or pre-launch, start IPSP; above it, the dedicated path pays immediately; and the sophisticated endgame is both — a dedicated primary MID with an IPSP kept as overflow and redundancy.

How to Choose — and How Centurion Fits

Decision shortcuts: prioritize speed-to-live and minimal compliance ownership → CCBill or Segpay. Heavy EU traffic → Verotel or an EU-placed MID. Subscription-first at scale → Epoch or a dedicated MID with a specialist gateway. Volume past $20k/month, or tired of double-digit rates → dedicated merchant account.

Centurion's role is placement and negotiation on the dedicated path: we pre-underwrite your file, submit to acquirers whose appetite matches creator management agencies, negotiate reserve and pricing terms against competing offers, and architect the gateway/anti-fraud stack around it. Every account is subject to underwriting — but we'll tell you honestly, before you commit to anything, which of these five options your file supports today. Call (561) 221-2273.