At THCA Hempire, we believe in being fully transparent with our customers and business partners. Many people ask why we do not accept traditional credit card payments, and the answer comes down to one major issue: the **hemp industry is classified as high risk** by the financial system. Below is a detailed explanation of why this affects us and why we’ve chosen safer, alternative payment methods to protect both you and our business.
# 1. The “High-Risk” Label in the Financial Industry
Even though **THCA hemp flower is federally legal under the 2018 Farm Bill**, most major banks and credit card processors group hemp and cannabis-adjacent products into the same category as marijuana, CBD, tobacco, vape, and even adult entertainment. These categories are considered **“high risk”** by financial institutions.
* Credit card processors are often unwilling to take on hemp businesses, or if they do, they impose **strict terms, higher fees, and constant oversight**.
* Simply being in the hemp space means that our business is automatically flagged, regardless of our compliance with state and federal laws.
* This classification has nothing to do with our integrity or the quality of our products — it is simply how the financial industry treats all companies in this category.
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# 2. Withheld Payments and Frozen Funds
When we attempted to use standard credit card processors in the past, we repeatedly ran into the same problems:
**Funds Held Back:** Payments from customers were placed on hold for weeks or even months.
**Frozen Accounts:** Processors would sometimes shut down our accounts without warning, leaving us unable to access money that rightfully belonged to us.
**Financial Losses:** In several cases, we actually **lost money permanently** when processors terminated accounts and refused to release withheld funds.
For a small business, this type of instability makes it nearly impossible to operate effectively. When revenue is locked up by a third party, we cannot reinvest in inventory, packaging, customer service, or shipping.
# 3. Risk for Customers and the Business
This situation doesn’t just hurt us as a company — it also creates **frustrations and risks for our customers**:
* Transactions may be **declined or flagged as suspicious**, even when everything is legitimate.
* Customers may face **unexpected chargebacks or delays** when processors interfere with payments.
* The overall shopping experience becomes unreliable, which goes against our mission to provide professional, seamless service.
For these reasons, continuing to accept credit cards would not only put THCA Hempire at financial risk but would also potentially inconvenience and frustrate our customers.
# 4. Our Safer Payment Alternative – Walmart.com
To solve this issue, we have chosen to **only accept payments through Walmart.com**.
* Walmart’s platform allows us to receive payments without the risk of sudden account closures or withheld funds.
* This ensures that when you send us money, it reaches us securely and without unnecessary delays.
* It also allows us to keep our prices fair by avoiding the inflated fees and penalties that credit card processors attach to hemp-related businesses.
By using Walmart.com, we can operate **with stability and transparency**, while giving our customers peace of mind that their payments are being handled safely.
# 5. Commitment to Transparency
We understand that this payment system may be unusual compared to standard online stores, but our first priority is protecting both our business and our customers from unnecessary financial risk.
We are continually monitoring the financial landscape, and if reliable, hemp-friendly payment processing options become available in the future, we will explore those opportunities. Until then, **Walmart.com remains the most secure and effective payment method for our customers.**
✅ **In Summary:**
* The hemp industry is classified as **high risk** by banks and processors.
* Credit card companies have repeatedly **withheld, frozen, or seized our funds**.
* This creates **financial instability** and **poor customer experiences**.
- To avoid these issues, we **only accept payments through Walmart.com**, ensuring that
- all transactions are handled securely, fairly, and without risk.