1. Why we did this

Because “your account is under review” was the single most common emergency our clinics brought us, and software cannot fix it. A practice signs up with a mainstream processor in ten minutes, runs visits and medication charges through the same checkout, and somewhere between month two and month six the account is flagged, restricted or frozen — often with a balance held behind it.

Nothing about that sequence is a judgement on the medicine. Mainstream processors are underwritten for retail and e-commerce; their terms list pharmaceuticals and prescription products as prohibited categories, and enforcement runs on pattern detection rather than on anyone reading your chart notes. A hormone practice or a GLP-1 programme is a legitimate business operating under real licences, and it is still outside the category its processor filed it under.

We wrote about the mechanics of that in why mainstream processors shut down GLP-1 and TRT clinics, and a roster of what does and does not permit the category in which payment processors allow GLP-1, TRT and peptide clinics. Both end at the same place: the practice needs to be underwritten for what it actually does, by somebody who understands the file.

2. What the partnership is — and what it is not

It is an introduction to underwriting, not a change in who holds your money.

What it is What it is not
The processor we point clinics to — underwritten for prescription revenue and ordinary revenue alike, so one account covers the practice. A payment facilitator arrangement. Aminova is not one, and does not intend to become one.
The clinic’s own merchant account, in the clinic’s name, with the processing agreement between the clinic and the processor. An account held by Aminova on your behalf. We are not a party to it.
Revenue settling directly to the clinic. Funds flowing through Aminova. They never do.
A checkout in Aminova that knows which rail a charge belongs on. A guarantee of approval. Underwriting is still underwriting.
One underwritten account that can carry the whole clinic, high risk and low risk together. Something you must bolt on beside your current processor — though you can keep that one and route only medication charges if you prefer.

That mirrors how we treat every regulated account on the platform. Your processor is yours. Your prescribing credentials are yours. Your lab account is yours. Aminova connects them; it does not own them — and an account you hold is an account you can take with you.

3. What changes at the checkout

One patient, one total, one receipt — and each line settles where it is underwritten to settle.

Line item Which rail Why
Office visit, consultation The clinic’s ordinary rail Professional services. Not a prohibited category anywhere.
Membership or programme fee The clinic’s ordinary rail A recurring service fee, not a product sale.
Retail — skincare, supplements The clinic’s ordinary rail Ordinary merchandise, subject to the terms on nutraceuticals.
Prescription medication The underwritten rail Pharmaceutical commerce — the category mainstream terms prohibit.
Compounded medication The underwritten rail Still a prescription product. How it was made does not change the classification.

Two things make that work in practice rather than on paper. The split is enforced by what the charge is, not by who is ringing it up — a front-desk member cannot put a medication charge on the wrong rail by accident. And the statement descriptor carries the clinic’s name, never a medication name, which matters to patients more than any of the rest of it.

4. How a clinic actually gets boarded

Expect an underwriting file, not a sign-up form. Clinics apply directly with The Payment Doctor. The questions are the ones a processor underwriting this category has to ask, and having the answers ready is most of the speed.

What is asked for Why it is asked
Medical licence, and DEA registration where controlled substances are involved It establishes that the prescribing is real and lawful — which is the whole underwriting question.
The entity, its ownership and its bank account The merchant account is the clinic’s. It has to match the clinic.
A description of the service menu What proportion of revenue is visits, memberships, retail and medication decides how the account is structured.
Processing history, including anything that ended badly ⭐ Say it out loud. A previous account that was frozen or terminated is ordinary in this category and far better handled at the start than discovered in month three.
Where the medication comes from Sourcing that traces to a licensed pharmacy is part of the file.

From our side there is no separate integration to buy. Once the account exists, it is connected in Aminova and the checkout starts routing. If you would rather see the whole picture before applying, start with us — we will walk the split through your actual service menu and tell you what goes where.

5. The honest caveats

Four, because a partnership announcement that lists no limits is marketing.

Caveat The detail
Approval is not guaranteed Underwriting can decline, and a thin or troubled history makes that likelier. What a specialist partner changes is the quality of the file and how well the category is understood, not the outcome.
Underwritten processing is not the cheapest processing Being underwritten for a category the mainstream refuses costs more than a retail rate card. It costs a great deal less than a freeze.
Pricing is quoted by them, not by us We do not set your rate, and publishing someone else’s pricing would be worth exactly nothing by the time you read it. Ask for the effective rate, and ask whether there is a reserve.
We are not neutral They are our partner and the processor we point clinics to, which is said at the top of this page. The account is still yours, the pricing is still theirs to quote, and the five questions below work on anybody — run them on this one too.

Whatever you decide, the five questions in the processor roster work on any provider, including this one. Run them on us.

6. Frequently asked questions

Does Aminova hold my money?
No. The merchant account is the clinic’s and revenue settles directly to the clinic’s bank account. Aminova is the software layer — checkout, routing, receipts and reporting. We are not a payment facilitator and we are not a party to your processing agreement.

Do I have to leave my current processor?
No, and most clinics should not. The ordinary rail keeps handling visits, memberships and retail. What changes is that medication charges stop riding on an account whose terms prohibit them.

What happens to my existing account if it was already frozen?
Tell the underwriter about it directly. A terminated or restricted account is common in this category, and an underwriting file that omits it is a file that fails later. Balances held by a previous processor are between you and that processor; typically they are released after the chargeback window closes.

Is this available outside prescribing clinics?
The partnership exists for the category mainstream processors decline — hormone therapy, GLP-1 programmes, peptide and longevity practices, telehealth treatment plans. A practice with no medication revenue generally does not need it and should not pay for it.

Can one processor really cover both ordinary and prescription revenue?
That is what an underwritten account is for: the risk is assessed once, for the practice as it actually operates, instead of assuming retail and reacting when it turns out not to be. A clinic that already likes its processor for visits and retail can keep it and route only medication charges — Aminova supports either shape.