If you run a high-risk e-commerce business that uses a merchant account and payment gateway to sell online, you will need to understand the term VAR sheet. Sometimes called a parameter sheet or tear sheet, these “sheets,” or, more commonly, PDFs, are an integral piece of the online payment processing puzzle.
Unlike low-risk websites that can use PayPal or Stripe, business owners that need to process payments for online firearms or other regulated items need traditional high-risk credit card processing – which means a high-risk merchant account. In addition, connecting your merchant account to your payment gateway requires a “VAR sheet” so that your payment gateway software has the correct information in order to process payments correctly.