Rolling reserves, explained for peptide brands

What a rolling reserve is

With a rolling reserve, the processor keeps a share of each payout instead of sending all of it to your bank. Each held slice is released after a set period. Because a new slice is held every payout and an old slice is released every payout, the reserve “rolls” forward with your sales.

The point, from the processor’s side, is cover. If buyers ask for refunds or file disputes after the money has left, the processor can pay them from the reserve instead of chasing you.

A worked example

Example only, with round figures. These are not Amino Engine terms. Say a store takes $10,000 in card sales every week, and its agreement holds 10% of each payout for 90 days.

• Week 1: $9,000 is paid out and $1,000 is held.
• Weeks 2 to 13: the same happens each week. Nothing has been released yet, so the held total climbs by $1,000 a week.
• From about week 14: the week 1 slice is released, then week 2, and so on. Each week, roughly $1,000 comes back while $1,000 more is held.
• The held total levels off at around $13,000, about thirteen weeks of slices, for as long as sales stay flat.

The lesson is cash flow. In the first three months the store receives less than it sold, every week. Plan stock and ad spend around the payout you get, not the sales you see.

Rolling, upfront and capped reserves

There are three common shapes, and an offer can mix them:

• Rolling: a share of each payout, held for a set period, released slice by slice.
• Upfront: a fixed amount held at the start, rather than a share of each payout, returned on a date or condition in the agreement.
• Capped: a rolling reserve that stops growing once the total held reaches a set amount.

One broker’s peptide page shows all three ideas in a single line. AllayPay’s peptide merchant page says that it requires a rolling reserve, an upfront reserve or both, in a 5 to 10% range, with a reserve cap it sets later from volume and performance. That is AllayPay’s statement about its own accounts, read on 8 October 2026, not a general rule.

Mainstream processors hold reserves too

Reserves are not only a high-risk thing. Shopify’s payments terms give Shopify the same tool:

“We, in our discretion, will set the terms of any Reserve Account and notify you of such terms, which may require that a certain amount (including the full amount) of the funds received for a Transaction are held for a period of time, or that additional amounts are held in the Reserve Account.”

Source: Shopify Payments Terms of Service, checked 8 October 2026.

Note the words “including the full amount”. A mainstream processor’s reserve can, by its terms, hold everything for a period. The difference between a good and a bad reserve is not who sets it. It is whether you know the terms before it starts.

What brokers say is typical

There is no public, industry-wide figure for reserves. What you find online are brokers describing their own market. Two examples, summarized from their own pages:

• Unison Payment Solutions says rolling reserves often hold 5 to 10% of daily volume for a set period.
• Limitless Payment Solutions says most high-risk processors require a rolling reserve, typically around 5% to 10%.

Those are their statements, read on 8 October 2026. We have not checked them against any processor’s contracts, and they are not Amino Engine terms. Use them as a sense of what you may be offered, then compare the written offer in front of you.

What to get in writing before you sign

A reserve you understand is a cost you can plan for. Before you sign, get these answers in writing:

1. The amount. A percentage of each payout, a fixed upfront amount, or both.
2. The hold period. How long each slice is held before release.
3. The release schedule. Daily, weekly or monthly, and how it shows in your payout reports.
4. The cap. Whether the total held stops at a set amount.
5. What can change it. Disputes, a jump in volume, new products. Ask how much notice you get.
6. What can end it. Whether a run of steady months lowers or ends the reserve.
7. What happens at closure. How long the reserve is kept after an account closes, and how it is paid out.

A reserve with no written schedule is closer to a freeze. If that has already happened to you, our frozen funds guide has a written request you can send. If you are comparing offers for a peptide store, our page on high-risk merchant accounts for peptides covers the rest of the underwriting.

How Amino Engine handles reserves

Amino Engine is the merchant processor for peptide brands. Whether any reserve is held, and for how long, is set out in writing before your first payment. The same document covers your rate, any setup fee, payout timing and what a dispute costs. Your rate is quoted with your approval.

Everyone can apply, and no processing history is required. New stores, and stores shut down, frozen or declined elsewhere, are welcome. Cards run on your own WooCommerce or Shopify store: Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Amex.

Third-party statements checked on their own pages on 8 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.

Read next

• Your processor froze your peptide store’s funds. What now?
• High-risk merchant accounts for peptides
• Chargebacks for peptide brands
• Peptide payment processing FAQ
• Card processing for peptide brands