Stripe Restricted Businesses
Stripe updated its prohibited/restricted business list in three substantive ways: credit monitoring services are now explicitly marked as supportable in the United States, crowdfunding platforms no longer require contacting Stripe's sales team before use, and a new requirement was added stating that U.S. merchants selling e-cigarettes may only sell products authorized by the FDA. The top 'what's new' summary was also refreshed (an outdated note about charter air travel was removed and replaced with notes about tobacco and credit repair), and several unrelated comma/punctuation edits were made elsewhere with no meaning change.
New FDA compliance requirement for e-cigarette sellers in the US
If you sell e-cigarettes or vaping products in the United States and use Stripe to accept payments, you must now only sell products that appear on the FDA's official authorized list. Selling unauthorized products could put your ability to use Stripe at risk.
“In the United States, merchants selling electronic tobacco may only sell products authorised by the Food and Drug Administration - please refer to this list.”
What you can do — If you sell e-cigarette or vaping products in the US, check that all your products appear on the FDA's authorized e-cigarette/ENDS product list before continuing to sell through Stripe.
| 1 | 1 | We've made important updates to the list of restricted and prohibited businesses. Here's what you need to know: |
| 2 | 2 | |
| 3 | - Updated domestic charter air travel from prohibited to restricted in the US, CA, The UK, EU, BR, IN, TH, AU. | |
| 3 | - Clarified our stance on tobacco products in the United States. | |
± CHANGEDSummary announcement refreshed The 'what's new' bullets at the top of the page were swapped out. The old note about domestic charter air travel becoming 'restricted' instead of 'prohibited' was removed, and two new notes were added: one about tobacco and one about credit repair services. | ||
| 4 | 4 | |
| 5 | - Updated credit repair services from prohibited to supportable in the United States. | |
| 6 | ||
| 5 | 7 | ## Why this page exists |
| 6 | 8 | |
| 7 | 9 | Stripe builds economic infrastructure for the internet that enables businesses to accept payments and access other financial services. We want to make it easier for businesses of all kinds - from large enterprises to small businesses - to start, run and grow. We aim for our platform to be broadly accessible, just like other forms of infrastructure, such as roads or telecommunications networks. |
| 8 | 10 | |
| 9 | 11 | Crucially, in the area of political expression, we want to avoid becoming an arbiter of what speech is legitimate. At Stripe, we do not restrict access to our services based on political viewpoints or affiliation. |
| 10 | 12 | |
| 77 | 79 | - Fake references or ID-providing services |
| 78 | 80 | |
| 79 | 81 | - Telecommunications manipulation equipment, including jamming devices |
| 80 | 82 | |
| 81 | 83 | - Businesses that engage in, encourage, promote or celebrate unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property |
| 82 | 84 | |
| 83 | - Businesses that engage in, encourage, promote, or celebrate unlawful violence toward any group based on race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other immutable characteristic | |
| 85 | - Businesses that engage in, encourage, promote or celebrate unlawful violence toward any group based on race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin or any other immutable characteristic | |
| 84 | 86 | |
| 85 | 87 | - Any other products or services that are in violation of law in the jurisdictions where your business is located or to which your business is targeted |
| 86 | 88 | |
| 87 | 89 | #### Adult content and services (see the [FAQ](https://support.stripe.com/questions/prohibited-and-restricted-businesses-list-faqs)s for additional details) |
| 88 | 90 | |
| 89 | 91 | - Adult services, including prostitution, escorts, pay-per-view, sexual massages, fetish services, mail-order brides and adult live-chat features |
| 119 | 121 | - Selling bearer shares |
| 120 | 122 | |
| 121 | 123 | - Shell banks |
| 122 | 124 | |
| 123 | 125 | #### Gambling |
| 124 | 126 | |
| 125 | - Games of chance including gambling, internet gambling, casino games, sweepstakes and contests, and fantasy sports leagues with a monetary or material prize | |
| 127 | - Games of chance including gambling, internet gambling, casino games, sweepstakes and contests and fantasy sports leagues with a monetary or material prize | |
± CHANGEDMinor punctuation cleanup A few list items had commas removed (e.g. dropped Oxford commas) with no change in meaning. | ||
| 126 | 128 | |
| 127 | 129 | - Games of skill including video game and mobile game tournaments or competitions, darts, card games and board games with a monetary or material prize |
| 128 | 130 | |
| 129 | 131 | - Payments of an entry or player fee that promise the entrant or player will win a prize of value |
| 130 | 132 | |
| 131 | 133 | - Sports forecasting or odds-making with a monetary or material prize |
| 183 | 185 | - Law firms collecting funds for purposes other than legal service fee payment |
| 184 | 186 | |
| 185 | 187 | #### Lending and credit |
| 186 | 188 | |
| 187 | 189 | - Loan repayments with credit cards |
| 188 | 190 | |
| 189 | - Credit monitoring, credit repair and counselling services | |
| 191 | - Credit monitoring (supportable in the United States), credit repair and counselling services | |
± CHANGEDCredit monitoring now explicitly supported in the US Credit monitoring services are now labeled as something Stripe supports in the United States, whereas before they were grouped in with prohibited credit repair and counselling services without any exception noted. | ||
| 190 | 192 | |
| 191 | 193 | #### Marijuana (see the [FAQ](https://support.stripe.com/questions/prohibited-and-restricted-businesses-list-faqs)s for additional details) |
| 192 | 194 | |
| 193 | 195 | - Cannabis products |
| 194 | 196 | |
| 195 | 197 | - Cannabis dispensaries and related businesses |
| 225 | 227 | - Pyramid schemes |
| 226 | 228 | |
| 227 | 229 | - Multi-level marketing services offering commission or recruitment-based sales |
| 228 | 230 | |
| 229 | 231 | - "Get rich quick" schemes, including investment opportunities or other services that promise high rewards to mislead consumers; schemes that claim to offer high rewards for very little effort or up-front work; and sites that promise fast and easy money |
| 230 | 232 | |
| 231 | - Businesses that make outrageous claims, use deceptive testimonials, use high-pressure upselling, or use fake testimonials (with or without a written contract) | |
| 233 | - Businesses that make outrageous claims, use deceptive testimonials, use high-pressure upselling or use fake testimonials (with or without a written contract) | |
| 232 | 234 | |
| 233 | 235 | - Businesses offering unrealistic incentives or rewards as an inducement to purchase products or services |
| 234 | 236 | |
| 235 | 237 | - No-value-added services, including the sale or resale of a service without added benefit to the buyer and resale of government offerings without authorisation or added value |
| 236 | 238 | |
| 237 | 239 | - Sales of online traffic or engagement |
| 271 | 273 | _Note: Individual content creators on approved platforms (for example, connected accounts of an approved Stripe Connect user) and those directly distributing their own content (for example, on their own website) do not require preapproval. However, all content creators must comply with the [Stripe Services Agreement](https://stripe.com/en-nl/legal/ssa) and this Prohibited and Restricted Businesses list (which, for example, prohibits the sale of adult content and personal or peer-to-peer money transmission) and are subject to monitoring by Stripe to ensure compliance._ |
| 272 | 274 | |
| 273 | 275 | #### Crowdfunding and fundraising (see the [FAQ](https://support.stripe.com/questions/prohibited-and-restricted-businesses-list-faqs)s for additional details) |
| 274 | 276 | |
| 275 | 277 | - Fundraising conducted by non-profits, charities, political organisations and businesses offering a reward in return for donation |
| 276 | 278 | |
| 277 | - Crowdfunding platforms (Limited availability: Please [contact our sales team](https://stripe.com/en-nl/contact) if you would like to work with Stripe) | |
| 279 | - Crowdfunding platforms | |
± CHANGEDCrowdfunding platforms no longer require sales team approval Businesses running crowdfunding platforms can now use Stripe without first contacting Stripe's sales team, removing a prior access restriction. | ||
| 278 | 280 | |
| 279 | 281 | - Equity crowdfunding (Limited availability: Please [contact our sales team](https://stripe.com/en-nl/contact) if you would like to work with Stripe. Note: Supported in Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prohibited in all other countries) |
| 280 | 282 | |
| 281 | 283 | - Charity sweepstakes and raffles for the explicit purpose of fundraising (Note: Supported in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prohibited in all other countries.) |
| 282 | 284 | |
| 283 | 285 | - Organisations fundraising for a charitable purpose (Note: Supported in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prohibited in all other countries.) |
| 339 | 341 | - Prescription delivery services |
| 340 | 342 | |
| 341 | 343 | - Telemedicine and telehealth services |
| 342 | 344 | |
| 343 | 345 | #### Tobacco |
| 344 | 346 | |
| 345 | - Tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars and e-liquid sold in accordance with applicable law | |
± CHANGEDNew FDA authorization requirement for e-cigarette sales A new note was added saying that in the US, businesses selling electronic tobacco products (e-cigarettes/vapes) through Stripe may only sell products that are on the FDA's authorized list. | ||
| 347 | - Tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars and e-liquid sold in accordance with applicable law (Note: In the United States, merchants selling electronic tobacco may only sell products authorised by the Food and Drug Administration - please refer [to this list.](https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/market-and-distribute-tobacco-product/e-cigarettes-vapes-and-other-electronic-nicotine-delivery-systems-ends-authorized-fda)) | |
| 346 | 348 | |
| 347 | 349 | - Herbal and vitamin e-cigarettes and cigarettes |
| 348 | 350 | |
| 349 | 351 | - Production equipment specifically marketed for the production of tobacco products |
| 350 | 352 | |
| 351 | 353 | #### Non-fiat currency and stored value |