Prohibited Businesses

Easy is built on the same payment rails the largest acquirers use, and those rails come with rules. The list below covers the categories of business we are unable to onboard or continue to serve.

These restrictions are set by our underlying processing partner and the card networks. They exist to keep the payment system safe from fraud, regulatory exposure, and reputational risk — for you, for your customers, and for everyone else moving money through the network.

This list is comprehensive but not exhaustive. If your business sits in a gray area or isn't obviously covered below, contact us before you sign up — it's much easier to confirm fit up front than to unwind an account after onboarding.

1.Adult content & services

·Adult content: video stores, websites
·Adult toys and services, escort services

2.Age-restricted products and services

·Alcohol and package stores — beer, wine, and liquor (card-not-present)
·Alcohol and package stores — beer, wine, and liquor (card present)
·Dating services (card-not-present)
·Massage parlors

3.Cryptocurrency

·Cryptocurrency exchanges
·Cryptocurrency custodians
·Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

4.Delayed delivery and shipping services

·Delayed-delivery businesses where the good or service is not shipped, delivered, or fulfilled when the card transaction is processed but is to occur at a future date
·Drop shipping, shipping brokers, and forwarding brokers

5.Direct marketing

·Outbound telemarketing and telecommunications
·Multi-level marketing
·Negative-option renewal, continuity subscription, or marketing practices

6.Financial products, services, or practices

·Collection agencies
·Commodity or security trading
·Consumer bill-payment service providers
·Crowd-sourced fundraising
·Digital wallet or prepaid merchants, including staged digital wallets
·Non-bank lenders, including high-interest-rate non-bank consumer lending
·Money transfers, wire transfers, money orders, money transmitters, and check-cashing services
·Pawn shops
·Payment-plan merchants, including Buy Now Pay Later

7.Firearms, explosives, and dangerous or hazardous materials

·Firearms and accessories such as ammunition, silencers, and suppressors
·Toxic, flammable, combustible, or radioactive materials
·Weapon components such as firing pins, magazines, clips, firearm conversion kits, and any 3D-printed weapons

8.Gaming

·Bidding-fee auctions, including penny auctions
·Fantasy sports
·Gambling activities and establishments, including casinos and lotteries
·Internet gaming
·Sports forecasting or odds-making
·Sweepstakes

9.Illegal products and services

·Any goods or services that violate any law, statute, or regulation
·Businesses that engage in or promote hate, violence, harassment, or abuse
·Counterfeit merchandise
·Descramblers, modification chips, jammers, or signal-blocking devices
·Fake IDs and fraudulent government documents

10.Insurance

·Insurance sales, premiums, and services
·Warranty companies — extended warranty companies are prohibited

11.Intellectual property infringement

·Products that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others

12.Legal, political, and consulting services

·Bail-bond services
·Bankruptcy legal services
·Concierge services
·Consulting services
·Immigration services
·Political action committees (PACs)
·Political campaigns
·Psychic services, fortune tellers

13.Medical, drugs, and pharmaceuticals

·Cannabis, marijuana
·Discount medical or dental plans, including discount insurance
·Drug paraphernalia
·Hemp and hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) dispensaries or online sales
·Internet or mail-order pharmacies or drug stores
·Nutraceuticals
·Personal-enhancement products (non-FDA approved)
·Substances designed to mimic illegal drugs, such as Kava and Kratom
·Telehealth and telemedicine
·Tobacco, eCigarettes, and vape supplies and accessories (card-not-present)
·Tobacco, eCigarettes, and vape supplies and accessories (card present)

14.Technology services

·Cyberlockers
·Online cloud data storage
·Online delivered software
·Online personal-computer technical support
·Prepaid phone cards or phone services, including businesses selling mobile minutes
·Software resellers
·Solar panel businesses
·Web hosting services

15.Travel

·Airlines (commercial, charter, and private)
·Cruise lines
·Timeshares, including businesses that resell timeshares, and related marketing businesses
·Travel agencies and tour operators (except agencies or operators servicing sanctioned locations under specific exceptions)

16.Unfair, predatory, or deceptive products or services

·Accepting a card as payment for a dishonored check or for an item deemed uncollectable by another merchant
·Accepting a card at a scrip-dispensing terminal
·Deceptive practices, including hidden disclosures and pre-checked opt-in boxes
·Door-to-door sales
·Investment or get-rich-quick schemes
·Sale of social media activity, such as click farms
·Submitting sales for payment that resulted from another commercial entity providing goods or services

17.Other restricted industries

·Club memberships
·Discount coupon businesses or online sites
·Discount membership clubs
·Distressed property sales and marketing
·Infomercial merchants
·Jewelry, gems, and precious metals
·Real estate flipping
·Rebate-based businesses

18.Questions about your business

If you're unsure whether your business falls under any of the categories above — or you operate in a niche that isn't obviously listed — reach out before you sign up. We'd rather have a five-minute conversation than discover an incompatibility after onboarding.

Contact: Email support@itseasy.co with a short description of your business model, what you sell, who your customers are, and how the payment flow works. We typically respond within one business day.