Published policy, quoted
As of 2026-08-07, Stripe's published terms name 23 business categories as prohibited and 14 as restricted. The full list is below, grouped by status, with the exact policy language for each category. Stripe splits its list into prohibited businesses (industries that cannot use Stripe at all) and restricted businesses (industries that require additional due diligence and Stripe's approval, which can be modified or revoked at any time). It also maintains jurisdiction-specific additions, including a US-only prohibited list. The page shows a last-updated date of 2026-05-13 and says both lists are representative rather than exhaustive.
Source: Prohibited and Restricted Businesses | Stripe, captured 2026-08-07. Lists change, and Stripe's live page controls.
The list
Stripe will not process sales that touch sanctioned countries or regions, even indirectly.
“Persons located in, resident in, or a citizen of, or products or services originating from jurisdictions that Stripe has determined for various reasons, including legal, contractual, and commercial reasons, to be prohibited, including, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.”
Doing business with anyone on a government sanctions or denied-party list, such as the OFAC lists, is banned outright.
“Persons Stripe has determined for various reasons, including legal, contractual, and commercial reasons, to be prohibited, such as those individuals or entities named to a restricted person or party list of, or otherwise restricted by, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, or United Nations”
Merchants cannot use Stripe to sell a range of professional, consulting, and IT services to customers located in Russia under sanctions rules.
“Export, re-export, sell, or supply accounting services; trust and corporate formation services; management consulting services; architecture services; engineering services; quantum computing services; information technology (IT) consultancy and design services; and IT-support services and cloud-based services for enterprise management software and design and manufacturing software to any person located in Russia.”
Selling goods that are embargoed for trade with Russia is banned on Stripe.
“Deal in any goods prohibited by law for export to or import from Russia (for example, luxury goods, sensitive goods included in the Common High Priority Items List, enterprise management software and design software).”
Anything unlawful where you or your customers are located is banned, and Stripe specifically names drug lookalikes such as kava, drug-making equipment, fake IDs, and jamming devices.
“Illegal drugs, substances designed to mimic illegal drugs, including kava; Equipment and items intended to be used for making or using drugs; Fake references or ID-providing services; Telecommunications manipulation equipment, including jamming devices”
Adult businesses of essentially every kind are banned, including pornography, adult video stores, strip clubs, live-chat features, and AI-generated adult content.
“Adult services, including prostitution, escorts, pay-per-view, sexual massages, fetish services, mail-order brides, and adult live-chat features”
Companies that settle, negotiate, or consolidate consumer debt cannot use Stripe.
“Debt settlement, debt negotiation, and debt consolidation”
A set of money-handling businesses, notably debt collection agencies, check cashing, and person-to-person money transmission, is banned outright, while other financial services sit in Stripe's restricted tier.
“ATMs; Check cashing; Debt collection agencies; Funded prop trading; Money orders and traveler's checks; Payable-through accounts; Peer-to-peer money transmission; Selling bearer shares; Shell banks”
Both chance-based and skill-based gaming for real prizes is banned, including fantasy sports, lotteries, paid-entry contests, sports odds-making, and bidding fee auctions.
“Games of chance including gambling, internet gambling, casino games, sweepstakes and contests, and fantasy sports leagues with a monetary or material prize”
Reselling government services without authorization or added value, working on behalf of embassies, and distributing government support funds are all banned.
“Offering products and services by or on behalf of embassies and consulates; Offering government services without authorization or value-add; Offering government services with misleading claims; Disbursement of government economic support, such as grants”
Identity theft protection, monitoring, and recovery services cannot use Stripe.
“Identity theft protection services including monitoring and recovery”
Illegal weapons, firearm replicas without proper markings, mislabeled research chemicals, and hazardous materials are banned, while legal firearms sit in Stripe's restricted tier instead.
“Illegal weapons and accessories; Improperly marked replicas of modern firearms, including toys; Pesticides requiring application by a certified professional; Incorrectly labeled research chemicals; Toxic, flammable, combustible, or radioactive materials”
Counterfeits, unlicensed media, and unauthorized brand-name resale are banned.
“Sales or distribution of music, movies, software, or any other licensed materials without appropriate authorization; Counterfeit goods; Illegally imported or exported products; Unauthorized sale of brand-name or designer products or services”
Most law firms are fine, but bankruptcy attorneys, bail bonds, and firms collecting money for anything other than their own legal fees are banned.
“Bankruptcy attorneys; Bail bonds; Law firms collecting funds for purposes other than legal service fee payment”
Credit repair, credit monitoring, and credit counseling services are banned, as is accepting credit cards for loan repayments.
“Loan repayments with credit cards; Credit monitoring, credit repair, and counseling services”
Cannabis products, dispensaries and related businesses, grow equipment marketed for marijuana, and CBD with THC above the local limit are all banned, while low-THC CBD is a separate restricted category.
“Cannabis products; Cannabis dispensaries and related businesses; CBD products with THC levels greater than the applicable local jurisdiction's legal limit, including CBD edibles; Hydroponic equipment and other cultivation or production equipment marketed for growing marijuana”
Supplements are banned when Stripe judges the product unsafe or its marketing claims harmful, which puts nutraceutical sellers' claims under close scrutiny.
“Pseudo-pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals that are not safe or make harmful claims”
Crypto mining and staking, ICOs, and secondary NFT sales are banned, while crypto exchanges and wallets sit in a separate restricted, limited-availability category.
“Cryptocurrency mining and staking; Initial coin offerings (ICOs); Secondary NFT sales”
Airlines, cruises, international charter flights, and timeshares are banned, while domestic charter air travel in the US moved to the restricted tier in Stripe's May 2026 update.
“Commercial airlines and cruises; International (cross-border) charter and private airlines; Timeshare services”
A broad catch-all covering MLMs, get-rich-quick schemes, deceptive free trials and negative-option billing, telemarketing, door-to-door sales, suspicious tech support, and sales of online traffic or engagement, plus anything else Stripe considers unfair or predatory toward consumers.
“Pyramid schemes; Multilevel marketing services offering commission or recruitment-based sales; Negative option marketing, negative option membership clubs, and reduced price trials with unclear or hidden pricing; Telemarketing; Predatory mortgage consulting; Suspicious remote technical support; Door-to-door sales”
Extended warranties appear on Stripe's US-specific prohibited list, so US merchants selling them cannot use Stripe.
“Extended warranties”
Discount medical or health benefit plans sold by anyone other than a government or health insurance company are banned for US merchants.
“Medical benefit packages not offered by a government or health insurance company”
Stripe's general restricted list mentions mortgage consulting, but its US-specific list prohibits it, so for US merchants it is banned rather than reviewable.
“Mortgage consulting”
Creator platforms that pay out to third-party creators need Stripe preapproval, while individual creators selling their own content directly do not, though they must still follow the full prohibited list.
“Platforms that host or distribute third-party content and enable content creators to: Receive content-related tips and other payments in exchange for their content; Sell exclusive content or digital goods”
Charity fundraising, crowdfunding platforms, equity crowdfunding, and charity raffles all need extra review, and the page notes charity raffles and charitable fundraising are supported in the US among a short list of countries.
“Fundraising conducted by nonprofits, charities, political organizations, and businesses offering a reward in return for donation”
Dating and matchmaking services are limited-availability on Stripe, meaning US merchants must go through its sales team for approval.
“Online dating and matchmaking services”
File-hosting and file-sharing services need additional due diligence before Stripe will support them.
“Cyberlocker and file-sharing services”
Low-THC CBD sellers can apply but face extra due diligence, while CBD with THC above the local legal limit falls under the prohibited marijuana category instead.
“CBD products containing only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits”
Crypto exchanges and wallets are limited-availability and require going through Stripe's sales team, while mining, staking, ICOs, and secondary NFT sales are prohibited outright.
“Cryptocurrency (for example, Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, etc.) exchanges and wallets.”
Most regulated financial services are limited-availability through Stripe's sales team, though for US merchants mortgage consulting is prohibited under the US-specific list.
“Investment and brokerage services, including real estate--based investments; Lending services, including real estate loans; Bank account funding; Buy now, pay later services; Money transmitters, remittances, currency exchange services, and other money service businesses; Mortgage consulting; Escrow services; Neobanks or challenger banks”
Legal firearms, regulated parts, and other weapons are limited-availability through Stripe's sales team, while anything illegal where sold stays prohibited.
“Firearms, including rifles, shotguns, and pistols; Regulated firearm parts and accessories, such as suppressors; Other weapons not listed above (e.g., stun guns, swords not meant as replicas, pepper spray, machetes)”
Online pharmacies, prescription products sold online, regulated medical devices, prescription delivery, and telehealth services all need extra due diligence such as proof of licensing, and Stripe says it might not grant approval even then.
“Online pharmacies, including SaaS platforms; Card-not-present prescription-only products and pharmaceuticals; Prescription-only and regulated medical devices; Prescription delivery services; Telemedicine and telehealth services”
Tobacco and vape products, including e-cigarettes and e-liquid, require additional due diligence and Stripe approval rather than being banned outright.
“Tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, and e-liquid sold in accordance with applicable law; Herbal and vitamin e-cigarettes and cigarettes; Production equipment specifically marketed for the production of tobacco products”
First-party NFT sales, precious metals and high-value goods, third-party gift cards and stored value, and in-game currency sold by anyone other than the game's operator all require extra review.
“First-party non-fungible tokens (NFTs) minting and sales, including marketplaces and SaaS platforms; High-value goods, precious metals and stones; Preloaded payment cards, gift cards, virtual credits, or other products and services in which a monetary value is stored within the item (digital or physical)”
Acting as a payment facilitator or aggregating payments on behalf of other sellers requires Stripe's review and approval.
“Payment facilitation and aggregation (including receiving settlement proceeds for goods or services that you did not provide, on behalf of one or multiple third-party sellers)”
Travel booking services, travel clubs, in-flight purchases, and US domestic charter air travel need extra review, with domestic charter flights limited-availability through Stripe's sales team.
“Travel reservation services and clubs; In-flight purchases; Domestic charter air travel”
This appears on Stripe's US-specific prohibited list but is permitted with prior authorization from Stripe, so in practice it works like a restricted category for US merchants.
“Shipping brokers and freight forwarders, without prior authorization from Stripe”
Source: Prohibited and Restricted Businesses | Stripe, captured 2026-08-07. A category not named above is not an approval. Processors decline high-risk merchants case by case.
Is your business on this list?
If Stripe names your category, these pages explain how the same category gets underwritten and approved instead.
Processors decline kratom on FDA posture. Get underwriting that maps the legal patchwork.
Categorically rejected at signup? Get a processor that underwrites adult ecommerce.
Processors blanket-decline collection agencies. Get underwriting that does not.
Processors decline gambling on the MCC alone. Get underwriting built for placeable US models.
Processors decline research peptides on category and claim risk. Get underwriting that reviews the labeling posture.
Processors decline credit repair categorically. Get CROA-aware underwriting.
CBD gets caught in the cannabis net. Get underwriting that knows the difference.
Stripe blanket-declines supplements. Get a processor that underwrites your category up front.
Stripe and PayPal decline crypto on sight. Get fiat acceptance underwritten for licensed MSBs.
Book now, travel later raises chargeback exposure. Get a processor that underwrites it.
Square declines firearms at signup. Get a gun-friendly online processor.
Mainstream processors demand certification day one. Get pharmacy-aware underwriting.
Stripe shuts down prescription telehealth. Get a processor that underwrites it.
PACT Act complicates everything. Get vape-aware online underwriting.
FAQ
Stripe's terms list CBD products containing only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits, as a restricted category. That means extra due diligence, such as proof of licenses or business-model details, before Stripe decides whether to approve the account. CBD products with THC above the local legal limit fall under the prohibited marijuana category instead, and any approval Stripe grants can be modified or revoked under its services agreement.
Restricted businesses can potentially use Stripe, but only after additional due diligence. Stripe says it will ask for extra information, such as proof of relevant licenses or more details about the business model, and warns that card network rules, financial-partner requirements, and its own compliance obligations mean approval may not be granted. If approval is granted, it is specific to each service and can be modified or revoked at any time.
Prohibited categories cannot use Stripe's services at all, and Stripe notes the list is representative rather than exhaustive. Restricted categories may be supported after a review, sometimes only through Stripe's sales team for limited-availability categories like firearms, cryptocurrency exchanges, and domestic charter air travel. A few categories also shift by country, and Stripe keeps a US-specific prohibited list that adds items like extended warranties and mortgage consulting.
Stripe's terms require merchants to stay compliant with the prohibited and restricted businesses list as a condition of using the service. In practice, a business that falls into a prohibited category can have its account rejected, paused, or closed, and any approval Stripe previously granted can be revoked under the Stripe Services Agreement. The live page controls, and Stripe updates it over time, so a category's status can change after you sign up.
No. Stripe's prohibited list covers games of chance including gambling, casino games, sweepstakes, and fantasy sports leagues with a monetary or material prize, and it also prohibits games of skill with prizes, paid-entry contests, sports odds-making, and lotteries. This applies regardless of whether the activity is lawful where the business operates.
Keep looking
On the list?
Midnight Payments approves high-risk businesses with category-aware underwriting, low or no monthly fees, no long-term contracts, and daily ACH settlement. And if a shutdown already happened, a MATCH or TMF listing still has options.
