Published policy, quoted
As of 2026-08-07, SumUp's published terms name 2 business categories as prohibited and 72 as restricted. The full list is below, grouped by status, with the exact policy language for each category. SumUp titles its list 'Restricted Businesses' and says these categories 'cannot always be supported' under its license, so most items read as conditional rather than an absolute published ban. Affected merchants are directed to contact SumUp's sales team for alternative options, and existing merchants in these categories are asked to contact support.
Source: Restricted Businesses - SumUp - Support Center, captured 2026-08-07. Lists change, and SumUp's live page controls.
The list
This is the one item SumUp labels an outright prohibition, covering any merchant that services the sanctioned countries it names.
“Any merchant servicing sanctioned locations (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria) are prohibited.”
SumUp groups activities it considers damaging to card-brand reputation, including illegal content and escort services, in a category with no realistic path to acceptance.
“Brand or Reputational damaging, potential or otherwise, activities including Bestiality, Child Pornography, Escort Services, Mail Order Brides, Occult”
SumUp's US service is for businesses operating inside the United States, and it treats tribal-entity merchants as outside US jurisdiction for this purpose.
“Any merchant operating outside the United States (including Native American Reservations or tribal entities as they are considered outside the United States jurisdiction)”
You cannot use your SumUp account to run payments for a different business, since the account holder must be the one actually selling to the cardholder.
“Any merchant accepting transactions on behalf of another business”
Sellers of knockoffs or anything that violates someone else's copyright, trademark or trade secrets are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Any merchant selling products that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, including counterfeit goods or any product or service that infringes on the copyright, trademark or trade secrets of any third party”
If customers pay now but receive the product or service more than a week later, as with flight tickets, SumUp classes the business as restricted future delivery.
“Future business: The delay between processing a card transaction and handing out the product/service shouldn’t be longer than 7 days. If it’s in your case more than 7 days, your business falls in the category “future business” (for example: selling flight tickets)”
Taking deposits or other payments that your own terms make refundable later is a restricted use of SumUp.
“Deposits/caution and any type of payment that is subject to refund, regulated by the merchant’s terms and conditions”
Businesses whose product is itself a digital wallet or prepaid account are restricted from processing through SumUp.
“Digital Wallet or Prepaid Companies”
Money movement businesses, including anyone required to register as a Money Service Business, are on the restricted list.
“Money Transfer, Wire Transfers, Money Orders, Transmitters, and Check Cashing including merchants required to be registered as Money Service Business”
Selling cryptocurrency or in-game credits that can be cashed out or converted into real goods is restricted.
“Transacting Virtual Currency or credits that can be monetized, re-sold or converted to physical or digital goods or services or otherwise exit the virtual world”
Cash-equivalent products such as prepaid debit cards and cash advances are restricted.
“Quasi Cash or Stored Value (such as prepaid debit cards or cash advances)”
US businesses expecting a large share of their card volume to come from international cards are restricted.
“Any merchant where the anticipated percentage of international card sales is expected to be greater than 20% of total sales”
Payday lenders, title lenders and similar high-interest non-bank lenders are restricted, including taking loan payments on Visa credit cards.
“High interest rate non-bank consumer lending including payday lending and title loans. This includes loan payments conducted on a Visa-branded credit card.”
Businesses that exchange or deal in currency are on the restricted list.
“Currency exchanges or dealers”
Companies whose business is processing payments for other sellers cannot route that activity through a SumUp account.
“Any Payment Service Company, Payment Facilitator or any other merchant that processes sales and payments on behalf of another business providing goods or services to the cardholder”
Payment facilitators are separately named on the restricted list in addition to the broader payment-service-company item.
“Payment Facilitators”
Credit repair and credit counseling companies are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Credit Counseling or Credit Repair Services”
Services that sell credit monitoring or identity theft protection are restricted.
“Credit Protection or Identity Theft Protection Services”
Debt settlement, debt reduction and debt consulting businesses are on the restricted list.
“Debt Elimination, Reduction or Consulting Services”
Debt collection agencies are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Collection Agencies”
Law practices focused on bankruptcy work are on the restricted list.
“Bankruptcy Lawyers”
Bail bond businesses are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Bail Bond Services”
Crowdfunding is restricted, especially campaigns selling equity, promising future delivery, or collecting donations with nothing given in return.
“Crowd Sourced Fundraising, as defined by Processor. Crowd Sourced Fundraising shall not be allowed for the purchase of stock or equity, a promise is made to deliver a good or service in the future, or there is no consideration in return for the payment or donation”
Businesses that trade commodities or securities are on the restricted list.
“Commodity Trading or Security Trading”
Products or services with a minimum-age requirement fall under SumUp's restricted list as a broad catch-all category.
“Age-Restricted Products or Services”
Adult entertainment businesses and adult content sites, including online adult content merchants, are on the restricted list.
“Adult entertainment and/or adult content websites including Electronic Commerce adult content (videotext) merchants”
Sellers of drug paraphernalia such as pipes and related accessories are on the restricted list.
“Drug Paraphernalia”
Tobacco sellers and vape or e-cigarette shops, including accessory sellers, are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Tobacco, e-Cigarettes and “Vape” supplies and accessories”
Gun sellers are restricted, and the item extends to ammunition, silencers, suppressors and firearm components.
“Firearms and weapons including Ammunition, Silencers, Components and Suppressors”
Gambling in any form is restricted, and the definition sweeps in lotteries, online gaming, contests, sweepstakes and prize promotions used to drive sales.
“Gambling Activities and Establishments, including lotteries, internet gaming, contests, sweepstakes, or offering of prizes as an inducement to purchase goods or services”
Dispensaries, marijuana-related products and services, and CBD sellers are all on SumUp's restricted list.
“Marijuana dispensaries and related products or services, including CBD”
Products marketed like medicines without being regulated pharmaceuticals are on the restricted list.
“Pseudo Pharmaceuticals”
Sellers of legal-high or designer substances that imitate illegal drugs are on the restricted list.
“Substances designed to mimic illegal drugs”
Using a card at a terminal that dispenses scrip, a paper substitute for cash, is a restricted transaction type.
“Any merchant that accepts a card at a scrip-dispensing terminal”
Products the card brands consider deceptive or of doubtful effectiveness, such as weight loss, hair growth and performance boosters, are restricted.
“Products or services with doubtful efficiency (deceptive, unfair, predatory or prohibited by one or more Card Brands). This may include, but is not limited to, weight loss products, hair growth products, products to boost, physical performance.”
Nutraceutical and personal enhancement sellers are restricted when they sell online only, with no in-person retail channel where the customer is present.
“Personal Enhancement Products and/or Nutraceuticals where there is not any consumer present retail option”
Sports betting, tipping and odds-making services are on the restricted list.
“Sports Forecasting, betting or odds making”
Massage parlors are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Massage Parlors”
Pawn shops are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Pawn Shop”
Auction models that charge customers to place bids, such as penny auctions, are restricted.
“Bidding Fee Auctions including Penny Auctions”
Seminar businesses selling real estate education, investment programs or business opportunities are restricted.
“Business seminars (real estate seminars, investment programs, business opportunities/strategies)”
Travel arrangement services sold through direct marketing channels are on the restricted list.
“Direct Marketing: Travel Related Arrangement Services”
Businesses selling through inbound telemarketing, including videotext services, are restricted.
“Direct Marketing: Inbound Telemarketing including videotext services”
Subscription and continuity offers sold through direct marketing are on the restricted list.
“Direct Marketing: Continuity or Subscription services”
Free-trial and negative-option billing models, where a card is later charged repeatedly or for a much larger amount, are restricted.
“Negative option” marketing, renewal, or continuity subscription practices; marketing activities involving low-dollar trails, “pay only for shipping,” and/or “free trial” periods after which a credit card is charged periodically and/or a significantly larger amount”
Selling or marketing distressed properties and real estate flipping operations are restricted.
“Distressed Property Sales and/or Marketing / Real Estate Flipping”
MLM companies are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Multi-Level Marketing Businesses”
Investment schemes and get-rich-quick programs are restricted, and the item extends to brokers and dealers.
“Investment or “get rich quick” merchants, businesses, or programs, including Brokers and Dealers”
Businesses selling likes, followers or other social media engagement are on the restricted list.
“Selling or Sales of Social Media Activity”
SumUp lists up-selling as a restricted marketing practice, without further definition in the article.
“Up-Selling”
Paid buyer clubs and membership club models are on the restricted list.
“Buyer Clubs/Membership Clubs”
Airlines and charter air operators are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Airlines including Charter Airlines”
Cruise lines are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Cruise Lines”
Car dealers selling new or used vehicles are on the restricted list.
“Used or new motor vehicles”
Travel agencies and tour operators are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Travel Agencies or Tour Operators”
Timeshare sellers, resellers and related marketing operations are restricted.
“Timeshares including resale’s and related marketing”
Brokers that match shipping or freight-forwarding companies with clients are on the restricted list.
“Shipping or Forwarding Brokers (brokers that connect shipping/forwarding companies with clients)”
Real estate businesses, including flipping operations, are on the restricted list.
“Real Estate/Real estate flipping”
Solar panel companies are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Solar Panel Companies”
Businesses selling discount coupons, in person or through coupon websites, are restricted.
“Discount Coupon merchants or Online Sites”
Sellers of discount medical, dental or insurance plans are on the restricted list.
“Discount Medical or Dental plans including Discount Insurance”
Companies selling warranties or extended protection plans are on the restricted list.
“Warranty Companies”
Business models built around rebates are on the restricted list.
“Rebate-Based Businesses”
Insurance companies are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Insurance Companies”
Pharmacies that sell online or by mail order, rather than in person, are on the restricted list.
“Internet/Mail Order Pharmacies”
Remote computer tech support services are on the restricted list.
“Online Personal Computer Technical Support (not Direct Marketed in nature)”
Sellers of prepaid phone cards and related prepaid services are restricted.
“Prepaid Phone Cards and Services”
Selling mobile airtime or top-up minutes is on the restricted list.
“Sale of Mobile Minutes”
Businesses selling through infomercials are on the restricted list.
“Infomercial merchants”
Outbound telemarketing operations and telecom merchants are on the restricted list.
“Outbound Telemarketers and Telecom merchants”
Life coaching businesses are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Life-coaching”
Dating and matchmaking services are on SumUp's restricted list.
“Dating Services”
Career placement firms and career advice centers are on the restricted list.
“Career Placement or Advice Center Merchants”
Fortune telling and psychic service businesses are on the restricted list.
“Fortune tellers, Psychic Services”
Source: Restricted Businesses - SumUp - Support Center, 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 SumUp names your category, these pages explain how the same category gets underwritten and approved instead.
Book now, travel later raises chargeback exposure. Get a processor that underwrites it.
Stripe and PayPal decline crypto on sight. Get fiat acceptance underwritten for licensed MSBs.
Processors decline credit repair categorically. Get CROA-aware underwriting.
Processors blanket-decline collection agencies. Get underwriting that does not.
Categorically rejected at signup? Get a processor that underwrites adult ecommerce.
CBD gets caught in the cannabis net. Get underwriting that knows the difference.
PACT Act complicates everything. Get vape-aware online underwriting.
Square declines firearms at signup. Get a gun-friendly online processor.
Processors decline gambling on the MCC alone. Get underwriting built for placeable US models.
Stripe blanket-declines supplements. Get a processor that underwrites your category up front.
Mainstream processors demand certification day one. Get pharmacy-aware underwriting.
FAQ
SumUp says it operates as a regulated entity under strict requirements imposed by its financial regulator, the card schemes (Visa, Mastercard and American Express) and its acquiring bank. Its license is not limitless, so it cannot support every business model. The published list reflects those constraints rather than a judgment about any individual merchant.
The article frames it as conditional rather than absolute. SumUp says the listed categories 'cannot always be supported' and invites affected businesses to contact its sales team for alternative options. It also notes the list changes over time, with new restricted categories added and existing ones removed.
Tobacco, e-cigarettes and vape supplies and accessories appear on SumUp's restricted list under 'Illegal or Regulated Business Types.' Per the article, categories on this list cannot always be supported, and SumUp directs those businesses to contact its sales team. Vape and tobacco sellers should plan for the likelihood that a mainstream processor will not approve them and consider a high-risk specialist.
SumUp's list restricts any merchant operating outside the United States, including tribal entities it treats as outside US jurisdiction. It also restricts US merchants whose anticipated international card sales exceed a stated share of total sales, and prohibits servicing sanctioned locations. US businesses with a heavily international customer base should confirm eligibility with SumUp before relying on it.
The article asks existing SumUp merchants whose business falls under one of the listed categories, completely or partly, to contact SumUp's Support Team. New applicants in these categories are pointed to the sales team to discuss alternative options. Either way, SumUp wants to review the business before or instead of continuing to process for it.
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.
