Industries that can raise a red flag to our banking partners

Regulated or Illegal Activities

• Sale of Schedule I controlled substances with or without a pharmaceutical license, or sale of Schedules II-V controlled substances without a pharmaceutical license, where such schedules are defined by the United States Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA);
• Production, sale, or distribution of marijuana;
• Production, sale, or distribution of guns, accessories, ammunition, and other weapons;
• Production, sale, or distribution of illegal material, including but not limited to child pornography;
• Gambling, betting, lotteries, sweepstakes, or games of chance;
• Prostitution or escort services;
• Sale of counterfeit or "gray market" goods or services; and
• Ponzi or pyramid schemes, or other unfair or deceptive activities.
  
  

Violent or Hateful Activities

• Intentionally promoting, supporting, or perpetrating (1) violence or physical harm or (2) hate toward any group or individual based on race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, immigration status, or any other legally protected characteristic under federal or state law.

Restricted Activities List

Companies that are engaged in the following activities or businesses may be required to provide additional information or documentation or may be ineligible for certain Services:

• Businesses dealing in cryptocurrency or digital assets;
• Financial services providers, including banks or bank affiliates, securities brokers, money transmitters, investment companies, or investment funds;
• Pornography, adult chat, or other sexually explicit services; or
• Sale of Schedules II-V controlled substances with a pharmaceutical license, where such schedules are defined by the DEA.

• Companies that are engaged in the following activities or businesses may be required to provide additional information or documentation or may be ineligible for certain Services:
  • Businesses dealing in cryptocurrency or digital assets;
  • Financial services providers, including banks or bank affiliates, securities brokers, money transmitters, investment companies, or investment funds;
  • Pornography, adult chat, or other sexually explicit services; or
  • Sale of Schedules II-V controlled substances with a pharmaceutical license, where such schedules are defined by the DEA.

Mercury

There are no illegal or restricted activities outlined on the Mercury website. However, it is reasonable to consider Brex's restrictions as the standard guideline for Mercury as well.

Regulated or illegal products and services

• Adult content.
  • Pornography and other visual content depicting explicitly sexual acts.
  • Services of sexual nature (webcam shows, live chats, prostitution, escorts, etc).
  • Sexually oriented establishments (massage parlors, strip clubs, gentleman’s clubs).
• Alcohol businesses.
  • Payments for the sale of alcohol to retail customers are not supported.
• Tobacco products.
• Cannabis.
  • Products containing CBD.
  • Any other products or services related to legal marijuana trade.
• Certain controlled substances or other products that present a risk to consumer safety.
  • Smart drugs, nootropic supplements.
  • Substances that provide similar effects as illegal drugs (kratom, khat, etc.)
  • Anabolic steroids and peptides.
• Drug paraphernalia.
  • Any equipment, product, or material which is intended for making, using, or concealing drugs
• Pharmaceuticals.
  • Nutraceuticals, pseudo-pharmaceuticals, and other products which make unreasonable health claims not approved or verified by the applicable regulatory body.
  • Online pharmacies.
  • Prescription-only pharmaceutical drugs.
  • Payments for the sale of pharmaceutical products to retail customers are not supported.
• Chemicals.
  • Commodity chemicals.
• Counterfeit or unauthorized goods.
  • Unauthorized sale of designer and/or brand products.
  • Sale of illegally imported or exported goods.
• Gambling.
  • Lotteries.
  • Fantasy sports with cash prizes.
  • Games of chance with cash prizes.
  • Sales of in-game currencies by unauthorized vendors.
  • Any type of gambling payments or businesses related to Turkey, the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, or Singapore.
  • Any other type of business related to gambling is up to Wise’s own discretion.
• Intellectual property or proprietary rights infringement.
  • Any product or service that directly infringes or facilitates infringement upon the copyright, patent, trademark, trade secrets, proprietary, or privacy rights of any third party.
• Products and services which are not legal in the jurisdiction they are being offered in.
  
  

Financial and other professional services

• Binary options.
• Escrow services.
  • Using Wise Borderless account as an escrow account.
• Companies involved in the exchange or trading of cryptocurrencies, or any other virtual currencies.
  • Including payments for the purpose of purchasing cryptocurrencies.
• Marketplaces from countries outside of the European Economic Area and/or European Union or the United States.
• Money service businesses, or any businesses that carry on the activity of:
  • Operating a bureau de change or currency exchange service.
  • Transmitting money, or any representation of monetary value, on behalf of third parties.
  • Cashing cheques.
  • Payment processing.
• Platforms that allow the trading and/or exchanging of FX/CFD/options.
• Shell banks.
• Superannuation funds.
• Syndicates.
• Trust and corporate service providers that are involved in:
  • Opening accounts on behalf of other businesses.
  • Offshore company formation.
  • Using nominee directors and/or shareholders to obscure company ownership.
• Any other financial services operating without a license where one is required.
  
  

Other restricted activities

• IPTV and VOIP services.
• Individuals, entities, or countries subject to international sanctions.
• Weaponry, military and semi-military goods and services.
  • Weapons (including weapons of historic significance), military software, or any other goods or services intended for military use.
• Nonprofit organisations and charities from countries outside of Canada, European Economic Area and/or European Union, Switzerland, USA, Australia, or New Zealand.
  • Unregistered charities not supported by any region.
• Trusts and foundations from countries outside of Canada, European Economic Area and/or European Union, Switzerland, USA, Australia, or New Zealand.
• Trade of restricted and/or endangered animal species and products derived from them.
• Multi-level marketing, pyramid schemes, get rich quick schemes, referral marketing.
  • Including any other services promising unreasonably high rewards.
• The United Arab Emirates-based oil, gas and shipping companies, as well as related activities.
• Businesses with relations or activity directly or indirectly linked to Cuba
• Surrogacy businesses.
  
  

Payoneer

Illegal

Any criminal or illegal act – e.g. Illegal narcotics, child pornography, human trafficking, terrorist financing, stolen goods, illegal wildlife trade

Adult Services

• Adult massage or other adult entertainment services
• Adult pictures, videos, games that include pornographic or obscene content
• Adult text chat, video chat or online streaming
• Dating Services
• Mail-order bride, escorting services, prostitution

Affiliates

• Affiliate marketing for Gambling, FX, Adult
• Affiliate marketing/ services for CBD products
  

Animals and Wildlife

• Live animals
• Products made from the skin of snakes, crocodiles, seals or other animals
• Taxidermy

Chemicals

• Fertilizers
• Industrial chemicals

Corporate Vehicles

• Shell corporations and company formation, including consulting services in this field
• Trusts and asset management services

Counterfeit and Copyright

• Counterfeiting or copyright infringement
• File sharing and streaming websites that allow sharing, viewing, or download of copyrighted content

Cyber

• Cyber protection software development and distribution
• Sale or promotion of products and/or services that process pop-ups or contain, promote, reference or link to any spyware, malware, virus, back-door, dead drop device or other program installation

Domain Hosting Services

• Domain Hosting Services
• Domain registration

Drugs and Pharma

• Alcohol
• CBD-related extractor/ manufacturer, CBD prescriptions, CBD oils and creams and hemp products
• Clinical Trials
• Cosmetics and beauty products
• Diet pills
• Drug paraphernalia
• E-cigarettes
• Intrusive beauty and cosmetic products and services such as fillers and botox
• Marijuana dispensaries and related businesses
• Pharmacies or pharmacy referral services, pharmaceuticals and pseudo-pharmaceuticals
• Steroids
• Substances designed to mimic illegal drugs
• Supplements, vitamins, nutritional products, ‘nutraceuticals’
• Tobacco

Financial Services

• Bidding fee auctions
• Bill payment services
• Cash Storage or Transport
• Check cashing
• Collection agencies
• Credit protection or identity theft protection services
• Crowdfunding
• Currency exchange, including crypto-currencies and FX
• Debt elimination, consolidation or reduction services
• Escrow services
• Financial institutions and money service businesses
• Insurance sales and services
• Loans, including payday loans
• Monetary Instrument sales
• Reselling prepaid cards or gift cards/certificates
• Sale of Payoneer accounts and products or sale of accounts of another financial institution
• Sale of stocks, bonds, binary options, derivatives, and other financial instruments or related brokerage services
• Tax refunds
• Venture Capital and investments
• Wages, salary, or payroll
• Wire transfer money orders

Food Items

• Dried or dehydrated foods and seeds
• Fish and seafood of any kind (fresh, frozen or dry)
• Fresh food and produce

Gambling

• Online and offline gambling and betting
• Online or offline contests, sweepstakes, or offering of prizes as an inducement to purchase goods or services

High-Value Items and Goods

• Art, antiquity
• High-value jewelry
• Precious metals and stones
• Sale of spare parts for cars and other vehicles
• Sale of vehicles (new or used)
• Used watches, books, or any other high-priced products where the chain of custody cannot be verified

Medical

• Medical machinery
• Medical or healthcare services
• Skin Whitening
• Teeth Whitening

Natural Resources

• Rare earth minerals
• Sale of natural resources

Networks

• Used/ refurbished branded technology
• Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
• VPN

Non-Business Use

• Donations
• Non-profit organizations
• Person to Person (peer to peer) payments or businesses allowing only person to person payments
• Personal use such as gifts, loans or payments from friends and family

Political and Hate Crime

• Items or services that promote hate, violence, racial intolerance

Social Media and Online Games

• Fantasy Sports
• Sale of in-game, in-app or in-platform items, services or currency
• Selling social media activity, such as Twitter followers, Facebook likes or YouTube views

Travel and Transportation

• Taxi and shared-ride services

Other Services

• Amazon ungating/ Amazon appeals
• Esoteric and healing services
• Multi-level marketing (MLM)
• Pyramid schemes or “get rich quick” schemes
• Reselling event tickets
• Shipping and cargo transportation, including maritime transportation
• Travel visas, business visa applications services