Prohibited and Restricted Businesses
Last updated: 25th Aug 2023
Use of Emplifive for any dealings, engagement, or sale of goods/services linked directly or indirectly with jurisdictions Emplifive has deemed high risk, such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk Regions, or persons Emplifive has deemed high risk, such as those individuals or entities named to a restricted person or party list of the U.S., United Kingdom, European Union or United Nations, including the sanctions lists maintained by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or the Global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is prohibited. Additionally, it is prohibited to use Emplifive to directly or indirectly export, reexport, sell, or supply accounting, trust and corporate formation, management consulting services, architecture services or engineering services to any person located in Russia. Further, it is prohibited to use Emplifive’s directly or indirectly related to any goods prohibited by law (e.g. luxury goods) from Russia.
Prohibited Businesses
You must not use Emplifive for the following activities.
Illegal products and services
Illegal drugs, substances designed to mimic illegal drugs, and equipment designed for making or using drugs
Fake references or ID-providing services
Telecommunications manipulation equipment including jamming devices
Any business or organization that a. engages in, encourages, promotes or celebrates unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property, or b. engages in, encourages, promotes or celebrates unlawful violence toward any group based on race, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, or any other immutable characteristic
Any other products or services that are in violation of law in the jurisdictions where your business is located or targeted to
Products and services that infringe intellectual property rights
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
Any other products or services that directly infringe or facilitate infringement upon the trademark, patent, copyright, trade secrets, proprietary or privacy rights of any third party
Products and services that are unfair, predatory, or deceptive
Pyramid schemes
‘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; sites that promise fast and easy money; businesses that make outrageous claims, use deceptive testimonials, use high-pressure upselling, and/or use fake testimonials; (with or without a written contract) offering unrealistic incentives/rewards as an inducement to purchase products or services but do not respond to any queries after the purchase
No value added services including sale or resale of a service without added benefit to the buyer and resale of government offerings without authorization or added value
Sales of online traffic or engagement
Negative response marketing and telemarketing
Predatory mortgage consulting, lending, credit repair and counseling services
Predatory investment opportunities with no or low money down
Remote technical support; mugshot publication or pay-to-remove sites; essay mills; chain letters; door-to-door sales
Any other businesses that Emplifive considers unfair, deceptive, or predatory towards consumers
Adult content and services
Pornography and other mature audience content (including literature, imagery and other media) depicting nudity or explicit sexual acts
Adult services including prostitution, escorts, pay-per view, sexual massages, and adult live chat features
Adult video stores
Gentleman's clubs, topless bars, and strip clubs
Online dating services
Certain legal services
Law firms collecting funds for purposes other than legal service fee payment
Bankruptcy attorneys
Bail bonds
Firearms, explosives and dangerous materials
Guns, gunpowders, ammunitions, weapons, fireworks and other explosives
Peptides, research chemicals, and other toxic, flammable and radioactive materials
Gambling
Games of chance including gambling, internet gambling, sweepstakes and contests, fantasy sports leagues with for a monetary or material prize
Sports forecasting or odds making with a monetary or material prize
Lotteries
Bidding fee auctions
Marijuana
Cannabis products
Cannabis dispensaries and related businesses
Misuse of Emplifive
Use of Emplifive with false, manipulated, inaccurate, or misleading information regarding your identity, business entity, the nature of business, and any other information requested by Emplifive (you must inform us immediately of any changes to your personal and business information)
Use of Emplifive to facilitate transactions on behalf of another undisclosed merchant or for products/services that were not disclosed in the merchant's Emplifive account application
Use of Emplifive principally as a virtual terminal (e.g., submitting card transactions by manually inputting card information)
Processing where there is no bona fide good or service sold, or donation accepted; card testing
Evasion of card network chargeback monitoring programs
Cross-border acquiring where the business address of the merchant is outside of the jurisdiction of the acquiring Emplifive entity unless permitted under the card network rules
Sharing cardholder information with another merchant for payment cross-sell products or services
Use of Emplifive intellectual property without prior written consent from Emplifive; use of the Emplifive name or logo including use of Emplifive trade or service marks inconsistent with the Emplifive Marks Usage Agreement, or in a manner that otherwise harms Emplifive or the Emplifive brand; any action that implies an untrue endorsement by or affiliation with Emplifive
The types of businesses listed are representative but not exhaustive.
Additional Jurisdiction-Specific Prohibitions
Hong Kong
Marketing lead generation services
Unregistered charities
India
Alcohol
Charities
Dating and matchmaking services
Lobby groups, political organizations
Mining and oil drilling
Religious organizations
Sex toys
Soliciting donations or fund contributions
Japan
Animals
C2C services outside of Emplifive
Donations to individuals
Fundraising for or financing businesses that are listed as prohibited/restricted above
Health instruments
Industrial waste disposal and garbage disposal devices; water purifiers
International marriage brokerage businesses
Malaysia
Sex toys
Mexico
Adoption agencies
Credit card and identity theft protection services
Cross-border currency exchange services
Debt collection agencies
Direct marketing- travel
Electronic cigarettes for card-not-present transactions
Ephedrine
Game console modification devices
HCG weight loss
Investment services
Penny auctions
Pharmaceuticals wholesale for card-not-present transactions
Search engine optimization
Telemedicine
Tobacco for card-not-present transactions
Singapore
Marketing lead generation services
Sale of ads for any products or services deemed illegal in Singapore; sales of products that facilitate payments to any of these products or services
Sex toys
Thailand
Psychic services and fortune tellers
Unregistered charities
Vehicle sales
Vitamins
Historical artifacts
Dating services
Surrogacy services
Online alcohol sales
Timeshares
Private investigators, protection services and detective agencies
United Arab Emirates
Historical artifacts, ivory products, prison-made products
Sex toys
United States
Extended warranties and subscriptions over one year
Sex toys
Unregistered charities
Restricted Businesses
You must not use Emplifive for the following activities, unless you have received our prior written approval. Restricted Business categories may be imposed through card network rules, requirements of financial partners, or due to compliance and legal obligations. If your business falls into one of the restricted categories, please contact us. We are here to help!
Regulated industries such as:
Financial products and services
Investment and brokerage services
Lending services
Buy Now Pay Later services
Crowdfunding
Debt collection agencies
Insurance services including medical benefit packages
Money transmitters, currency exchange services and other money services businesses
Neobanks / challenger banks
Other financial institutions
Government services
Government grants
Embassy, foreign consulate, or other foreign governments
Cannabidiol (CBD)
CBD products containing negligible amounts of THC
Pharmaceuticals, medical devices and telemedicine
Online pharmacies
Prescription-only products including card-not-present pharmaceuticals
Prescription-only and regulated medical devices
Telemedicine and telehealth services
Tobacco
Tobacco products including e-cigarettes and e-liquid
Others
Credit card and identity theft protection services
Other age restricted goods or services
Businesses that may pose elevated financial risk such as:
Travel
Travel reservation services and clubs
Airlines and cruises
Timeshare services
Non-fiat currency and stored value
Virtual and cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and mining services
Prepaid phone cards, sim cards, and phone services
Sale of stored value or credits maintained, accepted and issued by anyone other than the seller
Sale of in-game currency or game items, unless the merchant is the operator of the virtual world
Business models that may be particularly prone to abuse by ‘bad actors’ such as:
Multi-level marketing
Businesses where sellers get their revenue both from selling items and from signing up new sellers
Network marketing and referral marketing programs
Shipping and forwarding brokers
Shipping
Shipping brokers
Forwarding brokers
Drop shipping
Others
Charity sweepstakes and raffles for the explicit purpose of fundraising
The types of businesses listed are representative but not exhaustive.
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