Do you sell CBD oil? CBD oil is amazing and the CBD industry is growing rapidly.
Or maybe you’re in the Lightworker industry (astrology, reiki, crystals, taro, psychic) or provide subscription based products or services.
Either way, you could be at risk of being banned from the likes of Stripe, PayPal and Square.
Not cool.
As a business owner, it’s kinda important that customers are able to buy from you. However, you’re going to run into problems if you’re in certain industries. Although the likes of PayPal are convenient, we’re going to take a look at why you might be at risk of being banned if you’re a ‘high risk’ merchant.
Why PayPal Would Ban You
PayPal is the most popular online payment processor platform, so you’d be pretty down in the dumps if you did get banned.
Getting kicked off PayPal is both easy and hard. It’s easy in the sense that their rules are pretty clear, but hard in the sense that most businesses are in the clear. That said, there are a handful of industries that are blacklisted, as well as a few that need approval first.
If your business deals in any of the following activities, you will be banned from using PayPal:
- Certain knives or other weapons
- Sexually-oriented services or materials
- Copyright infringement
- Racial intolerance or hate speech
- Stolen goods
- Cigarettes
- Drugs
As you might have guessed, CBD oil falls into the ‘drugs’ category. Yup, that’s right – it’s on par with heroin!
As well as those activities, PayPal also has the right to strike you out if your business is carrying out transactions that are related to any of the following:
- Off shore banking
- Pyramid schemes (multi-level marketing)
- Anything to do with corruption or bribery
- Check cashing or currency exchanges
- Lotteries
- Get rich quick schemes
Then there are business which need approval from PayPal before they can start using the platform. These types of businesses are:
- Prescription services or drugs
- E-cigarettes
- Airlines
- Alcoholic beverages
- Stocks and bonds
- Charitable donations
There are more, and you can check out PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy for more information.
Why Stripe Would Ban You
Stripe is a solid alternative to the more popular PayPal. Because it has financial partners, it has to be careful regarding which businesses it allows to use its platform.
Unlike PayPal, Stripe doesn’t specifically mention the types of activities and transactions that would see a business banned from its platform, but it does list three reasons why a business might be kicked off:
Financial risks that a business might pose
Legal regulations from the country they operate from
Legal regulations from banking partners and payment networks
Not just this but, once again, selling CBD products could easily get you kicked.
Why Would Square Ban You?
If you run an e-Commerce store, you’re probably aware of Square. Square has a simple point-of-sale payment system that makes it super easy for customers to complete the buying process. It’s exactly what they want.
Square is also a mobile payment solution, which means that if you get banned, you will lose customers who prefer to pay via mobile. That’s a lot of customers right there.
Not just this, but because Square’s payment process integrates with a transaction analytics platform, it means store owners are able to collect crucial data about their customers that they can then use to make the customer experience even better in the future.
Unlike PayPal, Square doesn’t have a list of the types of businesses and transactions that would get you banned. However, they pretty much will ban the same type of business or illicit activity that PayPal would. If you’re doing something that’s illegal, or if you’re scamming people, you will be kicked off.
Andddddd you might get kicked if you sell CBD products, too. Damn.
Square go a bit further, though. They also ban “occult materials.” This phrase is a bit vague and broad, and it’s not something that either PayPal or Stripe mention.
Square will also ban you if you offer “adult entertainment oriented products or services (in any medium, including Internet, telephone or printed material.” It’s quite a broad statement, but you should take it to mean that Square are harsher than either PayPal or Stripe when it comes to sexual services. Not just this, but in 2013 Silicon Valley prostitutes were using Square. Naturally, the service has tightened things up since then.
What To Do If You Get Banned
Fortunately, there is an alternative to the ‘Big 3’ online payment solutions. If you’re in the CBD, have a membership site, are a lightworker, or adult industry and you’re worried that customers won’t be able to make purchases, Inclusive Pay offers a solution.
Unlike the likes of PayPal, Inclusive Pay welcomes businesses from the all industry, as well as those with bad credit. It also takes on businesses who sell e-Cigarettes.
And, yes, they are also ready to work with CBD companies, too. Integration with Shopify is seamless and account setup is free.
So if you’re concerned that you might lose revenue if Stripe, PayPal and Square are all there is, the good news is that, if you are a high-risk merchant, there are alternatives available.
