Restricted & Prohibited Industries, Products and Services

This policy shows which industries, products and/or services are outside of Oonex’s acceptance policy or that can only be accepted with the specific written approval from Oonex in exceptional circumstances. The classification is based on applicable laws, Card Scheme Rules and Oonex’s own risk tolerance.

Merchants falling into the Restricted Industries, Products and Services Category may only be accepted after written approval from Oonex’s Compliance and Senior Management (as a result of an Exception Merchant Approval procedure established by Oonex).

Merchants operating within the Prohibited Industries, Products and Services category are excluded from the use of Oonex’s merchant processing services and will not be provided with a merchant account by Oonex.

Disclaimer: The fact that Oonex might agree on a general or exceptional basis to provide its services for a particular business model, product or service type should not be interpreted as legal advice on the suitability of the Merchant’s operations. It is solely the Merchant’s responsibility to ensure that the goods sold and/or the services provided are legal and comply with all the applicable laws and regulations, including Card Scheme Rules.

Oonex can change this policy from time to time. Oonex can decide at its sole discretion to decline any merchant application even if a Merchant’s business model does not fall into the Restricted or Prohibited business category specified in this policy.
Restricted Industries, Products and Services (only after Exception Merchant Approval has been granted)


  • Financial Services, including but not limited to: currency dealers and exchanges, banking products including stored credit, investment funds, insurance companies, real estate / property market, e-wallets, prepaid cards, money services businesses (MSB), forex brokers / dealers, money remittance, quasi-cash

  • Non-Profit organisations & registered charities

  • Betting and gambling (including: registered lotteries, internet gambling, sports forecasting, wagering, lottery messenger / courier services)

  • Skill games where participants receive cash, cash equivalents or material prizes

  • Fantasy sports leagues where participants receive monetary prizes

  • Auctions, Penny auctions

  • Marketplaces

  • Multi Level Marketing (MLM)

  • Home business opportunity / Get rich from home propositions

  • Document preparation services (including e-Visa applications)

  • Private medical practices and e-Doctors

  • Tobacco and Alcohol products (businesses selling age restricted or legally restricted goods or services)

  • Collectibles, high value goods, jewellery, precious stones and metals

  • Nutraceuticals

  • Online Computer/Tech Support

  • Pay-day loans, microloans, short-term lending

  • Tribal loans

  • Lifetime products (infinite warranty or guarantee)

  • Crowdfunding

  • Reproduction Furniture

  • Adult Entertainment

  • 3D Printers

  • Chemical Materials

  • Ticket Agencies (ticket brokers, agents secondary market sales)

  • Chat Lines and Webcam Services

  • Cyber lockers, file sharing services and cloud storage

  • Merchants with a free trial and/or negative option subscription model

  • Travel Agencies, Airlines, Cruise Lines

  • Products or services related to political or social campaigning

  • Cars or Car parts

  • Debt consolidation and mortgage reduction and related consulting services

  • Services associated with pseudo-science (e.g. clairvoyance, psychic readings, fortune telling, numerology, horoscopes)

  • Pawn Stores

  • Unregulated Drugs (including Nootropics)

  • VPN/IP Masking Services

Prohibited Industries, Products and Services


  • Trade of firearms/weapons (including pocket/pen knives), ammunitions, military arms, explosive devices, 3D Printers Specifically Designed to Create Firearms and firearm parts Firearms/Weapons

  • Illegal Adult Content (children / under-age people or depictions, rape, violence, torture or content that is abusive in nature, unconsciousness, altered mindstate or under mind control or manipulation, bestiality, incest)

  • Escort agencies / prostitution / sexual services

  • Timeshare and timeshare maintenance

  • Illegal Drugs (Synthetic) including but not limited to K2, Spice, bath salts, synthetic cannabis, nitrate inhalers

  • Illegal Drugs (Herbal) including but not limited to kratom, salvia divinorum, kava & kava supplements, herbal incense, herbal smoking blends

  • Controlled Substances – scheduled, by prescription, or substances not yet assessed for classification, including stimulants, weight loss & performance enhancing, including but not limited to Miracle Cures, Peptides, Research Chemicals, Clenbuterol, poppers (amyl nitrite) etc.

  • Human Organs, Blood, or other tissues/fluid sales

  • Illegal products or services or any service providing peripheral support of illegal activities

  • Products, services, marketing or companies that promote hate, violence, discrimination, terrorism, harassment or abuse

  • Electronic and Surveillance Equipment: Jail Breaker Equipment/Software, Jamming Devices

  • Electronic Stores – Modification Chips

  • Extended Warranty Programs – Unregulated

  • Explosives/Fireworks

  • Counterfeit goods/replicas or other goods infringing intellectual property rights

  • Live Animals

  • Pyramid & Ponzi schemes

  • Third Party Payment Processors / Aggregators

  • Crowdfunding related to Real Estate or any type of Investment

  • Pyrotechnic Devices/Supplies

  • Hazardous Materials, Combustibles, Corrosives.

  • Products, services or media / marketing that may cause (or could reasonably result in) loss of health, quality of life or dignity to a person(s) or otherwise be harmful or incite bigotry, hatred or violence

  • Marijuana (MMJ), cannabis seeds or any products containing/resulting in the sale of Marijuana

  • Unlicensed IPTV streaming services (unauthorised streaming)

  • Sale of products where Celebrity / well known faces and/or names are used (without permission)

  • Financial services such as: Contract For Differences (CFDs) and binary options.

  • Gambling services in jurisdictions where it is illegal to do so or offering gambling services without a valid license

  • Unregulated/unlicensed businesses that are subject to regulation/supervision/license in their country of establishment and/or jurisdiction(s) of operation

  • Businesses engaging in Initial Coin Offering (ICO), Cryptocurrency token sales, exchange and/or investment

  • E-Cigarettes, vaporisers and related accessories

  • Merchants engaging in any form of deceptive marketing practice including but not limited to false or exagerrated claims/promises, “before” and “after” pictures, sign-up free gifts and/or cash prizes, count-down banners for limited offers, hidden and/or unfair terms of sale or disclosures, bogus claims, free or low value trial sign-up followed by automatic subscription enrollment, etc.

  • Prescription medicines and pharmaceuticals, including prescription medical devices (e.g. medical contact lenses)

  • Social media “click farms” (i.e., the sale of clicks / likes / reviews / endorsements on social media sites)