Restricted-business lists of Stripe, PayPal and Square, compared
Stripe, PayPal and Square each publish a list of businesses they will not serve, or will serve only after a review. The three lists are built differently: Stripe separates prohibited from restricted, PayPal separates prohibited from pre-approval, and Square has one list of unsupported industries. Below are the clauses that touch cannabis and CBD, gambling, the adult industry, nutraceuticals and research peptides, quoted and dated.
On this page
The short answer
We opened the published lists of three mainstream payment services on 16 October 2026. Stripe and PayPal each say their list is not exhaustive, and all three name gambling and adult content among the businesses they exclude or review separately.
The lists differ most in their middle tier. Stripe has a restricted tier that needs “additional due diligence”, PayPal has a pre-approval tier, and Square has no middle tier in its Payment Terms: a business is either outside its list of unsupported industries or on it.
A summary of a list is not the list. Some summaries we read on the day placed cannabis among Stripe’s restricted businesses; Stripe’s own page puts cannabis products under prohibited and only negligible-THC CBD under restricted. Read the clause, and its date, yourself.
How each list is built
Stripe: prohibited
“You must not use Stripe’s services” for these businesses. Stripe calls the list “representative of prohibited categories, but this is not an exhaustive list”.
Stripe: restricted
These need “additional due diligence”, such as proof of licences or more detail about the business model, and Stripe “might not be able to grant approval”. Any approval “may be modified or revoked by Stripe at any time”.
PayPal: prohibited activities
Activities you may not use the PayPal service for, including any that require pre-approval “without having obtained said approval”.
PayPal: activities requiring approval
Eighteen numbered categories in a chart that PayPal says is “not intended to be an exhaustive list”.
Square: unsupported industries
Section 3 of the Payment Terms lists 31 businesses or activities. It adds: “Other payment methods that we offer may have additional restrictions.”
Five sectors, three lists
| Sector | Stripe (22 September 2026) | PayPal (29 October 2022) | Square (30 July 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannabis and CBD | Prohibited: “Cannabis products”; “Cannabis dispensaries and related businesses”; CBD products with THC above the local legal limit. Restricted: “CBD products containing only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits”. | Cannabis and CBD are not named. Prohibited: transactions involving “narcotics, steroids, certain controlled substances or other products that present a risk to consumer safety” and “drug paraphernalia”. | CBD is not named. Unsupported: “any illegal activity or goods”. A seller may not use the service if “connected in any way” to a business that sells illegal goods, “for example, cannabis”. |
| Gambling | Prohibited: “Games of chance including gambling, internet gambling, casino games, sweepstakes and contests and fantasy sports leagues with a monetary or material prize”; “Lotteries”. | Pre-approval: gambling, gaming and prize activities, “if the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where such activities are permitted by law”. | Unsupported: “betting, including lottery tickets, sports related gambling, casino gaming chips, off-track betting, and wagers at races”. |
| Adult industry | Prohibited: adult content and services, including “Pornography and other mature audience content”. | Prohibited: “certain sexually oriented materials or services”. Pre-approval: “Any adult content delivered digitally including video on demand (VOD) and web-cam activities”. | Unsupported: “adult entertainment oriented products or services (in any medium, including internet, telephone, or printed material)”. |
| Nutraceuticals and subscriptions | Prohibited: “Pseudo-pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals that are not safe or make harmful claims”; “Negative option marketing, negative option membership clubs and reduced price trials with unclear or hidden pricing”. | Nutraceuticals are not named. Prohibited: “other products that present a risk to consumer safety”. Pre-approval: “Prescription Items”. | Unsupported: “direct marketing or subscription offers or services”; “up-sell merchants”; “high-risk products and services”. |
| Research peptides | Peptides are not named. Prohibited: incorrectly labeled research chemicals. Restricted: “Card-not-present prescription-only products and pharmaceuticals”. | Peptides are not named. Pre-approval: “The sale of any product(s) requiring a prescription”. | Peptides are not named. Unsupported: internet, mail-order and telephone pharmacies; “high-risk products and services”. |
Scroll the table to see all columns.
Reading a list before you apply
- Find the tier, not just the word. On Stripe’s list, CBD appears in both tiers, split by THC content.
- Note the date. Stripe’s list was last updated on 22 September 2026 and Square’s terms on 30 July 2026; PayPal’s policy shows 29 October 2022.
- Check the conditions inside a clause. PayPal’s gambling entry depends on where the operator and its customers are located.
- Check related businesses too. Square’s terms reach businesses “connected in any way” to one selling illegal goods.
- Describe your business accurately in any application, and keep the company’s written answer with your records.
Where Zolution fits
These lists set one policy for many kinds of business. A business in one of the five sectors above can also compare providers that declare coverage of its sector.
Zolution is a free marketplace (Zolution Standard membership costs nothing) where a merchant publishes one request and compares offers from payment providers whose declared coverage includes the merchant’s industry. Coverage is provider-declared and the provider decides. Zolution processes no payments, holds no funds and approves nobody.
Questions, answered
What is the difference between Stripe’s prohibited and restricted businesses?
Stripe says its services must not be used for prohibited businesses. Restricted businesses need additional due diligence, such as proof of licences, and Stripe says it might not be able to grant approval and can modify or revoke an approval at any time.
Does Square accept CBD businesses?
Square’s Payment Terms, as we read them on 16 October 2026, do not name CBD. They exclude any illegal activity or goods and high-risk products and services, and they say other payment methods may have additional restrictions. Ask Square in writing before you rely on it.
Does PayPal allow gambling payments?
PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy lists gambling, gaming and prize activities as needing pre-approval, if the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where those activities are permitted by law.
If my business is not on a list, is it allowed?
Not necessarily. Stripe and PayPal both say their lists are not exhaustive, and each company decides on the business it actually reviews.
Sources
- Prohibited and Restricted Businesses (last updated 2026-09-22)
Stripe · Opened 16 October 2026
- PayPal Acceptable Use Policy (last updated 29 October 2022)
PayPal · Opened 16 October 2026
- Square Payment Terms (last updated 30 July 2026)
Square · Opened 16 October 2026
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