Prohibited Businesses

1. Accepted Activities Guidelines

As a regulated financial institution, RUCKPAY is committed to ensure that its activities comply with legal, regulatory as well as ethical standards, at all times.

Therefore, Prohibitions or Restrictions apply in relation to certain activities, businesses, flows and/or transactions (hereinafter, collectively, “Activities”) that may be carried out by RUCKPAY, its Partners as well as by their customers “End-users”.

RUCKPAY reserves the right to amend this list, at its entire discretion, on the basis of legal or regulatory requirements as well as the evolution of RUCKPAY’s own risk appetite.

These Guidelines apply prior to the establishment of a business relationship (refusal to enter in business relationship) as well as during the business relationship (blocking of wallets or accounts, and termination of business relationships).

Not sure whether RUCKPAY can support your business? Please contact one of our experts to see if we’re the right fit for your project.

2. General Rules

RUCKPAY has no appetite to engage in any of the following Activities:

  • Activities that are carried out by, or on behalf of, entities or individuals included in international sanctions list, as they apply to RUCKPAY . Such lists may consist of general embargoes on countries, flows, transaction types and parties, but also of lists of individuals, entities or countries involved or potentially involved with acts of terrorism or financing thereof;
  • Activities that are illegal in the jurisdictions where RUCKPAY operates or may plan to operate, including Activities that may appear legitimate but are established to circumvent legal or regulatory prohibitions or restrictions;
  • Activities that consist in the establishment of a “cross-border arrangement” as defined under the terms of Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 as well as any other Activities established for the purpose to commit or facilitate tax evasion, tax fraud or tax swindle;
  • Activities that would require that RUCKPAY provides services to individuals or entities established outside of the EEA or otherwise outside of countries or jurisdictions where RUCKPAY is legally authorized to conduct business, unless this is done on an ancillary or reverse solicitation basis.
  • Any other Activities that are carried out for the purpose of or in conjunction with money laundering or terrorism financing, including the facilitation thereof.

3. Prohibitions and Restrictions

RUCKPAY defines additional criteria (“Prohibitions” and “Restrictions”) that apply to certain Activities.

Prohibitions cannot be lifted. Restrictions to certain Activities may be lifted or reduced at RUCKPAY’s Authorized Management discretion and on a no-commitment, case-by-case basis.

Prohibitions and Restrictions may apply also in those cases where Activities are conducted on an ancillary or accessory basis.

RUCKPAY’s appetite for Activities may evolve with time. Certain Prohibited or Restricted Activities may have been accepted in the past and some of them still be supported by RUCKPAY, with no obligation on RUCKPAY to immediately terminate the relevant business relationships.

The list of Prohibitions and Restrictions constitutes a reference framework and should not be considered as being exhaustive.

4. Prohibited Activities

The following Activities are prohibited. This list may also include prohibited Activities as imposed by Card Schemes or RUCKPAY’s banking partners.

4.1 Adult and sexually oriented

  • Adult entertainment, pornography or related digital or non-digital contents, adult dating, adult pay-per-view, adult webcams.The definition includes any type of adult entertainment and related, including activities, businesses or transactions that facilitate such prohibited activities.
  • Prostitution, escort services, non-therapeutic massage services. This includes any assimilated or potentially assimilated services, such as adult clubs, strip clubs, cabarets, etc.
  • Underage porn or assimilated. This definition includes any written, audio or visual contents, services, hosting, facilitation thereof, with no limitations in scope, semantics or context.

4.2 Activities that may be illegal or subject to specific regulations or licenses

  • Weapons (war). Any sale, trading, renting, borrowing, financing or related activities, businesses or transactions are prohibited.
    See 4. Restricted activities, Weapons
  • Counterfeit, unlicensed or smuggled goods. Any type of related activities, businesses or transactions.
  • Drugs, legal or illegal; narcotics, psychotropic substances, cannabis and derived substances, drug paraphernalia. Any type of related activities, businesses or transactions, unless underlying goods qualify as pharmaceuticals or parapharmaceuticals and therefore are subject to relevant applicable rules.
    See 4. Restricted activities, Tobacco, Pharmaceutical and Parapharmaceutical
  • Betting, gaming, e-casinos, lotteries, skill games and assimilated. Any type of related activities, businesses or transactions, even when the winnings have no immediate or obvious monetary value.
  • Data (including personal or sensitive data) sale/purchase. Any sale, purchase, sharing, facilitation of personal or sensitive (including, potentially personal or sensitive) data on a B2B/B2C and C2C regardless of the underlying business model.
  • Psychic services, voyance services, unlicensed therapists. This includes any assimilated or potentially assimilated services (psychic, medium, astrology, divinatory arts, unlicensed therapists) exercising their services without a license or qualified professional training.

4.3 Unfair practices

  • Multi level, pyramidal, affiliate marketing activities or assimilated. Any multi-level marketing schemes which may be associated with any unfair marketing or selling practices.
  • Subscription-based services, negative option billing. Subscription-based services that require the payment of monthly/regular payments for streaming of video, audio or the availability of other contents, or for the purchase of other goods or services and that do not provide for adequate and effective consumer protection features such as retractation rights, effective complaints handling processes, ease of cancellation/unsubscription.
  • Profiles: creation, management of fake profiles on social networks, or of false or fraudulent merchants or buyers on marketplaces. Creation and management of fake profiles on websites, regardless of the underlying purposes.
  • Profiles: account sharing or renting on streaming platforms or similar (Netflix, YouTube, Spotify, etc.) Sharing or reselling/renting of profiles/accounts on media platforms may be illegal in certain jurisdictions and not acceptable under the Terms & Conditions of the concerned platforms.
  • Followers, likes, views, approvals or ratings/reviews purchases on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or other social networks or Marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, AppStore, etc.) Any purchase or sale, including the creation of fake or manipulated customer reviews.

4.4 Financial services

  • Debt collection services. Debt collection services by agencies, liquidators, notaries, lawyers, etc.
  • Financial services (unlicensed). Any type of financial services that are not carried out in accordance with applicable licensing/approval requirements.
  • Financial services (payments, cards). Prepaid card issuers or solutions, international money remittance involving the use of Agents/Distributors and cash or assimilated loads/disbursements, P2P payment solutions.

    See 4. Restricted activities, Payment escrow and Money transfer

4.5 Other activities

  • Precious goods: metals, stones, or other precious materials including raw materials and natural resources (oil, natural gas, etc) wholesale, trading, transportation thereof. Includes any marketplace, trading platform, trade financing activities, transport, etc. Excludes retail sales (e.g. gas stations, jewellers).
  • Crowdfunding, crowd-lending/financing (unregulated). Non-regulated platforms that do not benefit from a formal licensing/approval including a fit and proper test of administrators, and that are not obliged entities under the relevant Member State AML laws and regulations.
  • Cryptocurrencies, cryptoassets, tokens and assimilated. Any type of crypto-related activities, businesses or transactions, unless the platform is both licensed and regulated in the EU or equivalent jurisdictions.Cryptocurrencies, cryptoassets and assimilated Activities must be provided or conducted in association with a EU-level financial regulated activity, such as: banking or credit institution, Payment or e-money institution, Asset Management, or anyway other financial service authorised pursuant to a EU directive. When this is not available, national licenses may be considered as long as they include three key elements: i) effective supervision by a EU financial regulator; ii) need to undergo a fit and proper assessment by a EU financial regulator; iii) being obliged entities under national AML/CTF laws in accordance to applicable EU Directives.
  • White labelling and/or grey labelling solutions. Any such solutions that, on the basis of currently available processes, technologies and/or systems, prevent or make it difficult ensuring that products or services sold or provided to end users comply with established Prohibitions or Restrictions. This category typically includes SaaS solutions for e-commerce, marketplaces, and crowdfunding.
  • Domiciliation agents, trust services, legal services. Services that may be used for the purpose of providing fictitious ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs), hide the true source of wealth or to facilitate tax evasion.
  • Auctions, Penny auctions. Penny Auctions (i.e. auctions where participants are required to advance a non-refundable payment to participate) and similar concepts are prohibited. Certain Auctions may be accepted under specific circumstances.
    See 5. Restricted activities, Auctions
  • Donations: charities, NGOs, political parties or political activities. Donations/collections are not allowed in consideration of enhanced risks of terror financing, bribery and corruption. Acceptable exceptions include accepted crowdfunding platforms, as long as the underlying users abide by the restrictions above, or special situations (humanitarian crises, well-known international organizations, locally known NGOs).
    See 4. Prohibited activities, Crowdfunding

5. Restricted Activities

The following categories of Activities are Restricted and can be accepted only on the basis of formal approval by RUCKPAY’s Authorized Management.

  • Electronic, virtual or immaterial assets. Trading, purchase, swap or sales of intangible, virtual or electronic goods, objects or assets.
    See 4. Prohibited activities , Cryptocurrencies
  • Payment escrow services, payment facilitation. Payment services that do not hold a PSP or equivalent license and provide escrow/security services or other payment intermediation services between buyers and sellers or between acquirers and merchants.
  • Money transfer and money remittance. Any type of money transfer and/or money remittance services, unless licensed and regulated as a Payment Services Provider in the EU or equivalent jurisdictions.
    See 4. Prohibited activities, 4.4 Financial services
  • E-commerce solutions (merchants). E-commerce platforms are not MANGOPAY’s target market and MANGOPAY does not generally provide acquiring solutions directly to merchants (only via marketplaces).
  • Auctions. Auctions may be accepted under specific circumstances, including the holding of a valid license/registration in the jurisdiction of establishment, acceptability of types of goods sold and the target market of investors/bidders.
    See 4. Prohibited activities, Auctions
  • Weapons, weapons replicas, airsoft weapons, sport knives or blades and associated goods. Online sale, trading, renting, borrowing of such goods are forbidden except for toys, sport goods and objects of historical value.
    See 4. Prohibited activities, Weapons (war)
  • Precious goods: watches, jewelleries, art objects. Only luxury items professional sellers issuing certificates and licenses.
  • Alcohol, alcoholic beverages, spirits. Retail sale of any such products.
  • Tobacco, e-cigarettes, other assimilated goods. The sale of such goods to the general public. Wholesale or trading may be acceptable subject to individual and specific approval.
    See 4. Prohibited activities, Drugs
  • Pharmaceutical goods and services. Online sale/trading of pharmaceutical goods, with or without prescriptions unless the seller is appropriately licensed and goods are authorized in the country of establishment of the platform and of the countries of establishment of buyers and sellers.
  • Parapharmaceutical, dietary goods, fitness integrators not qualifying as pharmaceutical goods. Online sale, trading of goods not subject to prescriptions unless legally acceptable in the country of establishment of the platform and of the countries of establishment of buyers and sellers.
  • Medical consultation, teleconsultation, advice or practice. Provision of any form of medical consultation, advice, service is not allowed unless by licensed/qualified professionals (i.e. excluding disqualified or sanctioned) and legally allowed to practice.
  • Parcel or goods transportation, pick-up, handling. Any such C2C activities, including B2B where co-handling is provided. Such services may be misused for transportation and delivery of illegal, stolen or smuggled goods.
  • Travel agencies, online travel bookings, travel facilitators, carriers. Generally accepted, except for travel packages, points redemption conversion offers and subscriptions offered to customers by direct mail and outbound telemarketing. Restrictions apply also to travel facilitators/carriers where the risk of smuggling goods or persons may exist.
  • E-sports, video gaming competitions and associated. Games competitions and tournaments where competitors may obtain winnings or other advantages as long as these have no immediate or obvious monetary value.

Not sure whether RUCKPAY can support your business? Please contact one of our experts to see if we’re the right fit for your project.