Last updated: 2026-04-04

Prohibited and Restricted Businesses

UK First Fintech Limited（UKFF） builds economic infrastructure for the internet that enables businesses to accept payments and access other financial services. We want to make it easier for businesses of all kinds – from large enterprises to small businesses – to start, run and grow. We aim for our platform to be broadly accessible, just like other forms of infrastructure, such as roads or telecommunications networks.

Crucially, in the area of political expression, we want to avoid becoming an arbiter of what speech is legitimate. At UKFF, we do not restrict access to our services based on political viewpoints or affiliation.

As a financial services company, we have to adhere to financial laws and regulations, as well as rules and policies set by our financial partners, such as card networks and banking partners. This means we aren’t able to support some businesses, even if we might desire to do so.

High-Risk Jurisdictions and Persons
Use of UKFF’s services for any dealings, engagement, or sale of goods or services either directly or indirectly with the following are prohibited:

High-risk jurisdictions
Persons located in, resident in, or a citizen of, or products or services originating from jurisdictions that UKFF has determined for various reasons, including legal, contractual, and commercial reasons, to be prohibited, including, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and the Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.

High-risk persons
Persons UKFF has determined for various reasons, including legal, contractual, and commercial reasons, to be prohibited, such as those individuals or entities named to a restricted person or party list of, or otherwise restricted by, the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, or United Nations, including the sanctions maintained by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control or the Denied Persons List or Entity List maintained by the US Department of Commerce.

Additionally, it’s prohibited to use UKFF’s products and services to directly or indirectly:

Prohibited services
Export, re-export, sell, or supply accounting services; trust and corporate formation services; management consulting services; architecture services; engineering services; quantum computing services; information technology (IT) consultancy and design services; and IT-support services and cloud-based services for enterprise management software and design and manufacturing software to any person located in Russia. In the European Union and the United Kingdom, it is prohibited to use UKFF’s products and services, directly or indirectly, to provide credit-rating services, market research and public relations services, advertising services, auditing services, or legal advisory services to any person located in Russia.

Prohibited goods
Deal in any goods prohibited by law for export to or import from Russia (for example, luxury goods, sensitive goods included in the Common High Priority Items List, enterprise management software and design software).

Prohibited Businesses
You must not use UKFF’s services for any illegal activities or for the businesses or product types listed below. The types of businesses listed here are representative of prohibited categories, but this is not an exhaustive list.

Any illegal products and services
Illegal drugs, substances designed to mimic illegal drugs, including kava
Equipment and items intended to be used for making or using drugs
Fake references or ID-providing services
Telecommunications manipulation equipment, including jamming devices
Businesses that engage in, encourage, promote or celebrate unlawful violence or physical harm to persons or property
Businesses that engage in, encourage, promote, or celebrate 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 to which your business is targeted

Adult content and services
Adult services, including prostitution, escorts, pay-per-view, sexual massages, fetish services, mail-order brides and adult live-chat features
Adult video stores
Gentleman’s clubs, topless bars and strip clubs
Pornography and other mature audience content (including literature, imagery, and other media) designed for the purpose of sexual gratification
Any artificial-intelligence generated content that meets the above criteria
Debt relief companies
Debt settlement, debt negotiation and debt consolidation
The following financial products and services
ATMs
Cheque cashing
Debt collection agencies
Funded prop trading
Money orders and travellers’ cheques
Payable-through accounts
Peer-to-peer money transmission
Selling bearer shares
Shell banks
Gambling
Games of chance including gambling, internet gambling, casino games, sweepstakes and contests, and fantasy sports leagues with a monetary or material prize
Games of skill including video game and mobile game tournaments or competitions, darts, card games and board games with a monetary or material prize
Payments of an entry or player fee that promise the entrant or player will win a prize of value
Sports forecasting or odds-making with a monetary or material prize
Lotteries
Bidding fee auctions
Government services
Offering products and services by or on behalf of embassies and consulates
Offering government services without authorisation or value-add
Offering government services with misleading claims
Disbursement of government economic support, such as grants
Identity services
Identity theft protection services including monitoring and recovery
Illegal weapons, explosives and dangerous materials
Illegal weapons and accessories
Improperly marked replicas of modern firearms, including toys
Pesticides requiring application by a certified professional
Research chemicals
Toxic, flammable, combustible or radioactive materials
Unmailable goods, per the United States Postal Service
Products and services that infringe on intellectual property rights
Sales or distribution of music, films, software or any other licensed materials without appropriate authorisation
Counterfeit goods
Illegally imported or exported products
Unauthorised 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
The following legal services
Bankruptcy lawyers
Bail bonds
Law firms collecting funds for purposes other than legal service fee payment
Lending and credit
Loan repayments with credit cards
Credit monitoring, credit repair and counselling services
Marijuana
Cannabis products
Cannabis dispensaries and related businesses
CBD products with THC levels greater than the applicable local jurisdiction’s legal limit, including CBD edibles
Hydroponic equipment and other cultivation or production equipment marketed for growing marijuana
Courses and information on cultivating marijuana
Nutraceuticals and pseudo-pharmaceuticals
Pseudo-pharmaceuticals or nutraceuticals that are not safe or make harmful claims
Non-fiat currency
Cryptocurrency mining and staking
Initial coin offerings (ICOs)
Secondary NFT sales
Travel
Commercial airlines and cruises
Charter and private airlines
Timeshare services
Unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices (acts or practices that contravene rules, laws, regulations or guidance prescribed by the Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or other local consumer regulatory bodies)
Pyramid schemes
Multi-level marketing services offering commission or recruitment-based sales
“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; and sites that promise fast and easy money
Businesses that make outrageous claims, use deceptive testimonials, use high-pressure upselling, or use fake testimonials (with or without a written contract)
Businesses offering unrealistic incentives or rewards as an inducement to purchase products or services
No-value-added services, including the sale or resale of a service without added benefit to the buyer and resale of government offerings without authorisation or added value
Sales of online traffic or engagement
Negative option marketing, negative option membership clubs, and reduced price trials with unclear or hidden pricing
Telemarketing
Predatory mortgage consulting
Predatory investment opportunities with no or low money down
Suspicious remote technical support
Door-to-door sales
Document falsification services
Any other businesses that UKFF considers unfair, deceptive or predatory towards consumers

Jurisdiction-specific prohibited businesses

Brazil	Genital and nipple jewelleryGenital prostheticsSex accessories and lifelike sex toys
Canada	Alcohol (Restricted)Mortgage consulting
India	AirbagsAlcoholCaptive insurance companiesCash couriersCharitiesChit fundsCross-border jewellery salesCurrency exchangeCurrency transportationDating and matchmaking servicesGambling equipmentGenital prostheticsJunket operatorsLobby groups and political organisationsMining and oil drilling and refiningNon-profit organisations (NPO)Personal investment vehicles/companiesReligious organisationsSex accessories and sex toysTrust service providersUnlicensed financial institutions
Indonesia	(Prohibited = P, Restricted = R) Alcohol R Insurance R Live chat / streaming R Live stock R Packaged food and cosmetics R Pilgrimage / Umrah tour packages R Precious metals and jewellery R Products requiring national-standard certification R
Japan	Advisory services related to drop shipping and the resale of goodsAnimalsC2C services outside UKFF ConnectConsultation and advisory or prediction services relating to online gaming or gamblingConsultation or advisory services providing guidance, information or tools on how to profit through trading or investments in financial products or cryptocurrency or running a resale or dropshipping businessDonations to individualsFundraising for or financing of businesses that are listed above as prohibited or restrictedGenital and nipple jewelleryGenital prostheticsHealth instrumentsIndustrial waste disposal and garbage disposal devices and water purifiersInternational marriage brokerage businessesMortgage consultingPrivate investigators or protection servicesPsychic services and fortune tellersSex accessories and lifelike sex toysBusinesses without a “Commercial Disclosure” page on their website as required by the Specified Commercial Transactions Act (SCT)
Malaysia	Genital and nipple jewelleryGenital prostheticsMatchmakingSex accessories or sex toys
Mexico	Adoption agenciesCross-border currency exchange servicesDebt collection agenciesDirect marketing travelElectronic cigarettes for card-not-present transactionsEphedrineGame console modification devicesGenital and nipple jewelleryGenital prostheticsHCG weight lossInvestment servicesLifelike sex toysPenny auctionsPrivate investigators or protection servicesPsychic services and fortune tellersSearch engine optimisationTelemedicine
Singapore	Genital and nipple jewellerySale of ads for any products or services deemed illegal in Singapore – sales of products that facilitate payments to any of these products or servicesSex accessories or sex toys
Thailand	(Prohibited = P, Restricted = R)Alcohol PBodyguard services PCharities PDating services PFood and cosmetics RHistorical artefacts PHotels, tour operators, and transportation services RInsurance RNew vehicle sales PPrivate investigators or detective agencies PPsychic services and fortune tellers PTimeshares PVehicle sales PVitamins P
United Arab Emirates	Gambling equipmentGenital prostheticsHistorical artifacts, ivory products, prison-made productsPrivate investigators or detective agenciesMatchmaking servicesSex accessories or sex toys
United States	Extended warrantiesMedical benefit packages not offered by a government or health insurance companyMortgage consultingShipping brokers and freight forwarders, without prior authorisation from UKFF

Restricted Businesses
Businesses in these categories require additional due diligence by UKFF in order to confirm our ability to support them. When you create your UKFF account, you will be asked to provide additional information (such as proof of relevant licences or more details about your business model) to confirm your eligibility to use UKFF. Due to card network rules, requirements of financial partners and our own compliance and legal obligations, if your business falls into one of the categories below, UKFF might not be able to grant approval for your business to use our products. If we do provide approval, note that the approval is specific to each service offer and it may be modified or revoked by UKFF at any time per the terms of the UKFF Services Agreement.

Read more about restricted businesses in our FAQs

The types of businesses listed below are representative of our restricted businesses but not exhaustive.

Content creation platforms (see the FAQs for additional details)
Platforms that host or distribute third-party content and enable content creators to:

Receive content-related tips and other payments in exchange for their content
Sell exclusive content or digital goods
Note: Individual content creators on approved platforms (for example, connected accounts of an approved UKFF Connect user) and those directly distributing their own content (for example, on their own website) do not require preapproval. However, all content creators must comply with the UKFF Services Agreement and this Prohibited and Restricted Businesses list (which, for example, prohibits the sale of adult content and personal or peer-to-peer money transmission) and are subject to monitoring by UKFF to ensure compliance.

Crowdfunding and fundraising (see the FAQs for additional details)
Fundraising conducted by non-profits, charities, political organisations and businesses offering a reward in return for donation
Crowdfunding platforms (Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with UKFF)
Equity crowdfunding (Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with UKFF. Note: Supported in Australia, Germany, France, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prohibited in all other countries)
Charity sweepstakes and raffles for the explicit purpose of fundraising (Note: Supported in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prohibited in all other countries.)
Organisations fundraising for a charitable purpose (Note: Supported in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States. Prohibited in all other countries.)
Dating
Online dating and matchmaking services (Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with UKFF. Note: Specific prohibitions apply in India, United Arab Emirates and Thailand; see Jurisdiction-specific prohibited businesses for more information.)

Cyberlockers
Cyberlocker and file-sharing services
Regulated industries
Cannabidiol (CBD) (see the FAQs for additional details)
CBD products containing only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits
Cryptocurrency (Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with UKFF.)
Cryptocurrency (for example, Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cardano, etc.) exchanges and wallets. For crypto and NFT support and availability by region, please see crypto supportability.
Financial products and services (Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with UKFF.)
Investment and brokerage services, including real estate-based investments
Lending services, including real estate loans
Bank account funding
Buy now, pay later services
Money transmitters, remittances, currency exchange services and other money service businesses
Escrow services
Neobanks or challenger banks
Other financial services
Legal firearms and other weapons (Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with UKFF. In countries where a firearm or weapon is illegal, we will continue to treat it as prohibited.)
Firearms, including rifles, shotguns and pistols
Regulated firearm parts and accessories, such as suppressors
Other weapons not listed above (e.g. stun guns, swords not meant as replicas, pepper spray, machetes)
Pharmaceuticals, medical devices and telemedicine (see the FAQs for additional details)
Online pharmacies, including SaaS platforms
Card-not-present prescription-only products and pharmaceuticals
Prescription-only and regulated medical devices
Prescription delivery services
Telemedicine and telehealth services
Tobacco
Tobacco products including e-cigarettes, cigars and e-liquid
Herbal cigarettes
Production equipment specifically marketed for the production of tobacco products
Non-fiat currency and stored value
First-party non-fungible tokens (NFTs) minting and sales, including marketplaces and SaaS platforms
High-value precious metals and stones
Sale of stored value or credits maintained, accepted and issued by anyone other than the seller. Seller-maintained stored value or credits may be subject to limits.
Sale of in-game currency or game items, unless the business is the operator of the virtual world
Pre-loaded payment cards, gift cards, virtual credits or other products and services in which a monetary value is stored within the item (digital or physical)
Third-party agents
Payment facilitation and aggregation (including receiving settlement proceeds for goods or services that you did not provide, on behalf of one or multiple third-party sellers)
Businesses that might pose elevated financial risk
Travel
Travel reservation services and clubs
In-flight purchases
To learn more about UKFF’s approach to prohibited businesses and why some businesses aren’t allowed to use UKFF’s services, you can read our support page about business limitations.

Prohibited Uses of UKFF Products
Use of UKFF products with false, manipulated, inaccurate, or misleading information regarding your identity, business entity, the nature of the business, and any other information requested by UKFF
If there are any changes to your personal and business information, you must notify UKFF immediately
Use of UKFF products to facilitate transactions on behalf of another undisclosed merchant or for products or services that weren’t disclosed in the business’s UKFF account application
Use of UKFF principally as a virtual terminal (for example, 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 programmes
Cross-border acquiring where the business address of the merchant is outside of the jurisdiction of the acquiring UKFF entity, unless permitted under the card network rules
Sharing cardholder information with another business for payment of cross-sell of products or services
Use of UKFF intellectual property without prior written consent from UKFF; use of the UKFF name or logo including use of UKFF trade or service marks inconsistent with the UKFF Marks Usage Terms, or in a manner that otherwise harms UKFF or the UKFF brand; any action that implies an untrue endorsement by, or affiliation, with UKFF
Prohibitions for UKFF Issuing products
You must not use UKFF Issuing for the following activities.

Consumer use
Consumer use of UKFF Issuing is when an Issuing card is created to fully or partially enable payments for personal, family, or household use, including:
Providing a payment method loaded with or that accesses consumer funds
Cards that disburse payroll or payouts
Any other uses that directly or indirectly enable payments using the consumer’s funds
International use
When you sign up for UKFF Issuing, you share with UKFF the location of your business, the physical address of your beneficial owners, and the jurisdiction in which your business is registered. UKFF requires that the physical location of your business, its jurisdiction of registration, and the physical address of at least one of your beneficial owners all match. Furthermore, you must use Issuing cards primarily in the same jurisdiction.

Lending use
You can’t use UKFF Issuing as a method to extend credit to your customers using your own funds, unless you have the appropriate licensing to do so and you have received express consent from UKFF to use Issuing for that purpose.

Other abusive use
Any other abusive use of UKFF Issuing, including:

Using Issuing cards to abuse free-trial products at scale
Using Issuing cards to buy in-demand items or services with the sole intent to sell them for profit (for example, retail scalping)
Using Issuing cards for any other illegitimate purposes
Non-compliance
As a user of UKFF Issuing, you must comply with our US compliance guidelines (or see the EU- and UK-specific guidelines), and our compliance teams might ask you to update your marketing materials or aspects of your user experience. This helps to make sure that both you and UKFF continue to comply with federal, state, or any equivalent local or country-specific laws and regulations that govern the use of these financial products. Failure to comply within the requested time frames might result in the closure of your UKFF account.

Inactivity
If there is inactivity on all cards associated with an account for a period of 12 consecutive months, UKFF automatically closes your Issuing account.

Integration type
If you plan to enable your customers to use UKFF Issuing for purposes of creating cards for your customers’ employees or contractors, you must implement UKFF Issuing on Connect (for example, if you’re a platform that wants to enable your customers to create cards for their employees to use for business travel or marketing expenses, you must create a Connect account for each of your customers). Please consult UKFF if you have any questions regarding the correct integration type for your business.

UKFF Capital restricted business types
UKFF Capital is currently not available to businesses that are not for-profit or operate in certain restricted industries, such as speculation-based industries, gambling, or religious institutions. Additional restrictions might apply to government and utility businesses.