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Restricted & prohibited businesses

Effective date: July 27, 2026

Arabia Pay software is available to a deliberately narrow set of businesses. This page sets out who we can accept, who we cannot, and the categories we will not support under any circumstances. It is referenced by section 3 of our Terms of Service and forms part of them.

This list applies in addition to the rules of the card networks and the acceptable-use policy of the licensed Processing Partner handling your payments. Where the lists differ, the stricter one applies.

1. Who we can accept

  • The store must be built on Lightfunnels. Arabia Pay is not available on any other e-commerce platform.
  • The store must sell physical products that are packed and shipped to the customer.
  • Orders must be fulfilled through an established third-party logistics provider that issues a tracking number for every shipment. Merchants must be able to produce proof of delivery for any order on request.
  • The business must be lawfully operating and able to evidence its identity, its ownership, and its trading activity.
  • The applicant must be at least 18 and authorised to act for the business.

2. Business models we do not support

These are not accepted today. They are not prohibited in the sense of section 3 below — they simply fall outside what Arabia Pay is built for.

  • Digital or downloadable goods: software, apps, e-books, courses, templates, digital art, music, game items, gift cards, or anything delivered as a file or a login.
  • Services of any kind, including consulting, coaching, agency work, freelancing, repairs, and bookings.
  • Memberships and subscriptions that do not ship a physical item.
  • Marketplaces, aggregators, and any model where a party other than the account holder fulfils the order.

3. Prohibited businesses

We do not board these categories, and an existing account found to be operating in one will be closed. The list is not exhaustive; anything prohibited by law, by a card network, or by the Processing Partner is prohibited here whether or not it is named below.

Illegal and controlled goods

  • Anything unlawful in the merchant's country or the customer's country.
  • Narcotics, controlled substances, precursors, and drug paraphernalia, including products marketed as legal alternatives.
  • Weapons, ammunition, explosives, and their components or accessories.
  • Counterfeit, replica, or unauthorised goods, and anything infringing a trademark, copyright, patent, or right of publicity.
  • Stolen goods, and goods obtained without the right to sell them.
  • Live animals, endangered species, ivory, and protected wildlife products.
  • Human organs, tissue, or body parts.

Age- and health-restricted goods

  • Adult content, adult services, escort and companionship services.
  • Tobacco, nicotine, e-cigarettes, vaping products, and shisha.
  • Alcohol.
  • Prescription medicines, pharmacy goods, and telemedicine.
  • Supplements, medical devices, and any product sold with a health, cure, weight-loss, or performance claim that is not substantiated and lawfully permitted.

Financial and money-related activity

  • Money transfer, remittance, currency exchange, and stored value.
  • Cryptocurrency, tokens, NFTs, mining, and related hardware or services.
  • Lending of any kind, including payday and short-term credit, debt collection, debt settlement, and credit repair.
  • Investment products, trading signals, forex, binary options, and financial advice.
  • Gambling, betting, lotteries, raffles, sweepstakes, prize draws, skill gaming for money, and fantasy sports for money.
  • Collection of donations, including charitable, political, and religious fundraising.
  • Insurance and extended warranties.

High-dispute and deceptive models

  • Multi-level marketing, pyramid and matrix schemes, and get-rich-quick or business-opportunity offers.
  • Negative-option billing, free trials that convert to a recurring charge, and any pricing a customer would not reasonably expect.
  • Telemarketing and door-to-door sales.
  • Penny auctions and bidding-fee auctions.
  • Timeshares, holiday clubs, and property deposits.
  • Travel agencies, airlines, tour operators, and ticket resale.
  • Pre-orders, crowdfunding, and any sale where the customer is charged long before the goods exist.

Data, identity, and platform abuse

  • Sale of personal data, mailing lists, and lead lists.
  • Sale of accounts, credentials, followers, likes, reviews, or engagement.
  • Hacking tools, credential-stuffing services, malware, spyware, and circumvention devices.
  • Essay mills, exam-taking, and academic fraud.
  • Anonymising and traffic-obscuring services sold for the purpose of evading detection.

Sanctions and undisclosed activity

  • Any business, owner, or controller appearing on the OFAC Specially Designated Nationals list, the UN Security Council Consolidated List, or an equivalent EU or UK sanctions list.
  • Any business established in, or operating from, a comprehensively sanctioned territory.
  • Shell companies, and businesses that will not disclose their beneficial owners.
  • Processing on behalf of an undisclosed third party, factoring, and transaction laundering — that is, running another business's sales through your account.
  • Selling anything materially different from what the account was approved for, or from what the website shows.

4. How this is enforced

  • Every application is checked against this list before approval, and a person makes the decision. See our Compliance page for how that works.
  • We monitor accounts after approval. A business that changes what it sells must tell us first.
  • An account found to be operating in a prohibited category may be suspended immediately, and the Processing Partner may hold funds or apply a reserve under its own agreement with the merchant.
  • Arabia Pay and the Processing Partner each retain absolute discretion to decline or close an account, including for reasons not listed here.

5. Changes to this list

Card network rules, sanctions lists, and partner policies change. We may update this page at any time, and the version published here is the one in force. Material changes affecting existing merchants are notified by email.

6. Questions and reports

If you are not sure whether your business fits, ask before you apply — sales@arabia-transfer.com.

To report a merchant you believe is breaching this policy, write to legal@arabia-transfer.com. Reports are reviewed by a person.