How Processors Decide What Counts as "Acceptable" Work

Stripe, Square, PayPal, and SumUp all reserve the right in their terms to shut down your account over what they personally judge to be acceptable work, whether or not that work is legal.

Legal and acceptable aren't the same test

Most of what gets an account closed under these clauses isn't illegal. It's work the processor has decided it doesn't want the reputational exposure or chargeback risk of hosting - a business decision dressed up as a policy. The account holder finds out only when the account is already gone.

You can see this line drawn explicitly in each processor's own terms: Stripe's Prohibited and Restricted Businesses list and SumUp's Restricted Businesses list both spell out categories closed at the processor's discretion, not by law.

Artega's line

Your profession is never grounds for being shut down here. Artega doesn't police what your work is, only whether it's legal. That's a narrower, clearer test than "whatever we've decided we're comfortable with this quarter," and it means the decision doesn't shift under you without warning.

Sources: Stripe Prohibited and Restricted Businesses list · SumUp Restricted Businesses list