Acceptable Use Policy

This policy sets out the businesses and activities RapidCents will not process for, the businesses it will process for only with prior written approval, and the conduct rules that apply to every Merchant. It is incorporated into the Services Agreement at clause B.5, so a breach of this policy is a breach of the Agreement. Seven categories are treated differently in Canada and in the United States — clause 5 states each of them separately and governs wherever it differs from the rest of this policy.

1. Who this policy binds, and how it fits the Services Agreement

This policy applies to every Merchant that holds a RapidCents account, to every person a Merchant authorizes to use the Services on its behalf, and to every Transaction submitted through the Services. It applies to an applicant from the moment an application is made, it continues to apply for as long as the account is open, and it continues to apply to any Transaction submitted before the account closed.

Clause B.5 of the Services Agreement incorporates this policy by reference. Accepting the Agreement is accepting this policy, and a breach of this policy is a breach of the Agreement. Clause B.5 permits RapidCents to suspend the Services immediately and without prior notice and to hold funds while it investigates; clause F.1.3 permits RapidCents to terminate. Clause 9 below sets out how those powers are exercised.

This policy is not a substitute for the law. A Merchant is responsible for identifying and complying with the law that applies to what it sells, where it sells it and to whom, including licensing, consumer protection, product safety, advertising, sanctions, privacy and anti-money-laundering requirements. Nothing in this policy permits an activity that the law, the Network Rules or the Acquirer prohibits, and nothing in it obliges RapidCents to process for a business merely because that business is not named as prohibited.

Where this policy differs from the Network Rules, or from a requirement imposed on RapidCents by the Acquirer, the Associations or a regulator, that requirement prevails and RapidCents will apply it.

2. How this policy works: Prohibited, Restricted, and the rules for everyone

Three tiers. Prohibited means RapidCents will not process for you and there is nothing to apply for. Restricted means it may, but only if it has approved your business in writing before your first Transaction and you keep to the conditions it sets. The conduct rules in clause 6 apply to everyone. If your business is not named anywhere here, that is not approval — ask before you sell.

This policy works in three tiers.

• Prohibited. RapidCents will not process Transactions for these businesses or activities. There is no application process for a prohibited category and no exception is available on request. Clause 3 lists them.
• Restricted. RapidCents may process for these businesses, but only where it has approved the business in writing before the first Transaction, and only on the conditions it sets. Clause 4 lists them.
• General conduct. Clause 6 applies to every Merchant, in every category, whether or not the Merchant’s business is named anywhere else in this policy.

Written approval of a Restricted business means an approval given by RapidCents in writing that identifies the business and the activity approved. Approval given for one product, one channel, one country or one entity is not approval of another. Silence is not approval, an approved account is not an approved category, and the fact that a Transaction was authorized and settled does not mean the underlying business was approved.

Approval of a Restricted business is normally conditional. The conditions RapidCents may impose include evidence of every licence, registration or permit the activity requires and of its continued validity; a Reserve under clause C.7 of the Agreement; limits on Transaction size, monthly volume, average ticket or the proportion of card-not-present Transactions; a longer settlement or payout delay; additional underwriting of the business, its principals and its beneficial owners; additional disclosure to Customers before they pay; and re-verification at intervals RapidCents sets. Failing to meet a condition, or allowing a licence to lapse, ends the approval.

RapidCents determines which tier a business falls in and which category within that tier, and its determination is final. A business that is not named in this policy is not permitted for that reason: RapidCents may treat it as falling within a category that is named, or may decline it. A Merchant that is uncertain must ask before submitting a Transaction rather than after.

3. Prohibited businesses and activities

RapidCents will not process Transactions for the businesses and activities set out in this clause. That is so whether the activity is the whole of the Merchant’s business or one line within it, and whether the Merchant sells it directly or facilitates another person selling it.

The tables below describe categories rather than listing exhaustively every business that falls within one. A business that is materially similar to one described here is prohibited even though its own description is not reproduced, and RapidCents may add to these tables under clause 11.

Cannabis, firearms and ammunition, gambling and games played for money, tobacco and nicotine products, pharmaceuticals and telemedicine, cryptocurrency and digital assets, and money services and remittance are each treated differently in Canada and in the United States. Clause 5 states the treatment of each and prevails over this clause wherever it differs from it.

A Merchant that is, or becomes, a business described in this clause is in breach of this policy from the moment that is so, whether or not it has told RapidCents and whether or not RapidCents has yet discovered it. Approval of an account, or of any other part of the Merchant’s business, is not approval of a prohibited activity.

Illegal activity, sanctions and exploitation

Category	What this covers
Illegal goods, services and activity	Anything whose sale, purchase, possession, import or promotion is unlawful where the Merchant operates or where the Customer is located, and anything sold in order to evade a legal prohibition.
Sanctioned persons, entities and jurisdictions	Dealing with a person or entity named on a Canadian, United States, United Nations or other applicable sanctions list, with a person acting on their behalf, or in or into a jurisdiction subject to comprehensive sanctions.
Money laundering and terrorist financing	Any Transaction intended to conceal the origin, ownership or control of funds, to move funds on behalf of a person who could not move them in their own name, or to finance terrorism or violent extremism.
Child sexual abuse material and exploitation of minors	Any depiction, sale, distribution or facilitation of the sexual exploitation of a minor, and any product or service that sexualizes a minor. RapidCents reports this and is not required to notify the Merchant that it has done so.
Human trafficking, forced labour and coerced services	Recruitment, transport, harbouring or sale of a person, and any service performed under coercion or in conditions of forced labour.
Adult content and adult services	Pornography and sexually explicit material in any medium, live adult performance, escort, companionship-for-payment and sexual services, and platforms whose principal purpose is to distribute or arrange them.

Counterfeit, stolen and infringing goods

Category	What this covers
Counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringement	Replica, imitation and unauthorized branded goods; unlicensed copies of software, media, courses or publications; unauthorized streaming and access devices; and any sale that infringes a trade-mark, copyright or patent.
Stolen goods and unlawfully obtained property	Goods known or reasonably suspected to be stolen, and property obtained by fraud, theft or deception, including account credentials, card numbers, personal identifiers and identity documents.

Weapons, explosives and controlled substances

Category	What this covers
Weapons prohibited by law and military-grade weapons	Weapons that a person may not lawfully possess in the country of sale, military ordnance and armament, and equipment restricted under export control legislation.
Untraceable and self-manufactured firearms	Firearms without a serial number, unfinished receivers and frames sold for completion, 3D-printed firearms and the files, jigs or kits sold to produce them, and devices that convert a firearm to automatic fire.
Explosives and destructive devices	Explosive material, detonators, blasting supplies and destructive devices. Consumer fireworks are dealt with in clause 4.
Controlled substances and precursor chemicals	Substances controlled under Canadian or United States federal law, chemicals whose principal use is to manufacture them, and paraphernalia sold for use with them.
Products marketed as substitutes for controlled substances	Synthetic cannabinoids, research chemicals sold for consumption, kratom, nitrous oxide sold for inhalation, and any product sold on the basis that it produces the effect of a controlled substance while avoiding its schedule.

Health products, health claims, tobacco and nicotine

Category	What this covers
Unapproved, banned and recalled health products	Drugs, medical devices and natural health products that lack the approval, licence or registration their sale requires in the country of sale, and any product subject to a recall or a sale prohibition.
Unapproved health claims	Any product or service sold on a claim to prevent, treat, cure or diagnose a disease or condition that it is not authorized to make, and any weight-loss, fertility, cognitive, longevity or performance claim that is not substantiated.
Remote sale of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products	Sale of cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes, e-liquids, nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products online, by telephone or by mail order. Card-present sale at a licensed retail location is dealt with in clauses 4 and 5.

Financial schemes, credit and fundraising

Category	What this covers
Pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing and matrix programs	Any plan whose participants are paid principally for recruiting further participants rather than for selling a product to an end Customer, and any program that requires a payment in order to join a chain of payments.
Get-rich-quick, income-opportunity and investment schemes	Offers whose value to the buyer depends on a promised return, including the sale of trading signals and algorithms, guaranteed-return offers, and business or income opportunities sold on an earnings claim.
Payday lending, advance-fee loans and predatory credit	Short-term high-cost lending, any credit offer that requires a fee before credit is advanced, and lending at a rate or on terms that the law of the borrower’s jurisdiction does not permit.
Credit repair and debt elimination	Any service offered on the basis that accurate information will be removed from a credit file, that a lawful debt can be extinguished or disowned, or that a new credit identity can be created.
Unregistered charities and unauthorized fundraising	Solicitation of donations by an organization that is not registered where registration is required, and fundraising conducted for a purpose other than the one disclosed to the donor. Registered charities are dealt with in clause 4.
Bail bonds	Posting, underwriting or financing bail for a fee, and related surety services.

Digital assets and the movement of money

Category	What this covers
Cryptocurrency, digital assets and NFTs	Exchange, brokerage, custody, mining, staking, initial coin offering, token issuance and NFT issuance or primary sale. See clause 5, which states the position in each country.
Money transmission, remittance and peer-to-peer transfer	Transmitting funds for another person, currency exchange, remittance, wire transfer, cheque cashing, stored-value issuance and peer-to-peer payment services. See clause 5.
Aggregation and processing for others	Submitting Transactions on behalf of another business, sharing an account with another business, passing another business’s sales through the Merchant’s account, and acting as a payment intermediary. Clause B.4(g) of the Agreement prohibits this independently of this policy.

Personal data, reputation and academic integrity

Category	What this covers
Sale of personal information and lead lists	Sale, licensing or brokerage of personal information, marketing lists, contact databases and consumer profiles, whether or not the individuals consented to the original collection.
Sale of engagement, followers, reviews and ratings	Supply of followers, likes, views, votes, reviews, ratings or endorsements that do not originate from a genuine independent user, and services that create, inflate or remove them.
Essay mills and academic fraud	Preparation of work to be submitted as a student’s own, sale of examination or assessment content, and impersonation of a student in an assessment.
Fortune telling, psychic and occult services	Clairvoyance, mediumship, spell work, curse removal and comparable services sold as producing an outcome that cannot be substantiated.

Account and Transaction integrity

Category	What this covers
Shell entities and Transactions with no commercial purpose	A business with no genuine trading activity, any Transaction that does not correspond to a real sale of goods or services to a real Customer, and processing the Merchant’s own card, or that of its principals, other than for a genuine purchase.
Delivery more than one year after payment	Any sale in which the goods or services are not to be delivered or performed within twelve (12) months of the Transaction, and any deposit taken against such a sale.
Businesses previously terminated or listed	A business, or a business controlled by a person, that RapidCents has previously terminated, or that appears on a terminated merchant file maintained by an Association, for as long as the listing stands.
Gambling and games played for money	Casino, sportsbook, lottery, wagering, fantasy contests and games of skill played for money or anything of value, except to the extent clause 5 provides otherwise.

4. Restricted businesses requiring written approval

The businesses in this clause may be approved. None of them may submit a Transaction before RapidCents has approved that business in writing, and each is approved on conditions.

The second column of each table states what RapidCents normally requires before it will approve the category. It is the starting point and not the whole of it: RapidCents may impose any of the conditions described in clause 2, may impose more than one, and may vary them at any time under clause 8 while the account is open.

Cannabis in Canada, firearms and ammunition, licensed pharmacy and telemedicine, and the card-present sale of tobacco and nicotine products are also governed by clause 5, which prevails over this clause wherever it differs from it.

An approval lapses if a licence, registration or permit relied on for it expires, is suspended, is revoked or is materially varied. The Merchant must tell RapidCents within five (5) business days of that happening.

Submitting a Transaction for a Restricted business before RapidCents has approved it in writing is a breach of this policy, and RapidCents may respond to it under clause 9 as it would respond to a prohibited activity.

Fundraising, memberships and recurring commitments

Category	Normally required before approval
Registered charities and non-profits	Evidence of charitable registration or non-profit status, the identity of directors, and confirmation that funds are solicited for the purpose disclosed to the donor.
Crowdfunding and donation platforms	Underwriting of the platform and of how it screens the campaigns it hosts, a Reserve, and limits on campaign size and payout timing.
Subscription boxes and membership clubs	Disclosure of renewal terms, price and cancellation method at the point of sale, and a Reserve sized to the unfulfilled term.
Gyms, fitness studios and long-term memberships	Compliance with prepaid-services and contract-cancellation legislation in the province or state of sale, and a Reserve sized to unearned membership fees.

Selling in person, by telephone and at the door

Category	Normally required before approval
Door-to-door and direct sales	Direct-sales licensing where the province or state requires it, the cancellation rights the law of the buyer’s jurisdiction gives, and the contract and script used.
Outbound telemarketing	Registration where required, compliance with the National Do Not Call List in Canada and the equivalent registries in the United States, call-recording practice, and the script used.
Seminars, coaching and business-opportunity training	The materials sold, any earnings claim made and the evidence substantiating it, the refund policy, and a Reserve sized to programs paid for and not yet delivered.
Talent, modelling and casting agencies	Licensing where the province or state requires it, and confirmation that no fee is charged for representation that is not in fact provided.

Travel, events and anything delivered later

Category	Normally required before approval
Event ticketing, ticket resale and event planning taking deposits	Evidence that the event exists and is contracted, the refund and cancellation policy, and a Reserve sized to tickets sold for events not yet held.
Travel agencies, tour operators and airlines	Travel-seller registration where required, participation in a compensation fund where the province requires it, evidence of supplier arrangements, and a Reserve sized to bookings not yet travelled.
Lodging, short-term rental and hospitality	Municipal licensing and registration where required, the deposit and cancellation policy, and confirmation of who is responsible for resolving a guest dispute.

High-value, resale and stored-value goods

Category	Normally required before approval
Auction houses, pawnbrokers and consignment	Provincial, state or municipal licensing, records of provenance, and confirmation that no item is accepted without proof of title.
Art, collectibles, antiques and precious metals	Authentication and provenance practice, dealer registration where the law requires it, and a Reserve reflecting average ticket size.
Jewellery and luxury goods	Sourcing and authentication practice, fraud-screening controls for card-not-present sales, and a Reserve.
Prepaid and gift card sales	Confirmation that the product is closed-loop and redeemable only against the Merchant’s own goods and services. Open-loop prepaid and stored-value issuance is dealt with in clauses 3 and 5.

Regulated goods

Category	Normally required before approval
Firearms retail, ammunition and components	The licensing set out in clause 5, an age- and eligibility-verification process applied before transfer, and confirmation that no item prohibited by clause 3 is sold.
Knives, martial arts equipment, pepper spray and personal defence products	Confirmation that each item is lawful to sell and to possess in every jurisdiction the Merchant ships into, and age verification at the point of sale.
Fireworks and pyrotechnics	Federal, provincial or state licensing, storage and transport compliance, and restriction to the classes the licence covers.
Laboratory and research chemicals	Customer-verification practice, confirmation that no controlled precursor is sold, and refusal of consumer sales where the product is not a consumer product.

Health, wellness and animal care

Category	Normally required before approval
Nutraceuticals and supplements	Product licensing or registration where required, the claims made and the evidence substantiating them, and a Reserve where the offer is a subscription or a trial that converts to one.
Licensed pharmacy	Pharmacy licensing in every jurisdiction dispensed into, prescriber verification, and the conditions set out in clause 5.
Licensed telemedicine and online prescribing	Prescriber licensing in the patient’s jurisdiction, a description of the consultation model used, and the conditions set out in clause 5.
Veterinary telehealth	Veterinary licensing in the jurisdiction served, and confirmation that no controlled substance is prescribed remotely where that is not permitted.
Cannabis in Canada	The conditions set out in clause 5. Cannabis is prohibited in the United States and no approval is available there.

Technology, marketing and professional services

Category	Normally required before approval
Search engine optimization and digital marketing services	The deliverables sold, any ranking or results claim made, the refund policy, and a Reserve where fees are billed in advance.
Web hosting, domain sales and remote technical support	Abuse-handling practice, confirmation that no support is sold on the basis of an unsolicited contact or a fabricated fault, and identity verification of the Merchant’s principals.
Computer and software resale	Sourcing evidence, the right to distribute any software sold, and fraud-screening controls for card-not-present sales.
Publishing and self-publishing services	The services included, the delivery schedule, and a Reserve sized to work paid for and not yet delivered.
Legal services taking retainers	Confirmation of licensing to practise, and that retainer funds are held as the governing law society or bar requires.
Debt settlement and credit counselling	Licensing where the province or state requires it, fee disclosure before the Customer commits, and confirmation that no fee is taken in advance where the law prohibits it.

Platforms, fulfilment, vehicles and virtual goods

Category	Normally required before approval
Marketplaces and platforms with their own sellers	Seller onboarding and screening practice, the payout model, a Reserve, and an express written approval of the marketplace arrangement — without which clause B.4(g) of the Agreement prohibits processing for third parties.
Dropshipping and freight forwarding	Supplier arrangements, stated delivery times, the proportion of orders fulfilled by a third party, and a Reserve sized to undelivered orders.
Vehicle sales, towing, mobile repair and parts	Dealer or trade licensing where required, disclosure of pricing before the service is performed, and confirmation that no charge is raised without the Customer’s authorization.
Gaming, in-game currency and virtual goods	Confirmation that no item is exchangeable for money or anything of value outside the game, age verification, and a Reserve. Anything played for money is dealt with in clause 5.
Dating and companionship services	The service model, age and identity verification, refund and cancellation terms, and confirmation that no sexual service is offered, arranged or facilitated.

Approved on the strength of the business rather than the product

Category	Normally required before approval
A business trading under two years in a category RapidCents treats as high risk	Additional underwriting of the business, its principals and its beneficial owners, a Reserve, volume and average-ticket limits, and re-verification at intervals RapidCents sets.
An emerging industry whose regulatory treatment is not settled	A written description of the activity and of the legal basis on which it is carried on, with approval limited to the activity described and reassessed as the regulatory position develops.

5. Categories treated differently in Canada and the United States

RapidCents processes in both countries, and the same product is not always treated the same way in each. Cannabis is the clearest example: licensed and restricted in Canada, prohibited in the United States no matter what a state allows. Read the column for your country, not the other one.

RapidCents processes in Canada and in the United States. The categories in this clause are governed by different law in each country, and for several of them a single rule stated for both would be wrong in one of them. This clause states the treatment of each category in each country and prevails over clauses 3 and 4 wherever it differs from them.

Country means the country in which the Merchant’s selling entity is established and from which it sells. A Merchant that sells into the other country must satisfy the requirements of both, and RapidCents applies the stricter of the two.

Treatment by country

Category	Canada	United States
Cannabis and cannabis-derived products	Restricted. Approval requires a valid licence issued under the Cannabis Act for the activity carried on, any provincial or territorial authorization the sale requires, age verification at the point of sale, and restriction to the products and channels the licence covers. Approval also requires the Acquirer and the Associations to permit the category; they may decline it, and RapidCents cannot approve what they refuse.	Prohibited. Cannabis remains a controlled substance under United States federal law, and state legalization does not change that. Hemp-derived and CBD products are also declined under this policy, whether or not a particular product is federally lawful, because RapidCents does not underwrite that distinction.
Firearms, ammunition and components	Restricted. Approval requires a business firearms licence issued under the Firearms Act for the activity carried on, verification of the purchaser’s licence and eligibility before transfer, and restriction to non-restricted items unless RapidCents approves otherwise in writing. Prohibited firearms and devices, and the items listed in clause 3, may not be sold at all.	Restricted. Approval requires a current Federal Firearms Licence for the activity carried on, a documented background-check process operated through a licensee, and compliance with the law of every state shipped into. Unserialized firearms, unfinished receivers and conversion devices may not be sold at all.
Gambling, gaming and games of skill played for money	Prohibited unless RapidCents approves it in writing. Approval requires a licence or authorization from each province or territory the Merchant accepts play from. Provincial regulators generally reserve online gaming to themselves or to operators they register, so a Merchant without that authorization cannot be approved.	Prohibited unless RapidCents approves it in writing. Approval requires a licence in every state the Merchant accepts play from, a geolocation control that refuses play from states where it is not licensed, and compliance with federal restrictions on transmitting wagers across state lines. Approval is not available to an operator relying on an offshore licence.
Tobacco, vaping and nicotine products	Remote sale is prohibited under clause 3. Card-present sale at a licensed retail location is Restricted and requires the applicable provincial tobacco or vapour-products retail licence, age verification at the point of sale, and compliance with provincial restrictions on flavours and nicotine concentration, which differ by province.	Remote sale is prohibited under clause 3, and federal law restricts shipping vapour and nicotine products by mail. Card-present sale at a licensed retail location is Restricted and requires the applicable state and local tobacco licence, age verification at the point of sale, and compliance with state restrictions on flavoured products, which differ by state.
Pharmaceuticals, pharmacy and telemedicine	Restricted. A pharmacy must be licensed by the regulatory college of every province it dispenses into. A telemedicine service must use prescribers licensed in the patient’s province, and a prescription must follow an assessment by that prescriber; a questionnaire completed without one is not accepted. Controlled substances may not be prescribed or dispensed on a remote consultation where the province does not permit it.	Restricted. A pharmacy must hold a licence in every state it dispenses into and, where the activity requires it, a DEA registration. A telemedicine service must use prescribers licensed in the patient’s state, and prescribing a controlled substance remotely is subject to federal requirements that a questionnaire does not satisfy. Sale of prescription drugs without a prescription, and importation for resale, are prohibited under clause 3.
Cryptocurrency, digital assets and NFTs	Prohibited. Exchange, brokerage, custody, mining, token issuance and NFT issuance are not supported. A business dealing in virtual currency is a money services business required to register with FINTRAC, and RapidCents does not underwrite the category. A Merchant that takes card payment for ordinary goods and services, and separately holds digital assets on its own account, is not within this row for that reason alone.	Prohibited, on the same terms. A business exchanging, transmitting or administering virtual currency is a money services business required to register with FinCEN and, in most states, to hold a money transmitter licence. RapidCents does not underwrite the category.
Money services, remittance and peer-to-peer transfer	Prohibited without RapidCents’ prior written approval. Approval requires the Merchant’s own registration as a money services business with FINTRAC, evidence of its compliance program, and the Acquirer’s consent, which may not be given. Handling funds for another person without that approval breaches this policy and clause B.4(g) of the Agreement.	Prohibited without RapidCents’ prior written approval. Approval requires the Merchant’s own registration as a money services business with FinCEN, a money transmitter licence in every state it serves or a documented exemption, evidence of its compliance program, and the Acquirer’s consent, which may not be given.

This clause states how RapidCents underwrites these categories. It is not legal advice, and it does not relieve a Merchant of the obligation to determine for itself what the law of its own jurisdiction requires of it.

6. Conduct rules that apply to every Merchant

These rules apply to every Merchant, in every category, including a Merchant in an approved Restricted category and a Merchant whose business is not named anywhere in this policy.

• Lawful use. Use the Services only for lawful purposes, and only in a manner consistent with the Agreement, the Network Rules and the law of every jurisdiction the Merchant sells into.
• Own sales only. Use the Services only to take payment for the Merchant’s own genuine goods and services, sold to a real Customer. Do not submit a Transaction on behalf of another business, for a person who could not obtain an account of their own, or for anything the Merchant has not in fact sold.
• Accurate description. Describe accurately and completely what is being sold, including the price, the currency, the total the Customer will be charged, when it will be delivered, and the name the Merchant trades under. Use a billing descriptor the Customer will recognize.
• No deceptive or high-pressure selling. Do not use false scarcity, a countdown that resets, a pre-checked consent, an undisclosed negative option, an obstructed cancellation path, or any other practice designed to obtain a payment the Customer would not otherwise have made.
• No hidden charges. Disclose every charge before the Customer pays, including shipping, taxes, currency conversion, and every recurring amount and the date on which each will be taken. Do not raise a charge the Customer has not authorized.
• No fabricated endorsement. Do not publish or commission a testimonial, review, rating or endorsement that is not genuine, and do not suppress genuine ones in order to misrepresent the balance of opinion.
• No unsubstantiated claims. Do not make a claim about results, income, health or performance that cannot be substantiated on the evidence held at the time the claim is made.
• Electronic messages. Send commercial electronic messages only with the consent, identification and unsubscribe mechanism Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation requires, and comply with the equivalent requirements in the United States. Honour an unsubscribe request promptly.
• No abuse of others. Do not use the Services in connection with harassment, threats, defamation, hate speech, or the promotion of violence or self-harm.
• Personal information. Collect and use personal information only where there is a lawful basis and, where required, consent; keep it only as long as it is needed; and protect it. Cardholder data must be handled as clause D.2 of the Agreement and the PCI DSS require.
• No circumvention. Do not evade, disable or interfere with RapidCents’ risk, fraud, verification or compliance controls, and do not misrepresent a Transaction’s nature, amount, currency, country or Customer in order to obtain an authorization.
• One account. Do not open or operate a second account, or an account in the name of another person or entity, in order to evade a limit, a Reserve, a suspension, a termination or a listing on a terminated merchant file.

7. Your approved business type, and telling us before it changes

A RapidCents account is approved for the business described in the Merchant’s application: what it sells, how it sells it, the countries it sells into, the channels it uses, and the average and maximum Transaction size it stated. That description, together with any condition imposed under clause 4, defines what the account is approved to process.

The Merchant must tell RapidCents in writing before, and not after, it does any of the following: adds a product or service line that falls in a Restricted or Prohibited category, or that materially differs from what it described; begins selling into a country it did not describe; adds a sales channel it did not describe, including moving from card-present to card-not-present selling or beginning to sell by telephone or at the door; changes its ownership, its control or the entity that trades; materially increases its average Transaction size or its monthly volume beyond what it described; or begins taking payment for goods or services to be delivered materially later than it described.

Approving an account is not approving everything the Merchant may later add to it. A product added after approval is subject to this policy as it stands when the product is added, and neither the passage of time nor the fact that Transactions for it have been authorized and settled makes it approved.

A Merchant that moves into a Prohibited category is in breach of this policy from the moment it does so, whether or not it has told RapidCents and whether or not RapidCents has discovered it. A Merchant that moves into a Restricted category without written approval is in breach from the moment it submits the first Transaction for that activity.

8. Monitoring, evidence and classification

RapidCents assesses a business when it applies, and continues to assess it for as long as the account is open. Assessment includes review of the application and the documents supporting it, verification of identity and beneficial ownership under the KYC Policy, sanctions and adverse-media screening, review of the Merchant’s website, marketing, terms and refund policy, monitoring of Transaction, Chargeback, refund and complaint patterns against the thresholds referred to in clause B.5 of the Agreement, and information received from the Acquirer, the Associations, a regulator or a Customer.

RapidCents may at any time require the Merchant to provide, within the time RapidCents specifies: any licence, registration, permit or authorization relied on for approval and evidence that it remains valid; a description of the goods or services sold and of the claims made about them; supplier, sourcing or fulfilment records; the identity of principals and beneficial owners with supporting identification; financial statements, bank statements and processing history; the Merchant’s policies for age verification, refunds, cancellation and complaint handling; and any other information RapidCents reasonably requires in order to assess compliance with this policy. Failure to provide it, within the time specified, is itself a ground for suspension under clause B.5 of the Agreement.

RapidCents determines which category a business falls in, whether it is Prohibited or Restricted, and whether a condition of approval has been met. That determination is RapidCents’ to make and is final. RapidCents may reassess any business at any time, including one it has already approved, and may withdraw an approval, impose a new condition, vary a Reserve or reclassify the business, on notice through the merchant dashboard or by email.

Monitoring is carried out for RapidCents’ own risk and compliance purposes. It is not a review conducted for the Merchant’s benefit, and the fact that RapidCents has not raised an issue does not mean the Merchant is compliant with this policy.

9. What happens if you breach this policy

RapidCents can switch off processing without warning, hold the money in your account and put a Reserve in place while it investigates, and close the account. It decides what a breach warrants, and it does not have to warn you first or give you time to fix it.

Where RapidCents reasonably suspects that a Merchant has breached this policy, it may do any of the following, in any order and without prior notice: suspend the Services in whole or in part under clause B.5 of the Agreement; decline or reverse individual Transactions; hold the funds in the Merchant’s account and any funds in transit until its investigation and any related dispute are resolved; establish or increase a Reserve under clause C.7 of the Agreement, or extend the period for which a Reserve is held; change the payout schedule or suspend payouts under clause C.6; require the Merchant to correct the breach within a time RapidCents specifies; withdraw an approval given under clause 4; and terminate the Agreement under clause F.1.3.

Funds held under this clause do not bear interest payable to the Merchant, as clauses C.6 and C.7 of the Agreement provide. Suspension or termination does not release the Merchant from liability for Transactions already processed, including Chargebacks and refunds that arise afterwards, as clause A.5 of the Agreement provides.

The Merchant must cooperate with an investigation under this clause and must provide the information RapidCents requests under clause 8. RapidCents may continue to hold funds until its investigation, and any inquiry by the Acquirer, an Association, a regulator or a law-enforcement authority, is resolved to RapidCents’ satisfaction.

RapidCents decides what response a breach warrants. It may act on a first breach; it is not required to give a warning, to allow a period in which to cure the breach, or to respond as it has responded to another Merchant or to the same Merchant on an earlier occasion.

10. Reporting, recovery of costs, and no waiver

RapidCents may report a breach of this policy, and the facts surrounding it, to the Acquirer, to the Associations, to a card network terminated merchant file, and to a regulator, a law-enforcement authority or a court, where it is required or permitted to do so. Where Canadian anti-money-laundering legislation requires a report to FINTRAC, RapidCents will make it, and it will not tell the Merchant that it has done so where the law prohibits it from doing so.

Listing on a terminated merchant file is a consequence of termination that RapidCents does not control once the listing is made. The file is maintained by the Association concerned, and a listing generally makes it difficult for the Merchant to obtain card processing elsewhere for the period the Association sets.

The Merchant must reimburse RapidCents for the amounts RapidCents actually incurs as a result of the Merchant’s breach of this policy. Those amounts are: fines and assessments actually levied on RapidCents or on the Acquirer by an Association or a regulator and passed on to RapidCents; the cost of an investigation, audit or forensic review actually carried out because of the breach; Chargebacks, refunds and losses arising from the activity in breach; and legal and professional fees actually incurred. RapidCents will, on request, provide evidence of the amount claimed and of what it was levied or incurred for.

This clause is a right of recovery and not a penalty. RapidCents does not charge a fee for breaching this policy and does not claim an amount exceeding what it has actually incurred. That is consistent with clause A.4 of the Agreement, under which RapidCents charges no early termination fee and imposes no cancellation penalty of any kind, and clause B.5 of the Agreement — under which the Merchant reimburses the fees, fines, losses and costs RapidCents incurs — is to be read the same way. An amount recoverable under this clause may be set off against funds held, as clause F.9 of the Agreement provides.

Not exercising a right under this policy, or delaying in exercising it, is not a waiver of that right or of any other right, and is not a waiver of the same right on a later occasion. Permitting an activity once, or failing to detect it, does not approve it. A waiver is effective only if RapidCents gives it in writing, and it extends only as far as its terms.

11. Changes to this policy

RapidCents may change this policy. The effective date and the date last revised appear at the top of this page, and the current version is the one published at rapidcents.com. Where a change adds a category to clause 3 or clause 4, or imposes a new condition on an existing category, RapidCents will give notice through the merchant dashboard or by email before the change takes effect — except where the change is required by law, by a regulator, by the Acquirer or by the Network Rules, in which case it takes effect when RapidCents applies it.

Continuing to use the Services after a change takes effect is acceptance of the changed policy. A Merchant that does not accept a change may close its account under clause F.1.2 of the Agreement, which RapidCents charges nothing to do.

A question about whether a business falls within this policy, and a request for approval of a Restricted business, should be sent to [email protected] before the first Transaction rather than after it.