A plain note on the September date
Read this first, because it limits everything else on this page. The version of Stripe's Prohibited and Restricted Businesses page read for this article on November 3, 2026 carries the two-item update banner at the top, but it prints no date next to that banner. Secondary summaries of the list date the version September 22, 2026. This article does not present that date as Stripe's own wording, because it was not found on Stripe's own page in this check. The title keeps "September 2026" as the research label for this update; the verified content is the two banner changes below, which are Stripe's own words. If you need a dated version for a compliance file, capture Stripe's page yourself on the day you rely on it — do not cite this article as proof of a September date.
The same caution applies to the rest of the list. Stripe states that the businesses it names are "representative" of its prohibited and restricted categories, "but this is not an exhaustive list." A category not named on this page is therefore not proof that Stripe supports it. Check your exact business model, product and jurisdiction against the live page before you apply, launch a new product line, or tell a partner you are covered.
What actually changed: the two banner items
Stripe's banner states the two changes in full, in its own words, as follows: it has "clarified our stance on tobacco products in the United States" and it has "updated credit monitoring services from prohibited to supportable in the United States." Nothing else is named in the banner. In particular, the banner does not say that any other category moved between prohibited, restricted and supportable, and this article claims no such move.
| Banner change | What Stripe's list now shows | What it does not mean |
|---|
| Tobacco stance clarified (United States) | Tobacco sits in the Restricted Businesses section: tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars and e-liquid sold in accordance with applicable law. In the United States, merchants selling electronic tobacco may only sell products authorised by the Food and Drug Administration, and Stripe points to the FDA list. | It does not move tobacco to "prohibited" or to unrestricted. It is still a restricted category requiring additional due diligence, and the US electronic-tobacco condition still applies. |
| Credit monitoring: prohibited to supportable (United States) | Under Prohibited Businesses, "Lending and credit," the line now reads: "Credit monitoring (supportable in the United States), credit repair and counselling services." | It does not make credit repair or counselling services supportable. Read with the banner, the US carve-out is for credit monitoring; the same line still lists credit repair and counselling services as prohibited. It also does not say the position is the same outside the United States. |
Two reading cautions matter here. First, "clarified" is Stripe's word for the tobacco item, not "moved" or "loosened": the practical change for a tobacco merchant is that the US position is now stated more precisely, including the FDA-authorisation condition for electronic tobacco — not that the category has left the restricted list. Second, a move to "supportable" for credit monitoring in the United States is a category change, not an individual approval: a credit-monitoring business still has to pass Stripe's normal account checks, and any restricted approval that does apply is specific to a service offer, as explained below.
What did not change — and what the list still says
Because the banner names only two items, the rest of the list should be read as the standing position, not as newly changed. In summary, from Stripe's own page as read on November 3, 2026:
Prohibited — industries that cannot use Stripe, and products Stripe does not support — still includes adult content and services (including AI-generated content meeting those criteria), gambling (including games of chance and skill with a monetary or material prize, lotteries and bidding-fee auctions), cannabis products and dispensaries, CBD products with THC above the applicable local limit, debt-relief companies, debt-collection agencies, peer-to-peer money transmission, commercial airlines and cruises, timeshare services, counterfeit goods, and multi-level marketing services offering commission or recruitment-based sales. This is a summary, not the full list — the page's own categories govern.
Restricted — industries and products that require additional due diligence — still includes content-creation platforms, crowdfunding and fundraising, online dating and matchmaking, cyberlockers, low-THC CBD (only negligible amounts of THC, per local limits), cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets (limited availability), financial products and services including lending, buy-now-pay-later, money transmitters and neobanks, legal firearms and other weapons (limited availability), pharmaceuticals, medical devices and telemedicine, tobacco (as above), stored value and first-party NFT minting and sales, third-party payment facilitation and aggregation, and travel reservation services and clubs. Several restricted items carry their own "limited availability" note directing the merchant to contact Stripe's sales team.
Jurisdiction-specific prohibitions still apply on top of the main lists. For the United States, Stripe's jurisdiction table names extended warranties, medical benefit packages not offered by a government or health insurance company, mortgage consulting, and shipping brokers and freight forwarders without prior authorisation from Stripe. A merchant that is supportable in one country can therefore be prohibited in another — always read the jurisdiction row for where you operate, not just the main category.
Prohibited uses still apply regardless of industry. Stripe's page prohibits, among other things, using its products with false, manipulated, inaccurate or misleading information about identity, entity or the nature of the business; facilitating transactions for another undisclosed merchant or for products or services not disclosed in the account application; and evasion of card-network chargeback monitoring programmes. A merchant whose category is supportable can still breach the list by selling an undisclosed product line through the same account.
What "restricted" means for a high-risk merchant
Restricted is not a ban, and it is not a green light. Stripe's own explanation is that businesses in restricted categories require additional due diligence to confirm Stripe's ability to support them; when you create an account you will be asked for additional information, such as proof of relevant licences or more details about your business model, to confirm eligibility. Because of card-network rules, financial-partner requirements and Stripe's own compliance and legal obligations, Stripe might not be able to grant approval at all. That sentence is the most important one for a high-risk merchant: restricted means "maybe, after checks," not "yes, with a delay."
If approval is given, Stripe states two limits that merchants routinely miss. First, the approval is specific to each service offer. Adding a new product line is not covered by an old approval for a different offer. Second, the approval may be modified or revoked by Stripe at any time, per the terms of the Stripe Services Agreement. This article found no grandfathering promise on the page: an approval that was valid when granted is not described as permanent, and a later list change can therefore affect an existing merchant. That is why the practical advice is to re-check the live page before every new offer, not just at sign-up.
For a merchant that finds itself on the prohibited side, the page leaves no approval route to argue: prohibited businesses are industries that cannot use Stripe and products Stripe does not support. The honest next step is a processor underwritten for that industry before processing begins, rather than an application that describes the business inaccurately — inaccurate disclosure is itself a prohibited use, as noted above. For a restricted merchant, the honest next step is the opposite: disclose the exact model, hold the licences Stripe asks for, and keep the website and the application describing the same business.
The dispute-ratio context, exactly as Stripe states it
A restricted-list update does not change a merchant's dispute thresholds, and the two subjects are often confused. Stripe's dispute documentation, "Measuring disputes," draws a distinction that matters for any merchant watching its ratio:
Dispute activity is the percentage of disputes on successful payments by dispute date. Dispute rate is the percentage of disputes on successful payments by charge date. The card networks' dispute and card-fraud monitoring programmes use the dispute-activity calculation. If dispute activity exceeds the networks' thresholds for a prolonged period of time — usually multiple months — the business might be subject to fines. Stripe's worked example makes the gap concrete: 1,000 payments in a week with 10 disputes received that week gives 1% dispute activity, but only 0.3% dispute rate if just 3 of those disputes came from that week's payments.
On the 0.75% figure: Stripe's documentation states that "the credit card processing industry standard recognizes dispute activity above 0.75% as excessive," and that other factors — such as a sudden spike or a steep upward trend — can trigger placement in a monitoring programme before dispute activity reaches the 0.75% threshold. Note the scope carefully. Stripe presents 0.75% as an industry-standard recognition for dispute activity, not as Stripe's own threshold and not as a Visa or Mastercard programme threshold stated on that page. This article therefore does not present 0.75% as a Stripe rule, a Visa VAMP threshold, or a Mastercard threshold. All disputes, whether won or lost, count — Stripe's page says they count towards the dispute rate in that section, and the monitoring programmes it describes run on dispute activity — so winning disputes does not clean the ratio. Cardholders can dispute a charge up to 120 days after payment, and sometimes even later, which is why a recent period's figures can still move.
For the network programmes themselves, see the site's dedicated guides: Visa VAMP threshold guide, Mastercard ECM / HECM guide, Merchant monitoring programs explained, and Chargeback ratio explained. Do not mix their programme thresholds into Stripe's 0.75% industry-standard line — they are different measurements, and this article states no VAMP or ECM threshold, because none was verified on Stripe's own pages for this build.
Merchant checklist before you rely on the update
Work through these in order, against the live Stripe page — not against a summary, including this one:
1. Find your exact category and your jurisdiction row. A tobacco merchant and a credit-monitoring merchant are affected differently, and a US row can differ from another country's row. If your product sits in two categories (for example, a restricted product sold through a restricted platform model), both apply.
2. If you are restricted, prepare the due-diligence file first. Licences, a business-model description that matches your website, and evidence for any regulated claim. Expect Stripe to ask for more, and expect that it might still not approve the offer.
3. If you are adding an offer, treat it as a new approval question. Approval is specific to each service offer and may be modified or revoked. Do not launch the new line on the strength of an old approval.
4. Match your website to your application, product by product. Undisclosed products and undisclosed merchants are prohibited uses in their own right, separate from the category lists.
5. Watch dispute activity, not just dispute rate. The networks' monitoring programmes run on activity by dispute date; a spike can trigger placement before the 0.75% industry-standard level, and won disputes still count. Use the site's Merchant Monitoring Program Checker, VAMP Threshold Checker and Chargeback Ratio Calculator to track the separate measurements rather than a single blended ratio.
6. If your category is prohibited, stop at the list. Do not re-describe the business to fit a supportable category. If Stripe later closes or restricts an account, see Stripe closed account: money held and Merchant account termination guide — and keep the dispute-response discipline in Stripe disputes merchant playbook and Merchant response deadlines explained, because a lost category argument does not excuse a missed response deadline.
FAQ
What did Stripe actually change in the September 2026 restricted-list update?
On Stripe's own page, the update banner names exactly two changes: a clarified stance on tobacco products in the United States, and credit monitoring services moved from prohibited to supportable in the United States. No other category change is named in the banner.
Is tobacco now prohibited or allowed on Stripe?
Neither, in those terms. Tobacco is a restricted category: it requires additional due diligence, it must be sold in accordance with applicable law, and in the United States merchants selling electronic tobacco may only sell FDA-authorised products.
Does the credit-monitoring change cover credit repair?
No, on the page as read. The prohibited "Lending and credit" line reads "Credit monitoring (supportable in the United States), credit repair and counselling services" — the US carve-out is for credit monitoring, and credit repair and counselling services remain on that prohibited line.
Does Stripe's page give a September date for the update?
No — not in the version read on November 3, 2026. The banner carries no date. Secondary summaries date the version September 22, 2026, but this article does not present that date as Stripe's own wording.
Is 0.75% Stripe's dispute threshold?
No. Stripe's dispute documentation says the credit-card processing industry standard recognizes dispute activity above 0.75% as excessive. It is an industry-standard recognition for dispute activity, not a Stripe threshold and not a Visa or Mastercard programme threshold stated on that page. A spike or steep upward trend can trigger programme placement before 0.75%.
If Stripe approved my restricted business, is that approval permanent?
No. Stripe states that restricted approval is specific to each service offer and may be modified or revoked at any time per the Stripe Services Agreement. Re-check the live list before adding any new offer.
Related reading
For the network programmes behind the dispute context, see Merchant monitoring programs explained, Visa VAMP threshold guide and Mastercard ECM / HECM guide — and note that winning a chargeback does not fix your ratio and VAMP alerts do not protect your ratio. For the merchant tools, use the Merchant Monitoring Program Checker, the VAMP Threshold Checker and the Chargeback Ratio Calculator.
Sources (verified November 3, 2026): Stripe, "Prohibited and Restricted Businesses" (stripe.com/gb/legal/restricted-businesses, read November 3, 2026) — update banner (tobacco clarification, US; credit monitoring prohibited to supportable, US), prohibited and restricted category lists, representative-not-exhaustive statement, restricted-approval terms (additional due diligence; approval specific to each service offer; may be modified or revoked per the Stripe Services Agreement), jurisdiction-specific table (United States row), and prohibited uses; Stripe Documentation, "Measuring disputes" (docs.stripe.com/disputes/measuring, read November 3, 2026) — dispute activity vs dispute rate definitions, network monitoring programmes using dispute activity, prolonged-period fines note, 0.75% industry-standard recognition for dispute activity, spike/trend trigger note, all-disputes-count note, and the 120-day cardholder dispute window. No September date, fee, payout-hold period, VAMP threshold or ECM threshold is claimed from Stripe's own pages in this article, because none was verified there for this build; see the date note above for the September 22 date found only in secondary summaries.
General information only — not legal advice. Stripe's lists change and vary by jurisdiction and product; the live Stripe page, your Stripe agreement and your processor govern your case. No outcome or approval is guaranteed by anything described here.
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