Prohibited activities
American Express does not allow platforms operating in the following prohibited activities:- Bail/bail bond
- Bankruptcy services
- Check cashing/guarantee
- Child pornography
- Collection agencies
- Commercial leasing
- Credit financing
- Credit restoration
- Cryptocurrency
- Debt repayment (past due or defaulted)
- Escort services
- Gambling, for example but not limited to: regulated (real money) betting, including casino, poker and sports betting; advance-deposit wagering, including horse/dog racing; fantasy sports; skill-based, pay-to-play games that award monetary prizes; games of chance that are not free to enter and award monetary prizes; non-government-owned or run lotteries; gambling chips; gambling credits
- Investments, for example but not limited to: securities; investment on future contracts and commodities trading; equity crowdfunding
- Licensed insolvency practitioners
- Marijuana-related businesses
- Online adult entertainment
- Payday lending
- Prostitution
- Real estate down payments
- Virtual currencies
- Wire transfers in person (not online)
Restricted activities
The following business activities are restricted and would require Mangopay to obtain written consent from American Express:- Auction houses
- Bullion
- Cash at point of sale / cash on card
- Charities, crowdfunding and not-for-profit activities
- Dating services
- Digital file hosting (cyberlockers)
- Door-to-door sales
- Foreign exchange
- Multi-level marketing or pyramid selling
- Non-travel-related memberships / subscriptions
- Payment facilitator
- Payment intermediaries: back-to-back staged wallet transactions, buy-now-pay-later transactions or top-up transactions
- Pharmacies (card not present)
- Political party donations
- Telemarketing – travel related
- Timeshares
- Tobacco and smokeless tobacco retailers (card not present)
- Topup wallet (managed by merchants, not intermediaries)
- Travel industry suppliers: air travel, cruise lines, car rentals, lodging, travel agencies and tour operators)
- Wine futures
Prohibited transactions
Your platform must not accept American Express cards for any of the following:- Damages, losses, penalties, or fines of any kind;
- Costs or fees over the normal price of the goods or services (plus applicable taxes) or charges that card members have not specifically approved;
- Overdue amounts, or amounts covering returned or stop-payment checks;
- Adult digital content sold via Internet Electronic Delivery Transactions;
- Cash;
- Sales made by third parties or entities conducting business in industries other than your platform;
- Amounts that do not represent bona fide sales of goods or services on your platform (e.g., the “funding” of an account without a corresponding provision of goods/services to another person is prohibited, as are purchases by the owners (or their family members) or employees of your platform contrived for cash flow purposes);
- Illegal business transactions; or
- Other items of which American Express may notify Mangopay.