You cannot use Shopify to sell payday loans, run MLM businesses, or offer unlicensed investment services, even if your business has the required licenses.
Merchants operating licensed financial services businesses in categories Shopify has banned — such as short-term lending or certain investment platforms — risk account termination even with full regulatory compliance, forcing reliance on alternative e-commerce infrastructure.
Cross-platform context
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Compare across platforms →This provision restricts entire business models — including some that are licensed and legal — effectively making Shopify unavailable to compliant lenders, network marketers, and financial services firms in certain categories.
REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: This provision engages the Truth in Lending Act (TILA, 15 U.S.C. § 1601), Dodd-Frank Act (12 U.S.C. § 5481), state money transmission laws (e.g., California DFPI, New York DFS), CFPB regulations on payday lending (12 C.F.R. Part 1041), FTC Act Section 5 for deceptive financial product marketing, and SEC/FINRA regulations for unlicensed investment services. The CFPB, FTC, SEC, FINRA, and state financial regulators hold concurrent enforcement authority.
Compliance intelligence locked
Regulatory citations, enforcement risk, and due diligence action items.
Watcher: regulatory citations. Professional: full compliance memo.