Compliance & Our Commitment to Merchants
GivePayments builds compliance into underwriting rather than bolting it on, reviewing licensing, certifications, KYC/AML, and card-network rules before boarding, and obtaining sponsor concurrence for restricted categories. Our core commitment is no surprise deplatforming, and reserves are disclosed in writing and taper as you prove out.
- No surprise deplatforming
- Compliance built into underwriting
- Reserves disclosed in writing
Foundation, not trapdoor
Compliance as a foundation, not a trapdoor
Most high-risk merchants have a deplatforming story. They signed up with a mainstream processor in minutes, ran clean for a while, and then woke up one day to a frozen account and an email citing a policy they were never really underwritten against. That pattern isn't an accident, it's the business model. Instant-signup aggregators don't seriously underwrite high-risk merchants at boarding; they board fast and use offboarding as a substitute for the diligence they skipped. Compliance, for them, is a reason to terminate later.
We treat it as the opposite: a foundation we build the account on. We do the compliance work before boarding, so the merchants we approve were vetted to be boardable in the first place, and an account that started on solid footing doesn't need to be ripped out when it gets busy. That single difference in sequence is why our merchants don't live with the constant low-grade fear of a surprise freeze.
Our commitment
Our no-surprise-deplatform commitment
The commitment we make is plain: you won't be dropped without cause or explanation. That's not the same as promising we'll never act on a genuine violation, no honest processor can promise that, and a sponsor bank's rules and the card networks' are real constraints. What we promise is process.
If a legitimate compliance or risk issue arises, we address it through communication and a defined path, not a silent freeze on a Friday afternoon. And because we underwrote you properly going in, the odds of getting there are far lower to begin with. This commitment is why we link this page from every gated vertical, it's the thing high-risk merchants most need to be able to trust.
Before we board
What we review before we board
Compliance lives inside underwriting. Before an account goes live we review the legal and regulatory groundwork that keeps it lawful and stable from day one.
- Legal and regulatory basis for the business, that it's lawful in the places and ways it operates.
- Licensing where the category requires it, for example money-transmitter licensing for an MSB.
- Certifications such as LegitScript, effectively mandatory for certain health verticals like GLP-1/weight-loss, both to process and to advertise.
- KYC and AML procedures appropriate to the category, with deeper scrutiny for BSA/AML-regulated businesses.
- Card-network rules that apply to the vertical, including the Visa VAMP and Mastercard BRAM monitoring programs.
Restricted categories
Sponsor concurrence for restricted categories
Some categories can be boarded, but only with the sponsor bank's pre-approval of the specific merchant, what the industry calls concurrence. This applies to restricted verticals: negative-option and free-trial billing, pure card-not-present nutraceuticals, marketplaces and PayFac models, commercial crowdfunding, MLM and direct sales, MSBs, and online gaming.
Concurrence adds a review step and some time and a few extra documents, and it's precisely what lets these categories be boarded stably instead of not at all. We manage that process on your behalf rather than handing you a requirement and walking away.
Reserves
Reserves, disclosed and tapering
Compliance and risk controls include reserves, and our stance there is the same as everywhere else: transparency first. Any reserve is disclosed up front in writing, percentage, hold period, and taper, in your underwriting memo, and it shrinks as you build clean history rather than being held indefinitely.
A reserve sprung after a big sale, or one that never moves regardless of your track record, is exactly the kind of thing this page exists to promise you won't get. The acceptable-use line matters here too: being transparent about compliance means being clear about what we don't board, so a processor that's honest about its limits up front is one you can trust not to surprise you later.
What we review
Every merchant vetted before we board
Compliance is built into underwriting, not bolted on after. KYB, beneficial ownership, and OFAC and PEP sanctions screening all happen before boarding, so the account that goes live is one the sponsor bank and the card networks are comfortable with, which is exactly why it stays live.
- OFAC and PEP sanctions screening
- KYB and beneficial-ownership review
- Handled up front, so there's no hidden tripwire
FAQ
Compliance at GivePayments
Does GivePayments deplatform merchants?
Our commitment is no surprise deplatforming. We underwrite a merchant properly before boarding, so we're not relying on offboarding as a substitute for diligence the way instant-signup aggregators do. If a genuine compliance or risk problem arises, we address it through communication and a defined process rather than a sudden freeze, because the merchants we board were vetted to be boardable in the first place. We can't promise never to act on a real violation, but we can promise you won't be dropped without cause or explanation.
How does GivePayments handle compliance?
Compliance is built into underwriting rather than bolted on afterward. We review the legal and regulatory basis of a business before boarding, licensing, certifications like LegitScript where required, KYC/AML for relevant categories, and the card-network rules that apply to the vertical. For restricted categories we obtain sponsor concurrence. The goal is an account that's lawful and stable from day one, so compliance is a foundation we build on, not a reason to terminate later.
What is sponsor concurrence and which businesses need it?
Some categories require the sponsor bank to pre-approve the specific merchant before boarding, that's concurrence. It applies to restricted verticals like negative-option/free-trial billing, pure card-not-present nutraceuticals, marketplaces and PayFac models, commercial crowdfunding, MLM, MSBs, and online gaming. It adds a review step and some time, but it's what makes these categories boardable stably rather than not at all. We manage the concurrence process for you.
Does GivePayments require LegitScript certification?
For certain health verticals, yes, LegitScript certification is effectively required to process and to advertise, particularly for GLP-1/weight-loss and similar categories. For others it depends on the model. We tell you up front whether your business needs it as part of underwriting, and we point you to how it interacts with approval rather than leaving you to discover the requirement after a decline.
Keep exploring
Compliance as a reason to board you well, not an excuse to drop you
If you run a high-risk business and want a processor that treats compliance as a foundation, get underwritten properly, or request a consultation for a restricted category.