Purpose
Ecommpay Ltd is a financial institution regulated by the FCA (607597). It is therefore imperative that the business complies with its regulatory obligations in addition to its banking, legal and reputational responsibilities.
Ecommpay has established an approach to define which industries, business services and customer types are prohibited or subject to certain restrictions in connection with the use of services or products supported by Ecommpay. The approach has been defined and assessed on certain risk factors, including: financial crime, regulatory compliance, card scheme compliance and credit risk and those imposed on the business through banking or other similar relationships.
Scope
In line with regulatory obligations and appropriate governance in managing risk, and adhering to ongoing compliance, Ecommpay has set out its approach with industries in connection with their customers and their transactions. For restricted scenarios, Ecommpay applies a risk-based approach in line with its Policy where in certain circumstances, subject to appropriate controls and enhanced due diligence, it may enter into a business relationship with such customer types. However, Ecommpay will not take decisions that could potentially cause irreparable damage to its business or relationships.
Where customers attempt to process activity through Ecommpay that is deemed to be prohibited or restricted, this would be considered to be acting in violation with Ecommpay’s contracts, business practices and policies. As such, Ecommpay would seek to terminate such relationships and/or claim for damages. The nature and purpose of the business relationship is determined at the due diligence phase, but as part of ongoing monitoring and oversight, if there are considerations that were to infringe on the business’s Policy, it would be seen to be acting in violation of the contracts in place for which the ultimate action is exit and termination.
Status Types
Prohibited
Ecommpay has zero appetite for providing its services or products to customers involved in activities that are:
- Illegal;
- In violation of any law, statute, regulation, order, mandate or similar that are either directly or indirectly applicable to the business;
- Unethical in nature to the extent it would bring harm to the business or its customers or groups of individuals or businesses that may be linked to the business;
- Perceived ‘Out of Risk Appetite’ to which exposure might lead to Ecommpay being in violation of the above or crucial relationships (banking and card schemes for example), and which has a direct impact on our:
- Operational Resiliency risk;
- Reputational risk;
- Legal risk;
- Regulatory and Compliance risk; and
- Fraud risk
This list is non-exhaustive.
Ecommpay prohibits business relationships with the following:
- Shell banks;
- Shell companies;
- Individuals or entities who intend to set up anonymous accounts or accounts in fictitious names;
- Unregistered charities;
- Bearer share companies (and operating as such);
- Businesses involved or linked to illegal / unlawful activity;
- Individuals or entities sanctioned by applicable law and/or regulations
In addition, Ecommpay prohibits business relationships and transactions with the following industries:
- Activities or payments that involve the use of an Informal Value Transfer System;
- Activities or transactions linked to wholesale cash distribution;
- Activities or transactions that appear to circumvent currency controls;
- Activities or transactions that involve third-party payment processors that resell their services to a third-party;
- Adult entertainment and Prostitution;
- Business or payments that do not appear to have legitimate purpose;
- Business practices involving modern slavery and/or human trafficking;
- Certain financial or other regulated services (unlicensed);
- Chemical industry;
- Disclosure of 3rd party information or unauthorised File Sharing;
- Faith, Belief, Fortune Tellers and Clairvoyancy;
- Military;
- Multi-level marketing;
- Narcotics, non-prescription products, and drug paraphernalia;
- Obscene items or services;
- Payments facilitating the sale/distribution or servicing of illegal products/services or unlawful activity;
- Political organisations or Government embassies;
- Ponzi/ pyramid selling schemes;
- Precious Metals;
- Telemarketing;
- Timeshares or other property reservation payments;
- Tobacco;
- Virtual Currency Exchanges and/or Crypto-asset Exchange Providers or Custodian Wallet Providers (that are direct customers), who are not duly licenced/registered in a jurisdiction, or where such jurisdiction does not require any licence/registration is not located in a FATF jurisdiction;
- Virtual Currency Mining;
- Weaponry and Ammunition
Restricted
Ecommpay refers to industries that are assessed to be of particular high risk but not prohibited as restricted. This requires further scrutiny and consists amongst its mandatory directives from its banking partners. Their category is based on the fact that they carry furthers risks in the following areas:
- Fraud risk
- Legal risk;
- Operational Resiliency risk;
- Regulatory and Compliance risk; and
- Reputational risk
This list is non-exhaustive.
Where it is determined that certain customers or business types are restricted in nature, a deeper understanding of the business alongside enhanced due diligence will be carried out prior to entering into any relationship.
More specifically, Ecommpay restricts business relationships and transactions with the following industries:
- Alcohol sales
- Antiques & Collectibles
- Auctions (no fees)
- Boosting Services (Online Gaming)
- CBD (legal)
- Charities (Registered)
- Crowd Funding
- Financial Institutions (Regulated, Distributor or Agent)
- Forex & CFDs
- Gambling (Bingo, Casinos, Lottery, Poker, Prizes and Competitions, Sports Betting)
- Gaming (Donations in streams, Fantasy sport, Skill games & Cybersport tournaments, Skins exchange)
- Import & Export
- Legal services
- Money Remittance and Transfer Services
- Motor vehicle dealers
- Online Marketplaces
- Prescription drugs
- Private Air Travel and Cargo
- Sale of Online Traffic
- Shipping & Packing
- Virtual Asset Services (Crypto Exchange or Custodian) which are licenced/registered by a competent jurisdiction in a FATF jurisdiction
- Waste Disposal Services