Acceptable Use Policy

1. Scope

This policy forms part of, and is incorporated into, the Terms of Service. It applies to all merchants and to anyone who accesses Settle through the API, hosted checkout, or dashboard. Where this policy and the Terms conflict, the Terms govern.

2. Prohibited businesses and activities

You may not use Settle to request, receive, or facilitate payment in connection with any of the following:

• Fraud, scams, phishing, or any misrepresentation of what a buyer is paying for.
• Money laundering, structuring, terrorist financing, or the proceeds of crime.
• Transactions involving sanctioned individuals, entities, or jurisdictions.
• Sale of controlled substances, prescription drugs without authorisation, or precursor chemicals.
• Weapons, ammunition, explosives, or components subject to export control.
• Child sexual abuse material, non-consensual intimate imagery, or human trafficking of any kind.
• Stolen goods, stolen credentials, stolen card or account data, or hacked accounts.
• Malware, ransomware, botnets, DDoS-for-hire, or other attack infrastructure.
• Unlicensed gambling, lotteries, or games of chance where the merchant lacks the required licence.
• Ponzi, pyramid, matrix, or high-yield investment schemes, and unregistered securities offerings.
• Mixing, tumbling, or other services whose primary purpose is obscuring the origin of funds.
• Counterfeit goods or material that infringes another party's intellectual property.
• Deceptive subscription practices, including hidden renewals or obstructed cancellation.

This list is illustrative, not exhaustive. Activity that is lawful in your jurisdiction may still be prohibited here if it creates disproportionate legal, reputational, or operational risk for the platform.

3. Restricted activities requiring authorisation

Some categories are permitted only where you hold the relevant licence or registration and can evidence it on request. These include regulated financial services, insurance, licensed gambling, pharmacy and telehealth, firearms retail where lawfully licensed, and the sale of age-restricted goods. If you operate in one of these categories, contact us at [email protected] before going live.

4. Technical and platform abuse

You may not attempt to circumvent rate limits, exhaust the unique-amount space, probe or attack the platform or its infrastructure providers, scrape the service at volume, resell platform access without a written agreement, or interfere with other merchants’ use of the service. You may not use the dispute-message feature to harass a customer or to send unsolicited marketing.

5. Your obligations to your customers

You must accurately describe what you are selling, honour the refund and cancellation terms you publish, respond to dispute messages in good faith, and make your own contact details available to buyers. Because on-chain transfers are irreversible, you are responsible for resolving refunds directly with your customers — Settle cannot reverse a settled payment.

6. Enforcement

Where we reasonably believe this policy has been breached we may, with or without notice depending on severity: request further information, disable specific payment links, suspend API keys, suspend or terminate the account, and report the matter to the relevant authorities. Because we never hold funds, enforcement never involves seizing or withholding money — payments already settled remain in your wallet.

If you believe enforcement action was taken in error, write to [email protected] and we will review it.

7. Reporting abuse

If you believe a merchant is using Settle in breach of this policy, report it to [email protected]. Include the payment link or checkout URL and a short description. Reports are reviewed and, where appropriate, acted on; we cannot always share the outcome with the reporter.