Acceptable use policy

1. Scope

This Acceptable Use Policy applies to everyone who uses the Services of Merch FinTech LLC: businesses and organizations, their staff, partners and resellers, ISVs, and the merchants who use a partner's branded version of the platform. It supplements the terms of service, your merchant agreement with our sponsor-bank and processor partners, any custom-build scope, and the card networks' rules. Banking and card products are provided through partner banks, subject to approval, and the issuing bank's terms apply to them as well; payroll is provided through our payroll partner under its terms. Where this policy and a signed agreement differ, the agreement controls.

2. General prohibitions

You may not use the Services to:

• break any law or regulation, or help anyone else do so;
• infringe another person's copyright, trademark, privacy or other rights;
• upload or distribute malware, or interfere with the platform, its networks or other customers' accounts;
• attempt to access accounts, data or systems you are not authorized to use, probe or scan the platform for vulnerabilities without written permission, or scrape it;
• share login credentials, or resell or sublicense the platform except under a written partner agreement;
• misrepresent who you are, impersonate another business or person, or send messages with false sender information;
• publish content that is defamatory, obscene, harassing, hateful or that threatens or incites violence.

3. Payment processing rules

• Process only sales of your own goods and services, from the business and locations we underwrote. Do not process for another business, launder transactions, or act as a payment aggregator without a written agreement.
• Do not process cash advances to yourself or others, split a sale into smaller transactions to evade limits, or run transactions on your own card except as a genuine purchase.
• Describe your goods accurately, deliver what you sell, honor your refund policy and respond to chargebacks on time. Excessive chargebacks or fraud may lead to reserves, restrictions or termination under your merchant agreement.
• Dual-pricing, cash-discount and surcharge programs must be run exactly as the program documents describe: the disclosures and signage we provide, surcharges capped at the lesser of 3% or your actual cost of acceptance (2% in Colorado and Oklahoma; actual cost only in New Jersey; card prices posted in dollars and cents in New York), no surcharge on debit or prepaid cards, and only in states and under card-brand rules that allow the program. Surcharging is not permitted in CT, MA, ME and PR.
• Keep card data out of email, texts, notes fields and spreadsheets. Enter cards only in the platform's secure fields or on approved hardware.
• Notify us before a material change in your business, ownership, products or expected volume.

4. Restricted and prohibited businesses

Our sponsor-bank and processor partners and the card networks decide which business types can be boarded. The following are prohibited or require specific approval and may be declined at underwriting or at any time afterward: illegal goods and services; adult content and services; gambling, lotteries and sweepstakes where unlawful; controlled substances, and cannabis or hemp products without the licenses and program approval required; firearms, ammunition and weapons without the required licenses; counterfeit or infringing goods; pyramid schemes, multi-level marketing and get-rich-quick programs; unlicensed money services, cryptocurrency exchange, check cashing and currency trading; debt collection, credit repair, debt relief and bail bonds without the required licenses; unlicensed telemarketing, timeshare resale and travel clubs; pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals without approval; any business on a card-network or government sanctions list. Eligibility is assessed during underwriting and on an ongoing basis.

5. Messaging, calls and email

• Obtain the consent the law requires before you text, call or email anyone, including prior express written consent for marketing texts and automated or AI-placed calls, and keep records of it.
• Honor every opt-out at once. The platform processes STOP and unsubscribe automatically; do not work around it or re-add people who opted out.
• Register your texting numbers and campaigns as carriers require. Messages that misdescribe the campaign, hide the sender, or carry content the carriers prohibit, such as certain financial, cannabis or gambling content, will be blocked and may lead to suspension.
• Send only to people with a relationship to your business. Purchased, rented or scraped lists are not permitted.
• Comply with the TCPA, CAN-SPAM, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, state telemarketing and privacy laws, and, where relevant, rules that protect students, patients and donors.

6. AI features

• You are responsible for what the AI receptionist, workflow builder and office assistant do in your account. Review automations before you switch them on, keep the approval step on anything that moves money, and monitor conversations.
• Do not configure the AI to deceive people about whether they are talking to a machine where the law requires disclosure, to impersonate a real person, or to collect information you are not allowed to collect.
• Do not use AI features to give medical, legal or financial advice that requires a licensed professional, to make eligibility or credit decisions about people, or to generate content that violates Section 2.
• Do not attempt to extract the underlying models, prompts or system instructions, or to use the AI features to build a competing product.

7. Partners, resellers and ISVs

• Describe the Services accurately. Do not promise savings, approval, funding timing or earnings, do not quote processing rates we have not published, and label examples as illustrative, as we do.
• Do not name our technology, processing or banking partners in marketing or to merchants, and do not present yourself as Merch FinTech unless your agreement allows it.
• Comply with this policy in your own use and ensure the merchants you bring do the same. We may decline or close any merchant that does not.
• Use the sales material, snapshots and documentation we provide only to sell the Services.

8. Security and platform integrity

Keep your devices and passwords secure, enable two-factor authentication where offered, remove staff access when people leave, and report suspected compromise at once. Do not use the platform in a way that places unreasonable load on it, bypasses rate limits or usage billing, or interferes with other customers.

9. Enforcement

We may investigate suspected violations, request information, and remove content or disable automations that breach this policy. Depending on severity, we may warn you, restrict features, hold or reserve funds under your merchant agreement, suspend your account, or terminate it, and we may be required to act without notice by our partners, the card networks or law enforcement. We may report illegal activity to the authorities. You remain responsible for fees and for losses caused by a violation.

10. Reporting and changes

To report abuse of the Services, including spam or fraud that appears to come from a Merch FinTech customer, email hello@merchfintech.com with "Abuse report" in the subject. We may update this policy and will post the new date at the top; material changes take effect 30 days after notice.

This policy is not legal advice. Your obligations under messaging, privacy and payments law depend on your business; consult a lawyer where you are unsure.