GOOGLE PAYMENTS USER POLICIES

ABOUT OUR POLICIES

Google has developed the following policies to promote a trustworthy and secure environment on Google Pay and Google payments (collectively, “the service”). Any individual or business using Google Pay, or processing transactions with Google payments, must adhere to these policies.

If you suspect any abusive or illegal content or activities on Google Pay or Google payments, please report it to us immediately. Please note that most transaction-related issues - such as requests for chargebacks or refunds - may best be resolved by talking early and directly between the parties involved in the transaction (e.g. your bank, card issuer, or any other party you are transacting with). We will not be in a position to arbitrate disputes.

Google reserves the right to change these policies at any time. This Policy has to be read together with the terms of service of the particular product you are using, which may contain additional rules on how to use the service.

USER POLICIES

Profile and registration

Be sure to use your first and last name on your profile when using Google Pay or any other Google payments service. This will help build a trustworthy environment, and help connect you with people you know. You must provide accurate details regarding your identity and payment options, to enable smooth and continuous provision of service.

Impersonation

Do not use the service to mislead or confuse other users by pretending to be someone else or representing an organization without authorization to do so. In addition, your account profile name and photo cannot include content that is adult-oriented, offensive, or illegal.

Personal and Confidential Information

Do not use, share or distribute others’ personal and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, confidential national ID numbers, or account passwords, without their permission. If you suspect that your account has been hijacked, please contact us. Do not attempt to use others’ accounts without their permission, or steal their personal and confidential information.

Spam

Do not spam, including by sending unwanted promotional or commercial content, or unwanted or mass solicitation. Do not aggressively message people on Google Pay.

Abuse of the product

Do not misuse Google Pay. We want Google Pay to be useful, relevant and safe for users, so we don’t allow any of the following:

  • Malicious content
  • Misrepresentation of your identity or qualification
  • Misrepresentation of products and services
  • Persuading other users to make payments or reveal sensitive information on false or unclear premises
  • Attempting to trick other users or third parties for unfair advantage or financial gain
  • Content or behaviors that harms or interferes with the operation of networks, servers, or other infrastructure
  • Attempting to solicit or collect a user’s sensitive data, including but not limited to passwords, financial details and personal identification numbers (e.g. Aadhaar, Social Security Number)
  • Phishing scams
  • Money laundering and funding of terrorism
  • Any activity that is illegal in the country or jurisdiction in which you reside at the time of your use of the service
  • Any other fraudulent activities

PROHIBITED TRANSACTIONS

Google does not allow the use of the service to make peer-to-peer transactions related to the following categories. The given examples are not exhaustive and we may also restrict products, goods, services, and other items not listed below.

Academic paper-writing and test-taking services

Examples: Pre-written essays, thesis papers, and dissertations; offers for paper-writing or test-taking services

Adult goods and services

Examples: Pornography and other sexually suggestive materials (including literature, imagery, and other media); escort or prostitution services; anything related to sex trafficking

Alcohol

Examples: Payment processing of beer or liquor. Alcohol content is permitted for the purposes of allowing a user to save a “show and scan” object to Google.

Animals and regulated species

Examples: Animal parts, blood, or fluids; noxious weeds; prohibited seeds; plants or other organisms (including product derivatives) in danger of extinction or whose trade is otherwise regulated by law

Bulk marketing tools

Examples: Email lists, software or other products enabling unsolicited email messages (spam)

Child endangerment or abuse

Examples: Content which sexualizes minors, including sexually explicit material involving minors or content which can be perceived as depicting or encouraging sexual attraction to minors.

Examples: Unauthorized copies of books, music, movies, and other licensed or protected materials including copies without proper attribution; unauthorized copies of software, video games, and other licensed or protected materials, including OEM or bundled software

Counterfeit and unauthorized goods

Examples: Replicas or imitations of designer or other goods; items without a celebrity endorsement that would normally require such an association; fake autographs; currency; stamps; tickets; other potentially unauthorized goods

Devices or techniques for unlocking technical protection measures

Examples: Mod chips or other devices for circumventing technical protection measures on digital devices, including for unlocking iPhones

Drugs and drug paraphernalia

Examples: Controlled substances, narcotics, illegal drugs, and drug accessories, including psychoactive and herbal drugs such as salvia and magic mushrooms and materials promoting their use; legal substances, such as plants or herbs, in a manner that suggests ingesting, inhaling, extracting, or otherwise using any substance or compound from the legal substance will provide the same effect as an illegal drug, compound, or substance or that will provide unsubstantiated health benefits

Financial or other regulated products, services, securities, and stored value

Examples: Payment processing is forbidden for the following services: Investment consulting; refinancing or transfer of non-collectable debt; stock brokerage; manual cash disbursements; transfers involving any virtual currency; money orders; traveler's checks; stocks, bonds, or related financial products; insurances; units in collective investment schemes; stored value cards; credit services (not including credit reports or scores provided to a consumer by a consumer reporting agency); provision of services regulated or prohibited by applicable law. Under certain conditions, some financial services would be permitted for the purposes of allowing a user to save a “show and scan” object to Google.

Fund solicitations

Examples: Solicitation of donations without valid proof of tax exempt status such as, within the United States, a valid 501(c)(3) tax exempt status clearly displayed to the public. Donation solicitations without proof of registration with the relevant country's regulatory bodies and authorities, such as political organizations that have registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC)

Gaming/gambling

Examples: Lottery tickets, sports bets, memberships / enrollment in online gambling sites, and related content.

Government IDs, documents, or uniforms

Examples: Including but not limited to government-issued IDs, passports, diplomas, noble titles, and uniforms, except if sold by an authorized government agency or by a supplier accredited by an authorized government agency

Hacking and cracking materials

Examples: Manuals, how-to guides, information, or equipment that violate the law by damaging or enabling unlawful access to software, servers, websites, or other protected property

Human parts

Examples: Organs or other body parts; body fluids; stem cells; embryos

Illegal / Stolen goods

Examples: Materials, products, or information promoting illegal goods or enabling illegal acts; goods you don't own or have the right to sell; goods produced in violation of a third party's rights; smuggled goods and goods in violation of export, import, or labeling restrictions; motor vehicles subject to transfer restriction; goods recorded on public registers (such as real estate) and whose transfer requires formalities that can't be legally completed online.

Note: Users are solely and completely responsible for verifying that all items sold are authentic and legal.

Illegal telecommunications equipment

Examples: Devices intended to obtain cable and satellite signals for free, cable descramblers and black boxes, access cards, access card programmers and unloopers, unlawful tools or products to modify cellular telephones, and other equipment deemed unlawful by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or other competent regulatory body in the country in which the goods are offered for sale

Miracle cures

Examples: Unsubstantiated cures, remedies, or other items marketed as quick health fixes

Multi-level marketing and wealth creation programs

Examples: Multi-level marketing programs (including online payment randomizers), matrix, pyramid, Ponzi schemes, wealth creation programs, paid to click schemes, and all similar programs

Offensive content and activities

Examples: Goods, literature, products, materials, services, or activities that:

  • Incite hatred against, promote discrimination of, or disparage an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization
  • Defame or slander any person or groups of people protected from defamation or slander by applicable law (such as the protection afforded to the royal family in some jurisdictions)
  • Encourage or incite violent acts
  • Promote intolerance or hatred
  • Promote or support membership in terrorist groups or other organizations prohibited by law
  • Promote revisionist theories proscribed by applicable law
  • Contravene public morality

Offensive goods, crime

Examples: Crime scene photos or items, such as personal belongings, associated with criminals or a criminal act

Precious materials

Examples: Bulk sales of rare, scarce, or valuable metals or stones

Prescription drugs and medical devices

Examples: Drugs or other products requiring a prescription by a licensed medical practitioner, veterinarian, or any online pharmacies or whose distribution is otherwise regulated; medical devices that require government authorization for distribution; and drug test circumvention aids. Health-related product promotion is permitted, subject to certain conditions and restrictions, to enable a user to save show and scan objects to Google.

Protected cultural items and artifacts

Examples: Material covered by the UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property or otherwise restricted by law from sale, export or transfer; Artifacts, cave formations (speleothems, stalactites, and stalagmites) and other such items that are regulated under applicable domestic laws, such as grave-related items that are protected under federal laws, such as The Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988 (US), and the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (US).

Pyrotechnic devices and hazardous materials

Examples: Fireworks and related goods; toxic, flammable, and radioactive materials and substances; gunpowder; explosives

Regulated goods

Examples: Air bags; batteries containing mercury; freon or similar substances/refrigerants; chemical/industrial solvents; medical procedures; car number plates; police badges and law enforcement equipment; lock-picking devices; medical devices; pesticides and insecticides; postage meters; passive fitness equipment and electrostimulators; recalled items; slot machines; surveillance equipment that's primarily used to obtain unlawful interception of wire, oral, or electronic communications and/or to facilitate the unlawful view or recording of individuals; goods regulated by government or other agency specifications

Traffic devices

Examples: Radar jammers, license plate covers, traffic signal changers, and related products

Travel packages and offers

Examples: Payment processing for travel services, including hotel, flight, cruise and car reservations, travel clubs, etc. All travel-related content letting a user “show and scan” an offer, boarding pass or ticket is permitted.

Tobacco and cigarettes

Examples: Cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, and alternative products

Weapons

Examples: Firearms, ammunition, and other items including but not limited to firearms, disguised, undetectable, or switchblade knives, martial arts weapons, silencers, ammunition, ammunition magazines, BB guns, and tear gas. Under certain conditions, some products and services would be permitted for the purposes of allowing a user to save a “show and scan” object to Google

Wholesale currency

Examples: Discounted currencies or currency exchanges; currency backed by precious metals

WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU VIOLATE OUR POLICIES

Use of the service and any related accounts may be suspended if you have several violations or a serious violation. If this happens, all transactions involved with any suspended account may be disabled - including transactions already initiated. We may no longer allow you to transact on the service. Any related accounts may also get permanently suspended and you may not be allowed to open a new account.

Permanently suspended accounts which have associated accounts (e.g. Gold Vault balances) may have their balance sold at prevailing market prices, and the value returned to their authorised bank account (net of any applicable taxes or fees).

We may also report any illegal activity in accordance with applicable laws.