- Short answer
- Both: Shopify's terms keep the review and approval, while your country's processor supplies the list — and in the US, Stripe runs its own check.
- Where your list actually lives
- No consolidated cross-country list on the pages we read — follow your country's row in the Processor List.
- Lists change without notice
- Shopify's terms call them representative but not exhaustive, and updatable at any time without notice.
- No published timeframe
- No Shopify, Stripe or PayPal page we read states how long a restricted review takes.
- Two numbers that are not it
- 5 to 20 business days is a payout schedule; 6 to 12 months is the standard reapplication window.
- Approval is revocable
- Stripe says approval is specific to each service offer and may be modified or revoked at any time.
- As of
- Shopify Payments terms, Processor List, Help Center onboarding pages, Stripe and PayPal policies, read September 5, 2026.
Who decides — Shopify or your payment processor?
Shopify's Payments terms create two tiers, not one: categories "prohibited from using the Payments Services", and those that "require additional review and approval by us to use the Payments Services" — the Restricted Businesses. Behind Shopify Payments, that us is the Shopify entity for your Designated Country — not the processor.
Those same terms let a category be imposed by law, the Payment Network Rules, Shopify itself or a Payment Processor's financial services providers, while the lists themselves are "provided by each Payment Processor in your Designated Country", with the links in the Payment Processor List. For a United States merchant that list names Stripe, Inc.; PayPal, Inc. sits on a separate row.
No Shopify page we have read publishes one consolidated, across-country set of Restricted categories: you follow your own country's row in the Processor List to the processor's page. Read it the day you need it — the terms call those lists "representative but not exhaustive", and let Shopify or the processors update them "at any time without notice to you". Which rulebook holds which category is mapped out separately.
Is the review process published anywhere?
Both reviews are described in outline. Shopify's acceptable-business-practices page describes the general process, not a separate restricted track: "Your business is evaluated when you first apply for Shopify Payments, and risk is continuously monitored throughout your use of the platform." Stripe describes its own review in outline too: "We independently review every account and all relevant information during account activation."
Stripe says what the review asks: in a restricted category, at account creation you will be asked for additional information, such as "proof of relevant licenses or more details about your business model."
A documented door to a person sits inside the list. Stripe's entry for legal firearms carries the note "Limited availability: Please contact our sales team if you would like to work with Stripe" — see our firearms page. PayPal's US Acceptable Use Policy routes its 18 Activities Requiring Approval categories to a Sales team.
No Shopify page we have read states how long a Restricted Business review takes, and none names the team inside Shopify that runs it. Stripe's own pages we have read carry no number either, and neither do PayPal's for its pre-approval route. A published figure nearby covers documents you upload, not your business category — what that figure actually covers sits on its own page.
One number is not it: on a higher-risk account payouts might take 5 to 20 business days — a payout schedule, not a review time. Stripe offers a contrast — approval is "nearly instantaneous" in most cases, while "businesses on our Restricted Business list commonly experience longer processing delays".
What does approval actually mean afterwards?
Approval is not a status you keep. Where Stripe approves, it says "the approval is specific to each service offer, and it may be modified or revoked by Stripe at any time". Shopify's own monitoring is continuous, and a review finding elevated risk can leave an account "declined, deactivated, or subject to restrictions such as payout holds, reserves, or payout delays".
The money side is narrower than it sounds. Shopify says "reserves generally don't stop you from accepting payments through Shopify Payments, unless explicitly communicated otherwise", with the reserve's terms sent by email — and that "some reserves can't be appealed".
A decline or a deactivation arrives by email with next steps, and the routes back differ: an appeal for a deactivated store, reapplying for a declined application, and a separate appeal for Shopify Payments access alone.
Reapplying normally costs 6 to 12 consecutive months on a third-party gateway with a chargeback rate below 1%, and "meeting the reapplication requirements doesn't guarantee approval". One shortcut: with no Shopify Payments chargebacks and at least 4 months since the rejection, you might be eligible for early reapplication review. How an appeal actually works has its own page.
This article was written entirely by AI under human editorial direction. The editor sets the topic and structure, runs multi-stage validation on facts, links, and interactive elements, and verifies the output is useful from a business perspective. All claims are checked against official Shopify sources. Details may change — always confirm critical data at shopify.com.
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