YOCO, Inconsistent Risk Policies, Contradictory Rules, and Poor Support for SMEs

As the founder of a health and wellness practice, my experience with Yoco has been deeply disappointing and detrimental to my business operations. If you are a small business owner—especially in the complementary health, coaching, or supplement space—think twice before locking yourself into Yoco’s ecosystem.

Here is the reality of dealing with their "Risk Management" team:

1. Contradictory Payment Authorizations Yoco is perfectly happy to take their transaction fees when I sell my wellness products in-practice using their physical card machines. However, when I tried to launch my online store to sell the exact same products, they permanently delinked my online gateway, citing "high risk" and remote compliance issues. It is completely illogical that a product is deemed safe for a chip-and-pin transaction but violates their policies the moment it is placed in a digital shopping cart.

2. Discriminatory and Inconsistent Enforcement While Yoco suspended my online store, my direct suppliers—who sell the exact identical products—are actively and openly using Yoco’s online payment gateways. When I pointed out this clear double standard, Yoco hid behind "strict privacy obligations" and essentially asked me to audit their other clients for them. Their risk enforcement is inconsistent, arbitrary, and seemingly targets smaller merchants.

3. The Hardware Trap Because Yoco arbitrarily blocked my online store, I am forced to move to a different payment gateway to consolidate my online and in-person sales. Despite their own policies making it impossible for me to run my business on their platform, they refuse to buy back their physical card machines because it is past the 30-day return window. Their official advice? "Sell it privately."

Yoco claims to champion small businesses, but their disjointed internal policies and refusal to take accountability prove otherwise. Avoid them if you want a reliable partner for both physical and online e-commerce.