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Mayes wants credit card companies to crack down on illegal vape sales

🚫 Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is leading a coalition of 24 other state AGs and New York City to demand credit card companies stop illegal vape sales to minors.

💳 The coalition sent letters to major financial firms including American Express, Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, and Block urging them to implement stricter controls on payments for vapes.

🤝 Mayes argues payment networks are not passive bystanders but the financial backbone enabling underage purchases of unregulated products.

📞 Officials request meetings with corporate leadership to discuss solutions like blacklisting repeat offenders from using their payment networks.

🛒 Previously, Mayes successfully pressured Shopify to remove merchants who failed to safeguard against selling to minors on its platform.

📜 Federal law currently requires FDA authorization for e-cigarette products, but only 41 flavors (tobacco and menthol) are approved nationwide.

🍬 Illegal fruity and dessert flavors like Blue Razz and Strawberry Cream continue to flood the market despite being unauthorized.

🚨 In March 2025, Mayes' office issued over 450 citations to Arizona retailers for selling to minors, with 14% failing state inspections.

⚖️ In July 2025, lawsuits were filed against two Valley vape shops after underage volunteers caught them illegally selling products.

💰 One of the sued companies was forced to pay a $460,000 fine and implement reforms under a consent judgment last December.

🎨 Mayes' office has also targeted brightly colored and cartoon-shaped vapes specifically marketed toward children in Arizona.

🚫 Credit card processors are asked to cut off money flows to "bad actors" and keep unauthorized products out of communities.

Bullish Signals
  • Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes leads a coalition of 24 other state attorneys general and the city of New York to enforce stricter regulations on illegal vape sales.
  • Kris Mayes' office issued more than 450 citations in 2025 to Arizona retailers for selling to minors, demonstrating aggressive enforcement against under-age vaping.
  • A Valley vape retailer was forced to pay a $460,000 fine and enter a consent judgment requiring reforms after illegally selling to children in July 2025.
  • Mayes' office works with underage volunteers who have busted multiple retailers, showing community collaboration in law enforcement efforts.
  • Major payment processors like American Express, Capital One, Citigroup, Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal are engaging in discussions to implement safeguards against illegal vape sales.
  • Shopify has agreed to accept referrals from states for online sellers that are violating the law, indicating progress in compliance with safety standards.
Risk Factors
  • Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes issued more than 450 citations in 2025 to Arizona retailers for selling vapes to minors, indicating widespread non-compliance with age restriction laws.
  • Only 14% of vape retailers across the state passed inspections in March, highlighting a significant failure rate among merchants regarding legal standards.
  • The FDA has authorized only 41 vape products nationwide, yet popular fruity and dessert-based flavors like Blue Razz and Watermelon Ice have flooded the market illegally.
  • Major payment networks including American Express, Visa, PayPal, Stripe, and Square are being accused of facilitating illegal sales by failing to implement safeguards against underage purchases.
  • One Valley vape retailer was forced to pay a $460,000 fine in December for illegally selling products to minors and entered into a consent judgment requiring reforms.
  • The legal battle between state authorities and payment processors could disrupt transactions for legitimate businesses if networks choose to cut off money flow to any merchants perceived as 'bad actors'.
Full Analysis
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is leading a campaign to pressure credit card companies to stop facilitating the sale of illegal vape products to minors. On Tuesday, her office joined a coalition comprising 24 other state attorneys general and the city of New York to send letters to major payment processors, including American Express, Capital One, Citigroup, Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, Stripe, Sezzle, and Block. The coalition is requesting meetings with corporate leadership to discuss implementing safeguards that prevent these companies from acting as enablers for illegal sales. In a press release, Mayes stated that payment networks are not passive bystanders but are the financial backbone enabling illegal vape sales to minors, urging them to cut off money flows to bad actors and keep unauthorized products out of Arizona communities. The initiative addresses the issue of FDA-authorized e-cigarette restrictions, noting that currently only 41 vape products have been authorized for nationwide sale, with tobacco and menthol being the only approved flavors. Despite federal law requiring such authorization before legal sale, popular fruity and dessert-based flavors like Blue Razz, Watermelon Ice, and Strawberry Cream remain widely available. Mayes argues that online retailers and payment processors are failing to comply with federal law by not upholding basic safeguards against minors purchasing these illegal or adulterated products. Mayes has a history of aggressive enforcement against vape retailers in Arizona. In March 2025, her office issued more than 450 citations to Arizona retailers for selling to minors, finding that 14% of all retailers failed inspection. Specific actions were taken in July 2025 when Mayes sued to shut down two Valley smoke shops after they were caught selling to kids by underage volunteers. One of the companies involved was forced to pay a $460,000 fine and enter a consent judgment requiring reforms in December. Mayes previously took similar action against Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify in November, requesting that they remove merchants who did not take proper precautions, with discussions ongoing on accepting referrals from states regarding violators.