PayPal, Square and big banking's war on the sex industry

[Guy]

http://www.engadget.com/2015/12/02/paypal-square-and-big-bankings-war-on-the-sex-industry/

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I find it absurdly hypocritical that these banks don't shut down the accounts of men who buy porn...or use their card at a strip club.

Additionally I think that Sheriff Tom probably meets up at rest stops and takes it up the ass. Any person I have ever seen that was so crazy against something like that is really fueled by self hate.

 

[Feyonce]

Interesting comparison to redlining. Thanks for sharing @Guy. I just started camming a couple months ago. Should I be worried about my Chase account being frozen because of my MFC direct deposit?

 

[Guy]

Interesting comparison to redlining. Thanks for sharing @Guy. I just started camming a couple months ago. Should I be worried about my Chase account being frozen because of my MFC direct deposit?

I dont know.

 

[Guy]

Im really angry @ American Express for banning porn too!

 

[LuckySmiles]

Interesting comparison to redlining. Thanks for sharing @Guy. I just started camming a couple months ago. Should I be worried about my Chase account being frozen because of my MFC direct deposit?

don't tell chase but they're might be someone who looks like me who does the same thing for a long time. I wouldn't worry about it if it's an account you've had a while unless, for some reason the account goes into overdraft, or credit cards connected to the account become overdue.

This is the only reason I think they'd have motivation to look into, unless they start cracking down harder. Depending on how worried you are, there's always the option of getting paid on a pre-pay card(payoneer) or something and then transferring the cash manually, but the fees associated with that kind of negates some of the point of the bank account.

 

[Poison_Ivy21]

Just so ladies know, I had a long conversation with my personal banker at Wells Fargo about my job and they have no problems with the sex industry.

I know they aren't everywhere, but you you gals have a WF if your area and are looking for a new & safe bank, WF is a good way to go.

 

[Feyonce]

I know they aren't everywhere, but you you gals have a WF if your area and are looking for a new & safe bank, WF is a good way to go.

Thanks for the hints @LuckySmiles & @Poison_Ivy21

 

[Guy]

Outrageous act by WePay http://letstalkpayments.com/wepay-suspends-medical-fundraiser-ailing-porn-actress-eden-alexander/

 

[fandango]

I think its quite disgusting that banks and financial companies want to paint themselves as some sort of moral police. I'd bet they have done a lot of fairly unscrupulous things themselves already.

As long as the money is being spent on something legal, which last time I checked porn was, then they shouldn't be allowed to decline anyone.

 

[weirdbr]

Should I be worried about my Chase account being frozen because of my MFC direct deposit?

Before this week, maybe.. .But given the judicial decisions pointed out in this article, maybe they will soon be unable to close accounts of sex workers just because of their work. However, it's too early to tell - the impact of these decisions will take a very long while to be seen in banks and companies/products like Paypal, Square and Google Wallet, since they will possibly wait to see if there's further legal fights before deciding on anything. But at this point, with the FDIC rules being changed to disallow refusal of services for sex workers for 'risk', in theory anyone who has their Paypal/Google Wallet account closed could sue them, even though their terms of service disallow usage for those cases.

 

[SaffronBurke]

I think its quite disgusting that banks and financial companies want to paint themselves as some sort of moral police. I'd bet they have done a lot of fairly unscrupulous things themselves already.

I work in the financial industry as my vanilla job, and the truth of this hypocrisy made me laugh.

 

[Jesse0328]

My guess is that a lot of legitimate banking industry opposition to dealing with the adult industry has to do with chargeback and fraud concerns. I can't speculate to the reasoning behind blanking banning adult oriented accounts.

 

[Guy]

My guess is that a lot of legitimate banking industry opposition to dealing with the adult industry has to do with chargeback and fraud concerns. I can't speculate to the reasoning behind blanking banning adult oriented accounts.

I dont buy the chargeback and fraud arguments that those companies make. You could very easily do fraudulent chargebacks against Netflix because its streaming is not tangible, yet both PayPal and American Express allow transactions for that service. Companies that are hostile to the adult industry claim that it is "high risk" because of husbands and boyfriends doing fraudulent chargebacks against porn sites after their significant other sees payments for porn on their billing statement. That claim is unfounded. Studies show that most women do not consider watching porn to be cheating.

 

[LaceyRoyce]

There was some rumors going around that chase was randomly shutting down porn performers bank accounts last year. Does anyone know if thats still a thing?

 

[CorinneCooper]

I know my account with them was shut down....

 

[CorinneCooper]

That's actually one of the original catalysts in my financial death spiral. I have an account again with another bank, but the impact from Chase essentially locking me out of my account and out of my money (direct deposits only) really screwed my life.

 

[Feyonce]

That's actually one of the original catalysts in my financial death spiral. I have an account again with another bank, but the impact from Chase essentially locking me out of my account and out of my money (direct deposits only) really screwed my life.

That is terrible! They had no right to do that to you. I am with Chase, but as soon as I can, I will be closing that account and using another bank. Thank you for sharing what happened to you, Katrina. Hopefully your story will help others from having the same issue happen to them.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

For those of you guys having your accounts shut down...how are they set up? Personal accounts with MFC pay being directly deposited?

I'm incorporated and I have a business account and never once have they even asked. I used my business license to set it up and it's been well over a year. I get paid. Transfer my tax percentage to my business savings ...and then transfer myself a salary.

 

[CorinneCooper]

I did everything just fine for 5 years... business account, direct deposits from multiple companies. And then one day-- I was just informed that my account was getting shut down. And I had no access to my funds for 60 days.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I did everything just fine for 5 years... business account, direct deposits from multiple companies. And then one day-- I was just informed that my account was getting shut down. And I had no access to my funds for 60 days.

Wow. You couldn't even walk in and take your money out? I would threaten a fucking lawsuit.

 

[CorinneCooper]

They are allowed to hold your money for 60 days in the event of any "fraudulent activity"

 

[CrazyCatLady]

They are allowed to hold your money for 60 days in the event of any "fraudulent activity"

But how is getting paid as a 1099 employee by a business fraudulent?

 

[CorinneCooper]

Exactly. And how is it legal for all the other payment processors to reject money from adult work (Paypal, etc) despite the FTC specifically saying we are not a "high risk" category?

 

[JoleneBrody]

I've been with Chase for a million years and have never had an issue but if it changing wasn't a massive pain in the ass I would.

A couple of years ago chase went ona massive closure spree, closing the accounts even of retired porn stars and it was all the buzz in the news.
At that time Wells Fargo made a public statement that they would be happy to accept any performers hard earned and 100% legal buisness (including sarcasm, the little adorable devils)

 

[CrazyCatLady]

Exactly. And how is it legal for all the other payment processors to reject money from adult work (Paypal, etc) despite the FTC specifically saying we are not a "high risk" category?

How do they not close the account of every man who purchases porn? They reverse charges more than we have money reversed from out pay. In fact that has NEVER happened to me.

 

[CorinneCooper]

How do they not close the account of every man who purchases porn? They reverse charges more than we have money reversed from out pay. In fact that has NEVER happened to me.

Simple... the same way that men typically get a slap on the wrist for solicitation, yet women get put in jail for prostitution. Its simple slut shaming. Pure and simple.

 

[TacoBelle]

Simple... the same way that men typically get a slap on the wrist for solicitation, yet women get put in jail for prostitution. Its simple slut shaming. Pure and simple.

I think playing the "male privilege" card is off-base here. Yeah, sometimes men get it easier than women (like the solicitation vs prostitution case above), but other times, they get it WAY worse. If a male was caught masturbating in a public space like the camgirls last year, not only would he have been banned from the university (like she was), but he also would have been arrested and put on the national sex offenders list (like she wasn't).

As for why they don't ban accounts from people who buy porn? It's probably a simple matter of numbers. For example, if a sex-worker (regardless of gender) is having large amounts deposited into their account every month from random sources (I'm talking $10k+), it's going to draw some questioned stares. The bank is probably going to assume illegal activities are going on. Hell, some of my friends work in the farming business and get paid cash under the table. I remember one of them got his account shut down because they thought he was a drug dealer. And to them, it's all about keeping up their image. I mean, in a small religious town, they don't want to be seen as the bank that the drug dealers frequent, cause then they'll lose all of the "upstanding" Christian population's patronage. BUT this doesn't apply to men who watch (and pay for) porn, because most of them aren't spending $10k+ on porn per month. I'm sure that there's some regulation where they're legally allowed to close an account if it looks like the man has paid for live sex/escorting/prostitution, but I don't know of any off the top of my head.


Regardless, I'm sorry that you had to deal with all the stress of that, Katrina. Thanks for giving us the heads-up that Chase are shitty about it.

 

[CrazyCatLady]

I think playing the "male privilege" card is off-base here. Yeah, sometimes men get it easier than women (like the solicitation vs prostitution case above), but other times, they get it WAY worse. If a male was caught masturbating in a public space like the camgirls last year, not only would he have been banned from the university (like she was), but he also would have been arrested and put on the national sex offenders list (like she wasn't).

As for why they don't ban accounts from people who buy porn? It's probably a simple matter of numbers. For example, if a sex-worker (regardless of gender) is having large amounts deposited into their account every month from random sources (I'm talking $10k+), it's going to draw some questioned stares. The bank is probably going to assume illegal activities are going on. Hell, some of my friends work in the farming business and get paid cash under the table. I remember one of them got his account shut down because they thought he was a drug dealer. And to them, it's all about keeping up their image. I mean, in a small religious town, they don't want to be seen as the bank that the drug dealers frequent, cause then they'll lose all of the "upstanding" Christian population's patronage. BUT this doesn't apply to men who watch (and pay for) porn, because most of them aren't spending $10k+ on porn per month. I'm sure that there's some regulation where they're legally allowed to close an account if it looks like the man has paid for live sex/escorting/prostitution, but I don't know of any off the top of my head.


Regardless, I'm sorry that you had to deal with all the stress of that, Katrina. Thanks for giving us the heads-up that Chase are shitty about it.

Being someone who is in the financial industry what you are explaining is totally different. Random cash deposits are always going to draw attention and investigations from a bank. Wire pay from a corporation...especially when most of these girls had been being paid by the same Corp for months, years. No. It's no different than any Tom Dick or Harry having pay deposited.

I do agree that women always get lighter sentences and have less social responsibility. For example...if a man has kids and no job he's a dead beat loser...but dont you dare say anything about a woman being on welfare. If a man gets a woman pregnant and has kids by 3 other women he's a loser...but that same woman isn't a loser for getting pregnant by said man. If a woman is in her late 20's and lives with her parents it's called "smart", "practicle", etc. But if a man does he's a loser.

However I have found that for some reason when it comes to sex women are always more highly critisized. A woman is a slut if she sleeps around but a man is cool. A woman is a slut if she's a porn star but not the man. It's perfectly normal for a man to seek out naked women internet/photos but those same men would flip out if those pictures online were of his woman. Which I find so backwards since she would be doing it for money/job and he would be doing it because he is lusting over someone outside his relationship. I have my own small theories on this. I think it really boils down to control though. In a society where we have unfortunately made men feel useless and not needed they are holding on to their last straw...which is being needed for sex. If women are empowering themselves by using this need in a way...to profit off of men... the men in charge will always try to find a way to stop it. There will always be jealous, insecure and dumb women who will follow with the shaming. I won't say ALL men but this is evidence by the sense of entitlement by non tippers on cam sites. They think that we should be doing this all for free because we want men and need men. None of these men actually want to live in a world where there is no porn...naked pics...etc. But they also don't want to know we are doing it for profit and not just because we want to please them.

I enjoy my job...as do many many other girls. I feel lucky every single day for finding this and being so happy with my job. One can enjoy their job AND profit from it. Many people do. Most of those people would cease doing that job if they stopped getting paid for it. Would they occasionally volunteer or do something pro bono...sure...but they would be concentrated on whatever new source of employment they found.

I wish more people would understand that about us models as well.

 

[Guy]

I did everything just fine for 5 years... business account, direct deposits from multiple companies. And then one day-- I was just informed that my account was getting shut down. And I had no access to my funds for 60 days.

Did that happen last year?