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Well, that article portrays banks as moralizing prudes and neglects to mention why they don't want to deal with those companies: very high amounts of fraud. Pro
by mattmaroon 9y ago
Well, that article portrays banks as moralizing prudes and neglects to mention why they don't want to deal with those companies: very high amounts of fraud. Process payments for a porn site and you're going to be hit with charge backs out the wazoo. The industry has been mostly shady since the beginning so you likely won't recoup the money you got stiffed.
Certainly there are legitimate players, but you can't blame a payment processor or bank for not wanting to take high levels of risk.
- ouid 9y agoAny hypothesis that violates the zero-arbitrage principle should be taken with a grain of salt.
- Dylan16807 9y ago"We don't want this business because it makes it harder to do business elsewhere" also does not violate that principle. So that rule of thumb, while nice, doesn't help a whole lot here.
- khazhoux 9y agoexplain?
- quickthrower2 9y agoA situation in which all relevant assets are priced appropriately and there is no way for one's gains to outpace market gains without taking on more risk. Assuming an arbitrage-free condition is important in financial models, thought its existence is mainly theoretical.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- quickthrower2 9y agoNot if they take only Bitcoin!
- m_mueller 9y agoI have been wondering why crypto isn't everywhere in the adult business already. Seems a perfect match to me.
- rubber_duck 9y agoHave you tried actually acquiring Bitcoin ? It's nowhere near the credit/debit card experience. I've done it and unless I was buying something illegal I just wouldn't bother. Not to mention insane transaction fees.
- quickthrower2 9y agoBuying porn and not wanting it to appear on credit card statement seems a rational reason. Transaction fees are high but there are other cryptos. If the chargebacks are priced in to costs the sites could give a crypto discount to compensate.
- tzs 9y agoA simple and easy way to buy things online, including porn, without it showing up on any statement is to use a prepaid debit card that you bought anonymously with cash. You can buy these at many US supermarkets.
- AznHisoka 9y agocan you describe how/why it is so hard?
- emag 9y agoHonestly, a lot of tech has been initially pushed by the adult industry. VHS and (arguably) DVDs to name just a few. Not making any value or judgement calls, but they seem to be trailblazers for further mass market.
- vertex-four 9y agoBecause people who buy porn and people who own bitcoins are not two sets that heavily overlap.
- belorn 9y agoI took a look at what ethical investment indexes says, and they too exclude any pornographic companies. It is listed as unethical, together with companies producing weapons.
- notyourday 9y agoBanks either are or are not "moral" gatekeepers. They don't get to have it both ways. If the issue is the charge back rates, then should the business not have the charge back rates with that specific merchant, they should gradually remove restrictions.
- mdekkers 9y agoBanks either are or are not "moral" gatekeepers. They don't get to have it both ways. It isn't a morality issue (banks don't care) it is a risk issue.
- notyourday 9y agoDDA accounts are basically risk free.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- dominotw 9y agowhat about VC's unwilling to fund this. Do you think fraud is really their main concern? Also, why won't they outright say they are concerned about fraud, much better than indirect responses they've been getting.
- willstrafach 9y agoFWIW, many payment processors do indeed explain it this way. Not sure about VCs though, good point.
- FussyZeus 9y agoIs it really rampant levels of fraud, or is it more likely husbands who can't be honest with their SO's about why PornHub is on the credit card statement? So much of the issues around this stuff would literally vanish overnight if we could just grow up in regards to sex and things involving sex. It's twenty freaking seventeen and we're still acting like it's this big scary thing.
- tbrownaw 9y agoI'm pretty sure that fraudulent chargebacks are still fraudulent even when your justification for them is that they're part of a lie to try to keep the peace with your SO.
- FussyZeus 9y agoDoesn't it being part of a lie make it fraud on your part, not the porn website's?
- joatmon-snoo 9y agoSure. Still makes the CC's fraud department do a lot of work.