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Itch.io seeks payment processors who work with with adult material
- jfyi 1y agoI'm not usually one to go full market capitalist, but there is definitely a market solution to this one. I'm glad they are exploring the options.
- IshKebab 1y agoWhy "definitely"? Visa/MasterCard have a total duopoly. How is a "market solution" going to get around that?
- jfyi 1y agoBecause the issue isn't with Visa/MC but with the processors. They are looking at alternative processors that work with adult material.
- IshKebab 1y agoNo, the root issue is with Visa/MC. It's passed on indirectly via payment processors.
- dragontamer 1y agoUse a Discover card or AmEx. Or in this case: itch.io switches to CCpay instead of Stripe as mentioned in the article. Because Stripe was actually the problem here, not Visa/Mastercard. I still will highlight the closure of Manga Library Z (which Visa/Mastercard is to blame). But this itch.io problem was different.
- duxup 1y agoI wish there was actually a healthy market with options and competition, there isn't.
- jfyi 1y agoEpoch, CCBill, TickleCharge, many others... just search for "card processors that work with adult industry".
- virgil_disgr4ce 1y ago> there is definitely a market solution to this one This would only be true if it was possible—as in, actually realistic and doable—for anyone to enter the market.
- zoeysmithe 1y agoHow so? Capitalism itself has created the visa/mastercard duopoly. Capitalism only leads primarily to monopolies and duopolies, hence the problem we're in. Do you really think there's a shortage of people who would like to start a company that gets an easy 3% per transaction?
- jfyi 1y agoThe issue isn't at Visa/MC, but the processor. That is why Itch is looking at other processors. Also, that 3% doesn't go to just Visa/MC and the other card brands. It goes to the payment gateway, the payment processor, at least one level of sales organization, the merchant bank, and the POS company in the case of in person business. There are several intermediaries that get a slice of the pie.
- rtkwe 1y agoThere are more adult oriented payment processors but they usually charge much higher rates because that sector attracts way more "I totally didn't buy that honey it must be fraud, I'm contesting it" that costs them more and they get charged more by the big upstream processors like Visa and Mastercard. Plus you're still liable for their rules the same way itch's current processor is if you want to process their card transactions.
- toomuchtodo 1y agoCoinbase powered stablecoin? Any stablecoin provider really. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/16/coinbase-steps-into-consumer-market-with-stablecoin-powered-everything-app-that-goes-beyond-trading.html https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/16/coinbase-steps-into-consumer...
- pjc50 1y agoNeeds to be seamless for people who haven't already bought into the crypto ecosystem and don't want to maintain a cash float there.
- toomuchtodo 1y agoChase Bank is partnering with Coinbase, and is one of the largest commercial banks in the country. Now, I'm unsure what the UX is going to look like in my Chase iOS app vs Coinbase app, but that is a strong signal of directionality. If I can send money globally in a few clicks with Chase and TransferWise, I expect to be able to get fiat onto crypto rails (including stablecoins) pretty quick in a similar fashion soon. Chase already supports RTP and FedNow for domestic dollar instant payment rails, but if Coinbase maintains an account with them (any bank, really, who wants to support this), a book entry will do for immediate funds availability. My mental model is "what is the least friction to get value from fiat stores to uncensored value transfer rails" on this topic. https://www.coinbase.com/blog/Coinbase-and-JPMorgan-Chase-join-forces-to-make-it-even-easier-to-access-crypto https://www.coinbase.com/blog/Coinbase-and-JPMorgan-Chase-jo... > Beginning this fall, you’ll be able to use Chase credit cards to fund your Coinbase account. Beginning in 2026, you’ll be able to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards Points to fund your Coinbase account. For the first time, points from a major credit card rewards program will be redeemable for crypto rewards. Beginning in 2026, you’ll be able to directly link your Chase account to Coinbase. Chase customers will be able to seamlessly link their bank accounts to Coinbase for another fast, easy way to buy crypto - in addition to all of our existing integrations. (As of 2023, Chase had 18.5 million checking accounts. In 2024, Chase opened nearly 2 million net new checking accounts. In July 2025, it was reported that JPMorgan Chase holds the largest total deposits among US banks, totaling over $2T; not a JPMC fan by any means, but they are the Goliath of commercial banks as it stands)
- ainiriand 1y agoNow crypto currencies don't look that crazy.
- duxup 1y agoNaw they look crazy, the crypto market is no less crazy. Other things look crazy too.
- jasonlotito 1y agoEveryone talking about crypto is forgetting that there are payment providers processing Visa and MC for adult content. The difference is that PayPal and Stripe (and others) aren't setup to process those kinds of transactions. Payments need to be coded properly. The issue wasn't that Visa/MC won't process adult content (they 100% will), but you can't sell adult content when you don't code it as adult content. Finding a processor that specializes in that is what they should do. This will allow them to process adult content on those processors properly coded. Of course, those processors generally charge a higher amount because of the greater risk. But none of this is new or crazy. It's decades old, and shouldn't be a surprise to anyone wanting to conduct business in the adult space online.
- dpoloncsak 1y agoI've been under the impression that MC/Visa claimed this is 'illegal content'. Seems like its more than just a coding issue, but an issue of payment processors acting as gatekeepers of what is allowed to be purchased.
- blacklion 1y agoNah, you can purchase anything legal (and adult content is legal in many jurisdictions). Problem is, different classes of goods and/or services have very different rates. Like, if you sell grocery it is 1%, if you sell computer games it is 2.5% and if your sell adult content it is 5% if you can see physical card (you are magazine stall with adult magazines) and 7% if you don't see card (on-line sell). Numbers are totally made up by me here, BTW, but principle is the same. You see, Visa and MC are credit card system, so if transaction was done by stolen card (and probability of that event depends on the goods sold and type of point of sale) and it was charged back by proper card owner, it is Visa/MC who pays for troubles. It is what why proper transaction coding is so enforced. Many (a lot) of transactions are with effectively debit cards (overdraft limit is set to 0.0 by issuer bank), but technically any Visa (not Electron) and MC (not Maesto) card is credit one. On the other hand, I didn't hear about successful charge backs for many years. Like, 20 years ago it was trivial with good European bank (one phone call, zero paper work — I seen this several times in person!), and now it is much harder. And one more question: why do we need payment processors at all?! I don't need it to pay with my card, why do I need to accept payments? Why banks don't want to be payment processors directly for their clients? Why do we need these MitM?
- duxup 1y agoThis whole payment processor as paid content censor system is absurd. Don't need payment processors looking over everyone's shoulder "oh man you shouldn't deal with them ... or buy that". Local sword making company ran into getting blacklisted by processors. These guys are professionals and well known in their business, not some randos. But when it comes to payment processors everyone is small potatoes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLIcohyT5Dc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLIcohyT5Dc They couldn't even find out why it happened. The amount of work they had to do to just get a clue on what was going on was incredible. It took in person visits and directed from bank to bank to bank to understand what happened. And as far as I know they still haven't found out the root cause. They managed to get some work around but who knows how long that will last. These processors are not content curators / investigators and they're clearly not putting much effort into actually investigating or allowing anyone to dispute these things through a reasonable process. There's no sense to these systems, you can just be cut off with no warning and the payment processors have no obligation to care or tell anyone anything.
- salawat 1y ago>There's no sense to these systems, you can just be cut off with no warning and the payment processors have no obligation to care or tell anyone anything. You can thank the Bank Secrecy Act as amended by the PATRIOT act for that. It basically deputized every licensed money transmitter to act as an extension of law enforcement through the imposition of KYC/AML requirements, which is accompanied by the tendency/incentive to de-risk the bank.
- chistev 1y agoCrypto solves this problem.
- dragontamer 1y agoAs I suspected, the problem seems to be Stripe and Paypal as this information comes out. I kinda feel bad for the call centers and the legion of Reddit/Twitter users who were mislead by a few random meme protest .gif files. But I already learned my lesson back during the Reddit Boston Marathon bullshit: the crowds are stupid. Don't trust the hype, don't trust Reddit Posts that cite other Reddit posts that cite a tweet. Wait for real info. That being said: Visa and MasterCard have been dicks in the past and somewhat deserve attention. I'm just a bit sad that this particular case is turning out to be more of a Stripe/Paypal issue instead as it means a lot of energy has been misdirected. ------- I've still got my Discover card so that if the real call for action ever comes, I'm ready to move off Visa/Mastercard. But people need to seriously fact check their work before hyping an internet brigade next time.
- msgodel 1y agoIt seems weird to use stripe/paypal at that scale rather than having direct merchant accounts with the card issuers. Why would they do it that way?
- smcg 1y agoThe campaigns have been consistent about labeling Stripe as a problem.
- dragontamer 1y agoWell I'm sure the legion of underpaid Visa/Mastercard help desk operators feel cool about that. /s Did Stripe even HAVE a call center for the internet mob to protest at?
- TimorousBestie 1y agoThey made it very difficult to reach a human being, but yes, they do have a call center.
- dragontamer 1y ago
- IshKebab 1y agoAt least in Europe they could offer payment by bank transfer, something like this: https://gocardless.com/solutions/instant-bank-pay/ https://gocardless.com/solutions/instant-bank-pay/
- boudin 1y agoLooks like the Wero payment system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wero_(payment) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wero_(payment) It's not provided by all banks yet, but it does work nicely.
- seabass-labrax 1y agoI don't think it is yet. I set up a GBP payment with GoCardless last month, and it was fulfilled by a Direct Debit[1] mandate. It would be fantastic if GoCardless have already added support for Wero, but I suspect they are still using manual SEPA for Euro payments. [1]: https://www.directdebit.co.uk/ https://www.directdebit.co.uk/
- riedel 1y agoGermany, France and Belgium rolled out Wero I think. Haven't seen it accepted on a website yet though (I think it was meant to replace GiroPay). Netherlands will follow next year and wants to replace their ubiquitous iDEAL afaik.
- IsTom 1y agoCouldn't they just take SEPA transfers to their account?
- dns_snek 1y agoYes but people expect to get their digital goods immediately, not in 1-2 business days. SEPA Instant support is spotty and even if it wasn't, I don't think that the tooling around SEPA on the merchant side of things is built to handle transaction in real time the way people are used to with cards.
- tennisflyi 1y agoLike go to any porn paysite... MobiusPay, Segpay, CCBill, Epoch?
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- ivanmontillam 1y agoThose are billers, some with their own payment gateway. eMerchantPay is one I've seen in the wild, also.
- jfyi 1y agoThey are processors and yes some their own gateway. Billing is broadly part of merchant services and is largely done by the sales organization that sold the processing. Of course there are companies that encompass all these and more like the acquiring bank. If you came to this by looking at epoch's website, click the tab from "Billing" to "Merchant Solutions". The rest very clearly state they are a processor.
- imzadi 1y agoIt seems like an easy way around this is to sell gift cards and only allow gift card payment for the adult content.
- fwip 1y agoIt's not, because PayPal/Mastercard et al blacklists the company, not the products. If they decide they don't want to be associated with you, they won't be. They will block all transactions from you regardless on if the purchaser is buying porn or potatoes.
- pjc50 1y agoThe shortcut is to accept Amazon gift cards, which are a sort of black market currency already, but this is a lossy pain to launder out to real money.
- fwip 1y agoNo, that's even worse. Now you're paying more money for a worse solution. Imagine A) the per sale loss and B) the amount of lost sales from non-porn-buying customers that rightfully don't want to do that. The right solution is what they're doing - finding a sane payment processor to work with. Edit for clarity: Stripe came over to them and said "if you have NSFW stuff for sale, we will not process any of your payments." The majority of revenue for itch is SFW content. If they start selling them for gift cards or points or whatever, Stripe will cut their revenue to 0. It makes no sense to rush development of an alternative stopgap measure that is worse financially for you than the status quo.
- dang 1y agoRelated. Others? Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44783566 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44783566 - Aug 2025 (565 comments) Clarifying recent headlines on gaming content - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44760843 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44760843 - Aug 2025 (24 comments) Visa and Mastercard are getting overwhelmed by gamer fury over censorship - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44713414 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44713414 - July 2025 (586 comments) Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44685011 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44685011 - July 2025 (890 comments) Against the censorship of adult content by payment processors - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44679406 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44679406 - July 2025 (250 comments) Games: No sex, please. we're credit card companies - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44675697 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44675697 - July 2025 (52 comments) Itch.io: Update on NSFW Content - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44667667 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44667667 - July 2025 (323 comments) Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steams new censorship rules - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44636369 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44636369 - July 2025 (162 comments) Valve confirms credit card companies pressured it to delist certain adult games - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44606184 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44606184 - July 2025 (905 comments)
- tb_technical 1y agoIf you operate a payment processor, and are a part of a legal oligopoly, you should be punished for not processing legal transactions - even if people are using your services to buy icky things you don't approve of. We need to avoid parallel economies at all costs.