I’ve written before about?issues around payment processors and the sex industry, how businesses like Paypal, WePay and Google Wallet were shutting anyone they suspected of sex work out of using their services.
Well, turns out that a trickle down effect is going on within the banking world, as Chase recently sent letters to countless porn performers letting them know their accounts would be shut down May 11th. Perez Hilton posted a photo of one of those letters from adult performer Teagan Presley, even though I am somewhat loath to connect to his blog, I believe it’s important to read the language. You’ll notice that Chase never specifically cites adult operate in their decision, just that they “reviewed the account and determined that we will be closing it on May 11, 2019. Please accept our apologies for that inconvenience.”
I’m sure they’re terribly sorry. Just like they were really apologetic for refusing to process payments for Lovability CEO Tiffany Gaines. Her crime? Selling condoms, because they’re “adult-oriented material”. Exactly the same adult oriented material, obviously, as Trojan, who could process their debts with no issues through Chase, but let alone. So long as they’re really sorry about it.
Tiffany writes in her own piece for XOJane:
“My Chase representative responded with empathy, explaining that she understood the irrationality of the rejection. Though she was “fully supportive of my company’s mission,” Chase Bank considered my company’s product a reputational risk-
-Days later, in reaction towards the bad press, the CMO of Chase Paymentech called me to apologize for that “misunderstanding.” She agreed to process my company’s payments but wouldn’t agree to officially remove condoms from the “prohibited adult” category. I felt as if she was trying to pacify me but wasn’t taking the issue-at-large seriously.
The most of comments on our petition have pointed out that Chase’s ability to pass judgment calls on what we can purchase and sell is really a breach of everyone’s rights, and it’s a particularly sensitive issue when they violate our access to sexual health products.”
Of course, it’s not only Chase. Performer Chanel Preston found her account through City National Bank was turn off suddenly one day, the financial institution citing only “compliance issues.” The founder of soft porn studio MRG Entertainment, Marc Greenberg, filed a case against J.P. Morgan once they refused to allow him refinance a loan because of his job. “JPMorgan purports to be so ashamed of nudity and human sexuality that it cannot process a refinance of a home loan of plaintiff, secured by plaintiff’s house, because plaintiff’s source of income six years ago included manufacture of television programs that contained nudity and human sexuality,” the suit reads, and it is as of now unresolved. Teagan Presley tried to open a merchant account with Bank of America, simply to be turned down there too. In all these cases, this didn’t matter the checks didn’t bounce, or that they money paid was for things unrelated to the adult industry – home loans, childcare, groceries, rent. It only mattered that the money was considered “immoral”- even when legally earned.
This talks to a concerning trend where banks are empowered to allow access to funds, to credit, to loans, according to their political values. As banking institutions are the realm of the privileged and also the conservative, it doesn’t bode well for sex workers past and current, for immigrants, for people of color, or for trans people. I mean, I’ve long decided which i must keep my money in a lockbox under my bed just for this reason – because it’s safer there than it is staying with you, or perhaps in a Paypal account. But having a bank account in which to deposit checks is usually pretty important when working, or trying to save for college, or a car, or perhaps a home. Debit cards is necessary for participating in online commerce, which could save much-needed money. Lacking a banking account is often no choice for people. Yet apparently if you’ve worked in porn, you may need to learn how to go without.
Perez Hilton actually said something which makes sense:
“Just since you don’t agree having a career choice, doesn’t mean the workers not have the same rights as everyone else. In the end, their careers are completely LEGAL! Plus, let’s all be honest-whoever chose to cancel the accounts probably totally WATCHES porn!”
As we learn again and again, it’s one thing to perform in porn, it’s another thing to consume it, legal or not. With each financial institution and payment method slamming their doors on sex workers, Bitcoin looks better. If our money is no good, I think we ought to go with us into credit unions, turn it into Bitcoin or, even better, land. Then let’s wait and watch what happens, we could? With AVN adding around 125 new porn performers to their database each month, I imagine sooner or later our money will begin to add up. Occupy Wall Street might have, pardon the pun, a “second coming” after all.
Original by: Kitty Stryker